April 10, 2025 - Clifton Board of Education Meeting

001Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the April 10th Board of Education Clifton Board of Education general meeting. Please rise for the flag salute and a moment of silence. I pledge alg 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. Thank you. Roll call, please. Mr. Shahada. Miss present. Mr. Runad, here. Mr. Kenova, Dr. Danny, Mr. Mahia here, Mr. Ciano here, Mr. Suarez here, Vice President Santiago here, President Paris here. We have a quorum. The mission of the Clifton School District in an open-end reciprocal community partnership is to provide all students with a quality education to develop the skills necessary to become literate lifelong learners who are responsible and productive citizens contributing to a democratic society

002in an everchanging world. The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right to the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this act, the Clifton Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be publicized by having the date, time, and place thereof posted at the city clerk's office, Clifton Public Library, Administration Building, Senior Citizen Nutrition Center, on cable TV, in the local press, on the district's website, and mailed to presidents of parent teacher organizations. This meeting will be tape recorded in accordance with policy 0168. At this time, I would like to invite Lamar up as our student representative to make his comments. Welcome, Lamar.

003[Applause] Lamar, hold on one second. Uh, if you're going to stand there, that's okay, but we got to get you a mic. If not, you could sit, but we want you to be comfortable. So, okay. It's my boy. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I got a podium. Thank you. It's my anchor. Throughout the week of March 14th, our student council hosted a spirit week encouraging the student body to wear various themes to showcase school spirit. Um it this culminated in the annual student versus faculty basketball game. Uh this event raised considerable funds for our student council and uh congratulations to the faculty for for winning against the students. Um the Clifton High School robotics team recently won the Mid-Atlantic District Tournament last week. Um this is the second time the team in the last three years has

004won this program um and become the champions not of just New Jersey but also Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Clipton the Clipton High School um student council was currently collecting nominations for athletes of the season for the fall sports season. Uh winners will be voted on by the student body later this month based on grade level and the winners will receive gift certificates and an interview for their efforts. The spring sports season is currently underway and car petitions are, you know, just beginning to take place. The Mustang ambassadors and the academic decathlon team are currently hosting a spring pop-up shot event for student entrepreneurs and small businesses to market their products. This event will be held on March 4th, um, a Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the high school. The student council recently

005pioneered a new venture called the student spotlight. This program seeks to recognize ambitious students and recognize individuals who commit themselves to helping the Clifton community outside of school. We're currently looking through applicants and will be naming and interviewing the honores in the coming weeks. With all these exceptional accomplishments taking place in the Clifton community, we've witnessed the growing desire for the student body to have easier access to purchase Clifton merchandise. And uh we will be looking into options to meet this growing desire. So, thank you guys very much for your time. Thanks, Lamar. Thank you so much, Lamar. We have no awards this evening, right? No, sir. Okay. Um, so next up is our uh presentation of reports and this evening we have our uh assistant superintendent of curriculum uh Janina Kusalevich who will be

006presenting our district demographic study commissioners. There is a copy in your folder. Mhm. Good evening, commissioners. This is the first time I'm presenting sitting down. It's a little disconcerting, but Jannina, you know I'm a podium guy. Do you need a Do you want the podium? Because we could get to the microphone. That's okay. I'll try it from here. Okay. But now we know we've got to keep this in mind for next time. Okay, commissioners, ladies and gentlemen, this evening I'm going to be presenting highlights from the demographic study that we commissioned of our city, our schools, our enrollment, and our capacity, as well as the results of one of the reports that came from that study, which was to analyze the possible use case for our new property on Valley Road. So, the purpose of

007this study was to project enrollment for a 5-year period to look at community population trends, demographic characteristics, age structures, birth counts, and fertility rates. It examines historical data. It computes the yields of the housing across the city by unit type, including one and to four family homes, town houses, condos, and apartments. It includes new housing starts and at least four of the new developments that have most recently been approved that could have an impact on our enrollment. It geocodes all of the students currently enrolled in Clifton Public Schools by location and all of that data together was used um at to contribute to this use case for the newly leased property. So what I'm going to be doing is going over just some samples because this was a 122page study. I'm going to review some

008of the more important or interesting slides um and components that led to that use case study. So what we see here is birth rates from 2010 to 2022 which inform the students the numbers of students in all of our schools today. We see historical enrollments. Now, this enrollment differs from what we normally see as our total school population because this is only a listing of the number of students in seats in Clifton school buildings. It does not include our outofd district student population. This is enrollment based on Clifton seats, based on Clifton building capacity, but it's not the total Clifton public schools enrollment because those children who are out of district don't take up seats in our schools, if that makes sense. Here we see a different representation of that enrollment. The red on top,

009it's our largest population. That's our elementary schools. that reflects students in grades K through five as well as some of our preschool. The blue is not the middle school, that's the high school population, but that's four grade levels representing what is now 3139 students. And the purple at the bottom only representing three grade levels is our middle school population which as you see has kind of peaked has been going down a bit and is now starting to rise again. The study also looked at the soioeconomic demographic of our city. Here we can see that over the last five years our ethnic breakdown has remained about the same. a slight increase in Hispanic students and a slight decrease in students um who are white, Asian, black or multi-racial and a tiny tiny sliver of Native American

010um Pacific Islander kind of staying steady at the top. Now, this study also looked at both poverty rates based on the census, and that's what we see mapped out here. This is poverty rates based on the census of the entire population of the city, not just our school district. And here we have an example looking at the approved housing developments. this the the new um developments that are going to be going up, the on three, the Black Prince Distillery, the Prada and Vista development, and Petra Gardens and where they're located with on three down by school 8, um Prada Vista Gardens over by school 16, Petra Garden at in the school 13 area, and the Black Prince right behind us, which kind of straddles the school 31 15 and 13 areas. Now, this looks at

011the school age population of the city. The darker blues are the most densely populated areas, but this is based on city population, not our school enrollment. We get to school enrollment right now with the geocoding. This is the coolest slide in a second. because I'm really into this stuff. This slide, see all those green dots? Those green dots geocode every student who is currently enrolled taking a seat in the Clifton Public Schools and pins them to their location in the city. And you can see the most densely populated area by Clifton student enrollment is down here in the schools 11 12 15 13 and 11 3 and 11 area. That's our most densely populated student population. Now what did we was done with all of that data? That data was used to make these enrollment

012projections for the next five years. And there are two sets of enrollment um projection. One that is what's called the baseline and the other one that is projected for the housing growth which includes those new developments that were listed on one of the maps. These enrollment projections also assume a preschool universe of 1,500 students, which is a number derived by the New Jersey Department of Education based each year on our current first grade population. It's a doubling of first grade that we are that we need to plan for as rising preK3 and preK4. So our baseline projected growth is an increase of about 404 students over the next five years. Our baseline adjusted our adjusted growth is just over 500 additional students over the next 5 years. Now here we have our projections by grade

013configuration. The top line is what is our total current enrollment in seats in Clifton Public School buildings for the elementary, the middle schools, and the high school. And then you see the enrollment, even though it's a small decrease in some of the sessions, when you look over at the adjusted enrollment, the adjusted enrollment takes into account the new housing starts and the developments. Now, this is the most telling slide. See all that red? Anything in red represents that we don't have we're over capacity. This looks at the capacity of our buildings based on our long range facilities plan which is based on two different numbers. But this is looking at from the square footage perspective. And when you look at the number of students by square foot, we are everything in red is over capacity.

014Everything in blue is pretty close to capacity. And you can see as you go down, both middle schools and the high school for this year and moving out five years are where we have the largest amount total of over capacity, meaning that's where we need the most space. Um, let me go back to that for one second. Sorry. Preschool has two numbers because preschool is measured in different ways and I had mentioned in a previous meeting that our study is actually being rewritten to address some of the different ways that you can measure preschool. The blue is only certain types of classrooms. The red is looking more at the universe. So what does all of this mean? As I just said, capacity is based on the LRFP looking at both something called the facilities efficiency

015standards as well as district practices. So the facilities efficiency standards already show that we are over capacity in the majority of our schools. When you go into district practices, this one is harder to quantify because it has to be adjusted every year. and district practices is how rooms are used based on class size and specialized program. And that does vary yearly. And these are some of the things that make it vary. Over the last 5 years, our special education population has increased from 2100 students in 2021 to 2498 this week. our those special education classes, the majority of them are self-contained classrooms where you need a full-size classroom for a class that is capped at only 6 to 12 students depending on their classification. Our multilingual learners have gone from 651 in 2021 to 152

016also this week. Those class sizes are recommended to be approximately 15 to 21. Many of our multilingual learner classes are 25 and above. And preschool is required to grow to meet what they call 90% of our universe. So about 117 kids. That does not include our preschool disabled population. That is just general education preschoolers. And those class sizes also requiring full-size classrooms are capped at 15. And every year in the recent years, we have had over 15 waivers put in for dual use or multi-use space. So all of this information put together informed the decision-making process for the proposed use of the new leased property. We clearly need space. Our local data shows that we're over capacity in a lot of places, but especially at the middle schools. Our district survey of grades span options

017showed middle school followed by high school to be the greatest priority. And this professional demographic study revealed that that middle school and high school area is where we have the largest amount of red. But there was an awful lot of red on that capacity page, wasn't there? Um the decision-making process included looking at the enrollment and capacity, at the socioeconomic demographics of the city, at the projected growth by school, the current and future enrollment, and then the sending schools all across the district were analyzed to look at schools that were projected to keep Woodrow and Columbus in balance and are projected to grow at similar rates. Meaning, if we're going to take students out of both schools, we need to pick school students from schools that are going to also be projected to grow at

018similar rates and not create a numerical imbalance. So now what we looked at was the economically disadvantaged students. This is different from that previous slide that spoke to the census poverty rate. This slide speaks to at each and every one of our schools, what percentage of students receive free and reduced lunch, which then leads to those schools being either categorized as title one or non-title one. Here we have that same information plotted on the map. And what you see here is this whole area of the dark blues. Those are all title one schools. School 1 3 4 um 17 12 11 and even the teals are also title one schools 13 and 14. Those are primarily title one. However, because students who attend them that don't live in those neighborhoods, they come from the other

019neighborhoods, but their programs are located there. And then you have these light yellow and green schools, and those are the schools with our lowest poverty, lowest number and percentage of free and reduced lunch. So now we see based on all of that information what a redistricting scenario for the middle school can look like. The proposed based on that data is for the students residing at schools 1 3 4 9 and 12 would remain at Columbus. Students residing at schools 2, 11, 13, 14, and 16 could remain at Woodrow with a proposal of students at 5, 8, 15, and 17 being redistricted to the new middle school. So, how did that how does that reflect this decision-making process? Well, schools five and 8 are both non-title one schools. One of them comes from Woodrow. One of

020them comes from Columbus. Both of them um showing the number of fifth graders could go to the middle the new middle school. Schools 15 and 17 are title one schools. One of them from Woodrow, one from Columbus. So what we're looking at is reducing just with the fifth graders rising to sixth both Woodro and Columbus by approximately 100 to 110 students and the students would be coming from one title one and one non-title one out of Columbus and one title one and one non-title one out of wood. So you have a balance coming from both middle school areas now to a new middle school area creating a balanced school based on numbers that are projected to remain around that 100 to 110 per grade level from each feeding sending school sending middle school to create

021first year about 220 students. This map here is the status quo. This map, the yellow shows point by point those current students who attend Woodro Wilson Middle School and the pink point by point is the geocoding of the students who currently attend Christopher Columbus. This is what the proposal would look like of the rising fifth graders and where they would come from in this proposal with students from all three corners of the city feeding into that fourth point where the new middle school would be located. The yellow that would be the blue feeding into that new school located on the far side of the yellow far side of Woodrow. The yellow are the students point by point rising up from fifth grade who would go to Woodrow. The pink students from those three areas rising

022up to at to middle school at Columbus. And this is what it would look like with just the boundaries without the kids. So you can see we have a representation of three areas of town feeding into the new school and a representation of similar areas of town feeding into the existing schools. Again, a balanced representation. And what does that look like when we're looking at capacity? Again, right now we're at about 118 to 120% of the capacity based on square footage. And then when we move in, separating those students out 5 years from now and you have the fifth grade going up from those four schools um for 3 years, you're looking at three schools that would be around 90% capacity. But remember, this capacity does not take into account specialized classrooms. All of those

023special education and ESL classrooms that are capped at smaller numbers of students using full size classrooms. When you get to that, we'd be once you look at that, then the capacity chart would change more to 100% capacity. So, what are the next steps now that we have this demographic study with this proposal? The proposed notification of the reszoned rising fifth graders would happen in April. The meet and greet with the new principal would happen in May. Busing notifications would be going out in July and August and an open house at the new school would be possible in August. as a district. Some of the next steps are the naming committee that is coming up, the staff reassignments, because what this proposal does is it basically takes one team out of each middle school to make

024the new school, leaving behind three teams at each school. Also keeping in mind fiscal responsibility because by removing the number of students that would make up a team from each school that significantly reduces the need to have to hire extra staff. There is some staff that needs hiring as was presented in last year's budget and again in this but this significant this plan significantly reduces that fiscal impact. Um the renovations have to be completed. And then of course, since we have this really good solid data about our city, about all of our residents and our enrolled students with a 5-year projection, it's a good time to look at other possibilities to address other things that have come up in front of this board, such as the imbalance of where our preschools are located and some

025of the concerns arising from there, as well as the capacity issues at some of our elementary schools. So, one of the reports that will be coming out of this study is going to explore the idea of breaking apart some of our centralized preschools. And is it possible to move our preschool students to their neighborhood schools and bring fifth grade up? Perhaps turning one of the existing preschools into yet another middle school that may be all middle schools as 5 to eight. That's just a future proposal that is being outlined and discussed since we now have this good solid data from this demographic study. So we have a lot of information, a really solid plan for moving forward as well as the potential to explore other ideas. Thank you. [Applause] Miss Kusvich, I just want to

026um thank you so much. That was an outstanding presentation. Guys, remember that's a 108 page 22 122 page report that I read, but I don't know that I fully understand it until I just understood it until I heard Jannina's presentation. So, you you condensed all the important things that I think the public and this board needs to know. I thought you did an outstanding job. I'm sure there are people who have questions, but I just wanted to thank you and tell you did a amazing job. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Kuselvich. Um, open up to the board for questions. Yes, Commissioner Mahia, I think. Oh, did I miss? Yes, Commissioner Brak. Thank you, Mr. President and thank you Miss Cuselvich for the presentation. Just want you to remind everybody about the options for those who

027already have siblings in those respective existing middle schools if they have younger siblings that are only a year or two behind that they have the option of continuing to attend that respective middle school. Thank you. Absolutely. Yes. 100%. Anyone who has a sibling in an existing middle school can rise up and continue to go to that same middle school with their siblings. Students without but they have the choice because if they would like to go to the new school they could. In addition, Mr. Brunzak, they won't just be permitted to go there while they're siblings there. They'll be permitted to finish through the eighth grade through their eighth grade year. Correct. Commissioner Suarez. Thank you, President Paris. Um, thank you so much, Janina. This was a fantastic presentation and I really appreciate seeing the uh

028city demographics point by point, especially as it relates to the social economic status of of um each district. I thought that was really fascinating and I didn't realize how disproportionate um the the numbers were in so far as um those who are economically disadvantaged and how much of those students went to Christopher Columbus versus um Woodro Wilson. So I'm curious to know how would this new distribution support the current middle school since it seems to be in better balance. So it's actually it looks a little more disproportionate than it is there. there. Columbus is considered a title one middle school. Woodrow is not. But the percentage um of lo of um free and reduced lunch at both schools, it is lower at the one. It's higher at the other, but it's not like, you know,

0299020 or 9010. It's more like 5545. So they're they're relatively close. And by maintaining this, taking a balance out, we're m we're creating a new school that's also balanced. So, we're maintaining a balance, a relative balance at both existing middle schools and creating a third school that will also be relatively similarly balanced. Commissioner here. So, I had two questions. Thank you again for the presentation. When I read it, I I did say, "Wow, this is long." Um and I quickly skimmed over to see which schools we would be um implementing at this new middle school that we're having. Just wanted to get it clear. It would be school 5, school 8, school 15, and school 17. Correct. That is the proposal. Yes. Um because those schools would again maintain that balance of taking a title

030one and a non-title one out of each existing school to create the new school. It also addresses the different regions of town um so that our school is fairly balanced from which parts of town everyone is coming to all three middle schools also creating that kind of one Clifton balance at all three schools. Definitely. And my followup to that is I know you mentioned that May would be the meet and greet with the new principal. Um how soon are we going to get the information to the new fifth graders that they will be attending the new middle school? communication will be going out to those uh parents tomorrow morning. Thank you. Included in that communication will be the date, I can say it, it's not a secret, of the meet and greet, which will be

031May 27th at Clifton High School. And then as as Miss Kusvich mentioned, we'll also do an open house in August for the new school. Commissioner Bassford. Yeah, I have a question. Um is this going to affect busing? Is it going to be more busing for us to uh endure? [Music] No, no, go ahead. A little, but nothing that we haven't already planned for. Okay. Um, because it's balanced, it it should it's really just shifting. It's kind of shifting existing busing. It's moving schools that had busing to not and and vice versa. So, it should be okay. And the I have another question. uh with the wi with moving of the one grade out of Christopher and will that um cause us to lose title one funding or it it just it should not it should

032not be caused that that's one of the reasons that we looked at taking one title one and one non-title one out of each school to try to maintain that balance. So it should not make a difference but it could mean that this new school might be title one. Okay. And my other question is um what is going to being that we're only putting one grade in that building that means the whole building is not going to be are we going to use those other classrooms for other uh alternatives? So we're actually going to be using much more of the building than than one would think because right now teachers have to share classrooms um at both Columbus and at Woodrow for the one year these teachers will be spoiled because they'll be able to have

033their same classroom for the day. Um, and it will use the entire first floor, a good portion of the a portion of the second floor, as well as the really amazing music studio that they have in the basement. And so what is the total number coming out of I I know you mentioned out of Christopher and out of Woodro. I'm just curious. So it's going to be about 110 per school. So 220 for year 1, 440 for year 2, and about 650ish, 660 for year three. Um, but by year two, people are sharing classrooms again. Okay. Thank you. Um, and those spaces that may not be used may be used for other things like specialized programs. We will also be moving. Right now, Woodrow Wilson is where all of the self-contained special education classrooms are

034housed. And those will be split to have a more even balance because that makes for a very a very challenging um situation when you have so many students with so many needs concentrated in one school. You can't give as much attention. By spreading them out, you now have more people who can give attention to the programs. Hey, what up? Yes, Commissioner here. So, I have a followup on that. Um I think I'm happy that you mentioned it because since each um teacher is going to have a different classroom, will that mean the classroom sizes in this particular school will be a lot smaller? No. Or is it still the same? The class sizes for the general education classrooms are going to remain similar with both schools. The only way that we'd be able to make

035them the class sizes smaller with the number of students would be by adding teams to the schools. Um what this is doing is taking teams of children or enough children to make up a team and the teachers that would go along with them. Um but in terms of the per capita number of stu teacher student ratio in a in a general education class that will remain similar to what we currently have. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, Dr. And just uh something because I know there's a lot of staff here tonight and for any staff that are watching at home. Initially um there will be a survey going out um and we're looking for people who might want to change who might want to move to the new building. Uh ultimately we have to make

036u transfer decisions based on the best interest of the district. But we want uh to give opportunities for people to move first. Um, and so some people who volunteer to move might get moved, might not, and some people who don't volunteer might need to be moved. So, I want to be very upfront about that. Um, we'll do our best to meet the needs of of the staff, but obviously I think the staff would even tell you that the students needs will come first, but we'll do our best to balance that. U those who want to go versus those who are like, "No, please don't move me. I love where I'm at." you know, so I just thought that would be important to to say tonight. Okay, anyone else? Thank you so much for a very

037comprehensive report. Good job, Janina. All right, we have one board committee report. That's the education committee that's uh chaired by Dr. Danny normally um but I'm going to ask Commissioner Suarez to please read those minutes as a member of the committee. The Education and Special Education Committee met on March 26th and the meeting began at 5:45 p.m. In attendance was Dr. Lucy Danny, chairperson of the committee, President Paris, myself, and Commissioner Kenova. For administration, Mr. Jenger was present, Mr. Shahada, Miss Cusevich, and Mrs. Routollo the special education updates. Miss Routollo talked about referral numbers between preschool and school age children. How students are referred to special special education was also discussed. A previous present a previously presented parent university and the leveraging social media will be used in coming school year to better inform families

038of general education interventions and supports. The next special education parent advisory group meeting will be held on May 7th, 2025 in person at school 16. District personnel will attend the FACT autism workshop to learn new techniques and strategies for students with autism. The special education department will be participating in the touch a truck event this Saturday, April 12th, and extended school year will be held July 1st through August 12th. Review of demographic study. Miss Cusvich provided an overview of the recent demographic study. The study analyzes demographics, live births, population trends, housing purchases, housing starts, and approved building plans. It includes recent updates such as newly approved development, the ON1 project. All current students are geocoded, allowing precise mapping and neighborhood-based enrollment projections. maps in the report are built off actual Clifton student data, not just

039statistical estimates. The student the excuse me, the study offers a snapshot of shifting demographics across Clifton and within each school. The majority of the study is made up of school by school breakdowns showing how populations have changed over time. It evaluates student density, enrollment trends, socioeconomic makeup, and housing patterns by geographic area. This data shows projections for the next five years that can be used to request additional reports based on the state. Key data limitations in the study include preschool projections which cannot be tied to actual children addresses. This makes it hard to predict how how preschool growth would impact individual elementary schools. The demographer is redoing the preschool portion of the study. ESL English as a second language students numbers have increased from 651 in 2021 to over 1500 today. Projections are unreliable in

040terms of building level impact since ESL en enrollment shifts year-to-year. Special education students are counted in capacity planning but doesn't reflect specific rooms usage. For example, a full classroom used by only a few self-contained students. Capacity and facility planning and enrollment trends. The report includes an analysis of each school's capacity versus enrollment. It outlines which schools are overcrowded, labeled labeled as unhoused students. The analysis shows that both middle schools and high school are currently the most overcrowded and will remain so for the near future. Elementary enrollment is slowly declining, but with programmatic room shortages continuing due to increases in special education, excuse me, in specialized programs. Classroom shortages are most severe in middle school. Middle school enrollment will peak then stabilize. High school will rise then decline gradually. This creates a bubble in middle school

041enrollment that requires attention. Redistric redistricting and new school planning. Similar to the results of the district survey, the study supports middle school as the most urgent need with high school relief as a secondary concern. Based on those results, the demographer was asked to plot what creating a new school with capacity of the Pope Paul building of approximately 600 students could look like. He was asked to see what would be a balanced school with a sustainable enrollment over a five-year projection window and to reduce the existing middle schools by similar amounts to minimize having to add large numbers of staff in the creation of another school. Title one versus non-title one school data was considered in planning for new school formation supporting efforts toward socioeconomic balance. The analysis includes approximate busing versus walking ratios to estimate

042transportation impact, though a more detailed busing study is needed. Mr. Shahada shared some specifics of the pulp fall lease agreement which had been included in the previous budget cycle for the current school year. Based on the study, the proposed plan to move the equivalent of one team from each middle school to was discussed in the context of balancing the student and space needs while minimizing fiscal impact on the budget. Following up on the on the commissioner's suggestion, an additional report to see options for preschools to be added to elementary schools will be requested. Grace span options and building use changes may be considered. Meeting was adjourned at 6:42 p.m. Thank you, Commissioner Suarez. Are there any questions from the board? Yes, Commissioner B. Um, Chucha Truck was postponed till the 26th because of the weather

043this weekend. So, just everybody out there noticed uh that it's same place, but it's the 26th. Thank you. Anyone else? Commissioner Mia, add a quick question. Uh, when it comes to expanding the preschools into our already elementary schools, um, how much money will this save us from renting out outside sources in terms of renting out another building to house our preschool classrooms in? I don't think that information is available, but um, will it save us? if it would not because um the number of spaces that we need exceeds the space already that exists including this the rental spaces. Uh we actually have contracts with multiple outside providers where we have students of ours um where we have entire classrooms in other buildings. We have two uh two locations right now. We're adding two more and

044we've been back and forth in negotiations with Boys and Girls Club. However, the funding for all of those spaces, including the current rentals that we have, is included in that per pupil amount that is provided by the um preschool aid. So, pea pays for the space as well. Okay. Thank you. Um yeah, Mr. Kusovich, do you want to make a comment also just reading the minutes just reminded me about the adult school we have? maybe some comments on what that's coming up or uh yes no I mean the the parent university. So that's a plan for next year um where we really feel that um families don't necessarily know everything that is going on in our schools. You may have a child with with a particular need and you may not realize that we already

045have um things like multi-ensory reading through foundations in grades K through two is through three is offered for every single student, not just our special needs population. So, it's getting out the branding and information about things like that to our families um through courses, through evening events, through video presentations and through um I'm going to age myself, but they're not Tik Toks. The little videos, the the the Facebook and and Instagram videos. Reals. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kuselovich. Um anyone else? Oh, Commissioner Mia, will that come through title one? um right now that um the parent university funding would that would be um primarily driven by our title one parent funding for our title one schools. Things would be held at those title one schools, but we are allowed to open up to the

046further community um beyond title one as long as everything is targeted first and looking at the title and held at those title one sites. All right. Thank you. Okay, next up is our public recognition portion of our meeting. This portion of the meeting is open to the residents and non-residents of Clifton for the purpose of addressing any subject matter pertinent to andor directly related to the operation of the Clifton Public School District. Residents and non-residents are requested to sign the register provided for this purpose and to state their names, addresses, and subject matter. Comments are limited to five minutes per person. Issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All comments will be considered and response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate. The board asks

047that members of the public be courteous and mindful the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board. Students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility, nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public. Members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. Anyone on virtual? There is no one in virtual. I do have to apologize. There were two people that did attempt to log in during Mrs. Kusvich's presentation, but I think they were either timed out

048or whatever. So, I do apologize if they want to dial in, try to dial in again. Okay, why don't we keep it open for now and we start with the people that are here and then we'll see if they come back on. Uh, anyone like to approach the uh table at this point uh for some comments? Welcome. Had to beat everybody to it. My kids are wreaking havoc in the stairwell. Thank you. You have somebody. You do have somebody back, Mr. Rose. But but you No, but you got kids in the hallway. So, go ahead. Oh, sorry. Thank you. You have the floor. Good evening, members of the board of ed in the Clifton community. My name is Diana Farcus. I am a student assistance coordinator from Woodro Wilson Middle School. I'd like to take

049a moment to personally invite you to our mind music movement festival on Saturday, May 3rd from 10:00 a.m. to 2 pm. Last year's event was our first time running this type of event and it was such a success. There were over a hundred people who attended and we were able to raise $2,500 for the Superintendent Scholarship Fund and Sandy Hook Promise. The feedback we received from students, families, and staff were overwhelmingly positive. And because of that, we're excited to expand this year's event to the entire Clifton community. This district-wide celebration will feature live music performances, a wellness fair, games, food, fa face painting, a photo booth, door prizes, and plenty of activities for all ages. We're inviting students, families, staff, and community members to come together for a day of connection and fun, all while

050supporting three incredible causes. Clifton's Music Angels, the Superintendent Scholarship Fund, and the Mental Health Association in Payic County. Tickets are based on suggested donations. $3 for students, $8 for adults, $15 for families of four or more. But of course, it's pay what you can, and everyone is welcome. We hope you'll join us in making this year's event even bigger and better. Breaking the stigma surrounding mental health, creating lasting memories, and supporting these important important causes. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the festival. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we'll scoot back to virtual. [Music] Hi, we have Cynthia Longley and your microphone is muted. So, if you would unmute uh you can you have five minutes. Uh we can't Hold on a second. Let me just uh make sure the volume's up.

051Um, can you hear me? You want to try again? Can you hear me? Now we can. Thank you. Okay. Sure. Go ahead. I'm I'm up. Yep. You're up. Okay. Um All right. So, this is my letter. Um, my name is uh well to the esteemed members of the Clifton Board of Education, my name is Cynthia Longley Richards and I am the seventh and eighth grade director of orchestras at CCMS. Uh, I'm dialing in tonight to speak to the budget and the important tax levy opportunity. While I am just a firstear teacher at CCMS, I am also a member of the Milbourne Board of Education, which according to our auditor auditors is one of the most fiscally responsible districts in the state. I have had the opportunity to sit on our finance and facilities committee, and

052I work directly with our BA. As I'm sure you all know, when developing the district budget each year, the BA and superintendent work uh closely to align the budget to the district's goals. This work begins in the fall to be presented in the spring for approval ahead of the state budget deadline. All monies are considered in the process, including the 2% tax levy. While I understand that the idea of raising taxes in in a time like this where all costs are rising um and it sounds like a bad idea, I'm here to try to convince you that not levying the 2% is not only a bad idea, but fiscally irresponsible, especially this late in the process when the budget is due to the state to be approved. In a year when the district is opening

053a new school, which we just heard um a lot about, which is very exciting. I'm very excited to hear about the music suite. Um it's we're in a district that's underst staffed already. Um I'm not sure how this will be able to happen without the money to do so. Cutting the budget is counterintuitive to expanding facilities and staff. And not taking advantage of money that is legally leviable is certainly a miss. While it may sound good to say that you're not raising taxes, I'm sure that everyone understands. I'm not sure everyone understands what the actual tax impact would look like. And while um my district Milbourne is not comparable in many ways, um our BA provided a simple formula for the public to understand what the actual cost would look like. Uh in Milbourne, we

054actually applied for a health insurance exemption and we will be raising taxes 3% uh which will be a little less than 3% when all of the factors are considered. But the approximate cost that they provided in a formula was on a $1 million home, a constituent will be paying around $300 more a year in taxes, which we know is paid quarterly. Um, so it's around $75 more a quarter here. Most homes in Clifton are less than this with the average home price around $575,000. Um, and the median annual Clifton tax bill around $9,336. 2% of that is around $190 a year in the median on the average. So that's at 4750 a quarter. So that's kind of in the middle. Um I I mean as an educator I feel that that's a small price to

055pay to meet the district goals and to bide our Clifton students with the best education possible. I mean I won't read it back to you. Read it at the beginning of the meeting. The board's mission, philosophy, and goals are all clearly stated. None of those are attainable without the facilities, programs, and staff to make these goals happen. And none of those are possible without the budget to do so. In short, levying taxes every year by 2% should be a no-brainer for all constituents who care about education, and not doing so will set any further prog progress back and make opening this new school an exercise in futility. Uh, respectfully submitted myself, Cynthia, along with Richards. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, [Applause] Mr. Rose. Is there anyone else in the virtual? There is no one

056else. Again, motion to close. Virtual second. The other person didn't dial back in. So, okay. Motion to close. Virtual. Did I hear something? I didn't hear. Commissioner Brunak, motion to close. Who seconded? Commissioner Mahia. Thank you. Okay, we're back to uh our live in person uh public recognition. Anyone else would like to approach our table here and address us? Okay. Oh, I feel like I'm too short, like I have to lay across the table. Oh, thank you. Hi, I'm Donna Papwitch. I'm the mayor of Donnerville and I'm here because every month we present certificates to our citizens of the month, people who have really gone out of their way and have made a difference to make Clifton better. And we are presenting these certificates to uh people who have made a huge difference and they're

057also huge personalities and in one of them cases quite a huge huge dog. So we'd like to present these to Mark Jenaro and Chewy. and it says, "For your outstanding contributions to the city of Clifton and service to the children always with many thanks for all your work in the Clifton public schools, for going above and beyond for our children, and with Chewy, our emotional support animal and therapy dog who offers comfort, companionship, and emotional support. You are both a beloved presence bringing joy to students and staff during classroom visits, sporting events, performances, and various community gatherings. So, we just want to express our thanks to you for always being there and for being the best sport ever. And you have never said no every time I call you up with one crazy plan after

058another and you've actually made them crazier and have never said no. So, thank you so much, Mark. We have one for you. I didn't realize this was happening, so I don't We got to get a picture, Mr. Jingo. Mr. Jingaro, please get a picture with uh Yeah, thank you. pictures we have for children. Just take some of the other one, two, three. Chewy. Chewy. Look at this. Chewy. In fairness, we did wake up Chewy from his nap. That's a good boy. Maggie said it's the first time he's been think. [Applause] Thank you. Is there anyone else who'd like to approach the table and speak with us? Long time no see. Well, today I was going to say I stand before you, but looks like I'm sitting to talk about something that affects all of us.

059And I'm going to say it again. Our schools, our students, the future of our community. We are at a critical point where we must decide whether to invest in the success of our children or allow our schools to struggle with rising costs and increasing demands. This is why I'm only asking for a 4% increase. We could go to adequacy for 44 million. But I'm being very generous. 4% increase in the school budget is not just necessary. It is essential. Remember, it is crucial to accommodate rising operational costs, essential educational programs, and unfortunately the uncertainty of Washington DC. We need to ensure that schools can maintain financial stability while continuing to provide highquality education. However, this rise to adequacy, oh, I mean 4%. Is not automatic. districts must advocate for it. And that's what we're doing.

060We're advocating for it to ensure that we can keep up with inflation, maintaining staffing levels, and support our students programs. We don't want to cut anything. Without this adjustment, our schools may face budget shortfalls, forcing cuts to critical services, extracurricular activities, and after seeing those lists the other day, I was horrified. and resources that directly impact student success. Our superintendent, Dr. Danny Roberto, during the new teacher meeting at the beginning of the school year, always stresses the importance of loving our students. Everybody's leaving. I'm getting worried here. This is the key. We truly care for our students. We ensure that they have the best resources, opportunities, and support to thrive. And that requires adequate funding. Not adequacy, but adequate. This small but impactful increase means maintaining class sizes, allowing teachers to give each student the

061what they deserve. It means providing updated textbooks, technology, resources that prepare our students for a rapidly evolving world. Just think what goes on in one month. How much changes? It means keeping our schools safe, our facilities well-maintained, and our staff supported. The cost of living increases have gone up. Without this increase, we risk losing vital programs, extracurricular activities, and that's not what we want for our students. It's a loss for our entire community. Strong schools create strong communities. They attract families, increase property values. Yes, they do. and ensure that the next generation is equipped with the skills they need to succeed. Let's be clear, this is not about e excess spending. This is about responsible investment. 4% ensures that we continue providing the quality education for our students. So I urge you, support this increase,

062support our students, support our schools because when we invest in education, we invest in a brighter, stronger future for all. Thank you. Anyone else like to approach the table? I needed that. Thank you. My name is Matt Ward, one sul. I had the opportunity to look at the tape because I only came to the last meeting late. Superintendent, I just want to say your presentation was very thorough and I want to just say to you that you outlined it in about as clear terms as I've ever seen. So, I just want to tell you that straight up. Okay. Secondly, and these are my words having been on the board, it was irresponsible of the board to have had successive zeros in the manner by which this went down. short-term gain has comp could potentially put

063you in long-term pain. With that said, we also have to deal with the sensitivity of where the Clifton body politic is right now, which is yes, in in some kind of dream world, we could always shoot for adequacy and then somehow pump up the dollars, but you have to live in a real world that exists out there. And I think from what I heard, and again, please tell me if I'm wrong from the business side and from the administration side, the 2% keeps you at least above water for the time that you need to be in. As I said at the last meeting, I would urge you to reach out to legislators. The state aid formula, folks, you would need to be the amazing Creskin to figure that out, okay? Because I've tried to figure

064it out over the years, and it's it's bizarre. There's no way to do it. I know years ago when I was on the board, we pushed for Abbott rim money. Basically, if you're next to a community like Patterson or Pake, uh, Garfield, okay? I mean, you know, I always used to say to people many times, we used to have a relationship with the folks from Patterson. People would say to me, why are why are the folks from Patterson at Woodro for a meeting? And I used to tell them, I say, because if they can't solve those issues, guess where it comes? What do you think it stops at crooks have. I mean, do you really believe that? So, the reality is we're all in this together at some point. So, getting back to what you're

065facing, I'm I don't have all the details, but I saw the superintendent's report 2% to go to a cap to go over the cap in front of the public. That's just it's you you'd be you'd be facing a monumental effort to go in that direction. a monumental effort. You would risk a lot if you lost. That's what you got to think about because I can tell you that process, boy, you want to talk about tough times, that is a real tough time situation. It's not easy. But let me say this for all the people who are doing programs and teaching, the New Jersey report card means something. You have to show results when you get money. If students aren't performing, if teachers aren't teaching to the level that they need to teach, that's why they

066have supervisors involved with this, that's why they have principles, that's why they have senior staff. We have to get results to demonstrate that you can go for another 2%. Possibly go above the cap in the year following because then you could show the results and you could say to people, we're very close to achieving a lot of different things. So when you look at the budget as a whole and again I don't have the the depth of the knowledge that the commissioners or the central administration has but it was irresponsible to do what was done. That's just my opinion. But it's also and I again I would caution you. I don't want to use the word irresponsible. Each of you will have to decide how you how you vote on the budget. But you're going

067to have to use real common sense here with the body public and where we're at in addition to what the business administrator said about our federal funds and what that could cause the district as a whole. These these are you know these are landmines you have to avoid very carefully. So in closing let me just say that you know you're going to try to build momentum so that you can achieve in the outer years not just this year. So if you go to 2% as I think administration is recommending if you go to that 2% you may be able to pull together a recommendation the following year where you could go possibly more but then you're going to have to show results and I would urge all commissioners up here on the board speak to

068thorowness but don't ever pay lip service to efficiency. They go hand in hand. Somebody's got to pay the bills. And I believe if I was correct, 85% of that supports the Clifton schools comes from local property taxpayers. Those are the people who pay the freight. We're not getting somebody coming in from Trenton giving us extra money. So I thank you for the time. I wish you well under discussions. And again, Superintendent, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Would anyone else like to approach the table? Right. Seeing no one to close by Commissioner Brunack, seconded by Commissioner Mahia. Okay. Next up, we're going to vote um for the adoption of three different meetings. So, the March 11th minutes of the March 11th meeting, which was our committee of the whole, our first um budget meeting,

069March 13th, which was a regular board meeting, and the final minutes uh for March 20th, which was our strategic planning meeting. So, motion move motion by Commissioner Bassford, second, second by Commissioner Brunak. Roll call. Mr. Shad, Miss Bassford, yes. Mr. Brunac, yes. Mr. Media, yes. Mr. Iano, yes to 11 and 13, abstain on 20. Miss Suarez, yes. Vice President Santiago, yes. President Paris, yes. Motion carries. Floor is yours uh for your superintendent report, Dr. Robert. Thank you uh Mr. President. Good evening, commissioners. Thank you uh to all of the uh staff and members of the community uh who spoke tonight. You know, your voice matters and and coming here and speaking matters. Uh this this board needs to hear what the community thinks and despite what uh some people may think that they don't have

070a voice, you do have a voice. There's at least one of these meetings every month um sometimes two and this board will listen to you. So thank you for coming out tonight and speaking. I want to start off with just sharing some um some fun positive news. Uh this year was the second annual district-wide math competition which we always coincide with March Madness. For those of you who don't know what March Madness is, March Madness is the college basketball tournament um the NCAA college basketball tournament. We do a very similar thing uh in Clifton which is called the Imagine Math uh March Madness competition and that took place in all 14 of our elementary schools uh grades K through five during the month of March. And the schools faced off against each other to see

071who had the highest lesson accuracy in Imagine Math. Focus was on how accurate the lessons were completed, not just how many lessons were completed. Uh for the second year in a row, the final round came down to a fierce but friendly competition between school nine and school 16. And after a very close race, school 16 won the tournament and was named this year's Imagine Math March Madness Competition winner. Yeah, I think that deserves a round of applause. Uh, the students will receive an ice cream truck visit courtesy of Imagine Learning. What is that? Uh, I'll be there. Imagine ice cream truck there. Hopefully on a nice warm day. So, a big thank you to um all the uh the staff that participated. This this doesn't happen without teachers. Um uh a huge thank you to

072our elementary math coaches, Kristen Genshi Kiho, Laura Andreovich, and Jennifer Lanzerati. and of course our math supervisor at the K through uh 8 level, Erin Zamuda. Uh congratulations to all the students, teachers, and families who supported the journey. It's a it's a fun way to have students learn and be a little competitive. I think competition usually brings the best out in people. I want to thank Janina for a outstanding presentation tonight on could what is could be a very difficult thing to understand. And I think she broke down the uh district demographic report uh in a in in a very simple way that that that anybody uh could understand. But if anyone does have further questions, please feel free to reach out and we'll answer those questions for you. Let me reiterate some of the

073things that Miss Kusalevich mentioned, but I think are important and bear repeating. Um, first, the schools, the fifth grade students who will be going to the new middle school will be coming from the current fifth grades at school five, at school um, sorry, school five, school 8, school 15, and school 17. That's going to be about 220 students. of those some of those students will have siblings that already attend um Christopher Columbus or Woodro Wilson Middle School. If a parent requests to have their younger sibling go to those schools, we will permit that and we will allow that through the end of 8th grade. Um, however, we're going to be pretty uh pretty strict in our in our in enforcing our district attendance and boundary policy about where you live is where you go to

074school. Now, every situation is a case-byase basis. So, there might be a circumstance other than a sibling where a student might need to go to a different middle school. So, I'm not saying that it's it's a no, but we do have to be very careful because the whole idea is that we're trying to balance out the entire uh you know, three middle schools eventually. The other important thing um that I want to make sure and it's going to be communicated in the letter that goes out to parents tomorrow. It was very very important to me and this administration that parents know that regardless of where you live, your child will have a consistent learning experience at all three middle schools. Meaning they will have the opportunities that every other student has at the middle school

075level. So, as a practical matter, having only sixth grade at the new middle school next year, it might not be practical to offer every single thing that Woodro Wilson and Christopher Columbus offer. However, if there is an activity that a student wants to participate in and it's only available at Woodro Wilson Middle School, we're going to make sure that that student has the opportunity to participate in that activity um after school, whether it's a club, a sport, um the the school musical. Um the goal first is to try to have that activity at the new middle school. If that can't happen because we don't have a teacher to run that activity or there not enough students, we're going to provide transportation after school to Woodro Wilson Middle School to so that student can be a

076part of that activity. That's the extracurricular stuff. But as far as the actual curriculum, the new middle school will follow the same curriculum and schedule and have all the other same programs as every other middle school. Um, so that's important uh to know. I wanted to say that publicly, but it will also be in the letter that goes out to parents tomorrow. So, tomorrow morning, parents will be notified. The uh meet and greet with the new uh building principal, Mr. Berlini, will take place on May 27th at 6 p.m. And we will schedule a um open house in August. like to mention that next Wednesday, April 16th, is take your child to work day. The Roberts children are looking forward to coming to work, but no work actually gets done on that day because it's

077like a mad house. It's important to note it's not the it's not the national day because we happen to be off school on the national day, but this board uh thankfully helped us pass a resolution allowing us to create our own take your child to work day. Um my kids are actually on spring break but still want to come to work with me which I that I can't believe that. Um so uh looking forward to that and I'm hoping that our staff uh bring their children. It's so nice when our when our family gets to meet our work family. It's nice and most of the schools have activities planned. We have activities planned in the administration building. Um and so it's a lot of fun. So looking forward to that. Uh, finally, um, two more

078serious topics that I want to make sure that I review and I want to make sure that, um, hopefully I'm very clear and everyone understands what I intend to say. First, when I gave the presentation Tuesday night, we talked about the possibility or what we were told that we were losing $11 million in federal funding, federal ARP esser money. And I informed the board that 70% of that money, 70% of the projects that that money was supposed to fund is already done. It's already completed. and four million of that we've already paid out and haven't received reimbursement. And I'm I did mention that it was my hope that the states get together and um file a lawsuit to try to stop this from happening. So, at 5:56 p.m. Tonight, just two hours ago, I received

079an email from the chief of staff of the um commissioner of education from the New Jersey Department of Education, which says, "We are reaching out to let you know that New Jersey has joined a multi-state lawsuit for a preliminary injunction against the US Department of Education and Secretary McMahon regarding the abrupt cancellation of late liquid ation of ARP esser funds. The relief sought under the complaint includes requesting that the court vacate the March 28th, 2025 letter that that uh to states that truncated by one year the deadline for our ARP esser late liquidation and further requests that the court declare that letter to be a violation of the administrative procedure act. enjoin the US Department of Education from enforcing the contents of that letter or otherwise revoking previous late liquidation approvals and provide any other

080relief that the court deems appropriate. I have a pretty good understanding what all that stuff means, but I know that our board attorney can explain it perhaps in more layman's terms so that we have a better understanding of what that actually means. So, Miss Miller, if you wouldn't mind. do my best. Um, essentially the letter that they're speaking about cut the time frame for liquidating the funds or paying them back to the states by a year and it stopped it immediately. As of March 28th, no more money was being paid out. um the action will stop to enjoin which means stop the the government from enforcing that letter which means that any money due would be paid out and they would be permanently prohibited from not allowing the money to be spent. Um the violation

081of the administrative procedures act means that the money has been allocated already. Um it's spent as Dr. Robosi said in most cases we're just not getting reimbursed. So you cannot reverse such action without going through proper procedures which in this case there's there's administrative procedures state level office of administrative law federal level a little different but um it violates their process and procedures from stopping the payment of those funds. They didn't follow their own process for doing so. So that would in in the short term would allow the funds to be paid now and continue it through the year would be the the long-term injunction. Thank you, Miss Miller. So, it's important to note that this is a multi-state lawsuit because there were many states impacted by this. The last uh line of the of

082the email says uh we hope to know more next week about the timeline for a ruling. So, I don't know if this is something that could take, you know, years or is something that might be expedited. We are hoping it's something that's expedited. the uh chief of staff says uh we know this is a matter of great importance to your district and we will continue to keep you updated. So as soon as I receive further updates uh I will let the board and the community know. That was one serious thing. The second serious thing that I wanted to discuss and I want to clarify, there is a resolution on the agenda tonight and I want to be sure that uh we all understand what this resolution means and this resolution is on finance um a

083resolution authorizing an application for expenditure increase. When I presented on Tuesday night, I spent uh some time talking about the uh the state telling Clifton that we are 44 million under adequacy or our local fair share. And then I showed you an email that we received that for this year is giving the board permission to raise taxes, to raise the tax levy as much as necessary to bring our budget up to adequacy, meaning an extra $44 million. I did make very clear that was not going to be my recommendation. We did uh talk that night and there is a there was a deadline uh the deadline is April 14th to apply if we anticipate applying for any additional funds over 2%. So I'm recommending 2% increase in the budget. The administration's recommending a 2% increase

084in the budget. Some board members have expressed that they might want to see more. And again, you guys are the stewards of the public's money in the event something catastrophic happens in the next 3 weeks. And when I say catastrophic, I mean we got an email one day from the state that says we're taking the federal government's taking 11 million from you. If we find in the next 3 weeks that title money is taken away or we lose all our federal money, that's an additional $21 million and primarily made up of staff. So what we thought was a rather easy application, we thought we just had to say we might apply for more money. When we looked into it the day after the meeting, we found that not only did we have to say how

085much we might apply for, but we had to list what we would spend the money on to bring us to thorough and efficient education that's in the state constitution, which is not a problem because we're 44 million under. We can justify it. and then said, "And you need a board resolution authorizing you to apply." So, let me be very clear. In order for Mr. Shahada to apply on the district's behalf by April 14th, this resolution needs to be passed tonight. It does not mean that on May 1st, we are going to request a budget tax levy increase of more than 2%. The resolution says 10%. Because that's the number that would cover all of the positions that we said that I mentioned last Tuesday night. We are not recommending that. But if we lose $21

086million in federal aid in the next 3 weeks and we didn't apply for this and we say, "Oh, wait. We need more money." Then we can't. So Amed, if I missed something, please, Mr. Sh, if I miss something, please jump in. Just one thing, we did reach out uh before we even brought it to the board for a board resolution to be passed. Uh we reached out to the DOE and the the the state DOE and our local county BA and just asked them if this application was binding. I sent you guys the the email thread from both. It is not. It is just in the event, worst case scenario, it is a fail safe. So passing this resolution tonight means that you are allowing the administration to apply in the event we want to

087apply for more than 2%. Doesn't mean anything else than that. So if you have any questions certainly we can answer that. And that completes my report. Mr. President, thank you. Doc, could you repeat that one more time very loudly to the community, please? Thank you. In simple terms, we have the ability this year to go above 2%. Without any additional public vote, this board of education can do that. And we can do that because we are, according to the state department of education, $44 million under adequacy in our budget. Meaning the state says we don't tax our citizens enough. And our citizens would laugh at that because our citizens are being taxed. Believe me, I know. So, this one year we're allowed to apply. We're allowed to tax increase the tax levy more than 2%.

088But in order to do that, we have to apply by April 14th. And the recommendation from the central administration is that we are just in recommending a 2% levy. But as we've seen in the last two weeks, things have been very unpredictable at the federal level. In the event over the next 3 weeks, we find out that we lose all of our federal money, not just the 11 million that we've told we're told we're already lost, in the event we lose the 20, and I said 21, but I think it's $24 million in federal money. In the event we lose all that money and May 1st comes along and this board is voting on the budget, some of you may say, "Hey, we need to raise the tax levy more than 2%." And if we

089don't apply by April 14th with a board resolution authorizing us to apply, then we won't be able to do that. So this board resolution doesn't mean that we are going to. We have it in writing from the assistant commissioner at the Department of Education that it's not binding. It just simp simply allows us to apply. When May 1st comes, if everything is as it is today, my recommendation is going to be that we rec that we increase the tax levy by 2%. And if I could ask Jack please to read that proclamation. Thank you Mr. President. Whereas autism awareness month observed in April seeks to celebrate and promote the acceptance of autism spec spectrum disorder a condition affecting one in every 35 children in New Jersey in 2025. And whereas individuals with autism spectrum disorder

090can lead independent purposeful lives when provided with the appropriate support systems and opportunities they rightfully deserve. And whereas for many individuals and families impacted by autism, acceptance remains one of the greatest obstacles in finding and establishing a strong supportive network. And whereas policies must be put in place to eliminate barriers for individuals with autism, enabling them to thrive in their chosen communities. And whereas self- advocates, family caregivers, professionals, and others dedicated to expanding opportunities for individuals with autism should be acknowledged and celebrated for their invaluable contributions. And whereas one of the primary goals of autism awareness and acceptance month is to raise awareness, foster acceptance, and empower individuals within the autism community with the resources necessary to live full and meaning meaningful lives. And whereas the ultimate goal is to create a world where everyone

091in the autism community feels accepted, supported, and connected to the resources they need at every stage in life. Now therefore, be it resolved in recognition of the increasing prevalence of autism diagnosis, the Clinton Board of Education proclaims the month of April as a time to celebrate the uniqueness of individuals with autism, learn more about autism spectrum disorder, and empower those affected by it. We encourage all to wear blue this month in recognition of and solidarity with our autism community. Thank you, Commissioner Brunak. Autumn. Oh, April. Thinking of my granddaughter. Uh, April is also uh ArabAmerican Heritage Month. Commissioner Santiago, I mean, Vice President Santiago, could you please read that proclamation? Sure. Thank you, President Paris. Whereas the Clifton Public Schools Board of Education recognizes the importance of honoring and celebrating the rich heritage of Arab

092Americans. Whereas Arab Heritage Month provides an opportunity for students, educators, and community members to learn about and appreciate the contributions of ArabAmericans to our society, culture, and history. Whereas the celebration of Arab Heritage Month fosters inclusivity, diversity, and understanding among students, educators, and community members. Whereas it is essential to promote cultural awareness and understanding to combat stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Now therefore, be it resolved that Clifton Public Schools Board of Education hereby proclaims the month of April as Arab Heritage Month in Clifton Public Schools. Be it further resolved that Clifton Public Schools shall incorporate educational activities, programs, and events highlighting the history, culture, contributions, and achievements of Arab Americans during Arab Heritage Month. Be it further resolved that Clifton Public Schools encourages educators to integrate lessons and materials about Arab American heritage into their curriculum

093throughout the school year. Be it further resolved that Clifton Public Schools Board of Education encourages the observance of Arab Heritage Month through various activities such as cultural performances, guest speakers, art exhibits, film screenings, and community discussions. Be it of further resolve that Clifton Public Schools encourages students, educators, and community members to actively participate in and support the celebration of Arab Heritage Month. Thank you, Vice President Santiago. And April is also school library month. Uh, Commissioner Ciano, could you please read that resolution? Absolutely. Or proclamation, I should say. Whereas the month of April 2025 has been designated nationally as school library month by the American Association of School Librarians. And whereas school libraries with Clifton Public Schools strive to provide equitable access to resources and instruction for all students. And whereas Clifton Public Schools libraries endeavor

094to provide materials and resources that reflect the diversity of our students and communities while upholding a student's freedom to read. And whereas the libraries of Clifton Public Schools provide resources and instruction to support the implementation of New Jersey student learning standards. And whereas the school library media specialists of Clifton Public Schools develop information literacy skills instruction to empower students to effectively locate, evaluate, and apply knowledge. And whereas the school library media specialists of Clifton Public Schools play a crucial role in literacy development, fostering a lifelong love of reading among students. And whereas the school library media specialists of Clifton Public Schools curate literature appreciation activities and promote both content and recreational reading to every student. And whereas the libraries of Clifton Public Schools contribute to students social and emotional learning needs. And whereas it is

095both fitting and proper that special recognition be given to the school libraries and the role of certified school library media specialists in ensuring an environment that fosters reading and learning, investigation and research and the lifelong pursuit of knowledge for all students in New Jersey. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Clifton Board of Education recognize April 2025 as school library month in New Jersey. Thank you, Commissioner Ciano. So I would ask uh for a motion to approve under B, education administration items number 1 through 10. Motion I have a question on motion by commissioner Suarez. Second second by Commissioner Brunak on one of the on EA4 on theou. Yes. So, I was looking at I was looking at over um 199 per academic credit per course per academic year. I leave that to Oh, yeah.

096Muslvich, if you could please. The dual enrollment with William Patterson University, Clinton High School. We Sorry. Every year we negotiate different reduced rates with the different um dual enrollment programs. um and each year they vary but they are vastly cheaper than if the student were to go directly to that school. These are um typically paid by the students. So this that one was William Patterson. We also have um Bergen Community College, Pay Community College. We have something with Felician. Um we're we're we we're constantly increasing the number of dual enrollment opportunities for our students. Things that are concurrent on site tend to be cheaper at each of these schools. um when you go to the school, you have to pay a higher fee. But regardless, they are always negotiated to be significantly lower than the

097typical cost of a credit at any any one of the universities with which we have partnerships. So the 199 is per the class, right? That's per class. Per class. Could we fix it to say per class? Because it just says per academic. because me reading it makes me think I could take 30 credits. Not the resolution, the actual actual verbiage on the I need to I'm going to have to I want to confirm that though it should be per class, but it is possible that it's per credit. I do need to verify that. Okay. Uh because each school sends I wish they would send them all at the same time. Unfortunately, they don't. So, we kind of are doing them peace meal as they come in. Okay. Well, I'm uh Mr. President, I'm certainly okay

098with pulling that and and and if we can find out the proper information before the end of the night, voting on it. If not, uh, Miss Kusvich, this could be put on next board meeting if necessary, or does it need to be done? It's we're just required once a year to, um, some of the contracts require a once a year readdoption. Some of them last for multiple years. Um, but it's not required to happen tonight at all. Uh, I'd rather just reach out to the college and confirm and work with our high school um adviserss who who work who get that put together. Just real quick, on page four, uh, number letter B, it says each Clifton High School student who takes any of the William Patterson courses approved for academic credit will be charged

099199. So, it is academic credit. Okay. Thank you. Not the course. In the first line, it says it on theou. All right. Thank you. Thank you for reading, Mr. Shannon. Okay. So, any any other discussion before we take a roll call? Okay. Mr. Shad, roll call, please. Miss Bassford, yes. Mr. Bruniac, yes. Mr. Mahia, yes. Mr. Ciano, yes. Mr. Wararez, yes. Vice President Santiago, yes. President Paris, yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Uh, under personnel, um, seeking a motion to approve items number one through, excuse me, one moment, 1 through 31. Motion second. Motion by Commissioner Bassford, seconded by Commissioner Suarez. Any discussion? I have a question. I I asked this uh prior to the meeting to the superintendent, through you to the superintendent. Is anyone on this uh agenda tonight? any appointments, any position changes,

100or any hires related to anyone that sit on the DES. Thank you, Miss Bassford. Uh, no, not to my knowledge. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else? Okay, roll call. Mr. Shash, Miss Bassford, yes. I'm explaining on my name only on P28. Mr. Yes. Mr. Mia, yes. Mr. Ciano, yes. Miss Wararez, yes. Vice President Santiago, yes. Abstain on P28. My name only and P29. President Baris. Uh yes, but abstaining on C28, my name only and C29. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay. Under D, finance facilities. Uh looking seeking a motion to approve items 1 through 10. Motion. Motion by second. Commissioner Mahia, seconded by Commissioner Brunak. Any discussion hearing? None. Roll call. Mr. Shahada. Miss Bassford. Yes. Mr. Bruniac. Yes. Mr. Mia. Yes. Miano. Yes. On F9 facilities for the Power One LLS event. Uh F10 bills claims.

101We have the Center for Family Resources checks 221657. Uh the Clifton Times 221594 and Tomahawk Promotions 221868. Got it. Mr. Wares. Yes. Vice President Santiago. Yes. Abstain on F10. Invoice 221761. President Paris. Uh, yes. With abstension on F10, check number 221761. Perfect. Motion carries. Thank you. We're up to board member comments. And I believe we're up to Commissioner Mahia. We would have been up to Dr. Danny, but she's not here this evening. All right. Um, thank you for everybody for coming out tonight to give their explanations on why we should either increase or decrease um, the taxes for this upcoming fiscal budget. Um, thank you to Dr. Gucha Love for that amazing presentation. I do agree. Um, I wish we could, you know, use the space, the extra space that's being used. I wish we

102could probably, you know, move some of the preschoolers in there, but I know we can't do that, you know, to use much of the space as we can. Um, because I want to fully use that entire building. But I know we can't really do that. Um, I do know one of the former board of education presidents and former council councilman came up here and he said something that stuck with me and I agree wholeheartedly with it. It was a short-term gain for a long-term pain. And I know I always bring this up year after year after year. And people always call me out saying you can't keep on talking trash about the former board of education members and administrators, but you know, it's true. You know, a hole was dug. we try to fill that

103hole and now it seems like the hole is just going to be unfilled to where it was a couple years ago and it sucks that that's the way um our current political climate is and the way just economics just works in general. Um but he is completely right that 0% for about six years really messed up the way our fiscal budget um is presented and I wish you know someone could go back in time and tell the board of education at that time that hey 0% is going to mess you up at least vote a 2.3%. Um and you know I hate to say it but it it comes to the point where the burden just becomes too much. You see that hey we need to raise it a little bit just to keep us

104alive bas just to keep us breathing but at the same time you see everything going up. You see all the costs going up and you don't see salaries moving up at all. So it's I like to say it's a moral and ethical dilemma. You want to say what's right and what's wrong. Um, but it just depends on everybody's self- view of it. And like I keep saying over and over again, I wish things were a little bit different. Um, no hate, but you know, board of educations three years ago, you know, shame on you. Thank you. Okay. Good evening. First, I want to thank Lamar for the student representative report. I appreciate the time you've taken to keep us informed. I want to thank Jannina for that thorough presentation. A lot of people were asking

105questions. I think you answered a lot of them with that. I want to extend my gratitude to tonight's speakers for their valuable contributions. Um I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the significance of April as a month of awareness and celebration. It's autism awareness month which encourages the recognition of neurodeiversity. The idea that neurological differences including autism are natural natural variations of the human brain. Understanding and celebrating neurodiversity makes our community stronger and more inclusive. It's also Arab heritage month where we celebrate ArabAmerican heritage and culture while recognizing the important contributions of Arab Americans. Lastly, it's school library month and I'm a proud library card holder and sponsor and sponsor of the library and I hope you are all library card holders. I want to urge everyone to visit your local library, get

106a library card and support these incredible institutions. A special thanks to our library staff for their dedication and hard work. You are deeply appreciated. Next, I need to address an important and pressing matter. Commissioner Brunzak spoke on this a little bit. Uh I'm something that's been bothering me of the recent Facebook posts and the spread of misinformation. Misinformation, especially when directed at a community, is incredibly harmful. When falsehoods are circulated, particularly by people using fake profiles, aliases, unsigned letters, it misleads those who may not have full context and causes unnecessary harm. For anyone in our community with concerns or questions, I urge you to address them openly, whether through meetings or direct communication. There's no need to hide behind anonymity when we have platforms for open discussion. I also want to be clear that both

107this administration and the board have operated with complete transparency. To provide an example, when a relationship developed between a board member and a member of the administration, we were transparent from the very beginning. Legal opinions were secured and the board was kept fully informed. The recent misinformation being spread by individuals who may not have followed the situation closely from the start is unfair, not just to the board and the administration, but to our entire community. I also want to take a moment to acknowledge that while I sometimes disagree with my fellow board members on certain topics such as tax increases. We all strive to work together respectfully and keep our discussions civil. Differences of opinion are critical for effective board. If we all agreed on everything, we wouldn't truly be serving this community in a

108thoughtful way. Debate and discussion allow us to represent diverse perspectives and arrive at balanced decisions. Moving forward, I ask for transparency and collaboration from everyone. This board is committed to being open and honest with our community, and I encourage us to work together as a unified body. By doing so, we could focus on what matters most, our students, our staff, and the well-being of our community. Thank you, and I hope everyone has a great evening. Thank you, Commissioner Ciano. Commissioner Suarez. Thank you, President Paris. Um, I want I truly want to thank all the educators who came out tonight. Um, seeing the glow of red shirts is not only a visual representation of the support for the teaching profession and for one another, but it's also a visual representation to urge us here on the

109dis and as well as the community to help us understand your needs as educators who face students and the demands of the profession every single day. Your presence allows for us to consider our power to support the needs of the budget, which directly translates into your needs to teach our students. I was elected with the phrase, "Let teachers teach." And please know that you have my personal support. I'm not speaking for the board. Um because I firmly believe that you all need the resources to teach to the highest potential. I see you and I hear you. Thank you for showing up. And I I just wanted to just a small short anecdote just for um the library month. I have such fond memories of going to the library as a young girl. Um and I

110bring my son uh to the library here and actually sometimes he'll just ask to stop to the library if we have some time. Um so I urge every person here in Clifton if you're able to go to the library, take a book to read with your young ones. It it's really creates beautiful memories. That's all I have to say. Thank you everyone. Good night. Thank you, Commissioner Suarez. Commissioner Bassford. Thank you. Uh, speaking about National Library Month, my Google was a card index box, the draw. Those were heavy and you pulled them to the table and you that was Google for me. I'm dating myself. Everybody's nodding in the audience. I'm sorry. But do you remember the Dewey decimal system? The Dewey decimal system as well. So, thanks for for really dating me. Okay. So,

111wishing the one Clipton community a joyous and restful spring season. As we enter the special time of year, I would like to extend warm wishes to all who observe Passover and Easter. Um, may these holidays bring peace, reflection, and the joy to you and your loved ones. To our incredible staff and students, thank you for your continued dedic dedication, hard work, and resilience. I hope you enjoy uh a well-earned relaxing and rest restorative restorative I can't say that word. spring break. I would like to extend a huge congratulations to Lori Lammana, president of the Clinton Education Association, who was honored this past Friday night with the Friends of Education Ward from the Pake County Education Association. This pre prestigious recognition is a true testament to Lor's unwavering commitment to students, her excellence in teaching, and

112her tireless advocacy on behalf of her colleagues. Lori, your leadershipship and dedication continues to inspire all of us. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor in national. Today's National Sibling Day. So, I want to personally note gratitude to my love and my brother Tom and my sister Jane and to my brother Bill who looks down on me every day, who lives in my heart and memory. Happy Siblings Day. You each you are each a cherished part of who I am. Thank you for beating me up, pushing me around, and making sure that kid sister was well taken care of. As we move through April, we also recognize Autism Awareness Month, a time to promote understanding, inclusion, and acceptance. Let us all continue to celebrate this unique strength um and talents of our individuals with on the autism

113spectrum. We recommmit ourselves to fostering a learning environment where every student is seen, supported, and empowering empowered to thrive. Clifton is at its best when we uplift every voice and embrace every learner. Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and peaceful spring break. You well well welld deserved. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Ambassador, Commissioner Brenak. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to quickly concur what Commissioner Ciano said about the keyboard warriors and the the anons out there. It's it's absolutely disgraceful for somebody to even uh take the time to do that. It's it's so cheap and punkly. So, I urge you to to try to be who you are. You know, that's what I urge you to do. You know, don't be scared of your own shadow or whatever. You know, I'm a lover, not a

114fighter. I don't know about everybody else. Uh, so I just want to speak briefly on that. I want to give a big shout out to the CJAL coaches. Season just opened up this past Saturday and there were even practices held before that. That can't be for me, Mr. Shada. So, there were even practices held before last Saturday when when the uh opening ceremonies occurred and my hand warmers, they were absolutely useless for some of these. I'm trying to help out, but when it's that cold, it feels like it's still like winter almost. Um, what's even more great about the CJAL are the special education kids that are integrated with with the teams as well. So, the parents have an option to play on praise on the praise team. And shout out to Bobby and Gabby

115uh Mel. I hope I said their name right. If not, I apologize. Mariello, thank you, Commissioner Bassford. And it's great to see the teams, at least the ones that um that my my son plays in, these are kid pitch only. And when you see how fast some of these balls go, I don't even want to be at the plate for that. These kids are fearless and they want to hit some dingers. Uh so it's awesome to see and uh just want to give a quick shout out to some of the coaches out there. Um for our team, uh Debbie Guzman, Andrew Sackle, John Fantry, the president over there, Jared Fowler, um Irv Cologne, Eddie, and uh anybody else I I might have missed. Finally, I want to wish a happy Passover and a happy Easter

116to all those who celebrate and to all the children in our district. I hope you enjoy your week off. Thank you for your time and God bless America. Have a good night, everybody. Thank you, Commissioner Brunak. I know you're late to the table, but just in time for comments. Do you want to have any comments? Do you want to make any comments? No, I wasn't here, so I don't have any comments. Okay. Thank you. But, uh, Vice President Santiago, thank you. Um, just echoing, you know, by the time it gets down to the end, we're repeating some of the stuffs, but, um, it's all still very important. So, uh, happy Autism Awareness Month, Arab Heritage Month, and School Library Month to all of our, uh, students and families celebrating. Happy Passover, happy Easter to everyone

117celebrating. Thank you, Lamar. Um, good job. Congrats to the robotic team. Um, there is these dates and these things are changing, so check with Clifton Wreck, but there's the Bunny Bash at uh CCMS. There's a girls softball uh opening day. There's a boys baseball opening day, which apparently that was moved, but go check. There's plenty of stuff to to get involved and support uh our kids and in our community. Um the it's always a good reminder on the disinformation and the misinformation. Um so just to piggyback on that um you know sometimes there's let's say um an incident at school and then whether it's the students sharing with the parents or whatever it's just rumors and then people go online and say I heard this happened and you know we cannot say anything obviously if

118we know something um later on or whatever um and oftentimes it's just not true. um the the the middle school, you know, I I had been contacted, see people in the street, whatever it is, I'm sure other people have, and it's like, "Hey, Tony, I'm hearing school this, this, and this are going to the new middle school." So, um if you see today, especially with the people who reached out to me, they were not the schools at all. Um so, uh but but in closing, I just want to thank Dr. Robert Toy and Miss Kusale Levich, one for the again for that budget presentation, but two, Miss Kusvich for the for the uh presentation today because you guys do such a great job. Clear, concise, and I just want to thank everybody who came out

119to be informed to watch these whether it's on a recording or get the agenda, be informed, um because they do a great job explaining it to everyone and we're so lucky to have uh to have that. So, thank you. Good night. Thank you, Comm uh Vice President Santiago. Um I too want to thank Miss Kusale Levage for a very thorough summary of that demographic study. Um that was a 100 plus page document done by a professional demographer looking at the entire school system. Every single school everything from birth rates to participation by uh students that are in apartments and fac and living facilities that aren't even built yet. Um it's a very thorough report and there's a lot of information in there that we'll be using well beyond uh well beyond this middle school uh

120decision. Um but I just wanted to say that this was not done uh in a vacuum with a couple of us in the back room. It was professional demographer without any kind of preconceived notions about the district. And uh I think the recommendations um are are excellent and I think they'll be a very strong start for our middle school or new our new middle school. Uh congratulations to the robotics team and also to the CHS orchestra. See the orchestra took gold at a recent competition. Um on April 16th, uh note your calendars. The cast film festival is at CHS at 7 PM. It's a wonderful opportunity to see the works of our uh film students. I went last year. It was phenomenal. Uh April 30th, there is a a jazz cafe which is made up

121of the Mustang band and some middle school bands at school 17 at 7 p.m. It's kind of a relaxed cafe atmosphere with some really really good popular jazz music. Um, I believe it was mentioned already, but just one more time, Bunny Bash is going to be at CCMS inside on Saturday. That starts at 9:30, goes to 11:30. It's free. Uh, and there's all sorts of activities uh that are planned. Our integrated summer enrichment experience or the IS, I never know what that stands for, so I have to write it down. Um, it's a supplemental program that you can send your child to if you're in if they're in grades 1 through eight. Um, it's held this year at Woodro Wilson Middle School. It runs from July 1st through the 24th. There's a cost of $425

122a student, but every day or virtually every day, I think every day, but Fridays, uh, from 8:30 to 12:30, students have an opportunity to expand their knowledge and experience in areas of art, math, science, music, uh, band, strings, and in the end, they even produce a musical uh, that they present on the last day of the course. Um, it's worth every penny. Um, my granddaughter was in it last year and there's no way I could stop her and I'm almost done. I don't usually talk that much, so I'll take all the stuff I have in the back and put it in there today. Um, uh, just to mention on board pass actions. U, that's like 2020 hindsight, right? These boards, they did what and the decisions they made were with the information they had at

123hand and in the best interest of the of the school community. Our focus is on what happens now, near-term, long-term. Um, and um I'm sure this board will make the right decisions uh for all our children in the district. Uh happy Easter to everyone. Happy Passover and everyone. And I hope every family and every student has a wonderful spring break. We do have Oh, we have new business. Any new business for this evening? I I have Commissioner Mia. So, I did want to bring something back to policy. I don't know if we could do it. Um I remember before we were talking about the free and reduced lunch forms on how not it's not not everyone f fully fills it out. I was wondering if we could do a policy where before the student becomes

124enrolled here in Clifton High School that they have to. I don't know we are legally able to do that. We no we're not legally allowed to do that. It is an optional form. Uh but we do have it when they come to the welcome center to register they have they are given the option of filling it out and also when you go on um I think it's real time or whatever system we use for for a student portal. It is one of the first, if not the first document that pops up and you have the ability to fill it out on the spot or opt out. Are we able to do like nudges to tell them like, hey, you still have not filled it out? We do. So, we send them every Mr. Rose, correct

125me if I'm wrong, every Wednesday we send out the lunch reminder telling people like you owe a balance of X and fill out the form and then Mr. Rose has the link going right to uh the form. So, legally, we can't mandate them to do Okay. Um my sec my second one is going to be a new policy on response time. I know recently we've all been getting a lot of emails about people saying well it's been taking I know you guys have a lot on your plate. Um some people are saying well hey this is my third time reaching out in almost 3 weeks getting a response or at least saying that hey I see your email and I'll get back to you in a certain amount of days. Um because I know there

126have been some people saying, "Hey, it's been taking almost three weeks, four weeks, five weeks um just to get a simple link or something like that." I there's one person who um we stopped responding to because someone was disrespectful to Mr. Shiada, so we stopped responding, but typically we respond to everyone who reaches out to us. Um I get probably 300 emails a day on an average day. Some of them are junk. Some of them I need to respond to. Some of them I need to send to somebody else to do something. But every single one I got to click on and open. So I would not recommend any type of policy that requires a response time. And the only time somebody wouldn't get a response from me is if I mean there is a

127chance I could just miss it, right? I could just make a mistake and miss it. But uh sometimes we do cut off communication with people who are disrespectful. Okay. Um, my third one is going to be I know people mentioned it before that they are okay with that 2% but many of the citizens are saying well I want to be able to interact and get an answer like on the spot. I know we talked about it like I think two years ago creating a committee where it's almost like a town hall scenario where um it's like an ask and answer almost. I know that was in the question. Um that's the board's purview and Mr. Matt Ward dropped by yesterday uh unexpectedly and I made time with him. I believe I sat with him for

128an hour and asked answered every question he had and we even pulled in Jannina because he had questions about the demographic report which we didn't give full detail yet because it was still being cultivated. But I you guys know more than anybody you call me at 10 11 o'clock at night I'm going to pick up and respond and I'm here at 6:00 a.m. every day. I leave around 4:00 or 5 depending on the day. um just come in, talk to me, email me, call me, whatever. I'm I'm very responsive. So, I I I think um any questions that any community member has about the budget or anything, I I'm very transparent. You could just reach out meeting. I know, Mr. Paris. That's what I was about to say. Go ahead. I'm sorry, Commissioner. I'll be

129right back. Um yeah, as far as a special meeting, that's why we have our board meetings and we have not only in person, you you don't even have to leave the comfort of your own home. You can zoom in. Um so there is plenty of opportunities to reach us. Um and this is the right place to have it because you to have questions because you have all the people expert in the answers. If you're going to get a good answer, you're going to get it from here quickly. Um, so I don't really see the need to do that. I this environment exists already. We've we extend it to the virtual world as well. So that's my thoughts on it. Yes, Paris. I think too it depends also what you're what you're asking, right? If we

130have a some sort of town holy kind of thing. Well, depends. We don't know what the question is going to be. It could be way more involved, takes more time, it could involve privacy, it could be things that you're not supposed to answer. So I just wanted to share that, too. It depends what the questions are and how you know what you have to do to to get it to get the answer and if you can even answer it. Can I ask a question? So the um the city council had brought this up. So I'm just curious about this. Um a lot of times people come up from the public, they make their comments and they leave. If there was a comment that somebody wanted to respond to, can we address you and respond to

131that comment after they speak? that that is the uh at the decision of the board and that's in if you read the instructions before we give it we say we may or may not respond very often if it's a we've had parents in the past that haven't had that have had an issue and I know Dr. Roberts has had uh Mr. Jangaro or Muslv whoever the app appropriate person is to go sidebar with them and help them with their situation. So yes, we can do that and have done that. And if the commissioner wanted to respond, they would go through you and say, "Hey, can I respond to that?" Besides the board member, you can respond during your your comments. I'm saying besides the comments while they're still here in the room. You can I'm

132assuming this would be a very rare thing. If it's appropriate, we can ask through the uh you can ask through the chair and we would ask Dr. Dr. Robert Totoy or his staff, whoever is appropriate to answer that question. Good to know because I'm just going trying to go about that whole town hall thing and that's basically what we'd be doing anyway. So, makes it easier. Thank you. But the the open public uh recognition portion of a meeting is not meant to be an interactive conversation. It's meant to be an opportunity for us to sit here and absorb the information and from individuals in the community. It's not designed to be an interactive uh discuss format. Um Harris. Yes. Commission. It would be it would be perceived by the person at the podium if one

133commissioner answers that you're speaking for the board. So that could be a major issue. That could be an an ethics issue either. Um, I'm going to make a suggestion that maybe the HSA committee goes back on the road again and maybe we start visiting some of the HSA meetings. Um, I I don't know if the committee is up to that, but we'll have to get a schedule from your your uh your group and um go out. We go out with a prepared statement. We're here to observe, but you can bring uh questions to us and then we'll bring them back to you and then you can answer them accordingly. But maybe getting back out in the community from that group would be another way to help this. As far as a town hall, I I

134I would not do that with just a certain member of board members. I would say that somebody from administration has to be there to lead and we we are there only for observation only because that back and forth could be unethical and we could really get into some serious uh issues. So that's my recommendation being one of the old-timers on the board and not knowing much but I know a little bit. Thank you, Commissioner Bastard. And I did have one final one. Um I know many people are talking about this. I got a few calls about it um just today and it was basically asking about the spring break lunch. I know you already stated it last time. If you could give a quick refresher, but I think the most the thing that people are

135having an issue with now is the fact that it'd be going to the warming shelter. Um so there are some people who are saying, "Well, why are we doing this? How come the city is not doing that?" Um if you can briefly explain it again. Sure. So we have uh prioritized children having lunch with the district crow collaborative team. We have implemented lunches on every single day of school including half days. Uh Dr. Roberts, Miss Gus Levage, Mr. myself wanted to pilot having lunch over spring break for the five or six days or however long that is because in rare but prevalent circumstances this is the only meal our children get. So we're going to have them set up I believe it's at 17 and Columbus uh from certain hours I don't know off the

136top of my head where they can come pick up a meal and go home. There's going to be a verification process to ensure that they are Clifton Public School students. Um, we also partnered with the health department because the food that we are making is prepackaged food. If there's anything in excess, we will donate it to the Clifton Health Department to the warming center and they can help the unhoused population. Uh, it's going to be a handful of meals a day. I believe I sent you guys the email about we when we were feeding children during Ramadan. I think it was 20 meals a day if that. So it's it's not going to be an absorbent cost and and quite frankly that people are making this an issue. I I believe it's it's ridiculous and

137I'm wasting my time even commenting on it. I think feeding children, feeding people who with lesser means is a noble thing that this board has decided to do and you know join the administration in on this. Uh people are going to talk regardless. So I hope that answered your question, but I can't speak to as to what the city is doing. I have no no answer for that one. Um Mr. Shahada, I one second. Um those meals aren't the warming center if it's nice out won't be open. Anat collects everything and he goes he knows where the unhoused are and he goes and does outreach with the food. It's really a beautiful thing. So, I I know they're looking for sweatpants that are in great condition. If anybody has anything, bring them over to the

138health department. There's a list that they need of stuff and they really could use our help. If you cleaning out your closet and you got a lot of you lost a lot of weight and you got a lot of sweatpants, bring them over. They need them. They're they're in dire need of things. So, reach out to the health department. And just one more thing, Miss Bass, Mr. Mia, um we're not doing any of the drop off. Uh Nate is Mr. Beagle's number two. He's going to come pick it up from the location he's working with, Pmponian, and they are going to pick up the food and do everything. We have nothing. The food is already made. Instead of it being tossed in the garbage, let's be kind. Yeah, Mr. Sh, I think that's the important

139part. If we don't donate it, that food's going in the garbage. So, Mr. President, I just have a question. So, I think you're talking about a financial side of it. Isn't it true that if a student is free of reduced lunch that the lunch will be free anyway? No. So we tried to talk with the department of agriculture because school is not in session. It is not legal. So there is a cost on those specific days. Okay. On those specific days. So we are we negotiated something with Pontonian where it's going to be at cost of what they buy the food in bulk. So it's literally pennies but not on half days. Those are not in half days. Half days school's in session. Free is free. Reduce is reduced. Paid is paid. Yeah. and and

140and this board did approve a uh um not a referendum a um something to go down to the NJSBA regarding uh resolution. Yeah. Resolution regarding free lunch as it is in a whole for for the entire you know New Jersey. So I mean as a whole I think we all support it. Okay. Any Yeah. President Paris sort of on topic but ve very important. Miss Kusvage, I'm sorry. I'm going to need you real quick. So, in the presentation, there's a slide that says Clifton Public Schools economically disadvantaged, right? And it's talking about the schools. There's a slide earlier that says Clifton poverty percentage, right? And so that slide, Clifton poverty percentage is about the population, not specifically about schools, right? That's just the city population, right? And percent, right? Yes. poverty is that's based on

141the census data of the entire city whereas the other slide is based on free and reduced lunch by school by students enrolled in those schools. Thank you. So uh just for this topic I suggest again a great reason why we have you guys doing this presentation. Take a look at this. The slide talks about and shows the percent of poverty in the city of Clifton. One more. Yes, Commissioner S. I just want to touch base on this too because I've gotten multiple emails and messages on this and there's certain things I can't respond to because just like Commissioner Basser says, I can't speak for the board. Even if I say I'm not speaking for the board, somebody screenshots something, guess what? I'm speaking for the board. Even if I say I'm not. So, it's a

142lose-lose situation. I'm going to tell you right now, this is a drop in the bucket of the budget. If somebody's saying we're in a budget crisis and you know, you shouldn't be feeding kids, it's pennies compared to our budget. And I'm going to tell you right now, if you come up with a summer program to feed the kids that can't eat, I'm voting on that because the kids need to eat. It's ridiculous that anybody's bringing this up as a negative. If you're not donating the food afterwards, it's going into the garbage. And I want to say that Nate is doing an amazing job with what he's doing, going out and finding people that don't have meals and giving them meals. That man goes above and beyond besides the sweatpants, underwear, and socks. Underwear and socks,

143underwear, and socks. The homeless need that more than anything else in the world. I am constantly collecting them at my office with the power of one, but just bring them to the health department because that is the number one um necessity that they really need. Um so once again, that was those messages that I was getting was really bothering me. And once again, if you bring up a summer program, guess what? The guy that's saying, "Hey, don't raise taxes." is going to vote on that to feed the children. All right. Okay. Okay, so we're done with new business. Next week we will have executive session this evening. We do have some items to discuss relating to personnel, student and legal matters. Um action will be taken and it will take approximately how long do you

144believe? No more than uh 30 minutes. No more should be no more than 30 minutes. Okay, I'm going to say 45 because I know this group. So approximately 45 minutes. We'll be back. Motion. Motion to second. Motion right here. motion by commissioner. Five minute recess, Mr. President. Five minute recess. Mia and Mr. McConey. Oh, Frankie had the game, so I wanted to go too. Thank you. It sound like it was so awesome. ready when you are, boss. Welcome back from executive session. Uh, roll call. Mr. Shada Miss Batford here. Mr. Proteek here. Mr. Kenova here. Dr. Danny, Mr. Mia here, Mr. Here, Mr. Wararez here. Vice President Santiago here. President Paris here. We have a Okay. Looking for a a motion uh to approve under executive session items 2 through 7. Motion. Second. Second. Motion

145by Commissioner Ciano, seconded by Commissioner Suarez. Roll call. Mr. Shahada. Miss Bazard. Yes, yes, Mr. Kenova. Yes, Mr. Mia. Yes, Mr. Ciano. Yes, Mr. Warz. Yes, Vice President Santiago. Yes, President Paris. Yes. Motion carries. Motion to adjurnn. Motion. Motion by Commissioner. Uh, Commissioner Mahia, seconded by Commissioner Suarez. Have a lovely evening. Thank you, Commissioners. Vortex.