001e e e there second you [Applause] I got is it on Hello hello there's supposed to be a list I don't know what happened with that all right good all right welcome to the January 27th meeting um in accordance with open public meetings Act njsa 10 uh 4-6 adequate notification of this meeting has advertised in the record please stand for the flag salute United States of America to the stand liy [Applause] andice right Mr Taylor Mr MOS pres Mr ferino pres Mr Gaba pres Dr P AR presid Mr Malo present M Sanchez here Mr KES present Mr Ramos present you have a quum at this time approval of previous board minutes motion motion by Miss Sanchez I'll second that second by Mr ferino Mr boys vote all in favor I any days George okay superintendent
002report please yes good evening everyone good to see everyone here tonight [Music] yes it is very good to see you thank you thank you very much uh first we're going to start off with our um uh an annual comprehensive financial report used to be called the cafer report they changed the name a few years ago so we have our order here tonight uh Mr parenti who's going to give the board a uh part of the management report I guess uh with regard to last year's audit so Mr peny good evening everybody again my name is Andrew preny I'm a partner with lch Vincy Bliss we've completed your audit for the year end in June 30th 2024 uh We've issued two reports the larger report is the um annual comprehensive financial report and then the second
003report will be the auditor's management report included in the management report will be any findings and recommendations if any as far as the comprehensive financial report is concerned it's primarily made up of four sections the first section would be an introductory section which is a brief Narrative of the school district the second section would be the management discussion and Analysis which is your financial statements in a narrative form the third section would be a financial section which would include an Auditor's opinion uh various financial statements and then footnotes to those financial statements and then the last section would be a statistical section which includes miscellaneous statistics of both the city and the school district uh as I indicated there's an Auditor's opinion attached to your financial statements as of June 30th 2024 that's an unmodified
004opinion um that's a clean opinion what that means is that your financial statements are fairly stated and free material misstatement okay that's the opinion you want to receive on an annual basis uh what I would like to briefly do next is discuss the district's fund balance at June 30th the district ended the year with approximately 7.6 million in fund balance that fund balance is reserved or restricted for different purposes which I'll briefly go through uh the first restrictor would be uh classified as excess Surplus in the amount of 2.1 million that's going to be the minimum of fun minimum amount of fund balance that the district has to use when It prepares the 2526 budget the next reservation of fund balance is for unemployment compensation claims there 632 632,000 set aside for unemployment um the
005next major classification would be designated for subsequent years expenditures in the amount of 2.2 million that is fund balance that was used in the 2425 budget and then the last piece of the fund balance would be your unassigned fund balance in the amount of approximately 2.5 million I'll briefly discuss the recommendations um we had a recommendation that the district record all transactions of the capital lease bank account in their financial accounting records the second recommendation was that preschool education Aid budget be amended annually based on actual carryover amounts available and actual general fund contributions appropriated in the in the adopted budget the third recommendation is that the uh the reimbursement due to the state for the tpaf pension and FICA for federally funded programs be remitted in a timely manner and then the last recommendation
006was that the food service management company's operating statement revenues be reconciled on a monthly basis with the district's accounting records the board has any questions I'd be glad to address those at this point Thank you Mr pry appreciate you thank you very much thank you uh so again in a nutshell that that was the audit report uh it'll be posted right Post online it'll be posted online for you see the comprehensive report if You' like to see it um I'm uh you know I spoke with Mr der uh board president regarding this uh audit report I think it was uh a decent report I think moving forward uh there's some repeat findings uh that we're going to work on uh obviously m m d uh inherited some of this stuff so um but we are
007um you know working on some of the checks and balances in the business office uh that comes along with uh changing some positions and different things uh in order to monitor some of the those things which uh I'll be you know filing out to the board through the business office over the next several months as we kind of make our way into the next school year as I'm now um you know looking at things a little more differently as we're preparing for Budget uh Etc so uh I appreciate the auditing firm they've helped us with a few different audits this year uh so and thank you for the board for being so uh attuned to uh what's happening here and uh what we're continuing to do uh I think we will um now go right
008to the top uh with student of the month so oh he's back again how are you sir good evening I'm staing Beck I'm a math teacher at the high school it's my pleasure to present tonight our January student of the month I have the honor of teaching her during her junior year and she is an exceptional student she has been on the superintendent list here in Garfield every semester of her High School career she's also on track to earn her associates degree from Bergen Community College this spring also posting a perfect GPA she's the president of the National Honor Society she's a member of the math Honor Society she's received What's called the AP scholar award for posting a three-point score or better on AP Calculus AP US History and also AP Literature and composition
009she's been recognized by the national first generation recognition program for outstanding academic achievements she also achieved a perfect score on the njsla her volunteer efforts are extensive through the National Honor Society she's dedicated time to read to preschool students and to raise money via Candy Grand program she serves as a math tutor at the high school she's volunteered at many events Mr ghs summer Arts Library book sales track and field meets VFW gift wrapping as well as the Thanksgiving food drive she's also a versatile athlete she was a member of The Varsity golf team as a freshman and just as past all the varsity tennis team as a senior and received honors in both of those cases she's also run and competed as a thrower on the track and field team she's an active member
010of several clubs the interactive Club the ook Club the environmental Club and gardening she plans to study mechanical engineering this coming fall and is deciding among Steven's Institute of Technology ruter NYIT and NJIT I'm sure her dedication and work ethic will lead to her continued success both in and outside of the classroom in some this students academic achievements her leadership qualities her dedication to service and her diverse extracurricular interests make her ideal candidate to be recognized as the Garfield High School student of the month it's my honor to present this award to Barta blessa [Applause] hello and good evening everyone I'm honored to receive the title as the January student of the month this year firstly I would like to thank Mr stabach for not only nominating me for this reward but for also always
011being an amazing wonderful and kind teacher to me throughout my high school years I also I also want to extend my gratitude to my mom my dad my family and my friends as well as every single one of of my teachers and staff throughout the years for always pushing me to be the best person that I can [Applause] be they have also they have always pushed me to succeed not only as a student but as a person an individual without their efforts their dedication their patience and their encouragement I would not be here standing of receiving this award today so I am truly honored again and thankful for every single one of you in my life that have got me this far I'm wishing everybody the best and have a good [Applause] night down congratulations
012excellent job all of our students so far um that have been recognized uh have been incredible um from the first meeting I was at uh which I think was in May uh just incredible stuff here so continue to uh to make care the the district community and everyone proud so congratulations again yeah and you have a full audience to celebrate that so that's great so hopefully next month we see the same amount of people fantastic wow wow wow I why is that a bad thing I don't know why it's a bad thing so all right so Student Government hit the thank you Student Government board lay on so we have our Student Government board liais on up here for the first time so uh maybe you could share with so and uh just so everyone
013knows this is something that uh the board's going to incorporate uh moving forward it happened a few years ago many districts um we're going to get uh these the two indivual ual uh so I I guess we'll be switching as availability um but you'll be uh uh we'll be seeing them in committee meetings Etc uh obviously not committee meetings that are you know confidential Etc that so you have the floor sure they are uh thank you Dr TOMCO I'm not to spoil our presentation but we are going to introduce something I want to point out is that we're going to introduce that we are having our career night very soon and I just want to say that's all thanks to um your credits do our adviser Mr Burns he has a list of students like
014over the years and he messaged each one of them and he and and I think it says a lot that our lumni would be able to they're in these positions that I can't even pronounce the name of because of how complicated they are but they decided to get their schedules to be here February 12th um to support garford high school and give back to the community where it came from so I just want to that's all thanks to our teachers [Applause] do we want to do the presentation yes um we advise the uh our co-president and our vice president will be coming up right [Applause] now hello all Administration parents Educators student body I would like to say I'm San vice president of student government and along with me our franek our president and Isabella
015our historian and secretary I will not let them introduce them and a little bit more about their position so my name is Fran shalang you can call me Frank I'm the co-president along with dala uh this is my second term serving as the co-president of s government and I would like to introduce Isa hello everyone my name is Isabel uh this is my first my first year serving as the secretary and historian of student government and I am Tru the honored to be here tonight um so in December uh we did our spean week so on Monday we did color War then Tuesday was twin day Wednesday we did ugly sweater day that was an MD classes created day uh for which they raised money for their Special Olympics uh Thursday was student teacher day
016well personally that was my favorite day and then NHS had their fundraiser pajama day on Friday those are some of the pictures um we would like to share it was a complete success we had multiple of not only our students but our staff well participating as you can see in the pictures we also had our dress like a teacher day which was where students basically dressed as their favorite teacher we had even our president Len dressed as her favorite teacher Miss C and as you can see in the pictures it was a great success also twin day as well can we also had our teacher here Mr day along with other students so I thought it was a great success and I can't wait to see what we do next and if you look on
017the TP you can see our s of the month congratulations again [Applause] Barda I want to share with you uh one of the plans that took place on January 10th in this uh High School auditorium this was a collaboration between the Garfield National owner society and the student government this was a great success and it was a code Drive where many community members were able to pick up codes for the winter while we have not yet donated the remaining codes we are actively seeking godfa based companies that will accept them as donations this initiative demonstrates our commitment to giving back to the community and supporting those in need uh I want to share with you the next plans that we have for the month of February we are already planning our February Spirit Week where
018being to celebrate a school spirit and Valentine's Day with fun ideas like perfect beir and a tie eye named uh peace and love we are excited to bring some fun excitement to the school and student feedbacks and ideas are encouraged to help make this be week as enjoyable as possible thank you again as our president Alliance Martino was mentioning we are going to host our career Night February 12 at 6: PM it'll be taking place at our high school and again I would like to thank Mr BRS because truly without him reaching out to all this alni this would not have been possible we have over 25 of alni coming back to Garfield High School to share their positions now where they are it will be we also have over 25 careers as well including
019social media marketing we have law enforcement as well we have cosmetology all of careers that are Al like right now in our students have shown interest in we encourage everyone to spread the word and bring friends to make the most of it we are also seeking for any feedback from students of any other career nights they we would like to see and as well in addition to the 25 of L night that we have already secured that are coming we are waiting on responses of more our students as well we would like to tell them now that they are out here that to please come take advantage of the opportunity because truly if so many people have came it shows that you can make it out of Garfield High School you can be successful coming
020from Garfield High School and I think that is so important to take pride in not just our school but and our Educators because truly without them this could not have been [Applause] possible the purpose of this event as mentioned is to give back to the students the opportunity to learn more about different professions and start planning for their future we will be making it accessible for freshmen Juniors sophomores and seniors to give give them a head start start about what they would like to do in Karina as well as we also have the early college program set in place so I think this is a great opportunity for all of our students and our staff to be a part of and again thank you for all the Educators and the students that participate to make
021this a reality thank you and please join us February 12th at 6 p.m. at the high [Applause] school so a few weeks ago we had a meeting with this long foit our uh School administration we had a meeting with our superintendent Tomo uh we talk about many issues we talk about our dress C we talk about change we talk about so many different things uh one of which was allowing students to go outside for lunch uh which I think it's a fabulous idea because you know not everyone wants to eat lunch and some students just want to go outside especially in springtime where you know the weather is nice and now that we have our new Plaza I think it's a wonderful idea in to utilize uh that space thank you [Applause] everyone again to
022finalize and breay I would like to thank the board of ed for the opportunity us for us to speak and granting us approval for all of that we do and our Educators and students as well because truly without everybody's help this would not have been impossible events like Spirit weeks where we need Educators to help us put wristbands on students to be able to be allowed in the school where we have our student body who volunteers their time to make when we had homecoming which hadn't been done in years again without all of you this wouldn't have been possible so truly thank you for the opportunity and allowing us to share the voice of the student body thank you any questions I would like to answer them now any questions I would like to attend
023no great thank you so much truly thank you again I contined to uh be in awe what all the kids are doing here I we're trying to do everything we can to um you know make life a little easier inside the buildings with regards to programs and things that they need uh I also want to mention um I was talking to Mr Roso today uh it uh we have kiosks now so all those uh students that are listening to me now or the parents that are out there watching um we have kiosks in the high school hopefully going down to the middle school as well where you can uh order your meal early as soon as you get in in the morning so you can pick it up so you have to wait in line
024maybe you want to go to the library um these are very successful uh it's very limited it's very limited in other districts uh to to uh other districts that don't have them I only know one or two other districts maybe uh in the state that has so so we are Cutting Edge on this we like to uh you know kind of drum up some business to to utilize that in the morning come in order your um your sandwiches save your time Etc I know I could speak personally my daughter does this they don't have the kiosk they just have a piece of paper where you you know put your sandwich down or whatever it is but this is do we have books [Applause] and again I encourage I ENC easily ladies and gentlemen this is
025my my first meeting here with a large faculty I've been involved in many of these meetings before so let me just let me just listen as I'm respecting all of you which I have over the weekend throughout the week no I have listen you get you get you can any you like we deserve or I deserve respect to actually speak and discuss some of this with you regardless of you know we are still Role Models right for our children so we need to do that so for for us that I going suggest we have we have a next time there's outst we have a break and okay so back to the kiosks so we're encouraging the students to use those to save their time to use a library and other things of that nature um
026and uh again uh we appreciate all that one more thing before we go to some of other recognitions there's something on the agenda tonight um with a club called Easy Ride for Life uh I'm part of a board in Bergen County called easy ride and what that board does nonprofit organization and among other things it does for schools and other things in communities it provides subsidized rides for elderly citizens um you know those individuals that need to either get to a doctor's appointment Etc um I'm uh actively looking for the board support tonight to create this club through um hopefully the interact Club where we can run a county wde where Garfield could be the team that runs a countywide uh fundraiser so that we can help subsidize rides for um citizens in dfield and
027other and other um towns in the in the county so uh I wanted just to explain that and I know just meeting the interact club and their uh and their U uh mentors and moderators uh I know this is something that they will take on Full Steam uh and my idea is to then bring this in two months to all the county superint I'm sorry all the superintendents in the county uh and then we be the role model team to do this uh and and really subsidize these rides for elderly individuals who are on tight budgets Etc so I just wanted to bring that up as well um okay I also we also have the ability now unfortunately it was after uh the Galler or maybe that was not a bad thing to recognize uh
028Mr Moo Mr M are you here in high school oh there you are in the back uh we want to pre uh present you with a a certificate of recognition I had the um the ability to to join the community at the uh boys and girls club Gala uh a few weeks ago where uh she was honored in the wall Champions uh just for her dedication to the district and everything that she's done for the families and the students and districts I've seen this firsthand uh Thanksgiving morning when I was here with her uh and she uh really took me in and explained uh all the incredible things that happened here uh the servant leadership and she's definitely uh one of our top if not our top servant leader here so uh so we're very
029proud of her so we like to present you with the certificate of recognition and a coin if you come up [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you this is very much appreciated and uh again not necessary but it certainly means a lot um for the place that I call my second home sometimes I spend more time here than I do at home um but over the years almost 35 years of uh working with Incredible people both at the teaching level supervisory level administrative level and I've learned so much from them um it's it's a it's a process no one's perfect perfect um but only what we do we do what we do to hopefully make a difference in our children's lives and um I'm very proud to say that this is my home for all the years
030in my professional life so thank [Applause] you so the school ethics schools for board ERS presentations we're going to uh push that off to next meeting uh so we'll have a presentation by the busho group a few minutes just talk about some current case law Etc um the board members have all signed their ethics you know uh pledges agreements thank you um so moving forward uh we'll have that next next month uh also the student recognition for weightlifting we have them here this evening we had some weightlifters that that did really uh really well um in a competition we wanted to acknowledge them um however uh they couldn't make it this meeting so we're going to acknowledge them next meeting as well so that's on the agenda we'll keep it there and then finally before
031I do my quick report um we want to recognize students uh for master Paco's black belt class uh and know I appreciate the invite uh unfortunately I had family obligations I know some of the councilmen and board members were there uh Council people and board members uh were in and uh you know celebrating this achievement uh to become a black belt is uh is really an incredible thing so I think they're here tonight um yes they are if they're here can they please come up Mr Master PCO can you please bring your students up they were what I'm told to leave why [Music] okay so um it seems like there was a miscommunication the board was obviously in close session so we don't know why these these young men and women left but we'd like
032to still acknowledge them so may we give them a round of applause tonight he going to do that and we will absolutely call them back for next week so all right so first I will start off with the state of the district with regard to programs and and things I'm seeing we we have incredible I say it all the time I mean all of the teachers of the students the things that are happening here as I'm walking around I can't get out into the building as much as I want to because of some of the other things that I'm finding with internal audits that we're doing with regards to certain administrative tests that were either um not completed properly or missing uh no no fault of uh any board here or past boards or any
033of that some just things uh maybe some compliance issues ETC but we're getting on track as you saw from the actra report tonight uh and some other things too with regards to um you know Matrix audits which are your certifications uh curriculum Etc certain things in the qack um that I was reviewing uh that need a little bit of tweaking so and in and in a light of all those things I say it all the time and I understand that we could always do better in test scores and all that stuff um we still do an incredible job here uh I'm I'm I'm really proud uh of what's happening I understand that there are different um things to consider moving forward with regards to supplies programs um new technology we were we were talking just
034yesterday about a major a major uh infrastructure technological infrastructure that that I'm going to be coming to this board with um so that we don't have any lag in computer networking uh and things of just that just haven't been updated because of either lack of funds or or regardless of what it was I can't keep thinking back I have to think move forward um now that I'm here and the board is reorganized what you're going to be seeing is uh another uh superintendent evening for the for the parents and community members I had scoop with the soup when I first got here um and now uh we'll have we usually have I usually have something something like soup with the soup for in the winter um so we can talk about uh some of the
035things that we found I I encourage all the teachers to come as well um so we can hear everything that's the time to hear it uh as a as OPP post who sending me emails uh emailing or texting me you all have my number um also we are going to start with the new strategic plan now that the board is reorganized um we did that five years ago I was part of that believe it or not five years ago and uh I think the this board has some goals uh you know at that time it was preco um right before covid so uh we need some to talk about you know the future of the district uh the district 2030 um and where we are going to be at so I encourage you when we
036have those sessions please please become involved um it's very important to do to do some of those uh to do some of those things with stakeholder groups especially every stakeholder group that's that's represented here tonight so I need to take a minute and I want to apologize to this board for something that happened when I got here and I realized not so long ago a few few weeks ago and I'm always a person in my administrators will tell you you know it's okay to make a mistake it's okay to say you're sorry we're human happens you know it's okay to be upset it's it's the way it goes um nothing is done egregiously and I believe that I believe that for everybody I believe that for both sides I believe that for the board I
037believe that for the council I believe for all of you out there I believe it in our personal lives as parents as friends significant others whatever it is I have been challenging this board since I got here challenging this board on a daily basis to say we need I'm sorry this board in this Administration any administrator in here can see you outside tonight after this meeting is over and tell you I've said this to them we need we need to stop thinking about the past we need to stop thinking about what occurred in the past we need to stop thinking about those you know things that we disagreed about because the individuals that I heard from all this are our most important commodity here and those are our students so in saying that to the
038board I consistently consistently have said to them we need to be the the individual team that puts our foot forward first and and invites everyone else in that we've had issues with everyone else that we've had issues with we need to invite them in and I've been very very cognizant of that and I want to apologize tonight because obviously regardless of what I've said regardless of what I've said that has not come to fruition and we tried very hard and what I said what I said to an administrator the other day I said we have to stop being mad at the person in Garfield that there was Snowball at us and hit us in the head when we were in second grade we have to stop doing that cuz that's what happens here you don't
039have to like each other you don't have to hug each other you don't have to do any of that stuff but we have to move forward we have to move forward in saying that I bring up I want to bring up something two things tonight one has nothing to do what I just said but I know you're all waiting for the second thing I want to talk about I want to bring up a resolution that the the new the new the newly formed Council mayor and counsel P up it's resolution 3625 and I know they're here this evening so I mean no disrespect I'm a man who tells it like it is and I have to tell you this resolution came out a day a day after this board organized reorganized and what it did
040was a resolution it's their prerogative it's in it's in code it's in law to change the elections from November back to April it's a decision [Applause] that listen that's that's why that's that's called the Democracy right you could clap for that because that was that was a great move on their part however I go back to the let's get together I go back to talking to this board about let's move forward for the kids for the community and you would think that regardless of that vote regardless of the mayor and Council putting that through as a resolution we would have at least had a conversation about it or we would have at least had a meeting about it we would have at least had a conversation about it or a meeting about it with regard
041to well it was five days so we had they still had five days to talk to us about it okay and and that that'll if you all agree with that that's good because I'll bring that up to my next point after so let's say with this one so this is again resolution R 3625 the reason why I bring this up is I know for a fact and and I don't I don't know the town manager that well I just met her when I got here I I know for a fact that there is no way that this that this resolution could have gotten passed without more eyes on it and I don't know who did it but I just I have to make things right so this has nothing to do with the vote this
042has nothing to do with to move the election back I could care less when the election is okay however I will say this and this is why this proves to me only that the the the politics in this town that everybody knows of Garfield will it's going to be very tough to change regardless of the side of the fence you're on regardless of who you support doesn't matter we need to get together and close our eyes and just do it for the kids and for the community because there are certain things in this resolution that the board I'm sorry that the mayor and Council need to understand don't even occur anymore through law and there are certain things in this resolution that just are not correct so that's I wanted to bring it up tonight
043regardless of the vote so the fir the first thing is this the the resolution that that is I think the the Crux of the resolution is so that the the election goes back to April because if we all remember the April elections right the board puts out the budget the voters go out and they vote for it the budget most likely gets voted down and then the mayor and Council get to cut it that changed in January 2024 doesn't exist anymore that's a law so in January of 2024 Governor Murphy signed um legislation that said that the the the way you deal with a District budget in November is now the exact same way you deal with it in April so whether it's April or November as long as we stay under our cap uh
044and our 2% increase there is no vote for the town so that's number one so again I just wanted to put that out there so let's talk about that for a second so we all understand what the cap is our 2% increase could possibly be $718,000 I'm sorry 714 that's two tax points this is important for the the next part of the conversation two tax points that's 2% talk about supplies talk about more teachers talk about programs all those things two tax points $714,000 okay so we can raise it there however because you're an SDA district and we've banked cap we've saved cap over the past four years we could also raise the budget here this board regardless if it's April or November just be very clear this board this board can raise the taxes
045another 5.9 million and I'll tell you why that's happened because the second thing that's not right on this resolution is that the board in 2021 22 and 2023 24 came out to the taxpayers and said we're going to increase the general tax ly 0% 0% you have two incredible job by the board incredible job by the board at the time both times 0% saved you guys a bunch of taxes people that live in the town out of our staff members only 230 members live in Garfield just so we all know this okay so out of all the staff members that are on our staff 236 saved zero had a 0% increase all of you in the community had a 0% increase all right this resolution says that the budget has increased every year from 2021
046to 2024 just not correct so I just wanted to correct those two things very important one the law absolutely changed so regardless of this and I'm guessing that the board the mayor and Council knew this and the attorney definitely did I'm sure he wouldn't have written this the mayor and Council then only even an effect want to change the election for new members that that's that's it again I'm that's not disrespectful I'm pointing out factual occurrences right now okay so again it's important to understand that so those are two major Miss statements that again because we didn't have a conversation if someone came to me and said Hey listen just giving you heads up tomorrow you're going to get 10 of these hand delivered to you in your office which is what happened so that
047you know we're coming to change the election I can said all right can I just see it I'm not going to stop you go ahead I can't stop you looked at it I go said well just you know I'm trying to be helpful because the the resolution was incorrect and I did call and tell you there was a wrong vote on it I'm not here to shake the tree with that I'm not we're talking about things that you need to be informed on because a lot of in misinformation comes on these sites which is great social media sites I I try to F them people send them to me there's a rhetoric of misinformation so that so that everybody reacts a certain way without actually listening to what happens what I am telling you tonight
048anybody can Google and find right now anyone it take you two seconds okay so just so we're aware that I wanted to make that clear tonight that unfortunately that resolution has two major mistakes in it so regardless when we have this election regardless there will never be a vote here again on a budget unless we go over a tax cap now my job as superintendent is to make sure this board never does that okay and I have to take your taxes uh into consideration as well it's an important thing okay this is what I've been doing for the past 25 years I've had 0% 0% tax increases in other places as well when you have a z % tax increase it only affects the next year and the year after trust me think about it
049okay so you all have had two of those at an end like this and in the middle 10% or 9 and a half% okay so I'm only I wasn't part of this I would never have advised this however it did happen this is all I'm telling you but you could go Google it you could Google it for five seconds okay it's in there so the only thing I wanted to bring up tonight is that so this resolution in of itself that the mayor and council did did approve and may stand only does three things that you need to know one it's going to cost more taxpayer money because now the board has to come up with 30 to $50,000 probably close to $50,000 and pay that's not true not April Excuse excuse me excuse me
050one second he's lying no I'm not not telling the truth I I'm not lying and I I will say this if some you can send me something that says I'm wrong I will apologize in public next meeting okay um but number one the every April the board pays for the election because it's a special Board election I already got contacted by the clerk it's my election okay so so that's number one I know that I know that for a fact so that's $3 to $50,000 unless the council wants to give us $50,000 that's that would be perfectly fine two there is absolutely fewer voters turning out in April than there is in November always absolutely that's a fact okay and all you have to do so if the spirit of an election is to get
051the citizens to vote on who they want to elect or whatever it is why would you move it back to a smaller voting size it doesn't make any sense that's number two and number three regardless again this the most important part regardless what anyone tells you when anyone puts in a posting or whatever there is absolutely no vote on a budget anymore as long as you're under cap our cap would have to be again we would have to raise taxes over $6 million okay so it's 2% plus cap okay if you're over that then you go out so the same way we deal with the November election is the same way we deal for April election everybody could fact check that that's fine trust me I would not get up here and say if I
052was 100% sure I'm more upset with the fact that we couldn't sit down and talk about these things in an office or in a room or on a phone okay and and do that I'm G I'm GNA get to that I'm GNA get to that in a second I'm I'm gonna get to in a second I'm going to get that in a second I listen I'm sure you're going to have your time to get up here that's fine I I I have my time right now to just put this out there I've been waiting patiently to talk about this because it is very important that everybody understands what is not going to happen here regardless of a vote so that's number one again the most important part is trying to get these two boards together
053I've worked with this board for six months now to try to work together to try to work with the the mayor and Council the newly formed uh mayor and counsil you know hopefully we can still work together I don't know this proves that there's we have a lot of work to do uh but I just wanted to I just wanted to bring that up so those are those are those are the fact of that resolution with regard to um what's moving forward okay all right now I want to speak to the health benefits plan but I would I would like to I would like to do this regardless of how you feel right now and I know I know I obviously know how you feel right now regardless how you feel about me and I
054and that's unfortunate but it is it is how you feel I can't help that as as I've as I have have given everyone the opportunity to so I can hear them out you all have the opportunity to hear out your individual situations to me and 75 or 85 individuals did do that I would just like a few minutes to do that here and then you could all get up and say what you want or whatever you want to do however I I I it's not productive if you know the back and forth and what not let me just actually lay everything out and then we can take it from there um because again I think it's important that you understand what the what the intention is here uh how it moves forward I have explained
055this many times I don't know if the information is getting to you I'm trying to get as much as I can I know the rhetoric's out there I know I know there's a bunch of different people who are on Etna because they're retired who don't realize they're on ATO already I know that because I talked to five people I talked to five people I again please give me a few minutes Mr Raymond I I I I'm asking you just give me a few minutes okay there are retired individuals who don't even realize that on Etna when you retire full retirement Service retirement from Garfield you are automatically in the Etna plan if you don't know that then you could ask anybody who's retired they should know that okay it's automatic it's a Medicare it's a
056Medicare manage plan it's Etna okay what Edna no it's manage plan it's manage plan okay so there's a few things I make very clear before the board decides on this tonight when I first got here and you were all well many of you were in the audience there were many things we talked about number one was trying to save money well I think I saw that in resolution 3625 the Council of Mayor want to try to save money so we looked at a whole bunch of different things okay some of those things were Staffing right before I got here you heard all those things right right and we know that's not possible because I'm telling this board that we are under staff okay I think you all know that I think you know that okay
057I'm not I'm not saying that I think people shouldn't be in in different positions or um but I think you all know this because because we are over in all of our sections based on statute okay and your union reps can tell you that right if you didn't know that then this is the first time you're hearing it okay meaning again that in statute we are over sections here almost a thousand sections are over the limit enrollment okay that means that in order to fix that which was a recommendation from your union reps right through the official uh you know Pathways we need more staff it's number one in the in the right in the right methods so in order to do that we need to increase either tax levy or we need to find
058savings okay so we look at a whole bunch of different things we look at programs what program we need programs and we want we don't want to cut things that are going to hurt kids our most important commodity okay we have an infrastructure we have we have students coming up here at meetings telling us that they can't get on um in their classes we have infrastructure needs so all these things that you're coming to me with all these true and tried problems that you've had for years and years before I got here I want to fix them so the best way to do that is try to see how we can save monies okay and and still provide those same programs and those same those same levels of concern for all the things we are
059doing one of those things is in health packages and the reason why it's possible is because of this several years ago if you know as you know Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield was the only the only thing in town for state health benefits plan some of you probably don't even know how the State Health Benefit Plan benefits plan works State Health Benefit Plan is that every District that joins that plan together all pulls their experience reports so if someone in down the shore in a district has 10 people there with a catastrophic illness Garfield has to pay for that if someone up north where I am in Sussex has 25 people that have some kind of injury or whatever Garfield has to pay part for that everybody pulls together when it first came out it
060was incredible it was a savings wow we're all pulling it together if you remember if you go back historically which I know you all did if you go back historically what was happening in your paychecks 10% 15% then it got so high during an election year that uh Senator Sweeney and everyone gave us what February for free remember that one we didn't have to take money oh everybody was happy that what happen next year almost 20% increases so in comes another company Etna so now you can pick in the state health benefits plan Etna or stay with horiz Blue Cross brw Shield they are identical plans they're identical plans okay it's yes State health benefits plan they are identical plans okay in there we're talking about I can't okay one I I'm just G to
061ask you to clear it in one second it's not listen it's not going to beh behoove any of us if if I have to do this at a different time or whatever it is let's let's let me just speak and say it you could yell at me all you want you could send me whatever it's fine I encourage you all to do that over the weekend and again 85 of you did that I had some really good conversations I met a lot of retirees I met people in Florida uh Etc so again the state health benefits plan has two packages that are identical right Edna and Horizon some of you probably on already maybe I don't know what it is most of you probably Rising because back in the day at the private plans absolutely
062not right well those are private plans for businesses not public workers I know your unions told you that okay not public workers when you go on the Endo website and you look at all your stuff that's not our plan it's not our plan okay been trying to get as much information out to you as I can with that okay so here's the here's the uh here's the uh situation we have the ability now to pull out of the state health benefits plan and go into a plan and Shop around and Etna comes up with this number for us and says that they're going to provide us with equal or better equal or better equal or better okay with regard [Applause] okay equal or better uh there's law on that okay uh there's actually transition there's
063a transition program too if if for some reason you have some some doctor or some healthcare need that's obscure um we have the ability to transition in if you are already um being under under the care of somebody it automatically transfers over all these things are occurring they're all occurring um and all that and all that will happen it's not a change in the level of benefit it's it's not a change in a level of benefit it's a change in the plan I made that very clear to all of you okay there's a benefit letter that says that and I made it very clear to everyone in this room in including the union heads including everyone that if there is any issue that does prescribe itself later on that the board is by law has
064to negotiate that impact and we have no problem doing that I have not seen this happen anywhere I've been doing this before and it has it has um been very smooth to transition okay again unfortunately some of the rhetoric out there and some of those other things is is is basically because of misinformation we got that today directly from the pension board who's who someone there told me that people have been calling and asking questions and and just have the wrong information that they're getting um again if you retire and you have this you had the right tier and the right years you can go back into the health uh the state plan if you want to that's fine uh that's law okay there's all laws you are allowed to pull out and go into
065a private plan it's all Pres cribed okay um the municipal government uh I think the police department is one that did do this uh I I haven't heard of any issues um again I have spoken to many teachers over the weekend many staff I should say teachers I should say staff members uh even on my rideing today I spoke to three people on the phone every issue we've had we've looked up doctors um we we've had some interesting issues with how doctors some doctors are being paid which is another problem for me that I have to take care of with the board um but again it's equal or better and that's and that's the plan the conservative savings the conservative savings to this district and the employees pockets is $800,000 this year that's one year
066okay that again if you go back to my original conversation that's almost two and a half tax points two and a half tax points okay now we I was here when everyone was talking about cutting things and you all were here again because things are being cut I'm doing everything I can to avoid that and still offer you something seamless where I know in a few months we will only be talking about this anymore because if anybody did have an issue and you spoke to me directly about it and I put you with our benefits team you wouldn't have an issue anymore that's my promise to you and I'm making it here in public okay and here's the other thing you could say all you want about this and and and how was you without
067giving me a chance to prove that this is going to work in my opinion that's not a fair thing that's like me going into your classroom and saying you I heard about you you're not a good teacher I heard about you you're not a good custodian okay so that's all I'm saying to you and I'm also saying that again the Board needs to negotiate the impact if we see something that is not equal or better now second caveat to this some of you came to me because you thought you were docked pay when January came and you lost money out of your paycheck because the the the rates went up so we we didn't do you any pay your rates were up $200 whatever it is okay now you'll begin a savings with having the
068same equal or better plan okay it may be fine for some of you but it's not fine for the majority of people trust me okay and that's what that's what that's what concerns me what concerns me is that we are all um listening to some rhetoric out there on posts without actually trying and I do applaud those individuals that said hey I saw this can you show me where it is and and I've done everything I can over the past four or five days and over the weekend to do this I've worked with our team here none of your teams but I worked with our team I got I got stuff from your teams this morning and we answered all of those questions before this meeting so I'm sure they'll disseminate that and share that
069with you which will hopefully make this better the goal is this if the board votes affirmative affirmatively on this tonight to roll out with the new human resources team okay we're the benefits team okay well right now right now we had one individual we had one individual that was in charge of everything it's not it's that doesn't happen look at this right here this is this is just a percentage of people and and we're we're saying that we don't need a team of people everyone here was happy when I left when I when I left the conversation with them I was like next week we're going to come in we're going to meet with all of you we're going to talk about your individual issues not everyone else's your issues okay that's the promise that's
070the promise that's the promise I I would I would I would rather you come back in three months if I didn't do that and then pack this place and say you lie to me cuz because I didn't do that yet and I won't no and I won't no I won't right you can hang on a word listen you can all hang on a word but then you're becoming part of the problem right you know that's not what I meant you know that's not what I meant you know that's not what I meant again respect respect is two ways what I'm doing for you all here what I'm doing for you all here is laying this out telling you that this will not be an issue for you and if for some reason you're going to
071a special doctor in Alaska and you've been going to him or her that's called transition of care that's something that we negotiate the impact on and we cover I've said that so very simple there are some other things people are talking about IVF and other things it's all covered okay so the final thing is this with this switch it's our own plan it's Garfield's plan so our increases are based on our own experience now so if we keep each other healthy through Wellness programs or whatever it is [Applause] okay I don't we don't want to be healthy here I understand ladies gentlemen very simple process yeah I don't know why I don't know why that was I don't know I don't know why that was a you know that was a little huff and a
072puff over there I don't know why but I mean you know to for some for a board to want to bring Wellness uh you know like we have this the wellness Lottery where you could pay forward all those other things I thought those were great things if they're not give me some feedback and what will will stop those things I'm trying to bring things that you've never had to this District okay to to make your Wellness better um including supplies and all those other things that I've heard about I've only been here seven months you haven't even seen a budget yet okay so again I'm just asking for the opportunity to do that so regardless of what you think of me or what it is we have the ability to save the money put the
073money in your pockets and the more important thing for those 200 and some odd individuals who didn't realize that their benefits may have changed with generic versus you know um what's it called brand name stuff you now will have the ability you don't have to wait a whole year you will have the ability April 1st to move back to the plan you you originally had for prescription so if you were upset because your husband or you or wife or whomever could that you had to couldn't get a generic had to get a generic plan or whatever uh medicine or whatever it is you now have the ability this board is going to give you the ability to now move back into your old plan so to me that's something else that that that is a
074is a positive thing for those 238 people in the Educators plan that didn't realize that was going to happen so again I appreciate uh the few uh few minutes here I know I spoke a little bit too much um but that's it progress thank you good evening I'd just like to take a couple moments to talk about what's happening in the facilities the Department I just wanted to let you know the buildings and grounds Department um along with our custodial and maintenance staff as well as our acting facilities director um I want to just thank them for their exceptional efforts uh their prompt response to the snow cleanup during the challenging winter season and their timely resolution of heating work orders during the recent cold spell have been nothing short of remarkable because it involved
075coordinating with multiple vendors ordering necessary Parts completing installations efficiently and try to minimize the disruptions and the only other thing I want to update on is for Garfield High School the process has begun on the plans for the Frank M Dawson Jr gymnasium uh vendors have been contacted for estimates so that has been moving along thank you Mr President Mr President at this time there will be no committee reports because the Committees were just formed so there was no committee meetings Mr President so put your yes if I may I did I I'd like to motion that we move the public session to now so that we could hear what the audience has to [Applause] say we're gonna have to wait for Kurt for that SO waiting for Kurt to leave before you said that
076was like bad timing so now you're going to have to wait for Kurt to come back so that we can actually well play but you know what let's take let's take a recess to discuss it let's take a recess to discuss [Applause] this all in [Applause] favor back in 15 minutes [Applause] motion [Applause] motion [Applause] motion all in favor make a motion keep up take it all right the [Applause] future e e e yes Mr President there was a motion on the floor by Mr frino to add up out of order have the public comment period Mr President again I'll resay my motion I would like to uh have the public comment section moved now so we can hear what the public has to say okay um is is there a [Applause] second is there
077a second all right so proceed all right motion to go into Personnel 6.1 through 6.38 so moved motion by Mr folino second I'll second second by Mr GBA all right all right um at this time I'll V call Mr Taylor uh abstained 6.36 I to the rest Mr M i Mr poino abstain Mr Gaba abstain 6.8 6.9 number two 6.36 I the wrestle Dr pet L hi Mr Malo hi M Sanchez hi Mr KES hi Mr Ros hi motion carries all right motion to go to finance 8.1 through 8.14 motion by Mr Cino second by Mr Sanchez second okay uh Mr Taylor hi Mr BOS hi Mr folino I'm staying on 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 I on arrest yes did you get can you repeat them please one more time 8.1 8.2
0788 8.3 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 I arrest thank you Mr Gaba UPS 8.2 I arrest Dr p i Mr Malo i m Sanchez Mr KES I Mr Ramos hi motion carries all right motion to go into education 10 .1 through 10.30 with the exception of 10.24 I motion all right all motion by Mr Sanchez iard first I think all right second by Mr M Mr President I would like to table 10.26 [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is there a second is there a second come on stands alone all right voice hold on one second we're 10.1 to 10.30 with the exception 10.24 10.24 Mr T I would like to discuss we have discussion Mr President um I really feel with the number of people here uh they have concerns and uh I think we should
079hear them before we vote on [Applause] this thank you appreciate it do you have any specific questions because I didn't hear anything from you over it since you had this information from for us to answer well I sent Mr President an email requesting some information as to how this particular plan save us $800,000 and how it actually prepares what the long-term effects are and we listen again I I need more information and I don't know what the full concerns are of our staff and of course listen I want to save $800,000 that's you know that if that's possible but is it truly the same are we getting nine eggs out of the Dozen that we're paying for I don't know and that's what I'm trying to figure out [Applause] I was just clarifying that you
080got the information that you asked for because I want to make sure you clarify that you got the information that you asked for because I didn't give it to you I'm sorry I wanted to clarify that you got the information that you asked for because I did give it to you I did not receive anything except for an email that came today there were some emails over the weekend and again an hour before the meeting receiving uh information we not enough time to review this is an important decision uh it affects [Applause] long in addition any other board m in addition Mr President um I also ask for experts to come explain what this the changes are to the board so that the board can better [Applause] understand you done with your comments and I
081TR I truly was expecting to have somebody from the know the state plan from this plan [Applause] comments you want to respond I don't any other board member comments I'm going to I'm going to comment that I was advised by Council to abstain from this vote as it affects my family but I'm still going to speak because I'm not just going to tell you that I'm going to abstain I will tell you that I'm probably not probably I'm the only person up here who's actually experienced the switch over I'm also the only person who can speak to as this affects my children and the etop plan affects myself I will tell you that while there were and Mr garto our mayor and Mr delahanty who was here I don't know if he left can speak
082to the switch over from Blue Cross to Etna there were some bumps in the road and I understand you would love some more information and some more time I wholeheartedly respect that I will tell you though is after those bumps in the road we kind of figured out there has not been an issue since that's not true Mr Garo there there are very little of any issues with Etna and I'm telling you that there's always going to be issues because there's issues with Blue Cross I this is not a back and forth I'm just letting you know from my perspective I cannot vote on this but I'm letting you know that Etna has provided my co-workers city of Garfield police officers with more than sufficient equal to or better than C that's all I can
083tell you all [Applause] I I understand the calls for time I understand the calls for clarity I understand that I'm not sitting up here telling you that your concerns and your presence here is for nothing I'm telling you though that it it has worked out it is a smaller level we're 65 to 70 versus what's here plus well the city but it was done through the city so that's I wanted you to make sure you heard from me and you didn't just think it was an exstension and that was it premere I'd like to make a comment too um again I'm not um I'm not going to abstain I'm I'm going to vote no but that's because I'm not [Applause] again this is not for any political reason this is not this is not for
084any like political reason I'm not trying to appease the masses I just that's my opinion so good [Applause] Mr President I would like to add a couple words since we are board members here elected from the public we would like to hear their opinions too so I will [Applause] second that moment's already passed you should have one motion motion why because he's not hold on this is going to continue please stop with the back and forth we're having a meaningful conversation and that's what's going onti I'm not criticizing anybody [Applause] be motion For Recess motion second second M Senator all in [Applause] favor e e e test 1 2 3 4 test 1 2 3 4 e e e [Applause] you does anybody need first [Music] aid all right you vote for this she was
085support by we had a motion in a second there was comment by board members I believe now we have to call for a roll call can you remind me as who made the motion m d Mr Taylor no Mr Taylor did not make that thank you to going education that's it call for vote and again this is resolutions 10.1 to 10.30 with the exception of 10.24 yes all right yep all right call Mr taylor2 to the rest Mr Munos I Mr focarino no on .26 I on the rest Dr p rooch i Mr Malo I miss [Applause] Sanchez Mr K ladies and gentlemen we're in the middle of a vote you will get your chance to speak please let the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Mr K go stand by Mr Ramos all [Applause] right Mr Goa
086abstain 10.26 10.28 got that's it all right all right motion to go into facilities 12.1 through 12.2 so moved motion by Mr ferino second second by Mr Moo Mr Taylor I Mr Munos I Mr folino I on 12.1 number two abstain on the rest of 12.1 and abstain on 12.2 number 60 I on the rest Mr G up stain 15 15.2 and 16.1 what we're on 12 you said 16 on 12 I 12 I on 12 I'm sorry okay okay Dr P hi Mr Malo I miss Sanchez Mr KES Mr Ramos I motion carries okay uh motion go to policy 15.1 through 15.2 motion by Miss Sanchez second by Mr Malo V call Mr Taylor I Mr Minos I Mr ferino no Mr Gaba up saying 15 15.2 I the rest Dr p i Mr
087Malo Miss Sanchez Mr KES Mr Ramos hi motion carries all right yep all right at this time we like to open up the floor for public comment um that public comment is made at the [Applause] mic okay [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so the president is calling for public comment now is your time to speak if everybody would be quiet you would hear [Applause] me read the comments all right thank you Sam all right good evening and it's been a a long one members of the board esteemed Educators community members my name is Justin Peter suroso I'm a lifelong resident of Garfield I'm the proud parent of a student with excellent teachers my wife is a full-time teacher in District and I've been a dedicated teacher here for 20 years I'm also the president of the Garfield
088Federation of [Applause] teachers and I got to tell you tonight is an unusual night for me because although I've been the president of this Federation for eight years despite multiple contract negotiations navigating an unprecedented pandemic I've never before had to come here and stand up and speak before the Board of Education and I do so with great and Grave disappointment because there's been a clear violation of trust actions that go against collaboration commitment and integrity and those are the type of traits that should guide any decision made in an institution entrusted with the well-being of our children and our community what I'm holding right here is my calendar you can all see in red I'm a good teacher right and uh this is filled with extracurricular AC activities that I do this is January you
089know what I had planned for tonight tonight was going to be a good night I was planning on spending the night with my beautiful young son just being a father I was going to take him here to the Garfield High School varsity basketball gaming in Sunwood Park just doing what is natural to all the teachers gathered here tonight which is supporting our students but instead I found myself preparing to be here in my capacity as president of the Federation according to the Union's Constitution my first responsibility is to take action on behalf of my members wherever and whenever they deem necessary and as you can see by this very large some would say enlightened and very concerned crowd they've deemed it necessary for me to be here at the conclusion of the school day on
090Tuesday gft representatives were called into an emergency meeting that was this past Tuesday basically this change was presented as a done deal despite anything you hear the union was not involved which taints the process from day one they gave us three business days to inform our members to try to respond to their questions with inadequate information change is always difficult but when you start talking about benefits that change gets particularly disconcerting and very frightening it's bad enough that this change needs to happen in the middle of our contract but why does this change need to happen in the middle of a school year in the middle of a school week for that matter my friends and colleagues out here teachers and support staff were forced in the middle of a school week to scramble to
091find out whether their doctors were in network if their prescriptions would be covered or not it was the most stressful had to deal with in 20 years many of you sitting here Highly Educated people so I'm wondering why are you failing to realize putting this Stress and Anxiety on the people who spend their entire day with children is a good idea in fact I think it's a terrible idea it's a bad idea and it's more than a bad idea this is bad faith three business days is not enough time and as Dr TOMCO repeated over and over he answered all the questions over one [Applause] weekend including one email to me at 11:30 on Sunday morning which is inappropriate forgive me for not responding you know where I was no no I'm not listening to
092any time limit [Applause] no no no to hear him you would hear what he has to [Applause] say hey B [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my church this is the best line I was going to tell him I was in church and I had my good face disrupted but keep talking because they can hear you hey e e e do no I'm sorry what I've seen [Music] and however there is a board policy that's been effect well before this meeting most members here most most people in the audience acknowledge that there is a 5 minute time Li time limit for any anybody that speaks there are no extensions because quite frankly if there was an extension for one there would have to be an extension for but see and I have to I really have
093to get to this point because this meeting is supposed to be about the Corp correct we're supposed to have a discussion important issues are being discussed and by screaming and yelling you degrade the process and in fact nothing of any worth comes from other than you could get your viral moment for what reason so that that's where we're at at this point Mr Soso didn't get his five minutes I believe there are other Union reps or attorneys for the union that wish to speak at which time that 5 minutes will start to walk on the next public speaker please try to maintain the qu it serves no purpose for screaming and Y you serve no purpose what do we what do we just discussed before you said that would be able to actually was 5
094minutes and 12 seconds There Is No Agenda here stop free speech and public speech that's not me we have never know that Bo welcome to exchange of ideas and conversation and has done so from the beginning of Dr good evening my name is Michael B I'm the greetings chair and uh vice president of the AF New Jersey on behalf of the gft negotiations committee and membership we are here to address you about the unilateral decision regarding our family's health care coverage its quality and costs and which you made without input from those who are most affected the gft strongly opposes the district's plan to migrate health benefits to a private plan or to change health benefits coverage the level of covered service network size and providers contribution rates or in any way modify our current
095health benefit coverage the district has had every opportunity to include the gft in discussions regarding proposed changes you chose not to disturbingly the notice about this impactful change came less than one week prior to tonight's vote the gft views such unilateral changes regarding health benefit coverage and contribution terms as a violation of the bilaterally agreed upon Health Provisions negotiated in good faith with the Board of Education in 20 20 22 it is also our position that the actions of this board constitute unfair labor practices which have undermined the positive and collaborative relationship that the gft believed existed with this board and administration the gft recognizes the financial constraints of running a district the size of Garfield choices have to be made options need to be considered yet historically the district's leadership looks only in one
096Direction when costs need to be cut our teachers and staff this directly impacts our students the district's decision to rectify a financial shortfall by threatening our teachers and staff's healthc Care Quality is not a solution to the administration and board's Financial incompetency Band-Aid efforts never solve the root problem other responsible Solutions exist the district only needs to explore them if you're out of ideas the gft would be more than willing to collaborate and to point you in the right direction Garfield teachers are dedicated in an era of teacher shortages they are here by choice don't forget that many are homeowners taxpayers District parents and to them and their families you have added an obligation as their elected officials the gft is deeply disappointed in your vote and the Rel resulting loss of Goodwill that has
097been built over the years we have worked together we call On The Board of Trustees to reconsider and resend the vote thank you I don't need time that's okay I'll be short my name is Brian Adams I'm an attorney with the firm of canel and Adams in Wong New Jersey I have had the distinct privilege and honor of representing the gft for most of my legal career I've seen superintendents come superintendents go and the same is true of board members what has always defined this district is the respect that both sides showed each other clearly tonight that doesn't exist anymore and clearly as the superintendent acknowledged in some of his correspondence to my members he has an obligation to to negotiate the impact of the change of the healthc Care carrier that has not happened
098and that is a violation of the [Applause] law and what I would like to ask because it was not clear to me and I was only in the second row is if we could get a clarification of what that role call was on that particular resolution because I don't think anybody in the audience knows who voted for what and we' appreciate [Applause] that through the chair can I just say something um few things yeah I'll take my five minutes thank you um negotiating impact I did say that a million times some members and I'm not going to mention any names because it's it's really not worth it excuse me excuse me excuse me there's no vote there's no vote the vote was tonight the the the the impact is negotiated based on if there are
099any differences um basically I'm sure the attorney knows perk perk law um I know it's the gft or AF um I'm more familiar with some of the stuff with the nja njaa um but regardless of that um again the impact if there is an impact will be negotiated people don't have teacher uh sorry doctors Etc that's why we working all weekend not everyone um you know in the leadership was at that emergency meeting and the only thing I want to say in the board's defense is that the the IM the immediate minute that we verified that those numbers were correct for the savings which I I did provide the immediate minute I I requested that emergency meeting I I I know it wasn't timely however if we do not certify this by a certain time
100that that saving is not um recognized and then we get back to all the things that everyone keeps talking about even before I got here when we had places like this packed with regards to you know different positions or we need to save money as was in that resolution I right before this is what I was charged with this is one of those ways of doing that there is no and and just to be very clear as well because someone yelled at while you were speaking so I I could do it through the chair this impacts my health care as well on the same health care so that's not true oh I this is I have four children uh a wife this impacts me as well and I've been telling you wouldn't make any sense
101at all to do that if if I didn't feel it this was a plan um that is going to be equal or better and my promise to is to make it even better and I mentioned some Wellness things and stuff and everybody kind of squawked at that but that's okay and I and I am telling you right now I said to this board that was the immediate minute that we that we verified those numbers is when I asked for that that meeting um thank you uh and and that's and that's I wanted to work through there including the weekend as much as I could as much as I could to to ensure that everyone's you know being upset over certain plans and whatnot um you know that was the reason so so again hopefully uh
102you know you you're I'm going to prove it to all of you that's that's just how it's going to go uh and and and uh well again you have to give me that chance so I just wanted to say to the board the board knew EX exactly when we could verify those numbers and that's when exactly when it was Tana Raymond 93 Spring Street see this walker I'm a product of atna Medicare because I can't get an MRI I can't get pre-ert they're changing my medications so don't tell me about atna and I don't even know what plan we have with the atna Medicare as many of these teachers don't know what plan they're going into the the I only have five minutes I got a lot to say the police have a pre the
103premiere plan in atna is that what you're giving the teachers well you don't have to answer that now I have a couple first of all I would like to say Dr Tom I remembered I didn't know you were a lawyer the way you went on and on and on about the Board of Ed the the city council passing this thing the resolution about the um the election I just want to say we were advised by our lawyer that we are in the right we'll see today we won in court let's see what if we win the battle at the end um was this health package put out to bid I want to know if it was put out to bid this board constantly complains that they're in they're looking for money there there's shortfalls you
104got how many people in the Ba's office you hired all these people you all these other jobs that you're advertising assistance to assistance that we never had I don't know if you're aware we have a kindergarten classroom where the children have to sit with their coats on because there's no heat in the room the teachers are buying their own copy paper there's a shortage of toilet paper I'm told I mean it goes on and on we have dedicated teachers and staff in this district and I took about all staff that's the custodians the secretaries everybody this board tonight has showed total disrespect for this entire stud uh employe es of the school district I am so aggravated you have no idea this is not the way you run a district you'd keep talking about looking
105forward let me tell you something if Mrs seaka was still here this would have never happened [Applause] ever we also have our assistant superintendent who I happen to like working from home how do you work from home in this day and age how is I understand he took over the troop officer's uh duties because she was let go for fiscal reasons but yet we're hiring assistance to assistance to assistance positions we never had you're not fiscally responsible and at the end of the year why would you if you you come up short don't look at the teachers and and say you're going to cut their benefits or the staff you're going to cut their benefits they need supplies they they are dedicated they are with these children every day and you know Aaliyah you're the
106woman on the board would you let your child a little kindergarten child sit with a coat in a classroom freezing would you do that as a mother it's a disgrace and it's and you know Ro Jack I have to say to you I'm very disappointed I really thought you were person of your word to come out here and change your vote because you because the superintendent had you cornered in that room shows I'm sorry rojack mojack I'm addressing you that just shows you know it shows a lack of character and a lack of gumption guts or testicular fortitude I like to say that don't ever let anybody intimidate you you have you were elected to sit on this board to represent everybody and the children this board constantly forgets who you're here to represent not
107your family not your friends not giving them all raises you are here to represent education and you know what I would like to talk to some of you personally you don't even know what education's about thank you [Applause] yes to the chair thank you let's let's make this very clear that the conversation that the the individuals in the back saw me talking with uh Dr poek had nothing to do with the vote nothing do with the vote I was talking about listen I I again I'm here to listen to all of you I understand your said this isn't the first time I've been through something like this okay but again again I'm trying to speak I'm trying to speak I'm trying to tell what happens I know you were all back here and you heard
108the conversation you're right so it's not what happened I'm telling you that's not what happened but you don't have to believe it that's fine but I'm making it very clear that that's not what happened in the back and the what I did do is they did did discuss some of the uh the issues uh with regard to the regards to the plans Etc with the board so I answer some some more of their questions because I guess some of you had questions for them uh prior to the meeting or whatever it was um so that occurred so so that's that's what it is but but Deputy Mayor you just mentioned seven things or or less maybe a couple less that are all costly so let me give you a few more the boilers for the
109you know and and you brought up missaka I respect missaka a million per I respect missaka a million per I I would never say anything about her so this has nothing to do with her Mr perado any before that but these these boilers didn't go down the day I got here okay uh I think you probably having issues before I got here the board brought me here to fix all these things the boilers are pro I I I really would just like to answer and I'm listening to all of you okay um the boiler projects here are easy easily north of $4 million the infrastructure for the network that everyone's talking about we can't get our kids on on uh uh online everything is $1.7 million okay all these things toilet paper all the things
110you don't have I I didn't take all the toilet paper when I got here okay you need those things absolutely that cost money that's not here and and that's why to to bring a benefit to the board and bring benefit to all of you in your pockets and to keep the same level of care let letting me be able to negotiate that impact as we see individually what you need which I think is going to be extremely minimal which I was proven to me over the weekend when all your members were calling from all the units uh I I think that's that's going I think in a few months we'll we'll be back here at a different place um so in saying that I appreciate you let me say it that's the truth um all
111those things that you talk about you know we can't talk about in your resolution saving money and then when I bring the first thing here to save money that really won't impact the teachers as much as everyone thinks it is um again you know it it it it just hurts me that again this individual city has been so politicized that you won't even give someone a chance to bring something in number two if anyone does need help a retiree does need help they don't know his or her plan I will definitely still help you do that we want to we want to assist you so I want you said you you couldn't get an M please contact me I'll definitely help you uh I'll help you do that um you know and I never I
112never said when I talked to just to be very clear about the resolution I brought in nobody said the election was illegal I didn't say that I said what was in the resolution is not true you don't vote on a budget anymore so that's what you should check and if your lawyer told you that you should probably semantics Dr Thom it's not true though that was some we knew that okay our lawyer wouldn't have filed it if it was I I hope he wouldn't I hope he wouldn't he G to appreciate that I don't know back and forth okay good evening my name is Adriana Salas I'm at 107 Harrison a I'm here just to give some info on the effects of changing health insurance a couple years ago uh my district changed health insurance
113I don't work here I work for another District it was dubbed Health gate one year before that a cooworker and friend had found out she had stage 4 cancer after having everything approved for her treatment from Horizon the district decided to change our insurance plan my co-workers treatments were no longer being fully covered by the new insurance she had to go back and forth with the insurance company which is the last thing any patient should have to deal with after receiving such hard news about one's Health they denied her many services MRIs and her prescription costs went up significantly many of the buildings she worked at in the district were a 100 years old and this could have increased her possibility in developing the cancer she had so meanwhile we risk Our Lives sometimes as
114part of the job Insurance shouldn't be something that we should have to worry and stress about if we are not healthy we cannot perform to the best of our ability to serve your children when I started working for the district I had healthy knees my school has four floors after 5 years of being there I needed meniscus surgery I had played Sports in high school and college and never once injured my knee but in five short years working for the district I had significantly damaged my knee from the steps I climbed there every day this new insurance wouldn't fully cover it I had to wait one year until we switched back to our old insurance which was Horizon to finally be covered for a necessity and not a luxury in that year I walked with
115the cane because it was too painful to walk around sometimes fast forward to September 6 2025 my cooworker passed away ironically on the first day of school a place she had lovingly given her life to peacefully with Services provided by our health insurance to make sure her last days were as comfortable as possible I don't think that would have been possible had the district continued with the private insurance at nut that they had switched us over to in closing I would like to just remind everyone that no one becomes a teacher for the salary we are here because we genuinely love what we do the least that can be provided is quality health benefits with those two years my district losted over 433 staff members with health insurance being one of the deciding factors without
116your teachers there is no school there's no learning there's no development please stop the switch Nancy Cuts up 484 V Bus Avenue I spent over 31 years of my life dedicated to helping make the Garfield School District the best it could be my drive was always to improve the experience of our students and families making it better than when I first walked through those Halls over the years I've seen many successful programs come and go some of which have slowly disappeared or been diminished when I began my teaching career the salary was less than ideal but there was always the comfort of knowing the future would offer good things un fortunately much of that has also faded away I have a concern over the resolution of 10.26 which includes the retirees without clarification Dr TOMCO
117you made a a statement saying you could go back I hope I don't get a letter saying I'm being pulled out and then I have to go through the whole process of reapplying I've heard that the new insurance plan is supposedly the same as the previous one but let me be clear if we are switching from a PO to a POS that is a massive change have you ever had to face serious health crisis like cancer or Another Life altering illness having insecurity in your health plan only adds to the stress and fear we all are we really saving money by appointing new positions at the cost of losing our experienced teachers and administrators outsiders look at us and laugh we are now facing a severe lack of severe crisis a lack of quality teachers
118coming into the district why would they come here we continue to be short on teachers currently we do not have a chemistry teacher and the position remains unfilled are we truly serving our exceptional students have we tried the dual enrollment program in getting a professor from Bergen Community College are we unintentionally pushing the teachers away and students I've seen AO bulletin board showing students how to apply for other high schools even uh private schools the reality is the value of our homes is not what they could be and could plummet we all know many quality schools play a crucial role in Drive private property values and as long as parents feel uncertain about sending their children here we will see those values tank the district's decisions are failing our community in this regard there are
119incredible students in our schools who deserve better than what we are offering yet we barely meet their needs to ensure their reach to reach their full potential our students continue to learn in inconsistent environments with failing boilers and classrooms that aren't conducive to success and now we're going to face even more teachers questioning whether to stay knowing they can find better pay and conditions elsewhere I've personally watched as other schools actively recruited our best team teachers offering them better salaries and benefits one outstanding teacher came to me in tears explaining that he loved our students but with a $16,000 raise it was something he couldn't pass as he tried to raise his family I've lived through terms like garbage field and watched as the potential growth and improvement in our schools has squandered we are
120not garbage field there are so many opportunities for real progress but we aren't approaching them with care and foresight they deserve much of what we hear is rhetorical not meaningful change our families and employees deserve better and until parents feel confident in sending their children to our schools we will continue to fail keep this in mind thank you Danielle Marcelo 66 crack out street normally when I get up to speak during public comment I typically acknowledge that the educational and professional background that I possess is not in the educational sector however this time I'm specifically speaking on a topic that I have two Advanced degrees 20 years experience and nationally certified in and a published author in a textbook used at an international level as some someone who build I got it I got I
121got it take it back take it back as someone who builds manages and upholds accountability of a multi-million dollar budget annually I'm completely disheartened and disappointed that the board is looking to healthc care plans as a cost-saving solution does anyone know the national average time to appointment for a patient who's already established with a primary care provider 28 to 36 Days even more concerning are days to provider for subsp Specialists such as rheumatologists neurologist and cardiologist does anyone have an idea here how long that weight is 63 days why are these numbers important to mention well it's simple Insurance changes with short notice and 60 is short no notice in the health care sector is going to leave your entire team scrambling to find new health care providers and attempt to schedule new patient appointments
122which are two if not three times harder to make than those established patient appointments do you know in New Jersey 30% of the age population of your team here sees a medical provider for cardiovascular disease imagine needing to see a doctor from one of your vital organs and being told you need to wait four months all because of a cost savings initiative that should have been the last solution done mid year furthermore many of these team members who are in Jeopardy of this solution have children do you know how many well child appointments with a regular pediatrition a child has in their first year 10 years of life 19 and 11 of those happen within the first three years of their life for vaccinations and well child visits start doing the map on how much
123is at risk here next if change was needed why not finish out the year with the current plan for those team members who have spouses and were eligible for coverage under their spouse's plan open enrollment is over you've taken most cases you you've in most cases taken away their their ability to make the best possible Choice as a result of your choice transitions of healthcare as mentioned before has exclusions routine Healthcare visits which children need 11 of those in the first three years of their life vaccinations again children heavily in the first three years of their life and health conditions that are considered stable yet chronic are excluded from transitions of Health this solution is shortsighted and People's Health Care should never rise as a top solution unless all other lavish unnecessary expenditures are cut
124first yet they remain unscathed and by the way I refer to those working in the District multiple times as team members because as a parent they are the team that assures my child's education and psychosocial well-being are first and foremost every day and it is my turn to speak in support of them for the same for them as well thank [Applause] you you to the chair I just I just wanted to uh thank you for that um I just wanted to uh mention that the there will be another open enrollment uh period when with this switch so uh as you mentioned if anyone wants to switch back or switch plans uh that's available so as I mentioned but I just wanted to reiterate that but we'll be talking about that as we go Frank Barber
125262 Evans Place Saddlebrook so I'm not going to reiterate everything that they just said and also I'm a former vice president of Board of Education of Garfield so I know how this works um this is the first time probably in a long time that I've seen almost the entire board disregard what the teachers are fighting for um I'm not going to again go into all the health benefit stuff because we know what they want you know what they want you guys are elected as representatives of not only the citizens of Garfield but the teachers the children and this is going to drastically affect them now the Dr TOMCO I heard you say it affects you too you're making a whole hell of a lot more money than all of them and you got you got
126every perk in the book and we know why that is but I'm not going to go there but some of you individuals are sitting here I see you with your heads down Mr keus I guess it's not that important also a few times no no no it it's not personal I said he had his head down I was also going to bring up the rest of them every time it got hot in the kitchen you guys believe running away hiding in the hallway why not sit here and let the public uh the president speak and fully hear him to me it's just a way of not listening it's a way I'm not listening now if I was these people here I would band together and do a vote of no confidence in this entire board
127including the superintendent a vote of no confidence they shouldn't be here they're not properly representing you remember this next election part of the public and follow me on my podcast cuz I'm going to keep on with this stuff everybody's saying sh sh everything that I wanted to say was said already but I'm going to speak anyway you know we're talking about the health care switch you're talking about savings just like Mr Barber said you said it affects you too I had this in my notes these people are not making $300,000 a year with all the perks that you have so it affects them a whole lot more than it affects you you know you talk about say why don't we save over $200,000 what you guys what you people just voted on specifically in the
128transportation department you had a transportation department that was doing their job at a cost of like 70 something $78,000 now it's $1 178 not counting the custodian that you got to replace that's over almost $220,000 that's 25% of your savings like that like that and I'm sure I can go down the list and look at the perks that both you and other people sitting up there you know uh you get a $500 allowance for gas when you got an electric vehicle how ridiculous is that come on you know Mr TCO you said too just before about the boilers you know remember this remember this remember this new oh you you do remember it because I brought it to the last meeting you do remember it right Mr TOMCO okay so you remember remember it it
129says here Board of Education announces $1 million in summer Capital maintenance projects in this when you open it up you were supposed to replace five boilers have any of them been replaced no I know no so this was all done by your new human resource manager for basically a campaign that's another area you could save another created job you know I've been talking to a lot of people from Belleville and they're going to start coming these meetings I know you know let me just give you all up there just a suggestion work on the the arrogance uh grins that you put up there when people are here fighting for their concerns you him I mean you know they're the only one and and you know what I got to call somebody else that just constantly
130laughs too I'm not going to mention names but you know sitting up there with grins is is is disrespectful um wait she laughing at you what smiling at you yeah I know I know okay like they they said the high school has a science class don't don't you better talk take my time stop it cuz I'm being interrupted you know before I go any further I'd like to congratulate the student of the month uh Miss Brasa Brasa I think her last name was but you know she acknowledged the teachers the teachers that's why she's here today she was here a couple months ago you know specifically Mr stappenbach I believe that's the way you pronounce it I don't know congratulations to you it's because of the teacher that these kids Excel the way they do
131it's because of everyone in this room students Excel the way they do because they're dedicated hardworking individuals but yet you want to constantly keep hot hiring and hiring there's I can I can tell you by tomorrow afternoon I can give you savings on the stuff that you've done since you are here that's not necessary that could save over a million dollars I just did it $225,000 in just like that so I guarantee it I guarantee I could give me the opportunity to give you a list and I'll do it um couple things I want to say uh um before I end this thing because everything was uh you know you you say it doesn't matter if if US changing the election back to April doesn't matter then why were you putting it back to November
132that's another question that I'd like to hear you answer in your roundabout way we won't get a true answer or a specific answer it'll just be in circles do you know that the Middle School anybody up here know how many boilers are at the middle school does anybody up here know how many boilers are in the middle school here right here well I'll tell you there's six there's six boilers here does anybody know how many of them actually work one one one out of six there's two there's two um big boilers two big boiles here in this Middle School you know you know how many work one you you shaking your head I mean whatever happened to this what happened here this this was just a political flyer that's all that was you know yeah
133you know and and how do you like I the the transportation department you're promoting individuals that don't even have a driver's license to that position like no I'm sorry how how if that individual needs to go out on a bus that breaks down on the parkway how is he supposed to get there get a ride Uber Uber Uber it's ridiculous and we all know whose brother that is look him up Mr Joseph paja Google him that's his brother getting the promotion that was the campaign manager that had their his signature on their literature I my five to [Applause] him another seconds I got 15 seconds yeah thank you Mr gisler all right thank you to ch [Applause] uh unfortunately I have to one second guys I'm GNA I'm going I have to answer uh the
134the mayor real quick because you could you can wait no no no no no no no no sir no sir that's not how we do it here that's the protocol I want I want I want to answer do at the end no at the end of your at the end of your comment I always answer I always answer no I'm I'm trying to answer that's not the way I me first of all wait hold on first of Alles to respond I resp I always respond I always respond no I responded to everyone after they were done just now when you want when you but but but mayor I I I I know I know your angst against me since I got here that's fine I've always respected you I still respect I've always respected you
135I respect you as the mayor far off that's not okay I just want to answer you may I listen let me respond we listen you said a few things resp thank you first of all I I welcome the opportunity to sit down with you and your team to talk about where we can cut welcome the opportunity so please please St that me actually I thought we were going to do that Mr Cy CH me right when you guys win the election I thought we were going to do that slower you're mumbling your words okay I'll speak on I would I would really like the opportunity to sit down with you and the team and you could tell us where we can cut I would love that so if you contact me tomorrow we'll get set
136up a date would love it um so that was number one let's talk about uh the boilers first I I mentioned the boilers Al together six5 $6 million $1 million is definitely going towards the boiler boilers you are 100% correct there's one boiler working at the middle school one boiler if you all don't think that's a problem right now is every morning when we get up and it's 8 degrees that's an issue those have to be repaired it's not an overnight repair there not a fix they have to be completely rebuilt again this building's not that old it shouldn't be happening but that's the truth uh and we are working on it we had architect give us plans we're also looking at energy uh from pscg doing it but we're talking about a major expense
137it's number one just let me finish it's very important because there a couple things we're about certain things here um so again that that is one of the things that we the where the savings does come in where it's important um what I was laughing at up here smiling and again not disrespecting anyways when you bring up bille people where I was um again some of the rhetoric there is very interesting with those individuals and I and I actually love for them to come here um but at the end of the day um you know doing an audit of all the positions here when I got here there were several positions when we first got here that were very expensive positions in supervisor roles that we got rid of Supervisors of nursing different other positions
138that were Consolidated after retirements especially that position which definitely wasn't needed in a district this size uh we had truy officers it you brought up the you up the excuse me I'm going to talk I'm going to talk about all of the all the positions right now that's one why could he OPP positions but when I get up there I'm stif you're talking not right I'm talking about what I am talking about I'm not even talking five minutes yet so we understand we would let the superintend let them speak children that school in the morning and it's 10:00 okay so now I'll continue oh so again um let's be very clear with the I'm not even have five minutes yet thank you though the transportation department uh you're talking about here there is absolutely no
139increase that you're talking about if you look at if you look at the how we moved everybody the the the facil if I can't answer I think we I mean again here we go it's you know nobody cares I well again I would like the children to talk here but but at the same time I'd like to answer this because you made some accusations that are incorrect again you you said money so I have to now tell you how that's not true um we we move the um the facilities coordinator to a split job which was transportation and construction management which deals with boilers lights all these other projects that were started by previous boards which you were a part of that we are now going to complete okay that position now goes there the
140assistant position takes the POS the position takes the the the new assistant position which will assist in that takes the uh the place of um the assistant that we have in in the facilities department and we're not replacing that assistant assistant position so it's a wash actually it's like a $7,000 savings so nobody that's it nope right now that's all it is that is all it is there's again I'm trying to answer I'm trying to answer okay um and not to talk about anybody's uh who gets hired or whatnot but I will say this what you said was was not true about the people that we we hire and their requirements they meet all the requirements actually one of the individuals that we did hire for epis is the only person that does have the
141uh the Transportation license uh on staff believe it or not but I always look for several things when I'm hiring qualified people the first one always goes back to A Garfield graduate number one uh if they're qualified and what they bring to the district so and again I will say this like I say to anyone else who bless you whoever we hire if it doesn't work out then then they don't have to be in the position any longer so so that's it so thank you okay good wow good evening esteemed members of the board my name is this on yes it's okay my name is Isabella Serano pinea I am a junior at high school at Garfield High School Dr TOMCO I address you directly you said that everything being done is to help students
142well as a student I can say changing teacher health insurance only hurts us we already have a teacher shortage I witnessed this firsthand being in a chemistry class where my teacher is on a screen why add to this shortage you continue to speak on behalf of students well this is me a student telling you you need to reconsider this not only hurts me as a junior who has a year still ahead for students who come after me freshman who who knows if they will have teachers to teach them I tell you you need to reconsider your decision you are only hurting students not helping them thank you good evening to to everyone my name is Jesus M Moreno I live on 346 sem Avenue and um here I am once again to express my frustration
143we are still dealing with internet issues and it might not seem like a big deal but it is in my chemistry class for which we have a teacher from Michigan and the only way to communicate uh in class is through a Smartboard the day of our test we W in able to see teacher for 80 minutes which is the entire class period it's just not fair for anyone to be able to do their classwork du to internet issues now let me ask you something fortif location does your internet suck too cuz I wonder if he does so I invite you I invite you Dr tomka to come to my chemistry class and see our frustration it's not only my chemistry class that is that is being affected by this issue but every other class and
144the staff is also dealing with this problem the mag the magnitude of this issue goes beyond the classroom as it is affecting our everyday lives a student students who have were involved in extracurricular activities have to take time out of their day to do the class work at home please address this issue as it is affecting all of us we the students deserve better in SCH teachers come to my chemistry class room 227 second block a day my name is Jaclyn Ortega and I do go through the chemistry class process where I do have a online teacher I didn't plan to come and speak here today but after hearing everyone's frustration I felt the need that I had to speak you know my teachers they're going through a lot right now and it's going to
145affect us students as my friend Issa said um I come from practice I didn't plan to stay here this late but it's currently 10: and we do have school tomorrow and um I just wanted to say that I am a part of the early college program I do take du enrollment classes and I am in honors classes freshman year it did not start out like that I started from the bottom and I worked my way up if my teachers leave then it leaves me with nothing I'm going to work my I'm going to work my way up and I I plan to I'm an architect and I plan to go to NGIT but without my teachers I can't do this thank you hello I'm Justin revas 35 Lanza uh you guys might remember me I
146came back here you guys can't hear me okay I came back here back in September speaking of speaking on the dress code I am here now on behalf of the teachers and the students um earlier in the meeting TOMCO you had Dr TOMCO sorry you had mentioned that how you weren't at fault for the boilers and you were at fault for our lack of toilet paper and our lack of utilities um I feel no one said you were at fault for those we were only saying you were at fault for not fixing them as many people have said and you had said about the success of these kiosk machines do you know how many people how many students have actually used those machines do you 25 great uh how much did those kiosk machines cost
147they through the Food Service okay did that I wonder if that costed you guys more probably did um just I'm wondering you guys need more money for the budget supposedly but why take it from teachers thank you hi everyone can you hear me just checking oh my name is Valerie Camaro I live in 193 Cambridge a and I am not a current high school student I'm an alumni I graduated this ban the first issue that I want to bring to you before I start my little speech over there is that I had to endure graduation practice and the worst coing hit you could imagine why we couldn't practice outside because the hot the the weather was even worse because there's no air conditioning in our schools and I know everyone here is going to agree
148with me that that's a huge issue old teachers too I had to bring in and some of you know a little like hand fan for myself and I passed it out in the classroom that's how bad it is I just want to let you know you don't have to answer here please let me speak that Kos machines are not going to make as much as air conditioning might but that's just me probably um I want to say that I came to this very lunchroom and where you're standing as a lost Colombian 12-year-old girl with crippling anxiety and buter English and I didn't even know what to expect my parents didn't even to finish their schooling so they couldn't help me um I was pushed in head first into the hell of what it is to
149be an immigrant and to be an immigrant as a child in middle school and I tripped and fell and I made mistakes but there were faces of Hope and knowledge that I look up to to see every day you know who that was you answer who that was it who was it teachers they are thank you thank you they are the beautiful architects of the person the people that are standing in front of you today and the people that we are going to become eventually they nourish and fed who I am as a person as a student and as a professional from teaching me equations to a civil war to computer a drafting to getting rid of five the five paragraph essay from taking job interviews to speaking of issues that matter to my community
150and love care and kindness all around that's what they stand for and that's what they teach us every day they allow me to become the young woman I I am today and my love for them is my driving force the reason why I'm standing in front of you today for the first time ever in my life for God's sake our valoran is going to Prince it right now they are forming the stars of the world not saying this Garfield I'm not saying New Jersey or a nation I'm saying the world it is their job and they're doing so not because of any money and they deserve the respect they get because I believe that being a teacher is the most honorable position of them all I really do think so and just thank you thank
151you everyone um to start to conclude what I'm saying uh with the warmth that they bring to us too many kids who feel mad nourish at home either because of physical abuse because of um their environments are not the best they come here and they see these teachers who hug us they care for us they tell tell us they put us apart and say hey is everything okay at home if the people after me if my brother who's a freshman right now can have that I don't know who's going to what is going to be the future of our nation itself and I beg you please don't let kids like us lose hope in the Democracy we learn so much in the classrooms like the ones right outside of this um U Larch room thank
152you uh and don't let our teachers who have dedicated Decades of their lives to forming the right stars that go on to become all types of things doctors lawyers artists politicians people who would sit like you eventually and hopefully do want amazing job um don't let them lose hope in life itself please and don't let them run away from this district and with all due respect I just want to finish with saying none of us here want our viral moment we're not seeking fame and money as some people here are seeking you know um we thank you uh just as a final thing we are searching as students to keep our stuff in healthy and safe to raise the future of this town this nation and this world thank [Applause] you good evening my name
153is kylo pasz I a senior here at Garfield High School I would like to start out by saying I'm not here to criticize or tell any of you how to do your job but I would like to start out by stating that I appreciate my teachers heavily I feel that I am the student that I am today because my teachers have always motivated me and been there for me in times of struggle and times where I felt oh this this school work doesn't matter that much or oh is it really that important my teachers have pushed me to become a better student and I'm eternally thankful to them for that and Dr TOMCO I would like to quote you I I don't usually attend these meetings but at one meeting I heard you say that
154you want Garfield to be the district that other districts look to like you want us to be the district that other districts look at and be like oh I want to be like Garfield I would like to start by saying that there is no District of Garfield if all the teachers are unhappy and they feel that they can't do their job to the best of their ability we have quality teachers here at Garfield High School and like Justin said those kiosks and all that we don't even have the Wi-Fi to use them to the best of their efficiency I feel that there are many issues that are overlooked and I feel that we are focusing on the things that are only going to bring us down rather than bring us up as a city of
155Champions I feel that we should acknowledge our champion teachers and not cut their benefits and only encourage them to leave I feel that without our teachers we cannot become the district that other districts are going to look to to improve and I feel that you should reconsider your decision thank you uh hello U my name is Gavin Bolis I live at 151 Malcolm and I'm a sophomore at Garfield High School and I'm sorry I don't have any notes I'm just like saying whatever's preaching on my mind right now but um throughout my life I've always been pushed by my parents to like pursue like my academics and everything and even so like I hated history so much like history especially Sciences hated it in in like elementary school but then um in my middle school
156and especially High School experience I've had teachers such as uh Mr Russo Miss K and uh Mr Burns and I could just like they actually gave me such a more like interest in like talking about and discussing things from like the past or whatever and um especially they've preached me preached to me with their lessons that we should always talk about problems and speak our mind not be afraid to do it and that's why we're here and I feel like um especially all the like weird breaks that you guys took when people were just trying to talk to you was like a little unnecessary I'm not trying to like take shots at you or anything but like I mean but it's um but uh what I would like to say um I had the opportunity
157to go to BCA the BR countyy but then I turned it down CU I believe that I could pursue a better social life and still have the same opportunities I could have here in the Garfield School District but then now I'm in a chemistry class with onl teacher and I'm like sleeping like 30 minutes of the class it's like and especially considering I want to do Pharmacy chemistry is a very very big part of that and it's just like I mean can't really pursue when I'm like not even wanting to learn chemistry cuz I've an onl teacher and um basically I would just like to say that um all these teachers they put like Blood Sweat and Tears like literally like I've gone through a lot of personal stuff like more than I have in
158my entire life within the past couple months regarding situations with my family and these teachers has been like really considerate with like trying to deal and help me out with it but um just having to think that not even just just me or freshman but like all little kids and everything they're just going to be growing up with the possibility of these teachers leaving cuz like they're not going to have like passionate teachers cuz I mean what's what's in it for them to work if they're not like getting like what they could benefit and it's just like obviously even though they could have love and like Miss T my English teacher she's said that like she's loved working in this District but uh what's it called when presented with so much money and especially everyone
159has their own um lives and everything to go with just all that money is just something uh that you can't really turn down and I think taking away and cutting away from benefits is just turning our teachers farther away and especially right now it just already having one chemistry class with or one class with all my teacher even in remote learning didn't really learn anything and I like to pride myself that I'm a good student that could pick up on things and it's just not really clicking so um and just imagine a bunch of your kids maybe your children grandchildren having to grow up in a school like this where half of their classes even multiple classes are online and they're not really reaping any benefits of their education but I would just like you
160to reconsider your decision I'm I'm done good evening my name is Emily tal I live at 130 orch Street and I'm a senior at garfi high school I would like to start off by saying that I'm not here to critize ize anything that you guys are doing I appreciate that you are taking the time to listen to us but I do have some concern because I have two other brothers in the Garfield School District One in preschool and one at school number8 and to hear my brother come home from school sniffling and basically having a cough because he had was forced to wear a coat into school because there was he was so terribly cold to the point where his fingers felt like they were about to come off he was he complaining and do
161you understand that my my mom has to pay for these doctor's visits every other week and it's a difficult thing for us to go through because not only does she have just one she does just have one kid she has three and to have one one kid in preschool who's only four years old to deal with this cold and like not being forced to wear a jacket not being able to interact well with his peers because all he can focus on is being cold as well as my 8-year-old brother all he can focus on is being cold and not focusing on his academics whatsoever I would also like to add that I am a 4.3 GPA student as well as I'm in the early college program and honors program and it is because of these
162teachers that are here tonight that thought I could succeed that succeed that thought I could be something that took extra time before school and after school even though they have children they took the time to teach me these things and teach me how to learn and all of these things that I know now is because of these teachers that are here today and it's not something to overlook you say that you respect these teachers but they truly put their time and their hard work work into their job it's not because they want their salary it's not because that they make millions of dollars it's because they want to do this they want to see children smile they want to see children exce succeed and if I recently just had ACL surgery which I had to
163miss school for a week and a half and these teachers here tonight have helped me through it I was way behind in my academics way behind and they stood After School Mrs Mr and Mrs Marino Miss Kata Miss dapping backck I had him last year they all helped me become the person and the student that I am today and I will forever be grateful for that and I would really appreciate if you guys respect them as teachers and as individuals because they do have children themselves some even in the school district themselves and do you really think that them having children in the school district having to deal with the cold in the like affecting their academics do you really think that they have enough money with this new school Insurance to provide their children
164with um doctor's appointments every other weekend because their their children's are suffering in school because of the there's it's so cold and that they have to be for to wear jackets I just want you to respect the teachers as well as respect the students that came here tonight because it is 10:30 o00 some of us are 16 17 years old 17 years old and we have to leave soon because 11 o'clock might be our curfew and dri D licing but we still took the time to come here and still speak thank you for your time good night great job uh my name is mat shanz I live at 290 at Water Lan uh I'm just going to go based off my mind what you're doing to these teachers is completely horrible uh I've been in
165the Garfield District my whole life I've known a lot of these teachers in the room and I know a lot of these teachers have students or have kids in this district and what you're doing to them is directly affecting them I have had many I've been a honor student my whole life I've recent I have a couple of AP classes now and I just think I wouldn't be where I currently am without these teachers I've gone through everywhere with these teachers and um last year I had an incident my family and all these teachers they did greatly help me with this and I just think what you're doing is just horrible I just don't believe in cutting funds from teachers when they're already going through a horrible situation with the recent times it's just completely
166horrible and uh from my history class I've learned that if the government is not acting in the citizen way we have the right to change it so if you do not wish to reconsider I do not think you guys will be on the board next year thank you my name is Lena Solas I live at 107 Harrison Avenue my mother spoke recently about her effects in her having private insurance she used a came she she wasn't able to walk I saw her in extreme conditions how can you sleep at night knowing that you're going to do that to these teachers these teachers pave Pathways to our futures do you see all the students standing here you see how much we care they're the foundation of this building how are we supposed to and the building
167will come crumbling down without them everything we learn is through our teachers thank you I just hope you reconsider your your decision um my name is magdalina lip uh I live on 108 Ray Street um back in 2021 my mom was diagnosed with cancer and you know I know firsthand how scary it is to lose an insurance and not know what's going to happen to you and I had to personally deal with that and my dad fought so hard with her and to know that that might happen to my teachers is so scary I have such amazing teachers that help me to do this when I got into the high school I was so scared and I didn't know what I was going to do I didn't know how to reach out to anyone and
168I had amazing amazing teachers and an amazing coach Miss C Miss Mar youo coach to car hello all of them helped me through this very difficult time and my mom passed away back in May and I would just hate to see that happened for any of my teachers to have to go through anything I had to go through and it's hard to get through it I I really did not think I was going to speak today I have a great this year too all these are so experienced and so knowledgeable and just so understanding with my situation and this is our community and some of these teachers might have to leave because of this decision of yours and I don't blame them that's it's horrible absolutely horrible you guys can say hi um my name
169is Lauren surma I Am A Garfield School teacher I have been a dedicated and loyal employee to the Garfield school system for 12 years I have weathered trials and tribulations during these years including cold weather but my dedication to the students has never faltered with that being said in Garfield we consider ourselves a family and by definition a family is a unit and when that unit becomes disrupted is a very saddening experience myself and many of my colleagues rely on our health benefits as the primary source of our Healthcare you may not know but as a family member I know the colleagues who face medical challenges including a colleague who couldn't be here tonight but showed me a picture of a child his child who had a tumor from the day that he was born
170the insurance had has been up to over a million dollarss had he not had that insurance he would be in generational debt probably unable to do this job with such a small salary I know the colleagues have unwell children and the spouses that rely on the coverage that was negotiated into our gft contract I find it extremely disheartening that a decision to this magnitude can be compelled Upon Us in such an Abrupt manner especially when the open enrollment period has come to a conclusion each Board of Education member employee staff member had the opportunity to select what plan and provider would work best for their individual needs and now that opportunity and choice is being terminated at the very least this consequential proposal should have been postponed until the gft and the AF legal terms
171teams had times to properly review all proposed plans to ensure that the contractual agreements that we as well as some of the people up there agreed upon are being upheld and respected I think I speak on behalf of many of my colleagues when I say to please to the Board of Education please please reconsider this decision to the chair can I quick before we continue going um I I think one of the one of the uh well I we were having them speak a groups I just wanted to address them one one of the most incredible things tonight was The Testament you have to all your teachers about all the great things that you were saying about them so so that's that's really um commendable uh and just an incredible thing um I would also
172like to say that I'm very proud of you exercising your civic duty to come up here and and in response to uh something like this to St stand up for what you wanted to stand up for it's very difficult to do at your age uh so I'm very excited obviously we're doing something here right our Civics classes so we could give a round of applause for that if you'd like to hey teachers exactly I'm giving you all aades for that excellent job um I just again uh just to clarify a few things because I think it's very important um not I'm absolutely not saying anything about what you all said you're all 100% correct on what you said about the feelings you had and whatnot but the the the teachers are not losing a benefits
173package or getting benefits cut well we are let me finish please because again there's a few things coming up here that teach you to pay out of pocket Etc so I want to be very clear on I want exactly they are finished that's why I waited to oh I'm sorry two adults came up I apologize two teachers came up so let me finish I'm here I'm sorry two adults did come up two adults came up Mr Mayor thank you so I just want to say also very simple that anyone who has current conditions that is a transition that's part of that's part of the package is part of the the benefit and I did mention that to everyone who called me so again during this next few weeks of this period we'll sit down with
174everybody individually so if they are getting care of right now s it can't happen until we talk to every individually after the board makes the plan so but thank you thank you very much hello everyone I'm Aiden I'm a sophomore and uh I didn't think I'd come up today but I feel bad for my teachers um everyone that knows me they know I'm not good in school they know I don't like school you know you can see by many teachers you know but I'm glad to see that over the years all my teachers that have helped me you know pushed me you know I probably wouldn't be here n they help me and I'm glad that they do you know I love them and I know at the end of the day they may find
175me annoying but I mean they help me out and I hope I help them to you know crack a joke here and there you know but I'm really glad to see that everyone came here you know I'm seeing a lot of faces that I remember you know from elementary school middle school you know even high school you know I've met so many new teachers even tonight you know people that have given me you know some knowledge I'm glad to see that people are still coming around and helping and I'm just glad to see that all of my teachers are still here you know and able to thrive and I hope that that still becomes a thing you know and I hope that you reconsider their vote uh reconsider your vote you know to help them
176out cuz they help us you know they don't help us how like you know what are we going to do you know I don't think I could have made it without them you know I really do appreciate everything they do and I'm really glad to see all of them here tonight and thank you all for coming and I really hope you reconsider your vote um hello my name is Carla Miato and I live 170 Harman Avenue I've been a student at in the Garfield District since I was 3 years old and I am a sophomore I'm 15 years old I think I'm the youngest person in this whole entire group and um I have three honors classes and I'm taking one Junior course as a sophomore and and I can only thank my teachers just
177enough um that have supported me through like everything um and one thing that I haven't heard anyone talk about is that we only have one Italian teacher right now I know that we had to but one of them got cut for whatever reasons and I know that I have 29 kids in my class which is outrageous um so I think just cutting teachers would make the class is more overcrowded too overcrowded I know my sister is in seventh grade also attending the middle school and her classes her science class oh and my mom is a substitute teacher so we all have direct contact with the schools every single class is way too overcrowded one we have we have one um one chemistry teacher that's online we have one Italian teacher teaching three courses so none
178of the freshman's here have Italian which are just cutting off more opport unities to get better um I know that like sorry I just think that it would be extremely unfair to if like you said cutting off the like switching to different insurance and cutting off a bunch of like their benefits thank you a bunch of their benefits would just just make a bunch of more teachers leave and make this classrooms more overcrowded and just give kids less opportunities thank [Applause] you hi my name is jakee p shovsky I'm a senior at Garfield High School and I just want to say that being a two-time state champion for this school I really don't feel like a champion for you guys and I all these teachers have kids and I can imagine it's scary receiving a
179call like saying that you have to change your insurance not knowing what benefits like the the benefits are going to be the same uh than the ones that they already getting I just I don't understand why I I really don't and I just really like just to reconsider because I know some of you guys have kids too and if you guys got that call I bet you guys wouldn't know what to do either I feel sorry for my teachers I've been here all my life these teachers raised me and I just I don't know just please reconsider hi um my name is Ryan Fernandez 61 Hudson Street so I just want to start off by saying I just want to start off by saying oh I just want to start off by saying that I
180love my teachers when I wake up at 7:00 in the morning you know I don't really want to think about going to school but when I think about my teachers I think about okay first block I got Mr FEI if he's still here I'm like he's not going to bust my balls first block if I want to take a little nap um I got Mr shoso right here he's a great great teacher Miss C she's a great teacher in my physics class there is maybe 30 students 29 students there's students sitting on the edge of tables in the back of the room on the window s like stools by the window sill and right in front of our teacher right next to the Smartboard and I just Alo way check you guys know this isn't
181right come on you know it isn't right look if you guys want to get reelected these are the people that are going to be voting for you right you got to think about these are the people that voting for you if they don't like what you're doing you're not going to get reelected look although voice check you guys should really reconsider although I know you're new you just got elected but come on still have a say have some balls voice check you voted no why'd you change your vote you shouldn't stick to your guts don't ever stick to your guts [Applause] my teachers are probably the only reason I want to go to school you know at 8 a 7: a.m. I want to stay in bed I don't want to wake up you know
182get ready go to school cuz to be honest I'm I don't really like school but I I'm not a fan of it I hate waking up early you know going all the way to the high school it's just too much but my teachers make the The Experience better for me you know I I enjoy it more you know going into Civics with learning about the government and what's right you know and and Performing my civic duty um also Mr FEI you know Mr L back there his class I took last year my favorite class easily he's a great teacher look I just want look if you're really going to change this and you think it's going to be equal or better I'll give you the time but in 3 months and it's worse your ass
183is on the line look I I'm not I'm not trying to be I'm not trying to be disrespectful I'm not trying to be disrespectful it's just the truth right it's just the truth it's simple look I'll give you a chance but in three months if you if it's worse I'm sorry you're gone you're gone look my teachers I love them and if you really think about it if you really go through with this some of them are going to leave better money higher pay more benefits I would take it too why not they got kids babies at home to worry about what happens if their baby gets sick with this new health insurance doesn't cover it they're screwed look if they have a better job opportunity somewhere else more pay I would take it and
184I wouldn't blame them if they took it I just want you guys to reconsider and make the right choice thank [Applause] you is that the final student yeah that was the final student okay just two I just I just again again thank you all well again thank you very much I we appreciate all you're saying and I I heard a lot of things that we've been talking about the heat the overcrowding which again the gft did bring up with me right we have 29 students all those things we're trying to deal with I know you don't want to see that at this very moment but we are unfortunately those things you know I was charged with those things when I got here the supplies all those things are yes inherited and I want to try
185to fix those things and and that does take tax money it takes other money and and this is one of those issues so again appreciate your time and you guys are doing an incredible job I'm very proud of all of you thank [Applause] you good evening my name is Victoria I live on 202 Gaston Avenue I am an alumni and very importantly I'm also a voter I did not vote for Dr TOMCO and I'm very sadden that he is on the board um it happens you know you vote for someone and your Ambitions and everything I also voted for another uh trustee who didn't unfortunately make it uh another point I wanted to say I am a Polish American uh citizen um I'll never go back on my vote never and and it is my
186teachers who actually I don't they didn't have to tell me to speak up because I always speak up um but they have encouraged me inspired me and supported me and what there's what's happening right now is they're not being encouraged inspired or supported with this switch in insurances and I deal with insurances every day and the number one fact I don't see a PowerPoint showing the teachers the voters everybody right I don't see a power Point showing us what the difference is I don't show I I don't see any of that number one and same thing your own trustee didn't even get that information so what what's up with that I mean your border committee what are you guys doing apparently nothing anyways or actually illegal activities um but Contin furthering my point um I
187was a student since I was three in the Garfield School District I've seen many teachers have to leave because we're staffed I mean now you're cutting benefits I mean that's crazy um and the point is the students are suffering you say you've been here you've been saying we're here for the students we're here for the students you're not don't lie we've heard enough of your lies I mean first of all second of all you said we had a five limit five minute time limit we've heard people speak here for more than 25 so you can't really hold us to the same standard when you're a hypocrite that's number one number two I hate hate hate the attitude that our committee has had towards us I mean I when we first got here some one of
188you I like to name names but I'm not going to do that right now before I get kicked off but one of you was laughing at us recording the crowd I've had we've seen people laughing we've seen people heads down not listening you're here CU we voted for you so I mean chewing gum too I mean I'm chewing gum hello there we go let me let me be a prime example for you sir um there you go and again we voted for you you're supposed to be here to represent us and all you've been doing is being against us okay are we serious about changing the livelihoods of our teachers with their insurances are you kidding me you're playing with people's lives here and you're you're you're laughing at the fact that they're angry that
189that's that's someone's medication that's someone's life that's someone's surgery that you're playing with and again I would love to see a breakdown I would love to have seen some kind of PowerPoint showing the differences and insurances and what is this costing because there's no way that you're cutting costs on a NJ State uh insurance and and changing it to a private having the same benefits but lower cost that is not possible I'm so sorry we want to see the facts we also want you to maintain decorum and be professional that's number one decisions that cost people their lives should not be made over a weekend like Mr suro said he should not have been getting an email at 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday or a Saturday he should have been done it 9 to5 business
190hours like we're adults we should be doing that I don't know why we're hiding things and lying about things and doing things under all right that's all I wanted to say no I have actually 40 more seconds um I wanted to thank all my teachers for helping me come here and empowering me all throughout my education um I'm here to empower them and that was important to me that I came here and actually it was saddening to me that my teachers had asked me to come and support them in their uh taking away of Rights honestly um but yeah uh thank you to all my teachers uh I love you guys thank you uh good night um it should technically be good evening but we've extended this hearing for a lot of hours um myour
191varus I live on 296 out water Lane Garfield um I just wanted to to say you're impacting the future with this Choice whether you like it or not changing the insurance of a teacher impacts the future of children we have a lot of these teachers that you see here in this District to impact children the way that they have impacted Us in doing that you are harming the city of Garfield the city of Champions its name gets charish whenever I go to college I hear that we have a bad reputation and I can't help but wonder why it's because of the Board of Education not taking action on anything that would plead in the two years that I was to represent the student body as a junior and a senior I tried and I pleaded
192for air conditioning and sanitary locations for students to go to the bathroom action was never taken and it still isn't taken what was the plan for the air conditioning where is all this money that we set aside where does it go to why can it not help aid the teachers as well all in all it's shameful behavior and it's saddening to see the choices that this board of education has come to I'm sorry to my teachers who are going to be impacted by these decisions and I am sorry to the future of Garfield because this will ultimately impact them I'm sorry thank you good evening it's almost good [Applause] morning good evening Dr ton Dr TOMCO and Board of Education members is this working now better okay I might stay permanently hunched over my name
193is Michael rassi I'm the district physical therapist for those of you that don't know me I'm a du's paying member for the gft and a representative several months ago you asked us to make a decision regarding our health care we can pay a little more keep what we have pay a little less still under a good program still under the umbrella of Blue Cross and Blue Shield let me give you a little question I we got three points to make does anybody know what an unfavorable claim is sitting at this table maybe Dr TOMCO knows but I'm going to ask him to refrain not to say anything until I close the question and then if he wants to chime in he could but does anybody know what an unfavorable claim is okay question is closed
194an unfavorable claim is a cancer diagnosis a chemotherapy requirement life support ICU very unfavorable as far as the insurance company looks at it what's a favorable claim the next question this is an easy one I gave you the hard one what's the easy one this is very easy what's a favorable claim this is these are claims that insurance companies love to see anybody know Everett he's got it gee I've got a cold gee I've got an earache gee could he take this W off my elbow maybe even my backside that's a favorable claim these are two of the enti entities that we're going to be judged with with our premium okay the next point I'd like to make is small pool and large pool combination of claims that we're also going to be judged with
195with our premiums I don't know why anybody thinks it's a good idea to be in a small pool of Garfield because we our claims will be pitted against one another okay Mary Joe has too many I've heard she's got cancer and chemo I'm going to say something that's not pretty but it is factual gee she's going to make our premiums go up she should just die already John is on life support he's been on life support for two months my damn claims are going to go up wish he would die too these are two of the entities that we are going to be judged by on our premiums not the 3 million that Blue Cross and Blue Shield has members but I don't know about you but I would much rather be in large large
196herd okay and be less noticeable than a very small herd where our unfavorable claims will stick out to one another like a three-headed reindeer okay pulling Santa slle on Christmas Eve instead of our beloved Rudolph we don't want to be pitted against one another to determine how our claims are going to be our premiums are going to increase okay we don't want that there's enough division in this District already we don't want to add to it and this will add to it the third Point POS okay in healthcare POS stands for of course does anybody know point of service what is the point of service the point of service is something we don't have right now a gatekeeper you want to ladies want to go see the OBGYN you need a referral you want to
197go to the orthopedist because you cracked your elbow you need a referral you don't need that to go to the orthopedist I cracked my elbow you could do that all on your own now we have to go to a primary care spend a co-payment there and hope that they're going to give me a referral to the orthopedist that can delay care my friends okay it certainly could delay care why go to the GP ah I got a sore shoulder okay um here take this medicine well that one didn't work for you let's get this medicine okay sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't how does it delay your care that could be a bone cancer seen it in my own practice Could Happen ge's got shoulder pain messing around with medications messing around with different things
198turns out this patient had bone cancer delays the care and as we in medicine often or I should say our um ancillary services like Orthopedics and neurology okay we refer to OS as poisoning our system because you know who makes out with it the GPS they're The Gatekeepers right now our insurance does not require us to have a gatekeeper it does not require us to have a gatekeeper we can go anywhere we choose without having somebody look over our shoulder so in closing I'd like to ask you that you're offering something that we don't want we don't need it's like I feel like like I'm being offered a car looks the same really runs the same but it is not the same please don't give us something that we don't want and we don't need
199we I'm going to give you I'm going to give you a perk I'm going to give you a perk I just want to give you guys a perk I just want to give you a perk we thank you for being on the board of education you put in time you put in money you put in effort and that's commendable we respect that please respect us because we made our choices we paid our fair share and we made our choices please Mr Geisler is giving me the giving me the the the cane to come off the stage so thank you so much for hearing me and I yield to the next speaker if there's anyone else but thank you again I leave this all over the district and if anybody finds it they know exactly who
200it belongs to so we got good people that look after uh Kevin Kane 13 Lincoln place in Garfield um I want to start off by saying a couple cities Loi hasb Heights Elwood Park um Fair Lawn and just to name a few because I actually cut hair in Loi and I deal with these teachers all the time from other districts they are severely short staffed in all these other districts it's not just Garfield the difference is they have higher pay better benefits and for some reason the teachers stay here in Garfield and this is how we treat them because we keep saying they're teachers and they are not just teachers they are counselors therapists and from 8 until 5:00 sometimes they are parents to our children so when you're going to do something like this
201without having all of the facts and I have Etna for my children and the second that I can change Etna I plan on changing Etna and the only reason I'm not is because I'm in the middle of a dental procedure for one of my kids when you call up to try to find a specialist in the area I have to go to hacken sack hospital because there's no specialist around here that will care for my kids or I have to drive all the way to Anglewood to go to the dentist all right so I'm not here for me because this doesn't even affect my kids teacher I'm here for every single other teacher in this room um and then we bring up supplies I get a list every single time my kid goes into a
202classroom 15 glue sticks 10 envelopes or folders pencils erasers so the parents are also paying for that too do the right thing resend the vote table it and if it's so good explain to the teachers and the parents and the counselors out there of why it should be switched to this plan let them have the option to change it for themselves it's still not too late to be the men and women up there that do the right thing and resend the vote and stick up for the teachers who are here because they love teaching in Garfield not because they have to because they could get a job tomorrow somewhere else all right and before I end I just wanted to say to the president you are a hairdresser the same as me the reason why
203we went into the industry is because we know at any point in time we could get a job anywhere we want in the country in a second the reason you stay where you stay well because you own it but the reason why I Stay is because I love the job I could get a job somewhere tomorrow because there's also a shortage of hairdressers you keep people because you treat them well you know put the clients first and success will follow the students are our clients we need to keep the teachers happy to keep the students happy thank you all right I get nervous when there's five of you here okay so today I'm sorry Marlene is watka 67 more app hold on I just stop my ti please okay so a few meetings ago I
204was asked to say something positive about this board of education so here it is they are some of the most loyal people to their friends one board member gave his wife an undeserved promotion even though they are no longer even living together I won't mention names okay so no individual attack but I'm just wondering why the insurance contract went to Allen Associates which employs the son of one of your supporters in the campaign and it's really funny because the sun was listed on their website as an employee on Thursday night at 9:37 p.m. can't find him on Florida anymore so I'm wondering if you guys did research with this new insurance or you owe a favor to a friend and you're just using Allan Associates which was sued in sorry 2012 for getting bribes from
205their Board of Education in Hamilton so I don't know why you guys went with that broker instead of putting out a bid getting more it looks very suspicious basically this board has been very successful in moving their friends forward the that was the positives the negatives are the schools still have no reliable internet you're working on it heat and air conditioning are inconsistent or non-existent you're working on it teachers who already are underpaid now face higher insurance cost leaving them with even less take-home pay so while we're bus while you're busy rewarding your friends you're failing or students no amount of money spent on Stadium whites cameras and other Optics will matter when the focus should be on providing a quality education for all the students let's get back to what really matters supporting the
206students and the teachers that's all five [Applause] minutes Jerry leedford 77 mors Avenue see I know how to speak into a microphone some of you know me some of you have never seen me before Dr TOMCO you and I have never seen each other before I'd like to say that in the last five years this is only the second board meeting that I've attended shame on me in the 38 prior years I attended almost every one never in jeans in fact this is the first time I have ever been seen in public in jees in Garfield what what there's always a first I would like to make a suggestion in the form of a question today the first time I've been here in many years there were enough agendas so I'm not going to the
207Hot Topics I just have to say that upfront I'm not going to the Hot Topics yes I'm a retiree I am concerned about my benefits but I'm not going there everyone in the first role received printed agendas a few people in the second row received printed agendas prior to five years ago when I used to attend almost every single board meeting including the one in February of 2005 where there was a blizzard outside and the board meeting was held downstairs from The High School auditorium I was one of two people in attendance in the audience but I felt it was important for me to be there um everyone had agendas today there was a short of shortage shortage of agendas and I realized that paper costs money that would create a further deficit if you
208had to print enough for all of the people here I would just like to make a suggestion that at 7 p.m. on the day of your board meeting that the board minutes go on the gboe website so that those of us who are visual Learners and would like to see the board minutes in print and cannot do so unless you look over somebody's back who you're sitting behind that those minutes go onto the website live so that people in attendance in the audience can read along and follow them just a suggestion I've never seen it ever before but I have never and I have been to I don't know how many hundred board meetings those who know me know why I was at the board meetings I am a taxpayer here I'm also a former
209employee as probably you are aware um I like to follow along and I think it's a cheap free way to present the minutes to the public so that they can follow along or put them up on the screen but I would love to just see them on the gboe website not after the meeting when they're legally allowed to go up I know you can't share prior but at 11:00 that's just my thought and one last thing Kathy we haven't seen each other in 5 years congratulations I'm so happy for you hi my name is Lorissa Assan I live at 27 Garden Court um uh I'll make this quick because it's after 11: first I just want to give another round of applause for all these students that stay stayed here this late to speak to
210themselves and the staff um in uh at any given point in the last uh over 10 years I've had at least one student in this District um you might be new here but I'm not I know a lot of faces in this room because they've all contributed to the success of my children uh not once have I seen the staff and the fam's disrespected and disregarded the way this board and superintendent has done especially with this insurance um I am a healthc care professional and I know what happens when you give people subpart insurance and why you can sit here and say it you can sit here and say it's the same and make a face whatever it's not the same and I think I know more about it than you do so you know
211it you were elected to represent the best interest of the people in this town so do the thing you were elected to do just quickly to the chair uh Edna is also in that state health benefits program it's not subpar just to be very clear again we're going to talk about the changes regardless you can say whatever you like it's private it's it's private coming now however regardless it is not subpar thank you it is not so part hello my name is Arin barisha of 163 Ben Winkle Avenue okay I am alumni of Garfield High School I am also someone who works in healthcare and I'm a business owner in Garfield for someone who works in healthcare I know all insurance plans are not created equal for example Blue Cross Blue Shield that they have
212right now adds a$0 co-pay to five-star facilities can you in good faith say Etna would do the same or has the same agreement with most facilities because I can assure you that they do not there's also the issue of Prior authorizations going through look insurances answer at different speeds I like working with Blue Cross Blue Shield when I work with patients because they get back to me quick within seconds they'll send me whether it's denied or approved what medication they have to try before they can get the one that the doctor prescribed the truth is not all health care plans are created equal but changing their health care plan literally puts them at a loss cuz now not only do they risk losing their pcps their Healthcare home the people that who handle all their
213medical documents and who have handled all their medical documents up until now they also risk losing the Specialists that are close to them by changing insurances not only are you messing up their Whole Health Care right now their whole medical record you are also putting them un under undue stress and that does not equal Good Health Care uh outcomes [Applause] Nancy Cuts up 484 of ambum Avenue uh I didn't use all my five minutes Dr TOMCO said he answered everybody's questions he did not answer mine get up more than okay I asked about serving our exceptional students have we tried the dual enrollment program with Bergen to get the chemistry teachers that was one yeah you didn't but that I want to know have we reached out to Bergen to get the chemistry teachers these
214kids are our honor students and what does it do with their applications to college this you know I have a family member who works at e-learning so I know quality e-learning can happen but in this case it's not it's very critical and are we trying to push kids to go to other high schools other than Garfield High School because we have had things on bulletin boards showing them how to apply even to private schools I'm not talking theems I'm talking to sending the kids there I also asked you if I'm going to get a notice from Etna telling me I'm moved and then I got to move again because you said you could go go back to it I'm already retired I'm in a program I'm hoping that's not what's going to happen am I
215going to stay status quo answer the questions [Applause] yeah I I no what I see if if the if the guidelines would have been read you would we didn't estimate this number of people ladies and gentlemen these are not guidelines that were enacted for this meeting they've been in effect for years so these are not something that's used to sabotage public comment again we encourage public comment but unfortunately we need to follow rules and guidelines so we have the for throughout the course to some type of for so sir I know that you spoke before Miss cutp had an unanswered question allowed her to finish her time period it's allowed one time that is all that is allowed you're allowed to come up once you're not allowed to come up again and speak again heul
216good evening my name is Stacy DeVito and my husband Jeff and I have proudly taught our students in Garfield have worked as teachers for Garfield board of education for the past 27 and 28 years we have put our time and effort into our students who are here tonight thank you for supporting us not only in the classroom but on fields and courts summer school enrichment programs esy after school events and programs and fundraising as so many of us in this room and District do we have taught countless students Mr Gaba I have had your son Alvin Mr Taylor I have had your son Daniel still here and we have formed many friendships with our colleagues throughout the district through these relationships we know that ours is not the only story and many in our district
217have similar stories and I'm sorry I'm getting emotional unfortunately everyone has their own cross to bear whether it be an illness ourselves a spouse child needed therapy addiction fertility treatments or life and death emergency situations I could go on but the one constant that we have always had is that Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield has always taken away the worry from astronomical bills unknown loopholes in the billing system which atna is Infamous for denial of services which they're also infamous for and they have provided us with nothing but Professional Care when going through a traumatic time in life please remember that our story is one of many within this room and district there how many staff members are here staff and faculty are part of the district 1500 that are being affected it's less
218than that okay well there's a lot uhhuh agree there are many families in this district and there are plenty of these stories sitting right behind me our youngest son jack was born with congenital heart disease and in his 15 years where he thankfully has lived a very normal life he has had four open heart surgeries with another one in the near future to replace his child-sized metal oil alloy mitro valve to an adult-sized valve he has had 13 other surgeries such as catherization stenting ballooning pacemaker input pacemaker battery change Pac maker removal twice after a terrible infection began to creep through his body and rebuilding of his pector