001allegiance Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. To my left and right, I just need to read a quick statement if I may. The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law is enacted to ensure the rights of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meeting of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provision of this act, the Cliffside Park Board of Education has posted notice of this meeting to be published by having the date, time, and place thereof posted in the office of the Board of Ed, in the offices of School Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6, and
002the high school on March 20th, 2026. This is an official meeting. I'd like to take the roll if I may. Mrs. Abreu Here. Mr. Capano >> Here. Mrs. Fredo Here. Mr. Garcia Here. Mr. LeDrew Here. Dr. Pontiliano Mr. Russo >> [applause] >> Mr. Tarabokija Here. And Mr. Yunuzzi is not here. Mr. Reinfurt, this meeting will be broken into two pieces. Uh the first piece we'll be talking about is our 2026-2027 budget. And Mr. Tarabokija, I think you have a statement. I just like to read a statement about the budget. Good evening. Good evening everybody that came to this evening's meeting and will also going to watch us live later on. I'd like to begin begin by thanking our superintendent, our assistant superintendent, our business administrator, our administration team, and my fellow board members for the
003time and effort put into developing this year's budget. This is not an easy process. With the rising cost, real financial pressures, we worked hard to balance the needs of our students with the responsibilities we have to our taxpayers. I also want to recognize our teachers and staff. What you do every day for our children is the foundation of this district and it doesn't go unnoticed. We were recently recognized by the Bergen County Office of Education for a perfect submission for something we're proud of because it reflects our commitment to doing things the right way. As both a board member and father with two children in this school system, this is personal to me. I'm not just speak I'm not speaking as an elected official. I'm speaking as a parent. I see the impact our schools
004have every day and that stays with me in every decision I make. We understand the weight of this budget. It reflects carefully, though tough, choices and commitment to doing what's right for our students and our community. I'd like [snorts] to thank everybody that assisted with this budget. That's all I have to say, Mr. Capano. Thanks, Mr. Tarabokija. Appreciate the feedback and kind words. Again, I personally my name is Lou Alfano, business administrator. I want to thank again the board, obviously the public, all staff, Mrs. Calbrese, Mr. Reinfurt, Mr. Albano, the entire business office staff. Special thank you to Mary Ann Corrarie who uh worked with me on quite a few nights and quite a few weekends. I want to thank them and I really want to thank also the mayor and his team for being
005so flexible in regard to understanding the challenging dynamics, really unique dynamics that have presented itself this year. A really unique year, so um I think what's going to come out of that this year, and we've talked with Mrs. Calbrese and Mr. Reinfurt, is that we really learned the minutia about our business and we're going to build and we have built and we're going to build even a better mousetrap moving forward. We got under the hood of a lot of different unique segments and called out some real unique opportunities. So, I think the challenges from this budget will lead us to better days moving forward, 2026-2027 and beyond. I just like to take a couple of minutes to go over just some of the key metrics that kind of make up the budget. Again, the total
006budget for 2026-2027 is approximately 70 $76 million and change. It's up about $4 million year over year. To put that in perspective, our medical and prescription went up $4 million year over year. So, our budget is up $4 million year over year and our medical and prescription went up $4 million year over year. So, you can get the message that the real challenge, the real challenging metric, was the rising cost of the medical and RX. It's been a challenge over a few years. It really raised its ugly head this year. We had a 32% increase year over year and an absolute increase of over $4 million, which challenged the budget. Um Some key line items that we look at each and every year, we look over a three-year period. Line items such as instruction, which
007includes regular and special education, teachers, extracurricular activities, athletics, really all the salaries that make up the business, we're up about >> [snorts] >> $1 million year over year and that's really driven by contractual obligations. Um Operations of the plant, which is essentially sal- salaries, supplies, outside services to maintain the buildings, it's flat year over year. Salary for technology, business office, superintendent, professional services, architect, legal, grant writer, flat year over year. Okay. Transportation costs, bus drivers, bus aides, maintaining those buses, flat year over year. And remember, our buses, our transportation business, creates revenues by taking other schools such as Palisades Park, Ridgefield, and Fairview. They piggyback on our buses to similar routes. So, we actually it's actually a revenue earning business, transportation. Those costs are flat year over year. Instructional support services such as child study
008team, OTPT, purchased professional services, that's up about $1 million year over year. Again, child study team along with prescription and medical are the two most challenging dynamics [snorts] of the business right now. You don't mind paying for child study team because it's about our kids, providing them services. What we're all struggling with is the challenge of medical and and prescription claims rising at extraordinary rates. And our grants, which is our Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV, and IDEA, they help our students with English as a second language, students that have some disabilities. They're essentially that's flat year over year. So, you can get the gist here that our our our expenses are relatively flat with the exception of some of our salaries and our child study team expenses, but really what you challenge
009the budget is the medical and the RX increase, which is $4 million year over year. Our revenues, our biggest revenue is obviously our tax levy. And the commitment that I cannot applaud the borough enough for the commitment that they made to the students of Cliffside Park School District. We had a meeting with them and Mrs. Calbrese, you were with me and they could not have been more of an advocate for us in regard to do what you need to do to make sure that staff and services to students, the core business, is not compromised. That was their exact words, Do what you have to do. We know it's going to be an impact on the taxpayer. These are extraordinary times. And do what you need to do. Again, their the mantra was do not compromise
010the integrity of staff or the students and the services provided to them. Given that, we had a approximately $3.5 million levy increase uh year over year. And what what does that mean to Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer? So, based on working with the borough, if you have an average home assessed at $360,000 to $370,000, it's going to impact the taxpayer by $270 per annum. >> [snorts] >> That's much higher than historically. But again, the reality of it is because of the extraordinary increase specifically in medical and prescription, we had to use what they call adjustments that were provided from the state. And the state took the increase of 4.2 million that we had, absolute increase, and gave us about 2.8 million back in adjustments. That adjustment is allowable above the 2% cap. What what that does
011do, it puts it impacts the task taxpayer. So, that's just the reality of the situation. The good news is we've learned a lot about our business. We've got a more efficient and effective business. And moving forward, we will feel good about that. We have optimized staff and services to the best of our ability. So, like I said, I think all the challenges that came out of this process, we've learned so much and we're going to build a better mousetrap currently and moving forward. So again, the the levy went up an absolute of $3.5 million. Again, historically, usually your levy is still up about a million and a half, plus or minus. Miscellaneous income, I mentioned [clears throat] uh we get transportation revenue for piggybacking other schools to the same routes that we go to. It's
012pretty much flat year over year. Uh tuition, essentially the majority of the tuition we get is from Fairview. >> [snorts] >> That's up about a million and a half year year over year. That's essentially a slight growth in the Fairview population in the high school, but also the rates that we are allowed to charge, they're called certified rates, have gone up year over year. And we have a new revenue stream thanks to Mrs. Calabrese, Mr. Reinfuss, and staff. It's before and after care, correct, Mr. Reinfuss? That is another tuition-based revenue. So, you can see if we got some unique revenue streams, transportation, Fairview, and now we have this before and after care. Extremely helpful. Right now, we're forecasting that the revenues will exceed the expenses twofold. So, your P&L is positive. And for a guy
013like me, that's always good. So, and it's in it's in its infancy. I think this is the first go-round, but right now we're forecasting that the revenues will exceed the expenses twofold. So, that's a unique revenue stream that we think we can build on moving forward. State aid is up about 5% year over That's been consistent over the last 2 years. Really which component of state aid that went up the most on a absolute basis, went up twofold, is our preschool education aid. We've expanded that. We've opened up the new classroom, I believe, in number three school August back in January, I believe, January 20th, plus or minus. So, we're using that to continue to expand preschool. So, we've used that money to to expand. So, it's not like we got incremental dollars and we
014put it in our pocket. We spent it on on the students. We've continued expanding services, more classrooms, and then federal aid, which uh we were concerned with because of the new regime in in Washington, we were concerned that it may be compromised some of our federal aid. The good news is we're not hearing that. We're hearing that the allotment that we usually get historically, we will continue to get in our Title I, Title II, Title III, Title IV, and IDEA money, and also our Medicaid, which essentially is special education-driven aid. It's going to be it's going to be funded. So again, those those are the dynamics. It's really the the tax levy drove the incremental revenue increase along with tuition-based opportunities. But given all of that, we still had to be very very creative in
015regard to >> [snorts] >> managing our expenses where we can get a zero-sum budget where our revenues can equal our expenses. Because the expenses, unfortunately, are growing at a far greater rate than our revenues. I wish we had better news looking forward for this time next year based on what we're hearing about medical and prescription costs, but we are not hearing that. To be open, honest, and direct, we could be in the very very same position that we are in this year. So, we'll continue to keep everyone posted, continue to try creative ways to save money without compromising staff and the services we provide to the students. That's really the bottom line, right? That's the mantra. Let's not compromise the good folks we have in place. And let's not compromise the integrity of the services
016we provide the students cuz really it's all about the students, all 3,219 of them. So, that's pretty much the overview. I think it's a good budget. I think it's my 13th year here. It's probably our most challenging budget just based on some of the headwinds. But like I said, with the help of Mrs. Calabrese, board, staff, Mr. Reinfuss, business office staff, the public, the mayor and council getting behind us, they really gave us an opportunity to succeed in creating a budget even with all these challenges that we feel is robust and will continue to provide solid services to our students. So, that's pretty much the overview. I know the board's probably tired of hearing me talk about the budget for the last 2 months, but I want to thank them again for all their support.
017Um there wasn't a lot of good news the first few weeks, but uh we took it as a challenge, everyone, and uh I think we're in a pretty good place for uh '26-'27. Thank you, Mr. Alfano. I'll make a motion to adopt it. I'll second it. Are there any Any questions? Okay. Okay, with those That was a motion from Mr. Terabokia and Mr. Garciga. Okay, just let me put that down here. >> [snorts] >> Mr. Terabokia, Mr. Garciga. Okay, we are now voting on the final budget that will be submitted tonight to the county and the state. Mrs. Abreu? Yes. Mr. Capano? Yes. Mrs. Freda? Yes. Mr. Garciga? Yes. Mr. Nadreau? Yes. Dr. Pontiliano? Yes. And I forgot to sign here. Terabokia? Yes. Okay, that is so moved. Thank you again. So, we are going
018to close this portion of the meeting and we are going to open up the our usual public consent agenda. I have to ask again, since we're closing this meeting, I have to do another roll, if that's okay with the with the board. Is this all right? We are closing the budget hearing and we are going to open the public consent agenda. So, I [clears throat] just have to take attendance, if I may, again. Mrs. Abreu? Here. Mr. Capano? Here. Mrs. Freda? Here. Mr. Garciga? Yes. Mr. Nadreau? Yes. Dr. Pontiliano? Here. And Mr. Terabokia? Here. Mr. Reinfuss? All right. Thank you, Mr. Alfano. Thank you, [clears throat] Board of Education members, um the public, students, teachers, uh Mrs. Calabrese, um and our technology department who's here um helping us live stream um tonight's board meeting. Uh
019first and foremost, I know everyone is probably tired of hearing the word budget at this point, but a huge thank you goes out to Mr. Alfano, our business administrator, um members of the office staff in um just constantly coming up with creative ways to stretch every dollar that we have available to us. So, I I'm pleased that we are at this point. Um I'd be lying if I said that this was a seamless and smooth uh process. Um sitting in on a lot of the new superintendent meetings that I'm required to attend, um it's the budget is is on everyone's mind, and it doesn't matter if you um are in this part of Bergen County or um Southern New Jersey, it it it it doesn't escape any of us. Um and I think the team
020that we have put together, the conversations that we've had, the ideas that we've thrown around, and some of the uh policies that we are looking forward to implementing in the future, um is going to make a big difference. So, whatever challenge is ahead of us, we are going to do our best um to make conscious decisions, and I'm looking forward to continuing the partnership [clears throat] that we have here. Um but again, I would be re- remiss to uh not mention the hard work of Mr. Alfano, Mrs. uh uh Mary Ann in the main in the main office, uh, Mr. Alfano, uh, sorry, Mr. um, Alben, uh, Mrs. Calabrese and the members of the Board of Education for all your support through this process. So, big thank you, uh, to each one of you here
021tonight. Um, as well as a huge thank you to the borough, uh, for the work that you have helped, um, the support that you've had with us, um, getting us through this process. And from day one, we have seen nothing but, uh, support on your end. And I know that, uh, they're seeing the challenges just as much as we are. So, we truly support the, uh, partnership that we have with the borough in moving this, um, as, as far along as we can. Uh, big thank you to the teachers. Uh, the last couple weeks, we had a couple big weeks, uh, with Read Across America in our elementary schools. We've also had wellness weeks, uh, activities happening in some of our, uh, middle schools and high schools. So, a big thank you to, uh, phys
022ed teachers and school counselors and committees within each of the schools. Um, so, it was great to get into the classrooms and read to some of the kids. I know I can, uh, speak for members of the Board of Education, other members of our administration who were present, um, in some of the classrooms the last couple weeks. It was just nice getting, um, back into those rooms, back into the schools, meeting with some of the kids, answering some of their questions. Um, so, big thank you to the staff for everything that you did with that. [clears throat] Um, I do want to note that we are looking to, um, adopt an updated calendar for 2026-2027 in, in, um, April Board of Education meeting. So, we are looking to, um, bring every, bring the teachers back,
023um, August 31st. So, if we want to start planning, um, vacations and return to school, August 31st is going to be that date, um, because since, uh, Labor Day is running a little bit later than normal, it is going to impact the school calendar a little bit. So, I'm looking forward to working with the teachers, um, and coming up with a plan that makes sense for everybody, um, but do circle that count, that date on, on your calendar. Uh, Mr. Porfido, our athletic director, did supply a couple important dates and students and athletes to recognize. On April 25th, we will be honoring, um, Ben Luderer, one of our elementary special ed teachers, on Ben Luderer Day. So, we will have a couple baseball games over at the high school, um, and big thank you to,
024uh, Mr. Porfido, um, for organizing that, um, for another year. On June 8th, we will have our winter and spring athletic night. Um, so, please circle that date on the calendar. That is June 8th. Our girls bowling team finished 19th in New Jersey and fourth in North Jersey. Um, it was great getting out and seeing some of the, uh, some of the matches that they had. And it was interesting, um, to kind of see how the scoring works and, you know, you've got, uh, bowlers on the, this lane, bowlers on that lane. So, learning a little bit about how the, uh, high school bowling process works, um, was very interesting. Um, but a big thank you to, uh, the coaches that we have and a big congratulations to, uh, Caitlin Balens for finishing 16th in
025all of New Jersey, uh, which is very impressive. I know she was down, um, out of school a couple days participating in the state tournament. So, big congratulation goes out to her, as well as Ashley Bernal. She's one of our wrestlers. She was down, I believe, in Atlantic City a couple weeks ago and she ended up placing sixth, um, in all of New Jersey. So, it was great to see that program, um, growing. Uh, big shout out goes, goes out to the coaches for that. Um, and we do have over 200 student athletes signed up for the spring session. So, um, keep doing what you guys are doing. Thank you to the coaches. Thank you to Mr. Porfido, um, for all the work that you're doing with the athletic department. And I guess at this
026time I'll turn it over to Mrs. Calabrese. I don't know if there's anything, uh, from the in-service day or anything curriculum-wise that you would like to share. Yeah, so on Friday, um, Friday, March 20th, we all met as, uh, district, uh, the building admin teams facilitated staff updates on our NJSLAA, um, administration highlighting key resources and expectations and the staff engaged and it was, um, for the most part, a really, you know, great, uh, PD. Uh, right now, uh, on Monday, our administrators, as well as our school counselors, were trained, um, from the Renaissance company for Edge Climber training. I also want to reiterate something that Mr. Reinforce said, being in the buildings during Read Across America, reading to all different ages was definitely the highlight of the month. You know, besides the fact that
027it's Women's History Month and there were a lot of activities and culminating projects surrounding, uh, Women's History Month. School 5 hosted their International Night and they did a fantastic job. So, in the future, I promise you, Board, we will get you invitations to some of these wonderful events that you asked for. Um, and I want to, you know, commend, uh, the high school had a lot of testing this month. So, I want to commend Mr. Genucci and his team, um, you know, Mrs. Brennan, uh, for really, you know, working so hard to get WIDA up and going this month. So, WIDA testing for our, um, ML students is almost over. It's coming to an end. And I just wanted to give a shout out once again for Wellness Week to all of the schools um,
028for doing, you know, such a creative job this year. And a huge shout out to the PE teachers. That's it. Right. Do we have any committee reports that anyone would like to share? Uh, just on buildings and grounds, everybody sees the improvement that went through the district. I know, uh, Lou emphasized on budget, but there's not many, many school districts here in the state of New Jersey that can do all the capital improvements that we've done throughout the years. And and on a bottom line, that was a, a plus for the district, a plus for the taxpayers. And I got to commend the Lou's, uh, you know, good budgeting and doing that where we didn't have to go out on referendums and, hurt the tax levy. So, uh, you know, that's all good stuff. And,
029uh, our buildings are in good shape. You know, our brick and mortar, you know, tight, everything's good. So, I know the next few years the budget's going to be challenging, but, uh, you know, our buildings are in good physical shape. So, that's important. Uh, still closing out a few projects with the UniVents over at the, school here. And, uh, we've got, uh, some money built into the budget, as everybody knows, to, uh, uh, do a lot of, uh, masonry repairs and concrete work around the high school. Let's do those, uh, famous steps that take forever to go up, especially for a guy like me that's older. But, uh, you know, they need some TLC. So, uh, that application went to the, you know, Department of Education. I think it's back and, uh, we're going to
030go out to bid and see if we could, uh, do it within our budget. So, that's pretty much it with buildings and grounds. Anything else, Lou, I may have missed? No, Joe, just to piggyback on that, April 14th is the open bid. Keep everyone posted. Okay. Any other committee reports? No. Okay. Uh, so, we will take a look at a couple specific items, um, in the agenda. If you could turn to page three. Page three, um, down at the very bottom, there's a resolution to recommend, uh, and accept the retirement of Lori Levine, uh, school counselor at school number three. I had the pleasure of working with, with Lori when I was, uh, high school teacher, high school supervisor. Um, so, a couple weeks ago when she called me for, um, a meeting, I kind
031of had a feeling that, um, you know, the talk was coming. So, we had a great conversation, um, and I truly wish her well on, on the next chapter. So, she, uh, started over at the high school and then for the last year, she's been working with Mrs. Rocco over at school number three. So, we wish her well on, um, the next chapter of her life. >> [snorts] >> If you could turn to page eight. So, resolution number 23, um, superintendent of schools to approve, uh, school five remain open on Friday, April 3rd for all staff and students with an early dismissal at 12:30 due to the previously recommended school closure on March 20th. There was, uh, construction work that was being done close to school five. Um, the administrative team, the teachers, the students
032safely evacuated the building on, um, March 20th and then they were advised not to return to the building the following day. So, we had to make a quick decision, um, and the decision was to close school for school five, uh, students and staff the following day. Over the weekend, I worked with the construction company to ensure that we were safe to return. Um, we received the paperwork that we needed to ensure safe return for our staff and students. Um, unfortunately, because of not opening on that day, school number five students would finish the year with 179 days of school. So, by law, we need to have 180 days for all students across the district. So, working closely with Mrs. Calabrese, the Board of Education, Mrs. Martinotti and other administrators and teachers within the district, we
033decided that school will remain open on Friday, April 3rd for school five only. So, the morning will run as a normal school day and by 12:30 all students and staff will be dismissed. I met with the teachers on Tuesday and I was so impressed with their professionalism, the questions that they had, the understanding that they had and we believe that we are going to have a good amount of them in school on that day because it was a previously scheduled first day of spring break. We will have parameters in place in case we do have a higher number than expected staff not report for that particular day. So, I'm looking forward to heading over there seeing all the kids in the classes and teachers in the building. So, big thank you to the student staff
034administration and also the parents on that particular Thursday and Friday as well as for the upcoming Friday April 3rd date. Messaging will be sent out to school five parents in the morning informing them of this addition to the school If you look at number 27, we will have policies approved this evening. These were policies that were read through at the last Board of Education meeting and we will look to finalize those this evening. If you turn to page 14, this was something that Mr. Alfano spoke about earlier, the expansion of our pre-K program. With the expansion of the pre-K program, the district has qualified for a grant through the through the state and what we are looking to do is expand as much as we can moving forward. We want to try to have every
035three and four-year-old in district have the opportunity to begin their education in our schools. Unfortunately, because of space and other constraints we're not able to open it up to everyone, but we are looking every year to expand upon that program and the plan for next year is that we will see pre-K in all of our elementary school buildings. In the past, it was primarily housed just in school five, but our plan is to open up buildings in schools three, four as well as school five. So, as we grow, we're looking to open in all of the different buildings that we have. And there is one I want to jump back to personnel on page page six. So, this is a resolution that under most circumstances we would hold in a closed session. So, what is
036that's about to happen generally happens in a work session behind closed doors that we discuss as a board. A staff member was notified that if they wish to waive this right, this discussion will be held in public. So, that's what we are doing now because the employee waived the right to have that. So, if you take a look at the resolution in paragraph number two, it states that the superintendent of schools will recommend that an employee will go on administrative leave with pay until further notice. So, a couple months ago, I was approached by an employee in our district who had allegations made against another member of our of our district. And the allegations were made against our transportation coordinator, Glenn Luciano. The allegations were made in a meeting with myself and Mr. Alfano. The
037meeting lasted roughly 45 minutes and based on the information that was provided to us, we felt strongly enough that an affirmative action investigation was warranted. This employee has had previous affirmative action investigations in the past. They were done in house by our administrative team or sorry, members of our affirmative action team. We felt that that since this was not the first affirmative action investigation, that we would like to have a new set of eyes to see what their take is, what their opinion is, what questions they are asking that we might not be asking. So, we reached out to our attorneys. Our attorneys have set up interviews with members that have witnessed or have been witnessed to different events either verbal or physical that involved Mr. Luciano. We have had a few employees who have
038met with our counsel and have been in hour-long interviews with our counsel. Those interviews are still ongoing. I believe there are a number of interviews left to do. So, what started with one person speaking out with allegations against a co-worker and a peer has now turned into numerous employees meeting with the council and explaining what they have seen or unfortunately what they could have possibly witnessed. So, we are in the middle of an affirmative action investigation with this employee. Last week, I was notified by an investigator from the New Jersey Department of Education that this employee, Mr. Glenn Luciano, was arrested. The charges against him according to the investigator were concerning and pending charges against him could be a disqualifying crime or offense. And then it said, we as a district are reminded that if
039the pending charge results in a conviction, this individual will be permanently disqualified from school employment. So, given the seriousness of this information from a New Jersey Department of Education employee and investigator, we felt I felt that it was most important to let this play out. To notify the Board of Education of the incident and come up with a plan to move forward. No judgment is being made until we have a report done from the affirmative action investigation or through the court system. So, until that time, this employee will be on a paid leave with no contact with school employees until we have a decision from our attorney regarding the results of the affirmative action case or more information about the outcome of the legal accusations. Okay? So, I don't know if any board members have
040any questions. Concerns? Yes. You said he should have no contact with school employees. Yes. But you would also mean that he should have no contact with anyone from the school, especially students, right? You wouldn't want any contact with students besides the employees. Yes. So, no no contact with students, no contact with employees until until further notice. Are there any other questions? Concerns? Mr. Alfano, I know you did the budget presentation. Is there anything that you would like to add resolution-wise? Yeah, just quickly, Mr. Alfano. Obviously, we have focused over the last couple of months of 2026-2027, but we can't take our eyes off of 2025-2026 because it has its own unique challenges. Again, the forecast for the first half of 2026 for medical and prescription was X. The actuals came in about $450,000 high. That's
041a challenge to the budget and we're going to look very closely as we get closer to the end of the year to see the dynamics of our surplus. Another thing that threw a curveball at us this year was Mother Nature. We're about up about 190,000 above our budgeted forecast for energy, gas and electric. As you know, we've had a historic cold for about two months. We forecast over a three-year trend, previous three years weather had been pretty good. This year, Mother Nature wins. So, we had those two headwinds. So, we're going to look very closely at the next few months. Again, Mrs. Calabrese and Mr. Rhinefuss along with the staff, we've asked them to dot their eyes and cross their T's in regard to only spending on must-haves versus nice-to-haves and they've done a wonderful
042job with that. So, I want to commend them and I want to thank Mrs. Calabrese and Mr. Rhinefuss and the staff in regard to sharpening their pencils. It seems like they're always hearing from me, but this year I can't thank them enough. They they really took it to heart and we've done a good job of really only spending what we absolutely have to and that's really about the students or if there's required maintenance, if we got a leak, if we got an electrical issue, roof leak, stuff like that. So, we've really cut it down to the to the bare bones. One resolution I just like you to look at if I may, please, and I want to thank Mr. Sebastiano who's here today is on page 18, resolution 48. Mr. Sebastiano is in the new
043servers which you can explain a lot better than I can, but SHI is the organization that we work with, the company that we work with. Um again, they help us with the construction component, the hardware, the software. Essentially, we're upgrading the servers that was mentioned at number three school, number six school, and the middle school, and the high school. Uh we expect them, Mr. Rypkema, the project to start this weekend. I will follow up with the subcontractor in regard to that, but I want to thank Mr. Sestanovich personally because he's really the lead in regard to everything IT. And when we're working on the budget, you recall our conversations and we were looking at all the line items, and one of the line items we said, "Please do not try to cut that if at
044all possible." Was information technology. Sorry, Frank, we did cut it, but we cut it far less than we originally thought we were going to have because again, the infrastructure, the information technology infrastructure is the lifeblood. That doesn't work, you know, we can't conduct business. So, I want to thank you personally, Frank. You're always there for us, not just this, just the in general in regard to the RV shell answering man in regard to this organization. So, I just wanted to personally give you a shout-out because you're always behind the scenes. So, that's pretty much it, Mr. Rypkema. I believe they're located in New Jersey as well, SHI. >> Yes, they are. Yeah, good group. Thank you, Mr. Alfano. Um I do see we have our student council here. So, we would love uh to hear
045a report if you guys have any information to share, let us know what's going on over at the high school. >> [snorts] [clears throat] >> Thank you, guys. Uh what time did you say that the egg hunt was? Sorry? What time is the egg Okay. There's different rounds? Okay. Good, looking forward uh Yeah. Nice. Good, good. And no snow on the ground, so we got that to look forward to. So. Um I believe that is it on our end. Mr. Sestanovich, anyone on the Anyone from the public? >> [clears throat] >> May I bring up something? Sure. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Item number 27. Mhm. Number 27, number 27, Dr. Papanikolas. Number 27 on page eight. I would request because it's your resolution Mhm. that you add the word second reading. Okay. Because although it
046says we're approving it, I think that we should memorialize the fact that this is the second time it's coming before the board, so Okay. you wouldn't mind making that motion. Sure. We can do that. Thank you, Dr. Papanikolas. Do we have any public comments? Just before we have the public comments, Mr. Rypkema, I just want to little housekeeping and some ground rules. Essentially, uh this is a forum for the public to to provide it provide the public an opportunity to be heard. This is not going to be a kind of a Q&A. Just want to, you know, under just understand the ground rules. Again, it's a forum to provide the public an opportunity to be heard, but there's not going to be kind of a back-and-forth dialogue. And we want to try to keep it
047in around a 3-minute, plus or minus, time frame. Stay tuned, Amy. Great to hear from you. Feel free. I've got the I've got the Timex on you. You got the Timex on me? Yeah, I got the Good evening. My name is Stephanie Woodley, and I've been an educator in this district for 23 years. I was a coach for almost one. I coached bowling. So, I was super excited last month when they were telling me it was amazing. That whole team, I had them as freshmen, and they are amazing. So, I It's a part of my time, it's a separate thing. >> [laughter] >> I'm here tonight to speak against the proposed policy 3231 that would ban teachers from coaching teams that our students compete in. I believe this policy, while well-intentioned, would cause real harm
048to our students, to our teachers, and to the faculty of this community. First, this board voiced concern that students being placed in adversarial positions against their teachers. I'd like you to reconsider that. Some of the most powerful lessons we can give our students are the ones that teach them how to compete with grace, how to honor someone's ability, how to shake a hand and mean it, how to understand that another person's success is not your failure. These are lessons that they will carry into careers, relationships, and life. Who better to model that than our teachers? Their teachers are not the students' competitors, their teams are. When a teacher is on that other team, it is an opportunity, not a conflict. I've stood on the lanes, and I've said this for years, and we watched bowlers.
049And the most amazing thing about competing in bowling is that when a kid earns a 300, the best possible score you can earn, the entire lanes stop what they're doing, come, watch, and clap. If there is anything I want to teach my own children, it is that. It is that we can celebrate each other's moments. Second, I want to speak a little bit to what makes this district what it is. In Clarkstown, you can't turn a corner without running into a former student. People don't just grow up here and then come back. I'm sure some of you did. Yeah. Uh They want to return what was given to them and bring those same lessons to the next generation. When I was 22 and starting in this district, I walked into a school I had never
050heard of, and what stopped me in my tracks and made me want to build a home was this community. And that has never changed. I was going to bring up the financial hardships that I noticed during the winter, um and the economy and health care and gas prices. but as you said earlier, you already know how extraordinary this situation is to all. You're correct. These are extraordinary times. Even for those with great skill and big hearts, the positions we have to assist our community and our futures are limited. We only have so many coaching jobs. Many are going through financial need and that financial need will likely only grow in the next few years. I ask the board to celebrate our community and our camaraderie. I ask you to reconsider this policy. Thank you. Thank
051you, MS. WOODLEY. >> [applause] >> HI, MY NAME IS JOE FUSEE. I HAVE nothing written down. I'm going to speak from the heart. I've been a teacher here for 28 years. I have coached bowling, which I have a passion for. And I'm very passionate [laughter] about it. So, I'm super excited about their success. I also coached girls soccer. Many of my students and our coaches are former students and former athletes of Floral Park High School. They chose to come back here as teachers to pass on the great Floral Park pride and tradition. My husband, more specifically >> [clears throat] >> specifically about You're not going to meet anybody who's more truthful or fair than my husband, Joe Fusee. He has coached track, wrestling, baseball, and soccer. And if you've been around in the last 20
052years, you know the success that he brought to the soccer program, recognition and county and city. An amazing program that hardly anyone would walk away from. He walked away from it for two reasons, our daughter, Riley, and our son, Chris. He has been lucky enough to coach them since they were young kids. Specifically, our son, from T-ball to coach pitch to farm league to minor leagues to majors through eighth grade. He has the extremely rare opportunity that anyone who's involved in sports knows is extremely rare to be able to coach your child and his friends in high school sports. He has coached these boys since T-ball, not just our son, but all the boys that he now wants to continue to coach in high school. He is a volunteer. He doesn't do it for the
053money. He does it for the love of the game and for the love of his I ask you to reconsider this policy and allow teachers, not just my husband, but all teachers, to continue to coach and inspire young kids, whether they go to Floral Park or any other school. He supports the kids that go to Floral Park in every single sport. He talks about them and encourages them all the way. He has an extremely respectful relationship, as do all our coaches, whether they're here or at the competition, with our students. Like Ms. Woodley said, when you coach, you look to inspire. It doesn't matter where they go to school. You're coaching for the love of sport and to teach kids life lessons. There is no adversarial intention at all. So, I ask you to reconsider
054this policy. Thank you. >> [applause] >> GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. I'M THE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION. My name is Steve Janos. I grew up in Floral Park, went to school here K through 12, played three sports, and now I have the privilege of being head of physical education teacher here in Floral Park High School. For the past 18 years while coaching three sports, what I'm here to talk about is a new policy that will not allow people who work in the district coach in the towns that are not in Floral Park's jurisdiction. I disagree with this policy and I coached basketball for 15 years, 10 as an assistant, five as a head coach, and I'm still coaching here at Floral Park now that I was removed as basketball coach three years ago. Although I was not removed
055as the boys head varsity basketball coach, I continued to coach soccer and baseball as assistant. Since my love of coaching is so strong, I wanted to continue to share my coaching capability and explore other basketball coaching opportunities within other districts. Thankfully, other schools that were aware of my coaching skills, proficiency, and experience reached out to me with offers to coach within their districts. Since I competitively coached against these said districts, they were aware firsthand of my coaching ability, my leadership, and my positive energy with my players. These districts saw firsthand what I was able to bring to the table and how I would be instrumental in improving their programs. For me, it was a no-brainer. Even in my early years before I became a teacher, my goal was always to coach, help kids, and improve
056their skills on and off the court. Once removed from my head basketball coaching position in Floral Park, I knew I wanted to continue that goal of mentorship. Sadly, since he is no longer in the district I teach in, I welcomed and was thankful for the open opportunities and for the positive reinforcement other districts saw in me. Taking these assistant coaching jobs in no way was with sincere intention to be adversarial or hostile towards the town I love, love, and admire. They are purely out of the love to continue to coach and wanting to help student athletes. I understand that the course of life leads many unforeseen friends and we don't always have control over them. We lift our heads up and forward and try to turn everything into a positive. This rule that may be
057imposed on coaching may not allow me or others to do so willingly. This does not also only affect my love of This does not only affect my love and sports, it financially impacts myself, my wife, and our 1-year-old child. For those reasons, I would greatly appreciate if you would consider the potential new policy. Thank you for your time to allow me to respectfully voice my opinion REGARDING THIS MATTER. >> [applause] >> I AM H.G. FUSEE. SPECIFICALLY, H.G. Um I'm a 15-year-old kid at Floral Park High School and for as long as I can remember, my dad has been my number one supporter through everything, whether it was soccer or baseball or basketball or track and field or whatever. He didn't always do it with basketball, but he was still there in my corner no matter
058what. Since I've been growing up, I've been a Raider. My dad coached me through my entire childhood and if you look through my class, and half of my stuff is Raiders. Um Standing here in front of you I have the opportunity to have my dad as my coach through my high school career and I wouldn't want anything else. With this policy, you guys are basically taking away the privilege for me, for my dad, and for my team. I mean, >> [clears throat] >> again, since I've been a kid, he's always been in my corner, my number one corner, my number one supporter, and my biggest fan. Half the time our corner who he supports more, me or her, Floral Park athletics is a big Floral Park guy, no matter where he's coaching, no matter what
059kid what team his kid's on, he's always in Floral Park's corner no matter what. There's never been hard feelings when Floral Park plays and even when I'm playing. So, I stand in front of you hoping that you can consider this policy and allow my dad the opportunity through my high school career. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> REALLY HARD FOR ME TO COME HERE AND SPEAK IN FRONT OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. Really hard for me to stand in front of the Board of Education. Mr. Wright, Mrs. Mrs. Calafiore, members of the Board of Education, I stand here to talk about the policy. But first of all, fantastic job with this gym. It looks fantastic. I grew up in this gym. I'm here to talk about policy 4230. I'm here to talk about Joe Fusee. Somebody
060that's been an educator in your high school for 28 years, nearly three decades. >> [clears throat] >> To my students, I'm nothing short of a role model. Somebody that steps into that school as one of the first teachers daily in that school to put my right foot forward to change a mindset every single day. To my colleagues, I make turn key educator. I bring things back and 90% of what we do in our phys ed program is a fantastic phys ed program. The things that I have established. I make leader in that building. I'm a role model in that building. I'm a friend in that building. To my administration, I am the consummate team member. I go above and beyond for my administration. Wherever they need something, just tell me to go there and I
061do it without batting an eyelash. I bring nothing but respect, dignity, accountability, and sportsmanship to my job that I take fantastic and great pride in. I'm a Cliffside person. 400 Palisade and 40 Prescott Avenue, right down the block from 7-Eleven. I take great pride in what I do. I've worn many hats in that high school for almost three decades. I've been on a negotiating committee. I've served on committees that include the culture, climate, attendance policy, discipline policies. I currently, and I still do it, and I'm going to continue to do it, I orchestrated the toy drives for those less fortunate than many of us for the community of Cliffside and Fairview. I hold fundraisers, orchestrate district-wide fundraisers for for flood victims, fire victims, for kids that just fall on hard times. I currently serve on
062a on a committee that gives scholarships to our athletes, our Cliffside athletes. I go above and beyond my job at Cliffside. NOT BECAUSE I HAVE TO, cuz I don't have to. I check out at 3:10 o'clock. I do it because this is my community. I stepped aside from coaching about 13 years ago. That other man spoke in front of you today. Many of you have kids. I've seen your son walk with his caliber in the hallway. He holds some of the highest standards of character. Mr. Graseges, same thing. I've seen your nephew. They get character for a reason. They get character from your home. That's what I possess every day. I stepped away from educating to be more of a father. I'm a father first of first and foremost. And because I have implemented myself
063into my community of Little Ferry, I created the same culture and climate in my hometown that I've done in Cliffside for nearly for three decades. Stepped aside from this soccer program that is nationally ranked, a whole thing soccer program, not from Cliffside Park Hall of Fame, from the state Hall of Fame and Bergen County Coaches Hall of Fame. I stepped away from a nationally ranked soccer program and turning county champs for my family, a very noble thing, and I don't know many people that would put their pride aside to be a father first. And now this policy comes out. And with all due respect, I too was offended by the adversarial comment. And I'll tell you why. And if my time's running out, just give me like a 30 seconds so I can, please wrap
064it up. You all aware that Cliffside baseball team went to Florida last year. Yes? Do you know why? Because of me. Because those gentlemen, who I didn't know were coming tonight, we went to Florida. And I posted it to Coach D'Amato and had a conversation. We have fantastic young men right there. And Cliffside Park has got fantastic young men on that baseball team. So, let's bring them together. Let's create more productive members of our society. Are you aware that both programs have joint and combination practices right before the states? Are you aware of my relationship with those Cliffside players? I SPEND MORE TIME IN FLORIDA WITH the Cliffside kids than I do with these kids. BECAUSE I'M A CLIFFSIDE GUY. I SHARE IDEAS WITH COACH D'AMATO. WE SCOUT FOR EACH OTHER. SO, when the word
065adversarial comes out, I'm a professional. For nearly three decades, I've been nothing but professional in our building, in our community. I was offended by that term because I, as a professional, can separate it. We're not talking about street fights, guys. We're talking about two teams that compete against each other on the most pure level of high school sports. We're not talking about a street fight. And I was offended when that term adversation adversarial situation came about. Mr. Cal Cal Cal, so I will use two minutes. I will Sir, maybe 30 seconds. Great. I want the opportunity to coach my son. Less than 1% of all high school coaches have the opportunity to coach their son. Put yourself in my shoes. Somebody that's gave his heart and soul to that building, to this community, to this
066Board of Education. Put yourself in my shoes. You would be standing here right now advocating for yourself for the opportunity, not to coach the [laughter] rival team, NOT THE DAD THAT'S KICKING THE PLAYER, BUT FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO COACH MY FAMILY. You're talking about family, right? You all have families. We're talking about family. So, with all due respect, I'm asking you to table this policy. I'm asking you to amend some of the language, to allow somebody, and again, I'm only here talking about Jim Fucile. I'm not talking about Steve Gallo or anybody else who respects to allow somebody WITH EXCEPTION to coach their family. I've given my heart, I've given my soul to this district. I will continue to give my heart and soul because I'm a character person, I'm a prideful person, and I
067have morals and values, and each one of you that know me know what I stand for. I'm a good person, I'm a family person, and I earned that RIGHT IN CLIFFSIDE PARK THE last three decades to coach my son, regardless of where my son goes to school or regardless where I own a house. Please table. Please give it some more thought. Please. Please amend some of the languages because that's my son we're talking about. Thank you FOR YOUR TIME. >> [applause] >> ANYBODY ELSE? FROM THE PUBLIC? ANYONE ELSE FROM THE PUBLIC? >> [snorts] >> NO. OKAY. I believe uh that would end the public session. You want to do a motion? Questions, comments from the board? I think we should table it. On the policies. I think that's right. Is there a second? I'll second.
068Mr. Spada, sorry. Which one specifically? I'm going to help Mr. Spada. We're going to table resolution number Thank you. 3231. We're going to revisit policy number 3231. Any member abstain? We're going to do the other one, too. Which one? The backside. The 4231. 4231. You want to do one step? One step. Okay. We're also going to table policy number 4231. Any member abstain? I'll make a motion to accept the agenda with just those two strikes, Mr. Palumbo, please. I'll second. Okay, that was Mr. Terhune, thank you for that. And that was Mr. Garcia on the second. >> It's okay. I'm sorry. You have to vote on table. I'll make a motion to vote on I'll prefer a vote. Okay. We're going to vote specifically on policy. Am I understanding them, Mr. Palumbo, on 3231 and
0694231? To table. To to table. That that's what the vote is about, to table, right? So, the vote is to table and revisit it and make maybe fine-tune it. Okay. I believe so. Just I wanted to just clarify that before I vote. >> I don't want to speak for you, Mr. Capano. Yes. That's what it is. Mr. Spada? That's what you're looking to Okay. Okay, I'm going to take a vote now to table, revisit policy number 3231 and 4231. Correct? Okay. Uh Mrs. Abreu? Yes. I've got to got to write down here, so I apologize. Let's say yes. Mr. Capano? Yes. It's a yes for Mr. Capano. Mr. Spada? Yes. Okay. Uh Mr. Garcia? Yes. Uh Mr. Nedrow? Yes. Uh Dr. Pantaleona? Yes. And uh Mr. Terhune? Yes. And then I'll make a motion to
070accept the agenda, please. Second. And that was Mr. Capano was the second. Okay. Okay. Mrs. Abreu? Yes. Okay. Mr. Capano? Yes. Guys, don't forget the picture. Mr. Spada? Yes. Mr. Garcia? Yes. I don't have my coat. >> Mr. Nedrow? Mr. Nedrow? Yes. Okay. Dr. Pantaleona? Yes. And Mr. Terhune. Before before we close, I would like to thank everybody that came out to the meeting. And can you please come out more often cuz we need more attendance and more brainstorming ideas. Thank you for all that came out. So moved. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, guys. >> I'll make a motion to close the meeting. Thank you. >> [applause]