Board of Education Meeting - March 2, 2026

001Thank you everyone for being here. I need to read the statement of adequate notice. The New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provision of this act, the Mountain Lakes Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof placed in the Mountain Lakes Municipal Building and sent to the following newspapers, the Daily Record, the Citizen, and the District website. Can we please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under

002God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Roll call, please. >> Dr. Don, >> here. >> Mrs. Foreman, Dr. Hersville, Mr. Johnson >> here, >> Mrs. Coardney >> here, >> Mrs. Parker, Dr. Chef >> here, >> Dr. Silva McIntyre, Mrs. Barkous >> here. Okay, we have a quorum. >> Thank you. We do have an executive session. Be it resolved that the Mountain Lakes Board of Education enters into executive session. We need a first and a second, please. We have Mrs. Colcarnney and Dr. Sheth. Thank you very much. Um the motion needs to be approved. All say I. >> I. Be it resolved that by the Mountain Lakes Board of Education on the second day of March, 2026 at 6:33 as follows. The board shall recess into close session in accordance with the open public

003meeting law NJSA 10 col4-12B1267 and8 the general nature of the discussion including uh matters of personal confidentiality rights including but not limited to staff and/or student discipline matters and specifically legal matters. These matters will be disclosed to the public as soon as the need for confidentiality no longer applies although the board cannot guarantee it. The length of the executive session is estimated to be 90 minutes after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business. Action may take place and this resolution shall take effect immediately. So we'll be back in a little bit. We'll come out and get you one by one. >> Okay guys, are we ready to get started? Is it okay? Y >> because we have to come out of executive session and then start the meeting. Okay.

004So, thank you for being here. >> Here we go. >> Um, we need a motion to leave executive session. We need a first and a second. We have Dr. Hersshfeld and we have Mrs. Parker. Thank you very much. All in favor say I. >> I. And the board returns to public session at 8:03. Thank you so much for all of you being here. This is absolutely wonderful to look out and see so many people. we respect, we admire, we're excited about, proud of. This is a wonderful night. So, thank you for sharing this with us. We have a little bit of business we have to get through and then we're going to do something pretty great. All right. So, we have a uh report and recommendation of the superintendent. I'll turn this over to you.

005>> Yes. Sorry to delay uh the reason why most of you are here tonight, but in order for us to move forward with our business, we are going to be seeking to appoint an interim business administrator. Uh it's not Mr. Robinson who has been working with us as a consultant. Uh but the board conducted interviews and our administration over the past few weeks and we are recommending an interim BA, Mr. uh Greg Brennan. He's uh slated to work three days a week. We will continue to work with Mr. Robinson who has been a consultant through the period in which our BA left and uh we're very excited to put him at the front of the agenda. We do for business reasons need to put him first because there's other business that he's on the agenda

006for. Uh so that will be the first motion tonight and then we will move on to the main event. >> Okay. Um [snorts] do you want to read the motion? >> Do you want to read the mot? Oh, I got to read. Yes. Be helpful to read the motion. Be it further resolved that the board of uh Mount Lakes Board of Education approve the administrator contract of Gregory Brennan, interim school business administrator, board secretary at a daily rate of $700 a day for three days per week uh at 6 uh FTE effective March 3rd, 2026 through June 30th, 2026. Recommended by the superintendent. >> Right. So in order to we need a first and a second. So we have Mrs. Foreman and we have Mr. Johnson. Thank you very much. Any um well, it's the

007only motion we're going to be voting on right now. Any comments or questions on this motion only? >> Roll call, please. >> Dr. Don, >> yes. >> Mrs. Foreman, >> yes. >> Dr. Hersfeld, >> yes. >> Mr. Johnson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Coarnney, >> yes. >> Mrs. Parker, >> yes. >> Dr. Sheff, >> yes. >> Dr. McIntyre, >> yes. >> Mrs. Bart, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> That's what That's a great way to start our meeting. All right. Right. So then we can move on to our second um our second motion on main event. >> Technically it's under the finance uh report here. Uh but I am uh looking forward with a great deal of excitement and a lot of humility to read the following motion. I um you know this is something I'm

008a newcomer to Mountain Lakes and it's been uh such a long tradition of success and excellence um that I have been truly honored to be part of only for two years. And I had an opportunity to talk to coach Flynn a few times and I said, uh, I have to make a lot of hard decisions or be part of a lot of hard decisions. This is the easiest decision I've ever been part of. So, um, tonight is for him, uh, for the district to honor him. And I'm going to leave it at that. I will read the motion and then we will have a few comments. So, number 1B, school facility naming. Be it resolved that the Mountain Lakes Board of Education recognizes the significance of naming district facilities in a manner that reflects the

009values and history of the community and honors individuals or contributions that have significantly impacted the district. And whereas the Mountain Lakes Board of Education has followed the district's policies and procedures for facility naming in accordance with board policy 7250, school and facility names. And whereas the co-curricular committee has submitted its recommendation to the Mountain Lakes Board of Education for naming the newly renovated turf athletic field slightly delayed located on the Mountain Lakes School District campus as Flynn Field based on the honores contributions to the district and community. And whereas the Mountain Lakes Board of Education finds that the name Flynfield best represents the contributions of Timothy P. Flynn and exemplifies the spirit and values of the Mountain Lake School District. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Mountain Lakes Board of Education that the new

010athletic field located on the Mountain Lake School District campus is hereby officially named Flynn Field. This official naming shall take effect immediately upon adoption of this resolution. District staff is directed to take all necessary steps to implement the approved name, including but not limited to signage, communication, and any dedication ceremonies deemed appropriate. I think we should have the official vote and then maybe some comments to say. So, we need a first and a second. We have Dr. Hersshfeld and Mrs. Foreman. Thank you very much. Um, any Why don't we vote and then we'll do comments after. Is that all right? So, roll call, please. >> Dr. Don, >> yes. >> Mrs. Foreman, >> yes. >> Dr. Hersshfeld, >> yes. >> Mr. Johnson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Coy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Parker, >> yes. >>

011Dr. Chef, >> yes. >> Dr. Silva McIntyre, >> yes. >> Mrs. Barkasquez, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> All right. I I do have some comments, but why don't we take a minute? [applause] Before I I make some remarks, is there any board member that wants to say something? Mrs. Foreman, >> I just want to say Coach Flynn and Mrs. Flynn. Betsy, I hate calling you that because it makes me feel like I I'm not supposed to call a grown-up Betsy. But um I just wanted to say that on behalf of our facilities committee who I promise you we've been doing everything the Lord's work to try to make the snow melt. I swear to you. Um, and also I [snorts] want to shout out our amazing um, facilities and grounds crew and everyone here

012who has been working around the clock to get the field finished that we are just so excited and so honored to be able to name it after someone who has had such an inspirational and just amazing, you know, impact on generations of kids in Mountain Lakes. Your family is part of the Mountain Lakes family. There's no other way to describe it. And not just the kids here tonight, but all of the kids that are going to get to use that field who might be in kindergarten now, might be here for a long time. They're always going to know that it was Flynfield. And so we are so excited and honored to be able to honor you and and also Betsy Mrs. Flynn. [laughter] All right. [applause] >> Any other board member? Okay, I have a

013few things to say to the Laker Lacrosse family, the Mountain Lakes School community, and the town of Mountain Lakes. Tonight, the board of education has the opportunity to honor a man whose name has become synonymous with excellence, tradition, service, and Laker pride. Coach Tim Flynn. For nearly five decades, Tim Flynn has been the architect and leader of one of the most respected and successful high school lacrosse programs in the United States. When he was hired in 1979 as the very first head boys lacrosse coach, he was not just taking over a team. He was building a program from the ground up. What began as a new sport in a small group one public school has become under his leadership a nationally recognized powerhouse. As we enter the 2026 season, Coach Flynn has led Mountain Lakes

014to 759 wins, which places him second among the all-time winningest high school lacrosse coaches in America. And only 88 wins I know. only 88 wins away from being the winningest coach in high school lacrosse history. Right. Our teams under coach Flynn have posted an extraordinary winning percentage of 82.5%. Secured nine New Jersey state championships, 14 Mars County titles, and 24 division crowns, consistently competing against the largest and most elite public and private high school programs in New Jersey. I'll just say stay public to that one. Mountain Lakes Lacrosse is not just a high school program. It is a townwide tradition, multi-generational commitment built on shared standards, shared values, and shared Laker pride. >> [snorts] >> Each high school season begins with the fun run and the all together practice where players from grades 2 through

01512 run and play together. Bonded by a shared love of lacrosse and the common purpose of competing with integrity, giving your best, putting the team first, and yeah, winning. That seamless connection from youth to high school did not happen by accident. It was shaped by countless coaches and parents and volunteers and visionaries like Dick Shrivever, John Walters, Ken White who established the feeder program that still fuels the high school's success today. And it's been sustained year after year by volunteer coaches and administrators who guided by Coach Flynn continue to uphold that standard of excellence. Under coach Flynn, Mountain Lakes has earned a national reputation for developing strong, smart, tough players who know how to win, but win the right way. This program has produced not only championship teams, but exceptional people. Over the years, hundreds

016of players have gone on to play in college with 30 Mountain Lakes alumni having gone on to become college all-Americans. They have carried the Laker spirit of toughness, of discipline, and of integrity to the next level. I always say it takes a little more to be a Laker. Well, takes a little more to be a lacrosse player under Coach Flynn. Coach Flynn's impact reaches far beyond Mount Lakes. He's represented the United States on the world stage, serving as an assistant coach for the USA19 team that won a world championship in 2008 and then later as the head coach of the 2012 team world championship team. His leadership, his mentorship, and lacrosse IQ are respected throughout New Jersey, across the country, and around the world. It is no surprise that his extraordinary career has been recognized

017through inductions in the New Jersey Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame, the Montlair State College Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and the NJSIAA Coaches Hall of Fame, along with numerous coaches of the year, Distinguished Service, and Sportsmanship Awards. But what makes Coach Flynn truly extraordinary is not just the trophies or the wins. It's the community he's built both as a coach and a longtime educator in Mount Lakes High School. [clears throat] As the mother of three sons who were lucky enough to play for Coach Flynn, I've seen this firsthand. I am certain that if you asked him, he would say his greatest accomplishments are not the championships, not the plaques. What he values most are those relationships, the players he's coached, the families he's embraced, and the families he's allowed to embrace him, the generations of Lakers

018who still support one another here and at home, and even those who are far. He's built a culture where young athletes compete fiercely, play with passion, and understand that they are part of something greater than themselves. Tonight, it's our honor to formally name our new turf field as Flynn Field. A particularly fitting name for a field because knowing Tim, he would say that by naming it Flynfield, it will also honor his wife Betsy. If Tim is the leader of Laker Lacrosse, Betsy's the heart. We certainly thank her and celebrate her support of Laker Lacrosse as well. With this vote, we honor a man who has created and shaped a legendary program, has impacted our Mountain Lake school community in the best way, and most of all has positively influenced literally thousands of Lakers. Please join

019me in celebrating Tim Flynn. [applause] It was said that there might be people who want to say something or even Mr. Flynn, I don't know. But um we'll go a little off the rules and allow that if somebody would like to say something or not because we do have cake. [laughter] Okay, Mr. Tim Flame, [applause] >> thank you all for being here. Um, this is a tremendous honor for my family. I'm humbled by this motion and I [snorts] want the Mountain Lakes community to know how much Betsy Kim and I [snorts] and the entire Flynn family appreciate this. I was on the phone with my brother this afternoon. He's coming through the coming through the phone at me. He's not that much an animated person, but he was he was pretty psyched as we all

020are. [laughter] I want to thank Dr. Seagull, Joanne Barcowskis, Sarah Foreman, and every board member because I know this was a team effort uh who have worked so hard to make this a reality. [snorts] Daryl and Mark and all the other coaches have talked about this dream for years. [snorts] Thanks to George Helme, Jamie Rogers, Daryl, Ryan Dunn, uh, and Kevin Wallace who pushed this through, helped push this through, helped you guys do this. [snorts] Within our program, we discuss dreams and family every day and every year. Well, you all have all have fulfilled a dream that we were not sure would ever be realized. We've been talking about this for about 35 years. Figured that out. [snorts] Naming it Flintfield is a dream we never even knew we had. So, thank you. You have

021provided an [snorts] honor for my family that is permanent and that every Flynn is appreciative of appreciative of. [snorts] And to have Flynfield right next to Wilkinsfield is so special and it fulfills another dream that I did not know I had. So, thank [snorts] you again. I cannot accept this recognition alone. family. Our program is built on that word and it has always been our strength. The Flynn family is being recognized, but our Laker family must be noted and thanked. Every lacrosse family from 1979 to present. [snorts] You have provided fantastic young men who have made the commitment and sacrifices needed to represent themselves, [snorts] their families, and our program in the best possible manner both on and off the field. [snorts] And they do that almost all the time, which is nice. Uh, all

022of our lacrosse families support us. They [snorts] buy in and help and have been a cornerstone of anything we accomplish. Our lacrosse players and families have allowed us to compete and [snorts] taste success for 47 years. I thank you and please recognize that this field is yours. Part [snorts] of our family is our administration and staff. Kevin, Kina, Paul, Rich, Man, Jill, Dr. Seagull, and our board give us caring support and help. And it's not always an easy job. And that's recognized. I [snorts] thank you. Please recognize that this field is yours. Our coaching family beginning with her fantastic youth coaches and their families have been secret weapons since [snorts] 1980. From John Walters to Kevin Gillespie, Trobridge McIntyre, Alex Mitchell, Smith, Muty, Mike Cerwin, Connealy Cooch, Billy [snorts] Wy Castle to Santis Steinhauser and

023every youth coach who has sacrificed family time, worked very hard and helped us maintain excellence for decades. I'm also thanking our team's moms. Their contributions have been endless, thoughtful, and always timely. From Nancy Walters to Maria Cooch to Don Smith to Margo and this year's gang. [snorts] Priceless. Um, thanks to the coaches. Yeah. To the youth coaches and the moms who [snorts] always make us look good and make us look better than we are. I thank you and please recognize that this field is yours. >> [snorts] >> Thanks to our high school coaching staff. Seven guys right now and I'm [snorts] the only non-Laker. Every other all the other six coaches are alumni. They [snorts] all played their youth and high school lacrosse on the pit. Um and they know how much we needed this

024addition and uh obviously you guys made this happen. Um, I am privileged to work with this all-star crew as on a yearly basis and a [snorts] daily basis as well. Mark, Nick, Clint, Ryan, Andy, and Mike now, uh, Kenny, uh, and Al Geel, uh, Steve Felman. Um, these people, I I just have to thank you all for your expertise, your caring, your hard work, and your friendship. [snorts] This thing only succeeds because of you. And thank you guys and please recognize that this field is yours. And [snorts] lastly, but of premier importance, my family, the six, Ted [snorts] and Colin. We pulled off the amazing feat of trying to rip each other's heads off while deepening our love for one another. And now you have another place to put my ashes. [laughter] [snorts] Steve, thanks

025for being a coach that I fear and a friend that I learn from. Your support and our friendship is a treasure. Ken, our best statistician ever. That would be argumented, but not by me. A great seventh and eighth grade player here on our boys team, beating out Charlie Schelberg. A fierce opponent these last six years that that broke my heart at times, but filled in but filled it back in with pride. Dr. Flynn, glad to have you back. [laughter] Your support and love has meant everything to me, Mom, and the Mountain Lakes Cross program. [snorts] Now, every person in our program, every person in this room [snorts] knows the importance and love that my wife Betsy has provided our Laker family every day for 49 years. >> [snorts] >> Betsy has performed the wedding ceremony

026for several uh ex players [snorts] over the years is a godmother to Shay and others in in reality. She has made hundreds of blankets for players weddings and for their babies. Made 47 senior chili dinners, dozens of magic meatball dinners and hot dog dinners for dinner for 63. Not a problem for my wife. [snorts] Um, Betsy sends college cookies to recent alumni when they need a taste of home and helps them realize that they will be Lakers forever in a day. [snorts] She takes care of everything at home so I can focus. Love you, Bats. You're the absolute best. To the six, I thank you and hope you realize that this field is yours. >> [snorts] >> I will close by repeating this by repeating this community has [snorts] honored and humbled me with this

027great gesture. I pledge to utilize this field to continue to work hard and have fun to compete, strive, outwork every opponent, and outplay every opponent. That's right. I am far from done. [laughter] I cannot wait to start shoveling on Wednesday and begin practice on Monday with this talented, fun group. Let's go. [snorts] [applause] And to every single one of you, thank you. This field is ours. Thank you. [applause] >> Is Is there anyone else first out there that wants because then we have one more board member question. Anyone else? Okay. Mrs. I have one question. There's We're not supposed to do back and forth, but I'm gonna let you answer this one question. I'm sure no one will have a problem. So, I know Wilkins Field affectionately is the turf. >> So, will Finnfield be

028Flynn Field? It's like a tongue twister. Flynfield be affectionately the pit or how when you send these boys off, are you meet me at the pit or are you going to say meet me at Flynfield? coming from you. Where's What's that going to be? >> Lenfield. Let's call it. >> Give me a couple years. >> All right. All right. [laughter] Cuz I want an answer. >> Quite honestly, it'll still always be the future. >> I would have thought that. [laughter] >> All right. Would it be all right if we take a break now so maybe we can celebrate together? All right. So, is there a motion for a break? Yes. And for cake. A second for cake. So, we have Dr. Don and we have Dr. Chef. Thank you, everyone. Let's take a break. We

029need a motion to return to the meeting. We have Dr. Sheth and Mr. Johnson. Thank you very much. All in favor of returning to the meeting, say I. I. And we return back at 8:44 to our meeting. >> Um, >> we don't have a student government report this evening. And is there any Mount Lake student that would like to make a comment? Okay, then we move on to comments and requests from the MLEA co-presidents. >> Not at this time, but we're still glad you're here. Always glad when you show up. Um, then I'm going to pause and turn the meeting over to Dr. Seagull because we have a few things going on. So, Dr. Seag, >> yes, a few more things tonight. I know it's uh we lost a lot of our crowd, but still

030important business to do and I'm uh really torn with the idea of uh two individuals who have to speak who have equally long commutes home. Um, so I'm going to uh Mr. Carlson's going to set up his uh brief presentation about uh professional study group, but uh in the meantime I want to introduce uh Mr. Robinson who is our consultant who's been working with us uh for the past several months as we've transitioned as I referenced before and um although uh we haven't had a full-time VA uh it's been very active and Mr. Robinson Mr. Robinson has been critical to help us get to a point where we are uh able to move forward with a preliminary budget. Uh it is being finalized and we distributed to the board this week uh at the March

03116th meeting which is in two weeks from now we look to present uh the full budget and tonight I think it's critical as we look ahead at that presentation to get some key highlights. Mr. Robinson's here and I think um our our finance committee later when we give our report will also be able to weigh in. Uh this is a very u difficult time for school districts to manage budgets with the incredible uh increase in healthcare costs across the state across the country and um you know thankfully we have some flexibility in how we budget um but I think we did it very wisely and under some really good direction. So Mr. Robinson will give us a few highlights about that and then on the 16th um we will do a full public presentation on

032our preliminary budget. Board members will see copies of that this week and the finance committee has been meeting every other week basically to review this information to get to the point we are today. So Mr. Robinson, if you could just do a quick update for us uh in in the seat of uh the BA report. >> Thank you. Um so just want you to know this is not something that has happened overnight. There's been many many meetings in regard to this budget. Uh administration has had multiple meetings like I said to discuss the needs of the district. We've had discussions with the finance committee members. The full board of education is going to get their budget the end of the week as we talked about. There's still many steps left and then we'll talk about

033some of the highlights. So just let you know the governor is to have her budget address on March 10th. That's been moved back. you should be the end of February. Then we are supposed to receive within 48 hours state aid numbers. I do not expect there to be an increase. I mean, there's, as you've been hearing throughout, there's uh some fiscal issues with the state of New Jersey. So, I'm hoping we at least stay flat in the preliminary budget. It is a flat state aid budget. So, if there is a change downward, that would potentially mean more of a tax impact to Mount Lakes. But, we'll see. again on March 12th what those numbers are going to be. Um there is more finance committee me meetings scheduled after today. So we're going to have that

034prior to the March 16th meeting. And again as doc uh Dr. Seagull said March 16th is scheduled board meeting. Then the calendar that's been now updated based on the governor's address being moved back. March 27th, the districts must approve a tentative budget and then by May 14th, the districts must have a public hearing adopt the budget. So those are the things on a timeline of what's going to happen. So highlights of the budget as of today. First, I want to assure you, you are not in a position that some school districts are and that there will be no reduction staff based on a cap issue. So, you're hearing throughout other school districts that they're having major issues with their budget and they're going to have to make serious uh uh decisions on what's going to

035happen with their staffing. That's not going to be the case here unless you want to do it for other reasons, but it's not based on a cap issue. There is no need for a second question. You're hearing about some some districts are talking about second questions. There are some significant cost issues and this is throughout the state, realistically even throughout the um the country. And that has to do with health insurance. Health insurance is is out of control with the cost of the the increase that you have. It's not sustainable. I don't know where he's going to where this is going to go, but last year the 34% increase and that was from the state you're in state health benefits plan. It's potentially looking at another increase that large again. Um, some of this is

036works that the state knows that it's a problem that they have actually given you a cap adjustment. So, you're usually get a 2% cap based on your district taxes based on the state the health benefits going up as much as they have. They've given you an additional $1.8 million, which is almost a 6% increase above the 2% that you're allowed to take based on the health insurance cost being so high. The biggest problem with the health insurance right now is chapter 44. That was something that was put into to uh law a couple years back. The state approved a plan thinking that it was going to save money and in return with the savings they thought they would get. They allowed there to be a reduction in contributions by staff members. Well, unfortunately, it backfired

037significantly. Um, not that this is a good thing, but what's happening here is based on the the lower um money being expended by or or being paid by staff members, they have more take-home pay. If they did not go to the chapter 44, you'd have staff members in serious pain right now with lower take-home pay because their contributions, which were at 1.35% of the cost of the health insurance plan, would have been if you have a a significant health plan, you'd be paying over $20,000 in in health insurance contributions if you never went to chapter 44. So, that does sunset in December 31st, 2027. I don't know what's going to happen with it, but again, like I said before, this is not sustainable. There's going to have to be something that happens with health insurance

038or every district in the state is going to have major issues keeping with the caps that are that are coming down the pikes. As well as taxpayers getting frustrated with the amount of money they're being asked to pay because even with these cap adjustments, it doesn't mean it's free. It means you're allowed to raise taxes by more than 2%. which is again going to backfire on on what the thought was when they put these caps in place. Other items including the draft budget, there is an additional special law enforcement officer that's in here um that's in the budget. There's an HVAC mechanic to control the significant cost of contracting HVAC services. So, that is something that will actually save you money and'll have somebody that can actually be on site when there's any HVAC problems

039that occur. um capital improvements. There are three big things in there. A new phone system, a vestibule installation, and a Kenwood radio system that is in the um draft budget. So, I'm going to say up front, this is not going to be a cheap budget, and that's what you guys going to have to decide you want to do. I I told you before you can do this within your cap and be okay with the cap with the adjustments, but these increases are going to be in the 6% range what you're looking at when this budget is complete and recommended to. That is going to be lower than other districts you're going to hear about. Like I said, we could have gone up to 8%. Based on the the um the cap adjustment as well as

040the 2% you could have been up to eight. We're not recommending to use the full cap adjustment, but I'm just saying to you up front, be prepared. This is not going to be the um the kind of budget you've probably passed in the multiple years in the in the past. So, be prepared. That's going to be coming down the pike. We talk in the 16th that you're going to be seeing some uh increases that are not been seen here in multiple years. So, that is the bad news, I guess. So, with that, I don't know if you have any questions for now. Yeah, ju just to further illustrate the the key difference. The health care costs are so so much a factor and there's so many you know factors that go into the healthcare cost

041but uh for the district uh two years ago we were in the range of I think 5.1 or 5.2 million uh for total health care cost by the district and then this year we were up to 6.6 million and then next year we're projected to be at 8.1 million. So when you look at the full like range of contributors to the budget, you know, this is the reason and I do think um it's important to note that while the budget increase is uh far beyond the 2% cap what has been previous, the reason why there is this exemption is because it is allowing districts to be sustainable. And this decision, our recommendation for the six or around 6% um because that's we're still in that area. Um it it's not just for this year, it's

042for future years uh because of um the the fact that this is not going to be fixed this year um the healthc care situation. Uh so we have to be able to be wise in how we look not just at this year's budget but also future years. But the board will receive uh the full budget uh report this week. uh we we did the finance committee was really critical in helping us to look through uh possible uh our revenue side and we do have many components that go into our revenue as well as the appropriations. Um we're you know this officer is something that we feel that we need uh to continue to upgrade our security uh to make sure that we meet the demands of the community and of our schools. It is a

043minimal cost, but it is a critical addition. That is the only personnel addition that is put forward in the budget. Um, and the capital projects that Mr. Robinson talked about are uh have been planned through our long-range facilities plan and are part of our reserves. >> Dr. McIntyre, >> I just wanted to thank Mr. Robinson and let the committee know and the community know that in his short time here he's gotten up to speed and I feel very confident in his um knowledge of our budget we have unique [snorts] revenue streams tuition students lake drive the township center um that are added complex comp complexities and um I think I can speak for the finance committee that we feel very confident in his knowledge of of how this all comes together and um his experience

044in other districts um effects of the healthcare increases that he explained and we're grappling with, you know, how much of the labor we're going to use that we're entitled to. Those discussions are still ongoing. Um, but we really appreciate your work and and how you've helped us steer this process without a full-time VA. So, thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> And like I said before, this health insurance thing is not just in Mountain Lakes. This is all over the state, all over the country. Something's going to have to give, but it cannot continue to go this way. So I don't know how they're going to fix it, but they have to do something. >> Yes, Dr. Sh. >> Um I remember last year's discussion we had healthcare, transportation, and utility. Are the other

045two also increasing costs or >> not nearly at the impact? >> Oh, okay. >> Utility and what was the other? >> Uh transportation. Well, I think yes, there they have increases, but in terms of what like proportion of the budget do they comprise relative, it's not nearly as much. And our transportation costs while they are increasing, you know, our transportation, the amount of transportation that we have compared to other districts is not nearly as much. >> Okay. >> So, the health care costs are really the biggest factor. >> Okay. >> Transportation, I can tell you that was the co definitely had some issues with transportation. That was definitely a big reason and drivers cost and expenses for that that has calmed down. >> So again, really the biggest obstacle you have right now still is

046health insurance. >> Thank you, >> Mrs. Parker. And then I'll get over there. >> I just have a you kind of answered it, so I put my hand down and then I I kind of want clarification. Um, when you're talking about the healthcare costs, you mentioned something about a program that New Jersey approved causing issues, but then you said it's countrywide. Are our issues in New Jersey different or is just the entire country healthcare has gone up and that's it or are we specific? >> It's it's a combination. So what's happening all around the country you hear about health insurance costs are going up? >> Always >> the problem that chapter 44 did is that there's much more of a burden on the school district than there was on the staff members. >> So that's

047in New Jersey specific. >> That's New Jersey chapter 44. >> Okay. Okay. >> When it was a chapter 78, you had to pay up to meaning at the premium went up X, you paid a percentage of that premium. So 30 up to 35% based on your salary. Now you just pay a percentage of your salary. So the costs go up 100%. You're still only presenting a percentage of your salary, which is a lot different than a percentage of the health cost. So I that clearly is something that's going to be have to be reviewed when it sunsets because that's absolutely failed. It's a big failure for chapter 44. >> Dr. McIntyre, just >> I just wanted to add one more comment that um there is a precedent for this situation, though not to the scale.

048Um I think of the last five years I've been on the finance committee. Um this is the third where we've had we've been eligible for a healthcare waiver. Um and each time we have not taken the full amount and it looks like that is similar to what we're going to end up at this time. Um just um to to I guess to to add to that this while this budget there are pieces of the budget that we're being very thoughtful about and and approaching with great seriousness for our town and our taxpayers without question. um to not find ourselves in the same circumstances as so many other very good school districts really is a testimony [snorts] to our leadership, our finance committee and your professional knowledge. I mean, this is not an easy uh needle

049to thread at at all. But this is a it's it's not just one year of of good work that's gotten us here. I really want to acknowledge it's been many years of leadership and knowledge and collaboration. the fact that you're um really coming in and helping us at this time. We're very grateful. This is this is difficult and I think we're going to be able to explain that to our town well that this is actually a a better circumstance than so many are finding themselves in. We're making commitments to our students. We're making commitments to our staff. We're making commitments to our school district through these choices. So, thank you collectively, even though they're very hard, thank you for what you're doing. You know, I'm gonna add on to that. Sorry, but >> you just

050came in like recently and we we had a BA and we had another one and and the super, but this has been years of our financing committee and I just think sometimes people don't realize how much work on the board and I am not on finance and never will be. I promise you. Um, but our finance committee, which I'm going to get, I know Lauren, I know Sarah's on it, I know James is on it, and I'm missing one other person. >> Aru is on it. The work that they do, I actually think it's one of the trickiest committees, and I just applaud you all. It's it's it's a lot of work and, you know, you've come in and worked with them and Dr. Seagull has come in and worked with them and you know

051I know R you came in this year but the three of you guys have been doing this for a couple years and it's it's been a lot of work. >> I say this I've done I've been a BA for 30 years. This is probably the most knowledgeable finance committee I've ever worked with and I'll tell you that with confidence. I could say that. So >> so well done. >> That's awesome. >> And I do Dr. McIntyre attribute a lot a lot of that to you. You guys are great. But I am going to give Dr. McIntyre a dear leader. >> Good partners. good leader on this one. >> Any other questions or comments here? >> All right. Thank you very very much. >> See you on the 16th. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Safe drive

052home. >> Safe drive. >> All right. I still give the meeting over to Dr. Seagull. >> All right, Mr. Carlson. Um I I I did the miles in my head. He he had a little bit longer than you. [laughter] >> He lives in Marbo. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. >> But uh tonight we're we're jumping all over. Uh we got a new interim BA. We got this amazing lacrosse celebration. We have some mixed news on the budget. And then um we have a lot of anxiety. So this really uh is fitting. And Mr. Carlson has been invited uh today to uh share not just uh what he did with uh a text the anxious generation which by Jonathan height um New York Times bestseller. It's up there. but a book that uh I think it's

053important that people know here at the board level that this book is widely read in our community in every community. It's it's a book that uh people are talking about. But um really what Mr. Carlson I also wanted to talk about tonight is his efforts towards a professional book study and how he united staff and parents uh and our HSA to come around to have uh a book study which I think was a very unique uh way of doing this. And this is not the first time he's done it. He did a professional book study last year and I think it's another way in which Mr. Carlson uh brings community together uh through the study of different ideas. So he's going to uh I think have a short presentation just share some of the work

054and thank you again and thank you Dr. Seagull. Yes, this actually was the second book. Um we did the comfort crisis the year before and this this year we did a little bit different uh with our structure. Uh but yeah, this uh the anxious generation um and uh I'll take you a little I don't know if you've read the book uh or I think most people have heard of the book um but it was chosen um by uh more came up in discussion with our home and school association and we looked at a few different books and and this one was overwhelmingly one that people wanted to study. So, it is about uh the increase in anxiety and depression within our youth. And um I'm not going to go into all the ins and outs

055of the books, but in in uh Hate's mind, it's he calls it the great rewiring of childhood and the impact of devices and social media and the internet um and rewiring our kids' brains. Uh so, uh that's that's kind of the angle that he takes in it. And then uh he gives um a lot of data to back up his his opinions and um he will then give you uh some suggestions or ideas ways that you can uh address and he has very strong opinions. Um so the mental health has collapsed. There's no doubt on that. Uh there's certainly don't no doubt in my mind as administrator the significant increase we've seen with kids dealing with depression with mental health issues uh significant rise in anxiety and uh we are seeing a significant it's probably

056even beyond that word now of diagnoses of ADHD and um he will also argue that there's that's part of it with kids being on devices that we're seeing that impact as well. So again, why did I decide to do it? Um there's a lot of reasons. Uh I wanted to as as a parent myself, uh I felt it was something I wanted to read and we did it the year before with the comfort crisis. That was a book I felt was um relevant to raising children and and and educating our youth. So uh in conjunction with the home and school we uh kind of came up with a do a book study and um I want to thank them for their support. Uh we did the comfort crisis that was kind of uh a home

057and school joint venture as well. When we did that that was done um during the school day we met with teachers were a part of it. Uh parents came in some administrators joined us. This year we decided to kind of not do that because it was hard for people's schedules and uh we we planned to meet twice, but because of conflicting schedules and and trying to get more people, it ended up being kind of a one-time meeting uh as opposed to what we've done in the past. So, um, I've kind of talked a little bit about that parental engagement and partnership. That was really also part of it. Not not just to to brainstorm ways to to help our our students and to help our children, but also uh to show that we are on

058the same team that, you know, we're this is a partnership that we we can't uh just educate your your students or your children and our students and do it in silos. We we have to do it together. Um, and uh, if it's not us, I kind of say this all the time to our staff, who else is going to do this work? You know, if we're not working with parents, uh, parents around an island, families around an island, there has to be that connection with the schools. And, uh, so that was really, uh, a big angle, too. Um, we wanted, uh, parents to understand and for kids that digital mistakes can be permanent. So, we really want to get that message out because if parents understand that, then um and get their kids to to

059have better habits when they're younger. Hopefully, less mistakes, less uh really big mistakes will be made. We also were seeing an increase not just in anxiety and depression, but also in conflicts in school. And a lot of it traces back to um what they're doing online, even in the middle school level. The high school obviously has is is different as kids are older, but even in the middle school, we were seeing a lot of conflicts and being fueled on social media. So, from our study, what were some of our takeaways? Key takeaways. Um, unfortunately, this was a little less than we had the year before. We only had 18 parents participate. Uh, we were hoping to get more. I think I think a lot of people read the book, but some just were not able

060to join us for the book study. It is difficult. As I said, if we try and do it during the day, I can get more staff involved, but parents that are working can't make it. If I do it after school, I might get more parents depending on the time, but I'm going to lose some staff. If I do it at night, I might get some parents, but they they're bringing their kids to different events. It was just really a struggle. We went back and forth what was the best way to to try and engage the most parents. Um, but we got 18 parents uh to participate in our discussion. Again, we had to move the the sessions a few times because of uh just everyone's schedules and conflicts. Uh some things that came out of

061it, um we talked about doing a 48 hour challenge and encouraging kids and families to put their devices away for 48 hours. Um, right around that time, my old um my second oldest son inadvertently left his cell phone on the on the hood of his or on the top of his friend's car and I had just bought him the phone 3 weeks ago. Um, do >> we found the phone quarter mile down the road and it was still fixable, but he was going to be without his phone for a few days. A day and a half into that, he came to my wife and he said, "I feel better." and he goes, "I didn't even feel bad because he didn't have his notifications going." He recognized it himself as a 17-year-old that the notifications were

062not going off and he had nothing to grab and all of a sudden he just started to do other things. So, that was telling to me. I said, "You know what? A 48 hour challenge would be great." Uh, and we talked about it as a group of of parents trying to find the best time and best way to encourage families to to take 48 hours away from from their devices. uh or something such as a wellness weekend. Uh we've brainstormed uh ways to get opportunities for non-device socialization outside of school, maybe even creating an anti-screen club. Um and then trying to run more parent programs um to try and we brought in um Tim Shoemaker this year and um Tom Rich recently. Um, I think in my debrief with home and school, we're hoping for

063a little bit more out of Detective Rich than than that presentation brought. But nonetheless, we still got a lot of parents that night. We had I want to say we had over 70 parents come uh to that event. So that tells me that they're they're out there that they want to be engaged. There's a lot of Wildwood parents, which was nice. Um, so uh but that came out of that came out of our book study. Um, and I thought that was great. uh you're probably familiar with uh at a at the state level we now have the legislation for internet enabled devices that we'll be implementing uh we will have to implement in the in uh September. So I know we're as an administration we're looking at ways how to not just meet the requirement

064but also provide the best environment for for all of our students to learn. So that's kind of a a little review of a book study. Any questions? >> Any board member have a question or a comment? >> Yeah, >> Dr. Chef, >> thank you for your presentation. I was actually really looking forward to hearing your talk. Um, I was at the Tom Rich presentation even though that's my youngest. She's in high school and past the age where she would listen to me. Um, couple of questions for you just because I'm reflecting back on when my kids were in middle school. How much of a problem are the parents aware? you know, because when I when I see my kid, it's it's just my kid. I don't think of it as all of the kids. So,

065do you think there's an issue where you're seeing it, but do parents see it? You know, like I don't know how much feedback you get, you know, because I was aware of that homeless school was doing it, so I went. But I kind of wondered if the middle school parents are aware this is the issue you see, therefore they should go to these presentations, go to your book club. Does that does that make sense? >> Yeah. No, I mean I I can't say for sure, but I know we try to communicate out on the Friday flash. Okay. You know, I I try to share things out. If there's things that happen in the news, I'll share them out or every once in a while I'll share an article if I felt it was helpful. >>

066I mean, I always loved your Friday. I just wonder like cuz you know you only see your own view and you we're not all parents are not always talking about how this kid and that kid in our own home is doing compared to their peers. >> So I wouldn't have been aware of it if if I hadn't you know >> I want to say the biggest struggle in talking with parents is trying to >> if you have kids you've probably heard this before you're the only parent that makes me do this. You know none of my friends have to do this. you know that that line. So that is quite common and parents think, "Oh, I don't want my kid to be the only one without a phone or I don't want my kid to

067be the only one without Snapchat." Um, but that's not the case. And I think if if more parents were communicating with each other and they, >> lack of a better word, formed alliances and said, "Hey, you know what?" or a pact, you know, we'll, you know, we're going to hold to this um or we'll we'll limit our, you know, our um you know, child's access to social media or, you know, the time frame or put restrictions in. >> Yeah, >> I I think that would be better if parents were communicating with each other on that. >> I do share out suggestions to families and and try to give best practices, but >> Right. You can only do so much, right? >> Yep. >> Yeah. You keep beating the drum. keeps, you know, hopefully, you know,

068>> it'll get through. >> Thank you, >> Mrs. Parker. Um, >> can you go back one slide because I don't remember what you called it. >> Anti-screen club. What does that mean? >> I think that was it came up in our conversation like an afterchool club where they're just not on on gaming, they're not on computers, they're not on devices. Um just something that >> isn't it called sports? >> It could be. >> Um >> just like I mean if you go to sports after school or music or acting theater >> aren't they up and not aren't their phones away? I know if my kids is are on well if my kids are on the field their phones are not they're not on their phones. >> Correct. Um, if they're they didn't do theater. If

069they're in theater, I don't know the answer to that. If they're in music, I assume they're holding their music instrument and not their phone. >> Um, I I don't I don't know. >> Yeah. I I think some some parents that part of that discussion, if I can remember back, was that not every kid does sports, not every kid's doing music. No, but that's why I said like music, theater, sports, there could be art and and I suppose that would be up to the the person and I'm not going to say teacher because they're not always teachers running the extracurricular activities that they could be an outside person coming in, but up to that person running it. I assume the legislation will not does not extend to school sponsored extracurricular activities. Um, >> it can >>

070it it can, but the minimum is belt to belt. So we >> Okay. Yeah. >> So that's that's I mean I'm just >> So I I just feel [snorts] like I I appreciate the anti-screen clubs and I I don't have problem with that. I just feel like those already exist and >> there's quite a few of them [snorts] because I think they that you just can't have electronics when you're throwing a football or hitting a baseball or whatever you're doing. I mean or drawing something or playing an instrument or acting on stage covers quite a bit. [snorts] >> Anyone else? >> Just one point. I think while screens are a major focus, the other half of the argument from the book is about um the overp protection in the physical world. It's the paradox of

071the underproduction in the virtual world and overp protection in the physical world. And I do think, you know, that was a key part of his giving kids more freedom and independence to, you know, be to make mistakes outside in the physical world, socially and also in the environment. And that that did resonate with a lot of the parents too. >> Also the also the parent parental overreach. >> Yeah. >> In the physical world, parents feel like they need to like mitigate all crises now. There's no more kids working it out and figuring it out on their own. It's parent driven [snorts] and parent led and almost like parents fighting with parents instead of kids working out. >> Kids could fight with each other and then two minutes later >> be best friends. >> Yeah. Right.

072Exactly. There's like a >> I can say >> there's like a whole like >> parent of the book. I'm saying this whole idea of parents >> almost relitigating their own childhood >> in in their own children's activities. It's very I thought it was an interesting book. I read >> Yeah, >> he has a lot of data, you know, he's not shooting from the hip. He backs it he backs it up with >> Yeah, >> it's a lot of saying no. >> Yeah, >> his data is you just need to say no. And I support that. But that's my personal opinion. >> Mr. Carl, may I also just say one other point? I I really so appreciate that you came up with um not just a book that's so relevant, a topic that's so relevant, but

073a way to encourage parents to become our partners to bring them into that process and have those conversations I think as a a leader in your school to have that opportunity I think is is really important and significant. So, not only am I really impressed by the book and I know it's how valuable it is, I just really appreciate the the format you used and the way you provided that that real um partnership with parents. So, sincerely for that. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you. >> Did it get advertisement in Wildwood? >> Oh, yeah. >> Yes. Yeah. >> A lot. [laughter] because it just that's I think I'm going with what you said was like did was there enough >> information out there for people and I get people are really busy. >>

074Yeah, it's a it's a struggle. It's a balance. Um we felt we gave him the summer to read it. >> More people have more time to read over the summer. >> Great. >> Um >> so I've got to start looking at another book. Um >> can I make a suggestion? >> Yeah, sure. If you have an audio book, you'll get >> I love audio books. So, I'm just saying [laughter] >> it might be. >> No, they're helpful. >> You could do the dishes. >> All right. >> I listen to them in the car, too. >> Say thank you to >> to All right. We know you have a long drive, so thank you for waiting. Thank you so much. >> All right. Okay, then if we carry on a little bit, um I will let

075my remarks my previous remarks stand as my president's report uh to the superintendent. Is there a superintendent, assistant superintendent update? >> No. Okay. Um we had enough >> and and and there's no more BA update. >> Okay, no problem. Um approval of minutes. We're down to that part of the agenda. Uh we do have just one to approve on February 2nd. I need a first and a second. So, we can move those minutes. We have Dr. Sheth over there. We have Mrs. Foreman. Thank you very much. Um, we have regular and executive session minutes. You can vote yes. You can vote no. You can abstain on these. So, all in favor of voting yes, please signify by raising your hand. >> Anybody voting no on the regular or executive minutes? >> How about anybody abstaining?

076>> Dr. Don is our only abstension. Everyone else was a yes. Thank you very much. All right, then we move on. Any communications at this time? All right, we're on to the boot township report. >> All right, I'll keep it quick. >> Johnson, >> uh Mrs. Morgan Roth, our vice principal, gave an update at our last meeting uh on our return to intervention program, uh response to intervention program, sorry, and provided a deep dive into three tiers of support, which is part of the MTSS. Um and the other big update we had is we had a special meeting to discuss the potential referendum with the community. We're looking at two parts of the referendum. An infrastructure component to address aging infrastructure in addition to an educational component to modernize the school spaces for things like

077small group instruction. So, more to come, but we're in an active engagement with the community at this point. >> Thank you. Comments or questions there? >> I have one. >> Yeah, sure. >> I'm glad you're on facilities because you're just going to have so much information these things and you're going to be able to say to them, "Oh, yeah. Have you thought about this?" Because there's consider >> [laughter] >> I was on facilities in Bhin Township as well before too. So we have I have some experience you know >> you know multiple layers of facilities here. So you get like a lot of facility trial by fires. >> No it'll be good. Thank you. >> Quick question. I know I know you said this. I just forgot. When are you looking to approve the referendum?

078>> We are looking to hold the uh election in November. >> Okay. But we're not held to that date. If it doesn't work out and we don't think it's right, we'll push back. But we're targeting November. >> Okay. Great. Any other comments or questions? Thank you, Mr. Johnson. All right, then we get to move on to committee and liaison reports. Let's begin with committee reports. Is there anyone that has report? Mrs. Foreman. >> Very briefly. >> Go. Um, we are approving a bunch of facilities usage tonight. Um, we went over this very briefly um in our committee meeting two committee meetings ago. Um, I just want to say we will have a full committee report from this most recent facilities meeting at the next board meeting. It's just we have too much in slate. So,

079we'll just do it at the next one. Um, just I want everybody just to be aware that we are holding to the payment schedule for the different classes of field use. In case anybody looks at that column and is like, "What is a class three field?" You know, just come talk to Lauren or come talk to me and we're happy to fill you in on what that refers to. But we'll do a full debriefing at the next meeting. >> Comments or questions there? >> How about another committee report? Dr. Sheth. >> Um the special ed student services had a meeting on February 11th. Mr. Surles uh spoke to the committee and gave an update on the evaluation of social emotional learning programs. Um he we currently use the castle framework uh which is a nationally

080recognized gold standard for school social emotional learning models. Um Mr. Souls presented on five different organizations that are outside of the school that could fit our SEAL needs. Um since the meeting concluded the district started training and agreed to a one-year contract for Panorama. Panorama specializes in SEAL, student evaluation, data analysis, and target instruction counseling support. There's a lot of data with this one, which I I think we the committee really liked. Um, it also provides online materials with the support of consultants to help customize student evaluations with a lot of analytical tools. This is just one of the models. The committee hasn't decided if there will be another one. And I think once we get feedback from Mr. Sles and uh the other admin, we'll get an idea of what what to approve. >>

081Great. Thank you. >> Comments or questions there? >> Another committee with policy. >> M Carney. >> Okay. Um we met on February 20th. Um it was myself, Mrs. Parker, Dr. Sheepf, and of course Dr. Seagull and Julie was nice enough to help us take notes. Um we had quite a few discussions. Um I'll just kind of go through very high level. One is um new policy that Phil Murphy passed right before he left office around ebikes. um and the usage of ebikes and it's pretty restrictive from what I gather it's one of the more restrictive policies I think maybe in the country um which basically says that anyone under 15 cannot ride either a class 2 bike which is a bike which is motorized or a cla and and can go up to 20 miles

082an hour or a class 3 bike which has pedals and is motorized and can go up to 30 miles an hour. So under 15 it's restricted. Um, and so the question now is how do we deal with that in our school district? And so we just sort of had a discussion about how do we a accommodate the bikes that we have? Um, you know, how do we monitor this because this is going to end up being like who's going to monitor whether the kid is wearing a helmet and has that should not be on the school district. Um, so there's some discussion about involving obviously the Mountain Lakes Police Department and how that's going to unfold. Um, will be something that I think Dr. Seagull either you're prepared to talk about today or at a

083future meeting I would say. Right. [sighs] >> Yeah. Um, yeah, we have to first of all this hasn't really the guidance hasn't been come given to the school yet about the ebikes, but the law is in place that restricts by age. So we have um look forward to having a shared service meeting uh on the calendar with our our bureau officials. Uh and this is definitely on the agenda. >> Um the other update is regarding cell phone policy and I think um Dr. Mr. Carlson alluded to that a little bit is um obviously we had a policy that we had put in place. Now we have a more restrictive policy which is going to be and it's a law so we have no choice but to follow it and it's going to require us all

084students from belt to belt so no no cell phone usage whatsoever and so we had a lot of discussion about you know which kids and which grades it's going to impact the most right so we kind of said for freshmen that are coming into the high school they're coming from Brier cliff so they're sort of used to putting their phones away and not having them so they should not have a hard time dealing with this. It's really those middle two years. It's the the sophomores and the juniors that are going to struggle with this the most. Um and so I think um I agree and I think the committee agreed with Dr. Seagull's plan which is to have the superintendent come up with how they're how it best is implemented in the school like you

085know is it going to be the sleeve again? Is it going to be locked in? Are we going to use lockers as they do in Briar Cliff? that seemed like an option, but we sort of like talked about it and then tabled it all till we have um um someone from the administration come and sort of put forth a proposal that makes sense whether it's Mr. Lingi or or whoever. Um so that was the other big conversation and then the third one which is an ongoing conversation is around artificial intelligence and especially generative AI and and you know not only to use what makes sense for students because it's here like whether we like it or not it's here and so how do we best work with and so I mean there is a policy

086that we have not created but adopted from like what other school districts are doing because obviously everyone's is grappling with this and it's something that we're sort of working on. The technology um department I think or the committee will be meeting next week to review some of the recommendations for the policy and really the policy and I think um one of the I think Dr. Chef actually brought up a good point is it's not just for the students but also for the staff >> because there's a lot of inconsistencies around how AI is being used today. Um so lots of meaty meaty topics and so Mr. Santos will attend our March policy committee meeting and review and discuss sort of some of the policy recommendations and then we'll come back out and um present them

087to all. >> Thank you. >> There's a lot of good discussion. >> Comments or questions? Okay, Mrs. >> regarding the AI policy has Strauss Esme. Yes, >> they have. >> Yeah. So, we're looking at Strauss SMA has a policy. There are 13 different options. >> Not all they're they're not mutually exclusive like we could adopt all 13. Okay. >> So, we're evaluating all 13 options. The tech committee is giving input. The administration. >> So, you'll bring it to the committee, correct? Rather than Okay. And then, um, one other question about that. Is the stress estate, whatever policy menu you're choosing from, is that also applicative to the staff, the teachers in particular? >> Yes. >> So, it it covers both bases. >> I mean, I would say it's more student oriented, but there are definitely

088parts of it that do relate staff. >> Okay. And some of it that's just broad for like everybody in the community. >> Sure. But I'm I mean I'm >> like in what regard? >> Like grading. >> That's what I'm comments and feedback and things like that being written by a bot instead of by a human. >> Well, there's that and there's the detection of AI that is going around that seems like we talked about it in the meeting. It seems to be it's it's very um because it's new I think and it's not just here it's it's in colleges everywhere >> that they're relying on these programs or whatever that detect AI but they may not be detecting it in the right way or a a child is getting a not a child but a

089student is getting accused of using AI and they may not have. And there it's it's now becoming the burden of proof is being on the student to show you >> and they're having to literally videotape themselves doing their work to show that they are not using it >> because there's a program out there saying they're using it. And so >> it's >> yeahough it feels like it's a lot and I'm not trying to throw so much. I just was genuinely curious where strame was with it at the moment and whether or not >> the staff particularly the staff because adults you know as adults they have different we all have different as adults judgment I would say rather than a kid so like what is the parameters of judgment and how a policy could help

090drive those parameters of judgment >> and like maybe there's some times when it you know if it's like what we used to have scantron Okay, there's like some kind of scantron, >> but that's what it's kind of doing, right? A scantron. It's the writer. It's like black and white. >> It's hard to do scantron of like thoughts >> of AI, right? And and just to be like I mean I I sit in the legal world and I just wrote a memo that I gave to a client and the memo basically says that the there for example I mean just just to put this into perspective. We're trying to get schools to deal with this and something like the Securities and Exchange Commission has not dealt with this. And so meaning that it is so complex

091that rules and regulations, they're relying on rules and regulations that exist today to combat AI that is being used that's dealing with the world's money. Okay. So I mean this is this is how complex this situation is that something >> bigger than this institution isn't even able to make the law. And I know you guys are like I know in crazy thing to like have to manage as just >> well and teachers to have to manage. >> Yeah. >> And I think we're at the end of the iceberg. I honestly feel that [clears throat] way. I feel like there's so much more and and I think the the article that you had sent around to the committee. I mean I think it's actually worthwhile reading for everyone which really just talks about the speed at

092which it's changing >> and you know what we if you just log on and you just go on chat GPT I mean that's like a year old like compared to if you pay for >> claude or you know chat GPT 2.5 or whatever the new version is and you pay 20 bucks a month what you're getting from that is insanely >> advanced right so it's kind of yeah >> I don't know what to say, but I appreciate all the work you guys are doing. >> Any other comments or questions on that one? How about another committee report? Anyone else? Dr. Darn. >> Yeah. Um I have um the co-curricular committee report. So, this is a new newly formed committee. We met on February 9th. Uh it's myself, Mr. Johnson, Dr. Mc McIntyre, Mrs. Parker, and

093Dr. Seagull. Um so what we discussed in our first meeting was really um establishing a committee charter. Um and I can read these off. Um there's five to provide oversight and ensure co-curricular programs. That's boards, clubs, arts that align with the district's mission and goals. to review data policies and determine how we evolve the K through 12 co-curricular program offerings over the next few years to meet student needs. Third one is to understand the needs of coaches, advisors and other staff responsible for leading these programs whether it's materials, facility resources, budget, funding. And the fourth one is to raise awareness and inform the broader community, parents, families about these programs and to highlight the importance of these programs um for student success. The final fifth one is to champion and act um as a governance

094body that promotes and encourages well-rounded experiences for all students. The first topic that we started out was um around clubs um and Dr. Seagull suggested developing a structure and process for regular review. So, we're going to do cyclical reviews of the uh the co-curricular offerings starting with clubs and extracurricular activities. In our first meeting, he provided us with a list of um current clubs at the high school. um along with the advisors whether they're paid positions or volunteer status and the the committee reviewed and discussed this list in the in sort of looking at it from the big picture of quality, what qualifies as the most appropriate quality of the offerings um etc. And um and we're going to go do a deep dive at our next meeting which is coming up in next week

095um in looking at not just the high school but um also K through 12 uh including the younger uh grades and uh Dr. Seagull will come back to us with additional sort of requests that the committee asked about evaluation criteria how we you know select these committees come up with the clubs um etc. So we'll we'll go deeper into um that in the next meeting. Um and then um Dr. Seagull will work with the administration and advisors to conduct the first re review over the the summer time with that that evaluation criteria in mind and the log the the scope sort of the larger scope. Um and we'll do a cyclical review throughout the years. Um in addition to that so that took up majority of our uh conversation in our first meeting and then

096we also touched on scholarships and internships but that topic I know there's um you know the curriculum committee also touches on um internships um so I think that will be um a conversation that um both committees will most likely um discuss. Um Dr. Seagull talked about um introducing or seeking to introduce field-based internships for high school students. Um but that that's going to be probably a conversation through the curriculum committee. Um and in the scholarships, I know there's a discussion about streamlining the communication, being more efficient and transparent about the scholarships that are offered. Um so that was another discussion. And then the third and final uh topic was the most important as we honored um you know coach Flynn today. This um the naming of the field this came to our committee as um

097a you know a place to discuss um the the support for that. Um and so um you know just highlighting um that there was unanimous um you know support um in in having u coach Flynn and the naming of that field as uh Flynfield um that was support for that. So that was the the three topics. >> Thank you. Any comments or questions there Dr. Chef? Um so was the plan because you had talked about um regular reviews of clubs and the extracurricular activities. Are you thinking in the long run you every sport in all the schools and every club and everything is because the word everything mean everything >> extracurricular. So we started with the clubs at the high school but um you know this and this will include sports and arts. Um we

098I think this is going to take more time to um gather the data and information. It just seems there's just a lot to cover. >> That's great though. Thank you. >> Talk about the clubs of the high school. >> Okay, great. >> Trying to look at not only quality but like quantity as well. >> Yeah. Oh no, no, I understood. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a it's a good point. >> Participation. >> Yep. >> Over that period of time, too. Okay. One year into account. >> That's a that's a good >> based on that year. that's going to be over. >> Well, I didn't want to ask the criteria since I knew it's not established yet. So, but that's great. >> Thank you. >> I I do throw my two cents in. I appreciate the the

099deep dive and and sort of that critical analysis. I just remember this was a new club, so I think we're throwing a lot at Dr. Seagull as a as a new thing. So, if you need to tell us, you know, that you need more time for something, that's okay. We'll we'll work with wherever you are on these things because I know I feel like we all have been thinking about this for a while, but one night we're like, "Okay, let's add this a whole other thing." So, [clears throat] I'm just saying I I' I'm thoughtful about I know we all are. So, it's just a point to raise. If you need more time, we'll give you more time. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> All right. Who else has a committee report? Dr. McIntyre. >>

100Just so everyone knows, finance met on February 24th and we talked about all the things that we talked about with Mr. Robinson need to repeat but >> questions there comments there. >> Go finance. All right. Thank you. All right. Anybody else? >> That's it. >> Is that all of them? >> All right. How about any liaison reports? Okay, we'll move on. Then we go to the report and recommendation of the school business administrator, please. >> Yes, I'll try to go through this uh quickly. We have our under our presentation of our bills. We have all that approved for January 30th through February 26. Um our budget transfers, treasur report, board secretary report. Um and then we have some additions with uh and changes to tuition for Lake Drive both for regular students and for itinerate.

101Um professional services. We have uh just as a note um for future reference our architect which is uh Rubino Dara Dara Rabino um the name is changed to BWS it's just different name uh but this is for um an ongoing project at the high school that we have to contract with the architect to review every time the windows are replaced. Those are big projects and this is I think a six or sevenyear project. um >> they've reviewed twice already that >> yes and then um Dr. Sheth referenced uh in her report. This is for a one-year adoption. It's mid, you know, threequarters of the year away through the year, but uh to contract with Panorama Education for anCCL platform for student evaluations um and for uh instructional resources, professional development resources. And this is going

102to be split over two years of budget. Um thanks to that committee for their support for that because um that is a a much higher quality tool for us to use for us to make a final decision on our work. Uh we have a few travel um including Dr. Mr. Sesi when was Dr. receipt um for our TCJ job fair and um also we have several teachers who are getting ongoing work uh professional development with the reading writing project uh go along with our units of study. We have one donation for the class of 2026 for Briercliffe from HSA um which was already approved last year. This is the tail end of it. We have two other fundraisers um at the high school and then uh as Mrs. Foreman I think mentioned or yeah it

103was Miss Foreman. We have a lot of uh facilities usage uh and they are divided by class and um you know this is running smoothly but still to be evaluated I think um you'll see also that this encompasses a lot of the summer activity so it's pretty lengthy. Um here it goes into two pages. We have the approval under 12 uh to have uh Mr. Brennan who is uh was approved tonight as the interda to be able to do authorized signatures. Um we need a formal motion for that. So that covers all of the business finances. >> Okay, we need a first and a second to hear these motions, please. Mrs. Colarnney and Mrs. Parker, thank you very much. Any objections to hearing these motions together? Any comments or questions at this time, Mrs. Foreman?

104>> On number seven, the architects. I appreciate that they've changed their name. Um, this is like, I'm not even kidding, the third time we've been build for the windows. Like, what is going on? And why are they not able to use the previous >> because I think they're different parts of the the building that they're doing. >> Okay. So, it's like every time it's $20,000. I don't know if it's all $20,000, but I do know that it's an extensive project and I know it's for different parts of the building. So, it's not like they're repeating the same. >> The last time they did it, we also had this. So, I'm just curious why it's $60,000 for the let's say the third part, the third phase of high school window replacement. >> I will I will

105talk to Mr. Dunn and we could talk about in facilities. >> Perfect. >> Okay. Thank you. >> It's a fair question. I agree. >> Yeah. Like, >> but it is a different It's a totally different part of the building. >> I get And like if they have a legitimate and reasonable explanation for it, that's fine. But it does feel like a lot for what it is. >> Like their typical if you look at what they charged in fees for the >> [snorts] >> um vestibules. This is almost as much as what they charged in architectural fees for vestibules. >> Yeah, Mr. Dunn might be able to give us some >> I bet I >> insight into that. And if not, I think this is also could be discussed in finance. >> Yeah, that'd be great.

106Sorry, Laur >> after the budget. >> Yeah, we'll talk about it in a minute. Thank you. >> Any any other comments or questions? >> Okay, then. Roll call, please. >> Dr. Don, >> yes. >> Mrs. Foreman, >> yes. >> Dr. Hersville, >> yes. >> Mr. Johnson, >> yes. for all the high school items. >> Mrs. Karnney, >> yes. >> Mrs. Parker, >> yes. >> Dr. Chef, >> yes. >> Dr. Silva McIntyre, >> yes. >> Mrs. Barkowskis, >> yes. Motion passes. >> Terrific. We move on to the report and recommendation of the superintendent, please. >> All right. Under personnel for 1314, um I would ask uh for your patience and understanding that this is um a lot of uh content here that doesn't really mean that much. So what happened was uh we have a position

107control roster and upon doing the budget we realized that certain teachers and staff members were labeled in the wrong category and it you know it's really not that significant to those teachers or their salaries or anything but uh we need to make sure that they're labeled accurately. So you see the creation and modification of positions that is just for the purpose of moving them into it. And for some of these people they were transferred and something like it doesn't sound like significant but kindergarten is labeled budgetarily in a different category as grades 1 through five. So we had a teacher move from 1 through 5 to kindergarten. It was never reflected. So we need to get these things corrected. We did have a few teachers that were labeled uh for schools that they don't teach

108in. Definitely wanted to get those corrected. um you see that there. Uh other than that, we do have appointments um for PAR professionals, which is good because we have um been behind. We're underst staffed with our power professional staff. And then if you go to the hand carry uh we have one of the um so we to avoid messing up uh another time, we actually had to give a hand carry for one of those teachers who was labeled incorrectly on the original one. So that uh that is uh Miss Nicashian. I'm sorry for uh to Mr. Cashian. She's a very nice woman, but she's been labeled very incorrectly. Uh here we also have the appointment of um a custodian, which is good. We are underst staffed with our custodial staff and uh interviewed uh someone

109today who should be getting started soon. And then you will notice uh we have had a math position at the high school which has been covered with overages. And last week we uh conducted interviews. We had some applicants and Miss Krauss uh will be joining us back. Uh she's a former teacher here uh very recently and um looking forward to have her her come back to the high school uh to fill this position if she's approved. Oh, I got more >> leaves of absence. Um these are we have several maternity leaves here and we also have revisions. Um these were not mistakes. These are people who had to revise the dates that they were going to be out. We have uh for additional athletic services uh for here and club advisors, additional compensation for a

110lot of chaperones. We had the DECA trip which is this week, home instruction um and the eighth grade dance substitutes and volunteers. Healthy list as usual. Um we have some individuals who are coming back and doing uh like Mr. twice here doing his observation hours as part of student teaching and was a par profofessional in the district. Uh several field trips at the high school, one at Brier Cliff, one at Wildwood. We have our tuition reimbursement. And then finally, we have our second reading of board policies. These were all Strauss Esme Strauss SMA mandated policy change in the previous alert. Um and this is up for second reading. >> That is everything. >> Okay. Can I ask one question? >> We have to move them and then I open for questions. So, do you mind

111if we go through those things? >> Okay. We need a first and a second in order to hear these. So, we have Dr. Sheth and Mr. Johnson. Thank you very much. Any objections to hearing these motions together? Any comments or questions at this time? Miss Ghorn, what do you got? >> Yes. Thank you. Um, regarding um FE Krauss, so she left for how long was she out? Uh at this point it's been um almost exactly a year I think. >> So what happens to and she was tenured before she left. >> Correct. She's done. >> So when they come back it that year that she left it just wipes out. She has to start all over. >> Correct. >> Yeah. Uh from the tenure standpoint. >> From the tenure standpoint. >> Yeah. >> She has

112a lot of memories and a lot of good teaching materials. So that's not all wiped out. [laughter] No, because a lot I mean in corporate life, you know, if you leave and you come back within a year, like a lot of companies will let you continue on. >> It's not it's not a district decision. That's that's >> okay. That's what I wanted to. >> Yeah. That's not like discretion. We don't have discretion on that. >> I'm sure her step is the same rate >> where she was her step >> her step is at the same rate. Uh >> wherever she was >> 15, our guide goes up 15 points and she's on top of the guide. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Any other questions? Dr. Chef, >> can I just comment that I'm happy that she's

113back? I like her. >> She's a good teacher. >> This is like >> we're getting rid of somebody cheap and going back to expensive. >> It's all breakage. It's just the wrong direction. >> Different direction. Different direction. >> Anyone else? >> I love I just want to say one thing. I love that the policies actually called public complaints. [snorts] But yes, Dr. Hersel, >> I was just wondering the miscatategorization. Did Steve pick that up >> of the of the um the teachers? >> I was wondering that too a little bit. >> Who caught the miscarriage? >> That was you. >> Way to go, Doug. >> Well, I had to look and make sure we had all the staff accurate. So, we there there's probably a few more. These things happen. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >>

114Good catch, though. All right. Anyone else? And all the teachers who are on the agenda were informed why they're up there. So there no surprises. >> Okay, great. Okay, [cough] now can we go? >> Do they have to be riceed because they're on the agenda? >> No, that's for if it's an agenda. >> Can we just vote? Are we good? Can we vote now? >> Roll call, please. >> Dr. John, >> yes. >> Foreman, >> yes. >> Dr. Hersto, >> yes. >> Mr. Johnson, >> yes. For all items pertaining to high school. >> Mrs. Colin, >> yes. >> Mrs. Parker, >> yes. >> Dr. Chef, >> yes. >> Dr. McIntyre. >> Yes. Yes. Sorry. >> Terrific. Any unfinished business? >> Oh, you made the message. >> Any new business? >> Any pending legislation? >> Oh,

115wait. Um, >> yes, sir. >> Just under new business. Can we put a pin in the fact that we really haven't spoken about retention and we said it would be I don't know. It's part of a can. I don't know if it's particular. I don't even know which committee it's supposed to be part of, but I feel like it's not it's not being addressed. >> It was currently >> and I feel like we need to I mean I don't want to put anybody on the spot, but I'd like to circle back to this. >> Um I will not be at the next meeting. So we could in two meetings hence we can circle back to this and and because this is there's a lot of retention issues and I feel like sorry tell me >>

116um co-curricular curriculum committee did get a like five years four years of data >> right we all got that >> I thought we all got that >> we all got that okay well I thought that was a good first step >> it's a good first step but it's >> I agree with Dr. It's a good first step, but Dr. >> Can we throw this on the on the something in like two meetings? >> I do appreciate you're sticking a pin in it, but raising it as something that's important. So, thank you. >> All right. So, um, any comments or requests from members of the public? >> Okay, we do have a second executive session. So, here we go. Motion to enter executive session. We need a first and a second over here. Dr. Hersshfeld was

117our first. Who's our second? Dr. Chef, thank you very much. All in favor say I. >> I. Be it resolved that Netflix Board of Education on the second day of 2026 at 9:52 p.m. As follows, the board recess into close session in accordance with open public meeting law and DSA 10 cola 4-1267 and 8. We generally show the discussion including matters of confidentiality rights including but not limited to staff and/or student discipline matters and specifically legal matters. These matters will be disclosed to the public as soon as the need for confidentiality no longer applies. Although the board cannot guarantee it, the length of the executive session is estimated to be 60 minutes. After which the public meeting in the 60 I'm saying 60. I'M JUST SORRY. [laughter] >> I JUST SAID IT BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT

118WE NORMALLY SAY. >> PEOPLE may come back sooner. Thanks to Dr. MCINTYRE [laughter] OVER THERE. SORRY. You said but it was my gosh. Action may take place. This takes effect immediately. We have a motion to leave executive session. We have Mrs. Foreman and we have Dr. Hersshfeld. Thank you very much. All in favor say I. I. And the board returns to public session at 10:41. Um I'd like to say to the public, we were in the back debating our newest um board member and really making sure that we approach this with seriousness and with purpose. And I'm very proud of this motion now that we'll have in front of the public. So with that in mind, um our motion is to appoint our newest board member as Julia McVey. So we would need us first

119for that. He's got a first. We have Mrs. KC Carney. A second for that. We have Dr. Sheth. All in fa any comments or questions at this time? >> I have one. I have to abstain from the vote because I was at the hockey banquet. >> Thank you very much. >> Sorry about that. Apologies to everyone. >> No problem. Roll call, please. >> Yep. >> Uh, Dr. Don. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Foreman. >> A sting, which I feel like terrible saying because like it's a horrible thing and please understand that my kid. >> I just feel bad. >> Dr. Hersfeld. >> Yes. >> Mr. Johnson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Cole Carney? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Parker? >> Yes. >> Dr. Chef? >> Yes. >> Dr. Silva McIntyre? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Burke? >> Yes. Motion

120passes. >> Congratulations. And I will give her a call along with our other candidates um going forward. Yes. >> How does it work for her to like to sit on the board? Like is there >> she has to get fingerprinting. >> Oh, fingerprinted and and then she gets to or on boarding and then sworn in and then she'll be our member. Okay. Is >> she a volunteer? >> As also you should know this based on conversations with her as I said this may then incur some shuffling of committees. We'll all have to just take our new roles and be good with it. So, okay, work with me people on this one. Okay. Um, with that being said, we can have a motion to adjurnn. >> So, move. >> All right. Dr. Hersfeld, Dr. McIntyre, all

121in favor say I. I. And we adjourn at 10:43. Thank you everyone.