Franklin Township Board of Education April 28, 2026 Regular Business Meeting

001Good evening everybody. Today is Tuesday, April 28th, 2026. The time is 7:31. Uh we welcome all to the regular business meeting of the board of education Franklin Township public schools board administration campus allpurpose room. >> Brian, can I have roll call? >> Mr. Degle >> here. >> Mr. Griffo. >> Dr. Hopkins >> here. >> Miss Inosencio >> here. >> Miss Maris >> here. >> Mr. Parker. Miss Rafi >> here. Lost my place. Miss Welch >> here. >> Miss Wilson >> here. >> You have a quorum. >> Thank you. Uh can you also um read the Open Public Meeting Act statement? >> In accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act, public law 1975, chapter 231, Sunshine Law. Copies of the public meeting notice were sent to the Courier News, the Home News Tribune, the Star Ledger,

002the Franklin Reporter, Tap into Franklin Township, Franklin Township Clerk, Manager, District Schools, Offices, and Associations, PTO presidents, and posted on the district website. >> Thank you. Uh, Clara, can you give us the mission statement? Franklin Township Public Schools embraces its diversity, fosters excellent educational innovation, and empowers all students to achieve their highest potential. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion to action to adopt their agenda? >> Second. >> So moved. Okay. All right. So, so moved by Nikki is seconded by Erica. All in favor? >> I. >> So, move. All right. Uh, we going move on to the student report. My name is Ailen and I am one of the student government BOA Lions and my partner Emily who won't be attending today is also one of the student government BOA Lions. Here are

003some of the things going on at FHS. The student government is still raising money for the NJSC state charity K9 response crisis. The FHS Model Congress program was very successful at this year's Rucker Model Congress, which was on April 9th to 12th. Several students won various forms of honor. Join us for the first FHS Warrior 5K walk run and walk on Saturday, May 9th. Friends and families are welcome to take part of this community building event. Concessions will be available and prizes will be awarded to the top three finishers. Students taking AP exams this upcoming month are invited to attend our destress before the AP test session after school this Wednesday and Thursday from 2:30 to 400 p.m. in room B 101. There will be snacks, test taking tips, and decompression activities to put your

004mind at ease before the big test. Monday 18 to 22nd is vaping prevention week. Throughout the week, FHS will learn facts, test our knowledge, and participate in activities to help end the vaping crisis. FHS has upcoming events including the spring band concert on April 29th at 7 p.m., the spring orchestra concert on May 5th at 7:00 p.m. and the spring guitar concert on May 7th at 700 p.m. The F the FHS CTE company dance concert on May 16th at 700 p.m. and the FHS dance concert on May 22nd at 7 p.m. Come out and support the arts. Thank you. Um, before we move on, I just I was so excited. I wanted you to get your report out the way so you go do some homework, get ready for the finals. But um, we going

005to do the pledge of allegiance. And since I've um I'mma lead it to the flag to the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. All right. It's showtime. We're going to pass it on to Dr. Vali and his team for um the 2026 budget. Thank you, sir. Um good evening everybody. So, Mr. Frerieded and I will go through this. I just want to this a little different protocol than last month if you were here on last month. So, what happens that was the preliminary budget. This budget has now been advertised, approved by the county. This now becomes the final budget for presentation for the board to consider this evening. So, how the hearing works is a little

006bit different than how the preliminary budget presentation works. How the hearing works is we'll go through the presentation. We'll call for questions from the board. We, Mr. Freed and I, school business administrator and I will answer board questions andor hear their comments. We'll go back to our seat and then the president will call for comments from the public at which point you would come to the podium like you would do during a public comment part to ask questions, make comments or choose whatever you want to do. That's three minutes and then you'll go back to your seat and when it's all done the board either myself or the board or somebody depending on who the president selects will answer your questions and or respond to your comments. Okay, so I just wanted to make sure

007everybody knew the protocol. With that said, I'll get going. Um, it's a little bit of a lengthy presentation, but I promise not to take that long. Some of this information was reviewed. It's been in the newspaper. So, I'll try and breeze through some of that. But there's some really important slides here that I want to make sure we get through on the deck. First off, public hearing, April 28th, 2026. This is for next school year's budget, which would begin July 1, 2026. School year running July 1 to June 30th. This our board of education members. The asterisk denotes who is on the uh finance committee. So the chair of the finance committee has the double asterisk and that's Mr. Parker uh who is also a board of education member and a chair of the finance

008committee of the board. This is all of our budget manager managers. And I always like to show this slide because I think it's important for folks to realize the number of people involved in the management of our school budget because our district is rather large. And you can see all of the folks that are involved in not only helping to build the budget but also in managing the budget. um which starts really at the building level in the middle the principles works out through the central office folks uh in both directions. So there's about 40 some odd folks that are involved in not only building the budget but the daily uh execution of the budget. Tonight's meeting we have four real goals. The first goal is to approve um or review the previously approved budget

009goals. That's something I'm going to go through quickly because we've hyperl those. This presentation will be online when we're done by the way. So that this way you can go back to it, refer to it and you can click on the hyperlinks and you'll be able to see all of the information that I referenced, all the support information. We'll review estimated revenues and projected tax impact. That will be Mr. Freed Jobber, school business administrator, who will do the second part of this presentation, will receive board of education comment first, public comment second, and then immediately following, the board would consider the 2627 budget for a vote. The goals, I went through them last time, most of you, some of you were here, and those who were not, you'll be able to read these for yourself.

010what's blue and hyperlin, that is how the budget goals that were approved by the board back in the early fall. That's how the budget goals tie to the board goals. So, the board has very specific goals. They're hyperl in that blue color. And these are the budget goals that guide the budget development process. Next, the board as you know has has a board approved strategic plan. Each plan has a goal area or each in contained within the plan. There's a goal area. Each area here is hyperl so that you can also see the connection between what is considered a budget goal and how that connects with the board's strategic plan. Now, as you build the budget, building the budget with the 45 folks who are involved or 43, whatever the exact count is there, uh

011that that are responsible for helping to build the budget, you have to overcome some obstacles. And some of the obstacles in our way this year were health care costs rising at unprecedented levels. As I had shared uh in the preliminary budget, I believe the state health benefit plan went up in the neighborhood of about 30%. We're obviously very similar to that. So that makes building the budget very challenging with a tax levy increase at our current level. An increase in salaries greater than 2%. Categorical aid, which is a form of state aid given to school districts to fund specific categories or specific areas. Transportation, safety, and special ed. Those are the three categories, and that's where we do receive some state aid. Unfortunately, it doesn't come close to fully funding those areas, but it does

012help. An increase of approximately 7% our estimated charter school tuition, which obviously is a significant amount here. We have about 1,200 kids or so in a charter school. It costs us over $20 million. And that comes out of our general operating budget. Unfortunately, money doesn't necessarily follow the kids. And what I mean by that is the state considers a certain per pupil amount. They multiply that by the number of students with the idea that the money is following the kids and you'd be able to reduce costs in an equal amount. But of course that doesn't necessarily work because we're a very large district. So if you take a thousand kids out of a district this size, especially when a majority of them are from the elementary level, what happens is they're coming from seven different

013campuses. So you're you're having very little impact on the operations of those campuses. The lights are going on, the electricity is still running, the heat is running, the air conditioning is going. Um, and the classrooms are there, the teachers are there because you're pulling few kids out over a large geographical area. So it's not dollar for dollar in savings. There is some savings, don't get me wrong, but it's certainly not dollar for dollar. And then Mr. Freed will likely mention this. There's a decrease in $4 million in revenues um from us not using reserves over the last few years in order to shoulder some of the burden so that the tax levy didn't need to absorb the burden. What we chose to do, what the board chose to do was to take some money out

014of the bank in order to balance the budget rather than push that toward tax levy. Unfortunately, that's a one-time affair. And what happens is you get those reserves into a position where you need to not go any further because you could jeopardize should you have an emergency of some sort, not having that money available to cover your emergency. Now, you're likely following the news and reading the newspapers like everybody else. And there are districts all across the state that are struggling with those kinds of deficits right now. I I don't know who the latest was. I can't remember. And plus, I never like talking about other folks businesses. But there was a recent district somewhere right here in central New Jersey that had a 14 that now has a $14 million gap in the current

015operating budget that they have to close in order to continue moving forward. becomes very challenging when you're dealing with those kinds of things. I think earlier in the year there was one up north Montlair maybe that was all over the news. I'm comfortable in saying it. Um similar situations and that's the result of taking those reserves down to dangerously low levels. So um again an obstacle for us because that 4 million's not there this year. Here's the big challenge, and for Franklin and some of our neighboring districts, it's the state funding formula. So, I'm going to do a little bit of a lesson here, so bear with me. And if you understand this, I apologize ahead of time. If you don't, and most of our board members do, I think it's important that we all

016get a good understanding for what's going on at the state level and how that's affecting our community. So, there's two big variables in the state funding formula. One is called adequacy and one is called fair share. adequacy is what it says. It's the New Jersey Department of Education's district thorough and efficient adequacy budget. So, what the state does is they take a base per pupil amount. I believe this year was a little over $15,000 and you can look that up online. It's a state formula. So they take a base elementary amount, what it would take in their mind to educate an elementary student, and then they adjust it for they they weight it. So they give you a little more credit for a kid who's at the middle school level. Maybe they give you a

017kid and a half or a kid and a quarter for each C each kid that is at the middle school level. And at the high school level, we call that the secondary level. And then for a kid who doesn't speak English as a primary language, they give you a little more credit for that. And for special ed kids, they use a larger number of somewhere around 24,000 and give you a universal calculation for what they believe it costs to educate kids to meet the New Jersey standards. You all know we operate on standards. They call this core funding for math, science, English, um all the subjects that we all took. And they call that your adequacy budget. That's ours. 198 million 766,23. That's the state's understanding, which by the way is inadequate, but that's their

018understanding of what they believe it should cost for us to educate kids to meet their standards. Okay, here's the problem for us. New Jersey fair share, the other variable in the state funding formula. This is the believed capacity of folks in Franklin or if you live in Hillsboro, they give you one in Hillsboro, they give you one wherever. It's the capacity of the residents to fund that adequacy budget on the left. So I guess that's a grayish color that 198 million that's the adequacy budget. What the state is saying based on a state calculation using a three-year average valuation quote unquote property wealth and a three-year average of income as the main variables. they come up with a calculation that they call fair share determination. So now you look at the box on the right

019200,456,82 and the state is saying that that is what Franklin should be able to tax in order to support the adequacy budget. So if that fair share number in the state calculation is less than the adequacy number then they give you something called state equalization aid. However, as is in our case and a lot of districts in Somerset County, by the way, when fair share is greater than what the state says is necessary to educate your kids, they say, "Sorry, we're not giving you equalization aid because you as a community are wealthy enough to pay for it. That's what the state formula is saying to us right now. So, under state equalization aid in our download from the state, there's a big old zero. Well, it's a little bit of a problem because if the

020state target is 198,766,23 and we're not going to get any help to fund that, how do we get to that number? If that's the target, where do we fall with relationship to that target? The proposed budget is under that line with no mechanism to get there. So the proposed budget that we have right now the adequacy spending things tied to the classroom to teach math, science, social studies, history. Well, I guess social studies and history are the same. Fizzed to world languages to teach those core subjects our core funding apples to apples. We're at 194 391 315. That's with the 2% increase that we're allowed and the automatic health waiver that we're also allowed. Those are the only two mechanisms we have to close the gap to get to 198. The state considers this since

021the district adequacy is less than the state adequacy target. They consider us an underfunded district. But again, if you go back a slide, because the fair share is higher than the adequacy budget, they're telling us we can't help. They can't help us. The only mechanism we have is tax levy, which we're about 92% dependent on here. So that really becomes the issue as we move forward and in years past. Now this is the new formula and it's only a few years old 2018 Steve somewhere in that neighborhood I think. Don't quote me on that but it's it's in more recent years and it over time went to full implementation. last year was the first year of full implementation. I believe again not to be quoted but the uh I believe that's the case. So unfortunately

022we become super reliant on tax levy because we have no other mechanism other than categorical aid. So what about categorical aid? We got an addition we netted and you're going to hear this from Steve. We netted an additional $400,000 in categorical aid. That's great, but it's just that. It's categorical aid. And unfortunately, it doesn't come anywhere near covering the cost of the categories that it is supposed to support. So, the good news, we qualify for it. We get special ed aid, we get transportation aid, and we get safety aid. That's the great news. The bad news, the amount of state aid received only partially at best covers the costs associated with those areas. And when Steve gets up here in just a little bit, you're going to see they're big numbers. And thankfully, and I

023said this last time, smart move on the board's part, a three-year contract on transportation. I can't even imagine districts that are dealing with new transportation contracts this year given the price of diesel fuel right now because that that impacts what you pay for a bus. Cuz I can tell you the bus company isn't going to absorb that cost. They are in our case because we got a three-year contract, but they're not going to absorb that for a district that doesn't have a three-year contract. And many districts don't because for many years it was wiser to live off of what they call a CPI increase. It was a small amount. But this year they're not going to renew for CPI. And that's probably their prerogative. If I were a bus contractor, I'd be saying, "Nope, go

024out to bid." Because they're all going to jack their prices up. They got to pay for the fuel. So, smart move on your part, likely someone else is going to be taking that hit for us because they can't jack our price up. Um, and unfortunately, the amount of aid we get, and you can look at it, I think total, and Stephen again is going to give you the numbers, and I'm going off the top of my head without looking at them right now, but Steve will give you the exact numbers in just a moment. I think alto together our categorical aid is in the neighborhood of $26 million. 21 I was thinking years past I guess 21. Our bus contract is probably higher than that. Just our bus contract and that's supposed to be supporting

025special ed and safety and all those other areas. So, so What happens when the aid doesn't fully cover the cost of those categories? Guess where that goes? That goes on tax levy. That goes on that's in that 194 that if I can go backwards, sorry. That's in that 194 391 uncovered portions of what it takes to educate students with special needs. What it takes to get 8,000 kids cuz we pay for the charter school buses. We have to pay aid and loo for kids that go to private school. So we move 8,000 kids or more around this place every day. And that's in that number, the unfunded portion of it. So you can see there's a lot in there because by the way some of that safety and safety and transportation is barely accounted for

026in that 198. And that's part of the problem by the way and I I apologize for going on but I think it's important to understand part of the problem is that 198 is artificially low. It's not encapsulating everything. You're getting 24,700 and something or call it $25,000 a kid for special ed one kid. And by all means, every kid deserves what they need. I'm not suggesting that, but depending on the program a child goes to, it could be upwards to $150,000. And you're supposed to get money for that. They call it extraordinary aid. We applied for $14 million. I think it was last year. And I'm rounding. I could be off, but I think our application was as high as $14 million. And if you go back, you can check because we approve it every

027year. They funded they approved it. Woohoo. Approved $14 million, but they only funded across the state at a 50% level. So they approved $14 million in extraordinary cost and gave us 7 million. the other 7 million in the 194. So, it's all there. And this is what makes school budgeting very challenging in districts like Franklin and our neighboring districts. I know you're hearing some of those stories there as well. Not that that's your concern because you don't live there, but you're hearing those concerns as well, I'm sure. But it's that adequacy number really needs to now if that adequacy number and then I promise I'll shut up and get to some of the other stuff. But if that adequacy number truly reflected what it costs, it would be higher. And if it were higher, it

028would be above the number on the right. And what would that mean? we'd get money. We would get some additional money to offset some of these costs. And that's what we got to lobby for. That's what we got to keep pushing for. Believe me when I tell you I do and I've been for the last 10 years that I've been here cuz although we did get equalization aid the first couple years, so maybe I wasn't as passionate back then. But and again, wherever your allegiance lies to charter schools, I'm not saying good, bad, or indifferent. I can tell you this though, the funding is not right. The math does not work. Something has to be done. Even if we just took our 2% tax levy this year, even if that's all that was added to

029the tax levy, that minimum 2% which would nearly cover any of this, $1.4 million of that 4 million roughly would go right out the door in proposed tuition to charter schools. And some of that wouldn't even be realized because not all kids end up going, but we have to budget for it by law. Again, good, bad, or indifferent. It's that's not it's funding is the issue. How they fund those schools is the problem. And and believe me, I tell you, I've not just been up here whining about that, but I've been I was in front of legislators talking about that, trying to get some relief on that. And even if they don't change the formula, we asked and proposed ideas and our local assembly put the bill forward to at least give us a savings

030account so that we could responsibly put money away so that we could avoid the dips and you know the big hills cuz anybody knows any corporation, any organization, any business big or small, the last thing you want is ups and downs. You want smooth, right? You don't want years like this and years like this. So that's the biggest issue here is this formula that is now negatively impacting us and putting a 92% pressure on the tax levy. And in years where there might not be an automatic waiver for health benefits, granted health benefits probably won't go up as high because that waiver is always tied to the state health benefit plan, but there's still going to be extraordinary tension on the budget because there is no mechanism, none at all, for us to get to

031where we should be according to the state. There's no mechanism in this place. In other places there is called equalization aid here. No. So that's the biggest issue. But with that said, what does the 194 million that we do have or we are proposing anyway, what does that cover and how are we meeting how are we meeting the board budget goals? This is all information that I shared last time. This time the difference is we hyperl things. So, one of the board goals, one of the T& mandates is to support your students from a mental health perspective. So, we've got these partnerships listed here, all of which help us to meet those mandates, meet those board goals. And if you click on those hyperlinks at your leisure at home, you'll see all the wonderful things

032that we are doing to take care of our kids, not only from a classroom perspective, but from a mental health perspective. Of course, there's always physical safety and we know the challenges that come along with um safety in schools nowadays. So you can see the kinds of things we're doing here to protect our kids on a regular basis all in that $194 million. And we have a new law to contend with next year and it's the bell to bell law and that's about cell phone control in the schools and or lack thereof keeping phones away from bell to bell which in a high school with 2,300 kids is or 2,000 plus kids is not going to be easy. And a middle school with equally as many kids certainly not going to be easy. There's a

033lot of strategies that can be employed. Um, some of which will cost money, but the budget supports some of that as well. We have wellness initiatives listed here. We do a lot with sustainable Jersey. We have our partnership health center. We have our Zufall health center. We're constantly working with our school counselors to learn about the needs our kids have through the NJSCI surveys and we talk to our families about that as well. We have seal days. We have many SEAL programs to support uh uh social and emotional growth. We have some new programs that we've tried. All very lowcost items, all included in the 194 spoken word therapy programs. And again, these are all things if you click on them, you'll learn more about. I don't want to take up your valuable time. And

034again, this will be online. Uh Mrs. Clark, this goes on our website under presentations. >> Yeah, under the uh the board agenda page. >> Perfect. The budget page. >> Perfect. We're expanding programs and when I say expanding programs as you can see by the number 194 that really means shifting resources right so um we're trying to keep more kids in district by expanding our medically fragile program and autism programs because those are costly programs outside and it's always better always better to educate your kids at home right in your home district. So that's a way to reduce costs and help us to fit into that 194 while bettering our programs, preschool programs that is almost fully funded by the state. That's one of the only fully funded programs by the state and that's the early

035childhood prek3 and four program. There's a small contribution that we have to budget every year. 800,000 Steve. Yeah. 800,000ish. Um, less a little less than a million dollars that we have to contribute, but we have about 850 early childhood kids, three and four year olds that we're now educating. Um, again, state grant. We're one of the few districts that have been able to really leverage that grant uh for the betterment of our kids. High impact tutoring, that's a state grant as well. Uh, we call that a fun 20. Steve, I'm testing my own knowledge here. We call that a fund 20, which means it comes directly into a fund separate from that 194 and goes right out the door on those programs, but can only be used for those kinds of programs. Um, we actually

036have done very well with high impact tutoring. Um, you know, some of our students have some pretty significant needs and high impact tutoring is a uh a researchbased program promoted by the state that we've seen significant results with. Um, so we're very proud of the growth and actually if you listen to the governor, the governor mentioned us in her address as being a school that has implemented that with fidelity and seen some good results. Uh we're going to continue the expansion of our bilingual programming. We have a growing population, a growing bilingual population, and of course um that takes resources. So we have to meet their needs and we're mimicking that program. We have one at PGM and now we're having a mimic program to that at the other end of town here. CES um

037depth and complexity frameworks. You can Google that. Uh that really is kind of grown out of our gifted and talented program and we're starting to spread that out a little bit. We got a couple of new initiatives and again very little impact and all included in the 194 the warrior walnut. So 195 uh 125 out of 125,000 out of reserve going to Warrior Next Tech Academy to help develop that program. But other than that, it's all part of the already operating 194. It's not new money. It's a shifting of money because those 75 kids would have been going to the elementary school anyway. So, it's our effort to kind of build our own I don't want to say charter school, but our own academy within our larger population. Um, therefore meeting the needs of the

038kids who want to study in that area as keeping them inhouse and hopefully providing some good partnership opportunities with companies like SHI who we've been working closely with. And the same is true with cosmetology. That's a shifting of funds. We were already sending to RVCC for a manufacturing program that our kids aren't seeing quite the same level of benefit that we had anticipated we thought they would see. And there's a large calling for this program. And rather than spend our money in tuition at RVCC or the vocational school, we've instead mimicked what they do, saving on the transportation and providing more seats to our kids at what we hope will become a more reasonable cost. And we integrated our JOTC program. Again, another opportunity for our special needs kids that they didn't have before. And

039again, the more things we can do to meet their needs in district, the better off we are. All those numbers mentioned before. Goal two, these are is our professional development goal. We're doing more with United PD pathways. That means using our teachers and their expertise to work with our more novice teachers so that we get professional development from our own folks. a little more economical way. We've got some really talented folks and we're very excited about that and Dr. Dan here did a great job with that with his team of folks last year and I anticipate as they continue to grow it'll become even stronger. Um Orton Gillingham training I encourage you to click on that and majority of our teachers are trained. It's a uh high level reading professional development program that uh that

040that that we are part of and believe deeply in. And not only that, we were a little ahead of the curve because the state is now pushing that kind of science of reading approach to teaching reading and and we're there already. Problem based learning again all part of our next tech academy uh and Intel is involved with that. And then uh of course we have certain responsibilities to continue to train our teachers in all disciplines and in different kinds of subject matter to meet personnel type requirements um and also to meet disciplinary requirements meaning how to teach your discipline. new partnerships. Uh these are no cost items, but I think they're important to mention. SHI, who is a local technology group, huge international technology group, I should say, who happens to be homebased here locally.

041Um we're working very closely with them in more recent months to do some fabulous things to uh really turn the corner on strategies in that problem based learning area. and um prepare our kids for life after school in the tech world. Partnerships with Intel and of course the cosmetology course I already mentioned again all in that 194 that we were talking about for the most part. Um and then other initiatives to strengthen our partnerships with the community. I don't know if you all know this but we used to run our afterare program and before care program with that is when you run your own program if you don't run it at a profit then you have to go into that 194 million that operating budget to make sure that program stays in the green and

042out of the red. Well, very expensive ordeal. Some years ago, we switched got to a good partnership with Greater Somerset YMCA. They use our facility. We pay them nothing. They collect tuition and they run the whole program. No strain on the operating budget. One of the best things we did. And they do a phenomenal job. By the way, Alpha Kelpa, Alpha, I can never say that. AKA Sority, they're great. Franklin Food Bank, they're great. They help us um to support the needs of our students. You know, we have a lot of students that need that type of support. Um and the food bank does a great job supporting that. Um food insecurity is a big thing. It's a big thing here. It's a big thing all over. So, can't learn if you're hungry. So, those

043are kinds of things we do with them. Um, Soufall Health, Integrity Partnership Health. Again, you heard all about that few slides ago. Couple sustainability initiatives where we initiate or we've initiated an ESIP project. Uh, planning on evaluating and and looking at where we might be able to save money and use that savings to improve equipment without having to use tax levy to do that. um continue teacher and school level support of the sustainable New Jersey initiatives. And you might have saw some of the newspaper coverage on the most recent initiative at the high school that happened this past weekend, which was kind of cool. Personnel changes. This is not new personnel. This is personnel changes. Meaning it's a shifting of money. So we're not adding money. What we're doing is, for example, five special ed

044teachers to build our in-house programs. What does building your in-house program do? It keeps kids closer to home. Number one, educates them where they deserve to be educated in your district, saves you on the transportation costs, and saves you on the tuition costs. So, it's a win-win. Win for the child, win for the district. So shifting of monies clinical mental health counselors um immersion lab teacher again these are all shifting of monies for the most part um all already in that 194 million that I had talked about before um slightly below the adequacy number and then the most exciting part about this presentation and that's for Mr. Freed and it's all about the numbers you're up Mr. Freed. Sorry for taking so long. Good evening folks. Stephen Freed, school business administrator. I am going to

045run through the the numbers with you, the revenues and appropriations. So starting with the levy, the grand total tax levy. The grand total tax levy, the number that Dr. Ravali was referencing 194,391 315. So that number represents 88% of our general fund revenue. So the vast majority of the way that we fund this school district is via this tax levy, 88% of the budget. So that's made up of the the 183 074681, which is the current year budget inflated by 2%. And then on top of that is the healthc care adjustment which is an allowable automatic levy adjustment that helps district pay for uh health insurance costs that exceed the 2% levy. It's it's typically the single largest appropriation line in every school district's budget. And in this year it's 31% increase. So it's a

046problem statewide for every school district in New Jersey. You've probably heard in the papers and elsewhere about districts struggling to, you know, figure out how to pay for it. And it's either utilizing this levy, which means this healthcare adjustment, which means more levy, or massive cuts. So, it's really just the two things there. And so, that's the total levy amount, 194, 391, 315. The numbers coming out of capital reserve 125,000. This is to outfit the next tech academy uh classroom. This is coming out of capital reserve um capital reserve and our other reserve accounts like maintenance reserve. It's a parking place for unspent appropriations in prior years. So if you um you know you know strike a budget in any given year and you know your revenues and appropriations balance like they do to start

047with and then you end the year having uh raised more money than you spent that excess surplus goes into these reserve accounts. And there's there's a whole cascading calculation that the auditors the auditors calculate about where that money can go. It starts in unassigned and then it goes into maintenance reserve, capital reserve if you want to put it there or budgeted surplus that you can use as a uh a revenue stream and you could see those numbers here. So you could see the current year that we're uh in right now and the 2027 proposed. So, um, this is the dollar amounts of our local revenues and the percentage increases. Um, you know, the tax levy, you know, the 2% plus the healthcare waiver is 8.3%. Um, but if you look at the total of our

048actual local revenues, it's only increasing 5.7%. And that's because of those other numbers on the screen there. So, we're not using uh budget surplus, excess surplus anymore. and we didn't last year either because we didn't close the year with enough money left over to utilize it as a one-time revenue. Receive tuition, that's actually students that live in other towns that pay us to, you know, come to school here. Uh, you know, I have 190,000. That's where we're at right now. So, it's it's my projection that we'll have roughly the same amount next year. Capital reserve. We did 1.5 million projects this year and um we're only doing 125,000 that we're projecting next year. That's the next tech academy maintenance reserve. We used a million last year. Uh planning to use zero for next year. Unassigned

049surplus, we used 1.7 million and we're planning to use zero. So the unassigned surplus is the one that you don't often go to. that represents 2% of your total expenditures and it's kind of like your catchall um unassigned really. It's not specifically for capital or for maintenance. Um and you can use it to you know to to to balance a budget but in any year that you have excess surplus like I was explaining um that has to be refunded first before you could use it as a revenue stream. And that's why you see zeros in the fund balance and in maintenance reserve because we are in the process of refunding our unassigned surplus. We took 1.7 million this year and we took 1 million the year before that and that was because we had to

050to balance the budget. The next category of our uh general fund expenses or I'm sorry revenues is our state aid numbers. So the categorical aids is the first number there. That's special education aid, transportation aid, and security aid. um the categorical aids um went up $970,000, but at the same time they awarded that increase, they took away our one-time tax levy incentive aid of $527,000. So our net increase was $443,000. Extraordinary aid, this is aid that's used to support our added district tuitions. And uh I increased our projection by 550,000 um because the most recent grant award for extraordinary gate was 3.3 million. So we have reason to believe that. >> Yeah. >> Yep. So 3.3. Um and that is with a projection that they're only going to give us half of what we applied

051for. Again, of course, we never know, but it's typically around 50ish% 50 51 52%. Um, but in talking with special services department who develops that spreadsheet and that application, it's reasonable to think that we'll uh again get 3.3. So, you know, that's good. It increases our uh projection 550,000. The semi aid, this number is actually provided to us by the county office. They tell us what to put. Um, we project that we're going to exceed this amount, but they tell us to, you know, budget 154,000. And this is a reimbursement for health services provided to Medicaid eligible uh students. So the total aid revenue 24,910677 increase of 4.5%. So total fund total general fund revenue is 220 220 million 518992 uh increasing by 5.57%. The other funds um as part of our operating fund are

052the special revenue and debt service fund. Special revenue uh fund is basically our grant fund. It's made up primarily of our title funds, our IDEA funds, and our PEA funds. um preschool education aid, also called PEA, and also our local grants and donations to a lesser extent. Um standard practice is to budget these grants at 85% of your current year allocation. So you would typically see a reduction of 15% on this line, but we did get uh some extra money for pea of $400,000. So the net of all that was a decrease of 689 622 or a decrease of 3.6%. And the debt service fund this is fund 40. This is all based off an amortization schedule that is projected out you know quite a ways because this is our bond principal and interest payments.

053And you just take the numbers right off the schedule and this is your payment for the next budget year. um for a grand total of 246,584575 uh which is an increase overall in our operating budget of 4.59%. And just for reference this number in the prior year when I was doing this presentation was 6.93%. So uh this increase of 4.59 is still less than last year's increase. So this is um a slide that we didn't present at the preliminary budget. Although there are no changes from our preliminary budget. We didn't present the breakdown of these kind major categories where we take the entire budget and we try to squeeze it into different buckets that are presentable to the public. Um you'll see um some modest increases and decreases across these lines with the exception of

054a few there. You'll see employee benefits and this is medical, prescription, dental, and vision, etc. is increasing $13.2 million. So, just for reference, the 2% levy, if we were handcuffed and had to only increase our levy 2%, that amounts to $3.5 million. So it it you know if you look at some of these budget increases you know we'd have some serious cutting on our hands to do with only a $3.5 million increase in in levy and all of these expenses increasing. So that's an employee that's health benefits increasing 31%. Charter school tuitions you know that's a million and a half right there 7% increase. Um, and there's some, you know, decreases on different lines from some things that we did last year that we're not going to plan to do next year and, uh, such

055as like our our capital outlay. And, uh, so yeah, the the total um expense there similar to the revenues is 22,518,992, an increase of 1163458. And so the tax rate, now as a reminder, the tax rate is calculated on a calendar year. The municipality is the the ones who uh levy out the taxes. Um and they do their budget on a calendar year. So we have to, you know, do some work on our end to present this out to you guys because our budgets on a fiscal year from July to June. So each one of these calendar years encompasses one half of of two different school years. So the current year, calendar year 2025 is actually the second half of fiscal year 25 and the first half of fiscal year 26. And the calendar year

0562026 is the second half of FY26, this school year, and the first half of 27, the one that we're building that we're presenting right here. So in doing that, the tax levy number there on the calendar year basis, which won't tie back to any of my other tax levy numbers for the same reasons, is uh 193717670. The net valuation taxable um is, you know, 17 uh I think there's a billion dollars. That's the sum of all the ratables in Franklin Township. So you calculate that across the levy as it relates to the net valuation taxable of the entire township and you get a tax rate of 1.11%. So it's an increase of 0.05%. And so to the average homeowner, the assessed value of the average home, this number comes from the tax assessor's office. Um,

057and so you know that's what you see here. It actually increased to the average home of 17,055. And in taking the average homeowner's valuation times the school tax rate, you have an annual tax impact on the average home of $6,393 or an increase of $481 annually. Also of note, um last year again when I was doing this presentation, um the increase to the average homeowner was $673. So it, you know, a positive spin way of looking at it is that um it's less of an increase as in last year. And hopefully we stay with that trend when we get through this climate that we have out there, you know, in the states of uh high inflation, high costs. And uh that concludes my presentation. >> Thank you, sir. So, just a reminder, >> how it

058works now is we're going to turn to you, M. Dr. Hopkins and ask for questions from the board and then we will sit down and um then there'll be a threeminut public comment period for folks come up to the mic and go from there. But we're on you. All right. >> Don't run away from me, Mr. Freed. You got to stay up here and get questions from the board, my friend. >> All right. Uh, thank you for I'm going to save my last u thank you at the end, but um I'm going save the finance committee for last, but um anyway uh Clara, do you have any comments or questions for on this budget? >> I do not. >> Okay. Um, Nick. >> So, Steve, just a quick question on the average sale price home.

059>> This is step nickn. What's that average home price? >> Say it again. >> What's the average home price? It was six. >> There you go. >> 572. 540. That's all I have. >> All right. Thank you. Um, Jennifer, >> no questions at this time. >> Uh, Bill. Okay. Um, so I'm glad to see more people came out this month than last month. We got a net increase of about 20 people. years ago about 25 years ago I was involved with the magnet schools in Franklin Township with a Dr. Clancy, he was the superintendent and he uh came up with the concept at that time was very popular magnet schools. Franklin Township schools all had a different charter school type gene and parents would choose by lottery what school they wanted to send their kids

060to. My job at the time was the parent information coordinator. I was in charge of the magnet school. And so a parent would say, "I want my kids to go to a science and technology lab just like we have the new tech thing here." Or, "I want my child to go to a performing arts school." That was Pine Grove and Connelly. science and tech was Hillrest and um we didn't have um McAfee and and then there was the international school that was Franklin Park where kids would wear a uniform or learn different international cultures and there was a great increase in interest and people would talk about it. I heard Dr. Lrren recently talk about tell the story. We need to tell our story. Great great way to put it. My question though, I'm not

061just talking here. My question is Dr. Ravali, if we were to go back to that type of model, trying to capture some of our kids from going to a charter school, would that proactive activity help the budget? That's a tough question to answer because you'd have to also evaluate that against the amount it would cost to transport kids all over the district. Right now, we transport kids in a most efficient way and do it on three tiers. Meaning, we're running those buses around town three times, the same bus three times. Uh we did that for a couple million dollar savings. That was how we were able to capture that back. It might outweigh the I mean the way transport the amount it costs to transport kids nowadays might outweigh your ability to do something like

062that. You'd have to actually do a much more detailed study on whether or not economically you could afford the transportation within the current budgets because again there's no mechanism. you're, you know, I'll say it again, $194 million in change. There's no mechanism for you to go beyond. And in years where that health benefit waiver isn't there, you're going to have another 4 million. So you'd be at 198, but then adequacy should be up. So you're always going to be chasing that. So the short answer is I don't know that economically it would work. >> Well, two things. If we brought back many of the kids that are not coming to our school, that would increase our revenue. Correct. >> That would decrease our expense. >> Expense. >> That's an expense that decrease. >> It wouldn't

063decrease your revenue. It It would decrease your expense, >> which is similar. >> Well, it's the other side of the equation, but yes. >> Okay. to answer your question about the transportation. What we did with the charter schools is we split the session. So if you're in the arts program, a matter of fact, we use the villages theater to do the arts program. Parents loved it. Their kids are on a stage. Um you you might go to school from 8:30 to 10:30 for that program and then the international program would start at 10:30. So they split the bus routes. I don't remember the details now, but all I know is that I I I guess my point is we as a district have to become more active like Dr. Dan said and tell the story

064to get we have wonderful programs here. Just this week, I don't know where Caesar went, but our kids got all kinds of awards uh in the marquee awards for central New Jersey and many of you saw In the Heights. Anyway, I know I'm talking a lot, but I know what I'm talking about. The thing is that we need to bring some kids back and I think that would help long term. There's no other solution to this. You're basically saying the state has us captured, right? You know, parents, if people are here tonight concerned about their taxes, you know, we have to try to be more aggressive. That's just that's just my comment. Thank you. All right. Um, before I get to the committee, uh, Erica, >> no questions for me. Thank you. >> Okay. All

065right. Let's go to number one. Before I uh go to the finance committee, um the committee itself um just like with the administration staff has spent months wrestling, going over line items and um many hours um listening to um Dr. Rivali, Mr. free to um bring us where we at tonight. With that said, um may >> to go over the policy. >> Any questions? >> No questions. Sorry. >> No questions. >> Okay. Um Lori, >> I have no questions, but I want to thank you for the clarity of that presentation around adequacy fair share. Those are con uh complicated concepts and I did ex really appreciate the explanation. Thank you. >> And lastly, um to our chair of the finance who asked those hard questions. >> Thank you. Um, so for clarity, with the loss

066of federal subsidies and the fact that we know from a from a statewide perspective, we're not getting the same amount of support that is a direct influence on on our budget. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> Okay. So then what we're saying is that we're technically we're not getting as much as we could from the states when we talk about not being within adequacy but then also the cost of transportation safety and special education. >> Well, I'm going to rephrase that a little bit because we're getting what we can, >> right? What I'm suggesting is it doesn't cover what actually gets spent and not just by us but by the the entire state because again we're not the only ones having this discussion this week. Um you know their neighboring towns having even bigger discussions

067than what we are but that is part of the problem. adequacy. The adequacy target doesn't truly reflect the expense which keeps you under that number on the right. Keeps you under that fair share and therefore doesn't allow you to qualify for any state help putting it all on the taxpayers. >> Okay. So technically unless we advocate then for a different >> equation, right? then we'll always be chasing that number. >> I will say likely based on the valuation numbers that Stephen gave you. They're pretty high valuation >> based on inflation itself. >> Yeah. But property wealth >> here is is >> big and you know I don't know that and don't take this the wrong way but I I think that the formula may rely a little too heavily on property wealth to be honest

068with you but and and maybe not enough because relying on property wealth when you have a community like ours that's pretty rich in in in commerce might put unfair burden or strain on the taxpayer. But I can also tell you and not that because now you got me started a little bit. Um I have very similar situation in my own community which is different than this community but smaller and high property value. So similar situation um where we're all facing the same things that Franklin is, Hillsboro is, and some of the other communities that aren't getting that help any longer. >> Understood. Um and so now with the programs that we're currently maintaining, um let's just say we we cut those, we got rid of them, right? Um, and we said, "Okay, we'll let RBCC

069handle it or we'll let Somerset Votech handle it." Um, per Mr. Grippo's point, that wouldn't that would that that would or would not help us. >> Well, it would it it wouldn't. I mean, if you could get rid of the program totally and but then kids could go to the vocational school and if they go, then you're going to pay a tuition anyway and you're going to pay a tuition and service fewer likely. RVCC, we were paying a tuition. and we're capturing that money back and funding this program and servicing more kids because they're in house. Where we'll be saving is on the transportation. So, we won't be transporting our kids because we had the space and the motivation at the high school to do it. And so, now we don't have to bus kids.

070So, over time, you'll save that for sure. >> Uh, no more questions. Um, just a comment. Uh, thank you Dr. to reval to you and your team for all the hard work uh that you put uh forth to to take care of this budget. More importantly, um the fact that you put our children first uh in every decision that you make. Uh we don't find that across the state. We find across the state uh a lot of selfishness and I think that uh for you and your team to give back in the way that you with your time um and your abilities is is much appreciated. Thank you very much, >> Dr. Hopkins. >> Oh yeah. Well, I'm going save myself for last. Um, number one, um, just like everybody just, um, I'm going just

071reiterate that, um, the just for our stakeholders that has kids in in school uh, that may be going private, may still be going public in another sector. and those who don't have any um kids into the school system at this time. Number one, I um on behalf of the board, we take all our stakeholders and um keep them in mind when we do ask the hard questions. And uh as the budget itself reflects uh with the 194 versus the 198, we're not pushing that envelope to try to uh get to that 198. We're trying to be um uh financially conscious of what we doing. Now, one of the things that um I'm proud of is the new programs that is um um being brought in next year with the next tech cosmetology, the uh integrated

072U JC for our um special needs kids. Now, just think about it. We are a very diverse community and one of the things I'mma use and everybody keep using the word now and I guess um he's going to stand on a pedestal for a while. Tell the story like Dr. Dan would say um that we have kids that's going to graduate in June. They may go the military route. may go academically and also we may uh they may go to the military route. I'm proud of that because I'm I'm built in all three facets. Um and um I'm proud that the the the the school and the district itself is touching upon all the kids not in one arena. One of the things also I want to share is that uh with the charter school

073situation, we have no control on what they may ask when it comes to increases. So, but um once the increase is implemented is part of our budget like it or not. But with that said, um I want to thank all that was part of putting this budget together. Dr. Reali, this is your last one with us. And I know all the budgets that I had the opportunity in sitting with you, we may ask those hard questions, but you find a way to answer those. So, we truly appreciate that. So, with that said, can I have a motion to open up to the public 3 minutes only? Uh, with that said, Dr. Solomon is the timekeeper. Whoever steps up to the um podium, please state your name, your address, and um be mindful of the time.

074And uh I don't want to be rude, but once the time your time is over, your time is over. >> So move. >> Motion for public comment. >> Second. >> All right. So moved by Nick, seconded by Bill. All in favor? >> I So move. Uh the podium is open. Y address and then sign it. Thank you. >> Good evening. Uh my name is Vicky Quan. I live in 128 Gwenth Drive. Since I only have three minutes, so I'll make it short and sweet. Like many parents, I care about the kids education and I want to share a few numbers to answer Bill's questions. From parents perspective, we have charter school. Let's take CJCP for example. Number one charter school 26 among 423 high school in New Jersey. And we have Franklin High. After 28%

075increase, uh our ranking of Franklin High dropped from 184 to 227 from 2024 to 2025. Yes, with fabulous program addition spending doesn't mean the quality of education. If CJCP can educate their children with $15,000, why are we spending $32,000 on Franklin High School student and then our school is drop dropping in ranking? Let's think about this. So I really appreciate superintendent's introduction and then also school admin about the um about all the explanation. So my question is this regarding health care we can see that $13 million. What strategy have been explored to manage this rising cost and what measurable savings have they produced so far? Can we all teachers buy insurance together? Do we have to go by district by district? Can we all like do group discounting? Or how about some even very creative

076way? We cut the teachers salary to minimum wages and give them uh tips because tips will not be taxed and then we can all move them to NJ health care you know NJ family care and then save a lot on uh health insurance savings. No, I think this is very creative but probably not applicable. But I just want to ask what measures, what actions, you know, have been taken to make sure um you know and then second what cause control measure was seriously considered but not implemented? Why? And then my next question would be how do we evaluate whether new programs like the next tech academy or the uh cosmetology partnership deliver value relative to their cost. Okay then um okay so given the sim because we already have bte that can deliver sim similar

077things. So, uh, those are my questions. Thank you very much for your time. My name is Martin Zapatar. I live at 728 New Brunswick Road, Somerset, New Jersey. I have two questions for the board. one on the agenda. There's a general warrants listed in your agenda item for 111 million 500 and change. Can you explain what the breakdown is for that? And also, I'd like to know, according to your nice budget, why are we chasing after what this state tells us we need? Why can't we be more efficient? Why can't we run a more efficient school system and actually be lower instead of chasing after a number that the state generates? I mean, I worked in the private sector for 40ome years. It's all about efficiency. If you're chasing after a new budget, a higher

078budget, higher budget, higher budget, where's the conservative to the cost? That's all I have to say. Thank you. Good evening board members and superintendent. My name is Halen Fu. I reside at 128 Selby Court. I am here tonight because the preliminary budget re uh introduced on March 24th is simply not sustainable for the hardworking families of this community. My point number one, the scale of the tax hike is beyond what we can afford. Even though Mr. uh Freed presented the uh preliminary budget for the next school year which includes actually uh it dropped from uh 8.3% to 5.7% tonight. Um the uh the the increase is uh way beyond what we can afford. While the board is proposing this uh tax increase, you know, the average resident's salary increase is only around seven uh only

079around 3%. With 3.3% inflation on basic goods and also global instability, um this gap is um mathematically unsustainable for our families. Last year, the 10.7% tax levy increase already brought a heavy burden on this community. I urge the board to approach budgeting from the taxpayers's perspective. Residents are not infinite source of revenue. the uh and uh consecutive consecutive high percentage increases are beyond what most of us can afford. My point number two is common sense. I manage my family budget by prioritizing what my child needs over what she wants. And I stay strictly within my financial limits. I don't buy my child a spaceship because we don't we can't afford it and she doesn't need it. Why isn't the board applying the same common sense to our tax dollars? Why increase our tax levy so

080drastically instead of um cutting programs that fall into the want category rather than the need category. uh for instance the next tech academy is it necessary while we have vote and our um RBCC in uh Somerset uh in Somerset County. I would like to know uh what non-essential costs are driving this uh 5.7% spike. Thank you. Mr. President, seeing no one coming forward. Oh, we got one. Okay, very good. My name is Yanzo. My I lived in the 128 Selby Court. Uh my question first is that this president's the the levy increase as I understand is the 8.3%. Is that correct? The levy increase is the 8.3%. >> We will answer your question at the end. Finish your thought. Okay. So another thing is consider the last year the increase is 10.7%. If you count

081this two years in two years if I'm correct it's 20% increase in two years the levy increase. Another point is our house value increase it shouldn't impact our budget. You shouldn't using that. The first thing is your house increase but you are not selling your house this year. You cannot realize the gain. The second point is even your sale will cause your house this year this tax money will not go to the township. Is that correct? Right. So you cannot using that as the base say hey because your house uh value increase so your budget the uh budget you increase. Uh that's my point. Okay. I wasn't going to say anything. I come to these meetings. Karen Alfano, 334 Gerard Avenue. That's my fourth address in 08873. I've lived here I don't know 20 years

082or so. An apartment, couple of houses. I'm renting now. um to answer the question of why it costs $34,000 per pupil. We only know what we know. We don't know what we don't know. I'm in a position now. I'm an employee of the board of education. I'm in a position that I never saw myself in before. Before this, I was a lead teacher. I'm a paraprofessional in the medically fragile program. And boy was I excited when it said expansion of medically fragile. Medically fragile is a very expensive program. We have one-on-one paras. We have private nurses. We have students with seizures and G tubes and all kinds of syndromes. We have speech, OT, PT, all kinds of specialists coming in and out constantly. But do you know what the savings is to having that medically

083fragile program inhouse? We're probably what, one of five in the whole state that does that. Because if we bust those five kids out of my classroom to those specialized schools, it would cost even more money in tuition, in transportation. So again, I'm only speaking on what I know and that's what I do for a living. So I want to thank you personally for saying that you're going to expand medically fragile. So, what it costs to to educate my personal child is probably about 50, I don't know, $100,000 because she does get a one-on-one. That's me. You're paying for my salary and my benefits. You're paying for special ed transportation. You're paying for a bus power. And again, it sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but it's even more if you go out

084of district. So, that's why, just one example of why it does cost more. Do they have a medically fragile at the charter schools, number 26 in the state? They do not, but we have it here in Franklin. Um, I'm going to hold the rest of my thoughts, but that just gives you again a little bit education. You don't know what you don't know. Um, and we unfortunately have no other outlet to complain. gas prices, grocery, our water bills are going up, our electricity, my PSE and Joe, PSSE andG bill had me in layers and layers this winter because I didn't want to put that thermostat above 63. I get it. This is finally an outlet for us to say enough is enough. New Jersey, we can't afford this anymore. But how much can they do

085up here with the budget? A lot of it is out of their control. Anyone else? I move to close the public session. >> So move. >> We have a second. >> So moved by Bill and seconded by Lori. All in favor? >> I. >> So moved. The the public section is now closed. Um, Dr. Vali, do you have any uh reflections or comments? >> Sure. I can certainly reflect on some of that. Uh, I'm not sure where the $34,000 per student number is coming, but we're going to certify, just so the board's understanding of this, we're going to certify, and we can't certify our tuition rates until after we approve the budget, obviously, because that affects your tuition rates. But the proposed budget, and I heard that was a high school number, the proposed budget,

086if approved tonight, the rate that we'll be certifying, and that comes out of the DOE software, will be 21,843 per pupil. So that's 21,843. I'm not sure where the 34,000 comes from, but that comes right out of the budget. Sorry, that's out of the budget software. We could talk afterward. That's out of the budget software. And um that is the number per pupil that or the actual certified rate per pupil. 6 to 8 would be 22947. Grades 1 through 5 would be 2520 and preK and K would be 17902. Now they're all base rates. Of course, there's different numbers for special education students, but again, comes out of the software and it's tied to all the cost centers necessary to educate those kids. For your per for your understanding, board, those numbers will be actually

087if this budget's approved, those numbers would be on the agenda next month for approval because if we do get any out of district tuition students who are using a program, that's the number that we have to charge according to state regulations. with regard to Charter verse Franklin and I'm not sure which of the ladies brought it up but brought up CJCP and performance and uh and that's wonderful performance for sure. Um but I can tell you this we definitely have different populations. Um and uh one of the things we pride ourselves on is taking kids where we get them and moving them forward. I can tell you this. Um, in both math and I'm staring at the numbers. In both math and language arts, we outpaced Central Jersey Charter Prep. And again, I don't want

088to pick a fight with them and but this is not us verse them, but I want to clarify what the young lady said. Um, where, you know, they grew kids at a rate of 47. We grew our kids at a rate of 51 in the area of English language arts exceeding their growth and um the same is true actually we had just about equal growth. They had a 51 coefficient we had a 50 coefficient in mathematics. We've been on the steady rise in proficiency in the last 5 years in both ELA and math and there's been a slight decline in their proficiency rates in the last year. And I know this because they just applied for an expansion and we're told they couldn't expand because the resident district was closing gap. And that's the intention

089of a charter school is to do things a little bit differently. They're less regulated. They're deregulated in order to be able to have a little more flexibility. But in the eyes of the state, the two measurements they use, the kind of growth in comparison to the districts um is is is not quite sufficient enough for them to be getting approved. So again, that's I'm just clarifying. I'm not certainly it's not a disparaging comment. I think the the world of the kids there, I wish them all the best and I know they do a good job and I know they do a good job. I've had the pleasure of talking to lots of those kids and I wish them the very best. But I do from a factual perspective want folks to understand as we continue

090to increase our performance, they're not quite getting that same growth. And in fact, our kids are out outgrowing them in the state's measurement. But I have to go beyond that and and I apologize, but I always take some notes when people are talking. I think it's important to highlight that, you know, especially in a district like ours where we have a much higher than average rate of students with special needs, we have a much higher than average rate of bilingual and ESL students. And and and by the way, charter schools have a very small one. We and and I'm talking about just general population in comparison to other school districts around us. We have the higher percentage of students with SCES or economic challenges. Uh we are and we have been noted as one if

091not the second most diverse school district in New Jersey. Uh so you really just can't look at proficiency because we get students that have much greater challenges than most places have. Um but with that we do put a huge emphasis and I know that we've got some teachers here and they do a remarkable job. a remarkable job with the kids given what readiness some of our kids come to school with which is the whole intention of our preschool program. So our emphasis on growth is really to take that kid from a start point put a rigorous learning program in front of them and move them forward and the data bears it because the kids are moving. We're doing our job when kids are learning and that's what's happening here. And as a result of the

092programs that we offer and you can't do that in isolation. Our kids need lots of supports and our kids deserve those supports and as a result we have to provide those supports in order to get the kind of movement that we get. So I I know it's unfortunate and unfortunately based on that formula it all falls on on on you folks here because there's no other mechanism to support those programs as of today. So um and we are proud of our partnerships and we are proud to take care of the health needs of our kids because many of our kids wouldn't get it otherwise. many of our kids wouldn't get the care that they need to come to school and then chronic absenteeism would be a problem and we wouldn't get that growth. One thing

093we learned in COVID, a teacher needs to be in front of kids for kids to learn and if kids are home they're not learning. So that's the charter verse Franklin if you will. um evaluation of programs constantly and that's where a lot of the money comes for these other programs. When we find a program is not effective, we don't continue it. That would be not the responsible thing to do and would be quite frankly anti-education. If a program's not working, we move on. Dr. Dan shaking his head because that's his sole existence. He and his supervisors and our teachers work together and they measure the success of our programs. And when they don't work, we shift gears. And you know what? Not all of our programs do work. And that's because the needs of our

094kids change. Our population changes. We've got a growing ESL population. We didn't have nearly as many ESL kids as we have now. And in order to service those students, we need this the supports our poverty level. We got a higher number of students in need. They need school supplies. They need food. We have pantries in all of our schools because a lot of our kids would go home hungry otherwise. Over break, we've got sorarities. Thank thank for them. and our great partnership with the food bank. Thanks to them, we send our kids home with meals. Over break, we have a summer program because absent that, we'd have hungry kids. Um, I mean, there's other stuff here that uh healthcare, I'm going to defer to Mr. Banano in just a second, but we are creative with

095our healthcare and we're doing everything we can to control those costs. And remember, this is a forecast. Our hope is that it doesn't come to reality, but it's like the charter school tuition. That's a forecast. My hope is that doesn't come to reality either, because if that doesn't come to reality, then there's surplus. And then we can start to work on those reserves a little bit and get the district in a healthier place and maybe start to use some of that again to offset tax increase because you're not getting aid anymore. Unless that formula changes and we lobby for it and you lobby for it, it's not coming back. So, and the more kids we can service inhouse, the better off we are. First off, kids learn more here. Wouldn't you want to be with

096your friends? Wouldn't do you want to be with your neighbors? Wouldn't you want to take advantage of the programs that we have, the extracurricular programs that schools only our size can offer? Of course you do. And of course you would, and you likely did, and kids want that opportunity. Also, why pay someone else? Why take your money and send it somewhere else? The vocational school's already getting money. They get funded by the county, but they take ours, too. Why we ever ask that question? Why Why they need our money if if they're funded by the county? That's the question I'd be asking. Why do you need to charge my resident district a tuition if my county taxes are already supporting that program? Um, yes, it is 8.3%. That's with the healthc care waiver. It's a

0972% increase plus the 5% with the health waiver which equals 8.3%. And over two years, I don't remember what last year was. I think there's an important another important part to remember is the unfortunate part is that we are on a split year which means that some of last year's increase is on this year as well. So you've got some of this year's and some of last year's and then some will carry forward into the next year as well. That's what happens when you're on a split year. Now when do you benefit when you're on a split year? when there is that only when when there is that ability only by 2% or whatever the case may be or maybe that's all you needed um then you're spreading that out over two years so now

098you're going to feel a real reduction um or less of an increase I shouldn't say that cuz I don't you know what you never know um but I think that's an important concept to understand as well um and then you know Again, I'm going to defer to Mr. Bernano in the healthcare, but I'm going to just say one more thing. It's um and I know it's late and I apologize, but it is a challenge, man. I I get it. I I get it. We're all going through it in districts like this, my home district included, and it's it's really a function of the the the new formula for districts like this. Now, there's some winners, don't get me wrong. and and good for them, but it's put additional pressure on places like ours. And and

099that's the challenge we maintain. And and and it's not that we're chasing that adequacy figure, which by the way, I don't think it truly reflects what it costs to educate a kid in my professional opinion. Take it for what it's worth. Um because I know how much busing is. I know how much special ed tuition is. I know how much therapy services are as dictated by an IEP. I know how much everything is. Um, not to the exact dollar, by the way, but I know that 198 million, just think of this, 21 million of it doesn't even the 7200 kids we have, 21 million of it doesn't even educate those 7,200 kids. that goes with the 1,200 kids to not just one charter school but the mix of them. So really that 194 that includes

100that 21 was it Steve? 21 it includes that 21. So even just knock off 20 that's that's 174 going to your kids here. So, I don't know. I I I think the board is acting in a very responsible way, doing everything it can to meet the needs of a really varied population and getting results. Whether you agree with it or not, there's results here. There's growth. there's closing that gap between what might be considered a really good high school, right, where they're declining and we're increasing on proficiency. I'm proud of that. I'm proud of these people that make that happen. And you should be, too. You absolutely should be. And you should be in this at the state fighting for every dollar you can get because these kids deserve it. Mr. very hard to follow

101that. Thank you, Dr. Ovali. Um, talking about health benefits, I've been negotiating contracts in this district for more almost 30 years. Um, the main focus has always been health benefits. We were a district who and I hate to dump on the state again, but um our district premiums were the lowest in the state. We had an HMO as our base plan. No other district in the state had an HMO as a base plan. And the state turned around five, seven years ago and said, "Nope, here's this wonderful new law. Here's the plan you will put in place. you must offer this plan. And we did it and we got taken to task for it and we had to offer it eventually. We're self-insured which means insurance companies are making much less of a profit on

102our back. We have our own health center which you heard Dr. Ravali talk about. Our health center does wonderful things for our staff. Um myself included as a member of the staff. But one of the things it also does is keep costs down. The return on investment is at last calculation about one one to 1.5 one to 1.7. So for every dollar we're spending we're saving a $1.70. But health care is rising at a ridiculous rate. It's more than 10%. I don't know where that money's going because the doctors are complaining they're not making money. Hospitals aren't making money. So, I don't maybe Lori can talk to us about how the insurance company makes the money. Um, but we have to we have to offer benefits and we have to offer competitive benefits. Why would

103you come and work in Franklin if you get a low salary and um NJ healthcare? you're not. And then your students aren't going to be serviced the way they deserve to be serviced. And then we're going to have some other gentlemen coming up and telling us what a lousy job we're doing. And yet our growth is up. Our staff is is at a all-time low turnover rate because of the wonderful things that are happening here. We have more staff who live in town than any district I know. And we have staff who live in town, who started as teachers, who are now administrators, many of whom leave and come back because the grass is not greener on the other side. And now I feel like I'm Mr. Grio. >> So I'm going to stop there.

104>> Well, thank you, Mr. Banana. >> Got it. >> Okay. All right, folks. It's time. Okay. I have a motion to um move this budget. >> I move second >> to vote on the budget now. >> Is seconded by Mahair. >> So moved by bill seconded by Mir. Brian. Can I have a roll call on this? >> Mr. Deglio. >> Yes. >> Mr. Greo. >> Yes. >> Missio. >> Yes. Miss Harris, >> yes. >> Mr. Parker, >> yes. >> Mr. P, >> yes. >> Miss Welch, >> yes. >> Miss Wilson, >> yes. >> Dr. >> Yes. So move uh the budget for 2026 2027 has been accepted. All right, let's move to the superintendent report. I think I likely spoke enough tonight, so I'm going to pass on my report. Thank you. >> All right.

105Thank you, >> Mr. President. I'd like to request that you allow the committee reports to be put online tonight. Is that okay? >> Um once I get to that, that that will be okay once I get to it. >> Okay. I just wanted to get ahead of you on that. That's right. >> All right. Um the board president report. I do have a report. Um staff recognition. We have great news about three of our staff members to share with you tonight. These three women have recently won awards for from organizations in their respective fields. They make us proud and we applaud them for this recognition. They are Miss Anna Washington, our director of research, planning, accountability, and assessment, who was awarded the state leadership award by the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators. Kudo

106Sana. Second, Miss Jacqueline Shermaker, school counselor at Franklin High School, who was recently named the 2026 counselor of the year for Somerset County. And last but not least, Angela Hills, preschool teacher at Hillrest School, who was selected as a a 2026 celebrated ED awards winner by New Jersey Association for Education of Young Children. Congratulations. Let's give them a hand of applause. All right, I'm not finished with awards, though. The fine visual and performing arts awards. Our fine visual and performing arts department had has had a very successful spring season, including the following. One, several of our students had artwork featured in the autism and action state art show hosted by New Jersey Department of Education. For the first time in district history, a middle school production has received Foxy a Foxy award. Nominations from Montlair

107State University. And to see this, it was a wow factor for our middle school. Shrek the musical junior um Junior Junior was per uh was performed earlier this year and was nominated for four awards. Next, the Franklin High School spring production of In the Heights has been nominated for nine out of 17 possible categories for the Central New Central Jersey Marquee Awards. This is an extraordinary accomplishment and the first time the school has been recognized across so many categories. Our students have been invited to perform at the Central Jersey Marquee Awards Ceremony on May 18th, a prestigious honor that showcased their work on one of the region's biggest stages. And finally, Franklin Township Public Schools has once again been recognized by the National Association of Music Merchant Foundation as one of the best communities for

108music education, marking our second consecutive year receiving this national honor. We will have to update this banner. We have to update this banner behind us. All right. Another award the positive behavior supports in schools. We have awards. We have We will also have to update the banner behind us to show that once again our district has received the golden level district a distinction award for implementing positive behavior supports in schools for 2026. This distinction comes with Northeast Positive Behavior and Supports Network. This is also the second year the district has been awarded this distinction. And lastly, it the YMCA community spirit award. Earlier this month, I myself uh Nick Degio and of course Bill Griffle was shouldertoshoulder with myself and Dr. Vali accepting the YMCA Community Spirit Award on behalf of Franklin Township School System

109School Board. This honor recognize our ongoing partnership with the YMCA and provide invaluable programs and opportunities for the children in our community. Thanks again to all those mission tonight for being shining examples of success for letting us all share you and your warrior pride. For more information about these accomplishments can be found on our website in the about us warrior prize section. That ends the president report. Uh can I have a motion to open up the floor for um comments from the public? Um five minutes only, agenda items only. >> So moved. >> Second >> by Jimmy. >> Second. Seconded by Mahair. All in favor? >> I. >> All right. The podium is open for agenda items only. Come state your name, address, and as always, Dr. Solomon is the timekeeper. The podium is open.

110>> Seeing no one coming forward, Mr. President, I move to close the public session. >> Second. So moved by Bill, seconded by Erica. All in favor? I >> I >> so moved and um I'm going to listen and adhere to the board advice the um we going to table the the uh committee and liaison report for uh they are always listed on our website for your viewing and um so we will um table those u report but Okay. I have a motion to accept those reports. >> So moved. >> Second. >> So moved by Jimmy and seconded by um Nick. All in favor? >> I I >> I so moved. Um madam um VP for business. I make a motion to move into the record R1 monthly reports M1 minutes of board meetings. A1 travel

111and related expense reimbursement page here. A2 affirm harassment intimidation and bullying decisions. A3 teacher appreciation week. A4, Special Education Week. A5, Autism Awareness Resolution. A6, Seek Awareness and Appreciation Month. A7, AAPI, Heritage Month. A8 employee work schedule summer 2006. A9, emergency bus exit drill report. A10, special education board policy statement of assurance. A1, revised policy, second reading. A12, new policy, first reading. A13, donations. A14, HIB grades. A15, Athletic Coaches Handbook. A16, facilities use, B1, warrants and payrolls. B2 financial reports. B3 monthly financial certification. B4 contract approval. B5 change orders. B6 PA budget. B7 award of RFP private preschool provider partners RFP number 202702. B8 semi-action plan. B9 transfer of transportation contracts. B10 advertisement for request of proposals RFP from energy services companies. ESCO for an energy savings improvement plan ESIP. B1 Award of RFP attorney

112special education RFP 202705. B12 authorization I'm sorry to authorize the use of competitive contracting. B13 award of RFP behavioral services RFP number 202703. B14, award of RFP, Therapeutic Mental Health Services, RFP 202704. C1, out of district students, 20252026 school year. C2, field trip field trip destinations. C3, field trip applications. C4, NJA sustainable Jersey Grants. C5, PSENG Sustainable Jersey Grant. C6, AIAA Foundation Classroom Grant. C7, Application for Funding for Optimal Comprehensive Universal Screener Focus Continuation Grant. P1, FTEA Association President Full-Time Leave. P2, Revised Job Descriptions. P3 personnel report number 10. And that concludes it. >> All right. So, we have a motion on the floor to move all one M1 A1 through A16, B1 through B4, C1 through C7, P1 through P3. Can I have a second? >> Second. So moved by Erica and seconded by

113>> So moved by Erica and seconded by Mahair. Uh all well all in favor. >> Yeah. Yeah. I'm going do roll. >> Roll call. >> All right. Go ahead with the roll call. >> Mr. Degalio. >> Okay. Yes. except for approval of special meeting minutes from April 20th, April 23rd, and April 24th, 2026, and abstain from P3 administrator administrators reappoint >> and yes to everything else. >> Correct, >> Mr. Greo? >> Yes. Miss Inosencio, >> yes. >> Miss Maris, >> yes. >> Mr. Parker, >> yes. >> Miss Rafi, >> yes. >> Miss Welch, >> yes. >> Miss Wilson, >> yes. >> Dr. Hopkins, >> yes. >> Motion counts. >> All right. So move. >> All right. We're getting close. We're getting close. Uh, can I have a motion to open up the floor for public

114comment for um uh any topic? >> Motion. >> So moved by Nick. >> Seconded by Clara. All in favor? >> I. >> So moved. Um, everybody know the um the rules. So the podium is open. >> Seeing none, I move to close the public comment portion. >> Seconded. >> So moved by Erica and seconded by Jimmy. All in favor? >> I. >> So move. All right. Let me get to this agenda. Okay, here we go. All right, we getting, like I said, we're getting close. For the good of the order, let's let's um talk about what's up. Okay. All right. All right. Um let's talk about the the order before we close out, though. Um let's start with Jennifer. Anything good from this previous month or upcoming? Of course, but I will try to uh

115summarize. Um Pinerove Manor had their steam night. So families and students came out to enjoy all kinds of steam activities and the students displayed their art projects. Um, also at Piner Grove Manor, three new programs began in April. Uh, all weekend and evening programs because they cannot contain the learning during the school day. They began the academy robot rangers after school program, coding and robotics. Uh, they began a basketball after school program and also a Saturday academy where students are developing their ELA and math skills through play. Thanks. Thank you. Uh Jimmy. >> Yeah. With uh mother mother's day approaching, I just wanted to um extend my recognition and appreciation uh for all the things that our caregivers do. Uh we would not be here without our mothers. And I want to make sure that

116we um as a board uh give a a nod, a handshake, a hug, a kiss to all of our mothers, grandmothers, caregivers out there. Happy Mother's Day. >> Thank you. And uh Lori, >> I wanted to mention that there's a diversity night festival happening at Franklin Middle School at Hamilton Street campus this Monday, May 1st at 6:00. Also wanted to give a little shout out if anyone has promar to donate for any of our high school students, they are accepting uh donations through the end of this week. Uh, so thank you very much in advance for that. And a shout out to our high school track team, several members of which attended the Penn relays this past week. And a big congratulations to our girls um 4x400 relay who actually won their event. So thank

117you very much. >> Thank you. Do I need to save you for last or you you ready? >> Are you on me now? >> You ready? >> No. No comment. I spoke before. >> Oh, go ahead. Claire. >> At Claremont, uh we had a very full April. Uh there was a Rucker dental van that visited the school. Uh there's also a pacer visit, the spring choir and dance concert. There's also battle of the books comp competition um where the students battled each other about book knowledge. Um there's also the autism awareness assembly. The district G&T invention competition was held there on Monday night yesterday. Um and coming up tomorrow there's a art show and on Thursday there's two events. There's a the CES dance company and club at Somerset Patriots game and there's also a

118PTO glow with the flow dance on Thursday. >> Thank you, Claire. May >> Okay, so on April 16th, I attended um SJ's middle school. It was hosted by Dr. Rebecca Solomon that it was their second annual college and career study fair. study stands for supporting, teaching, exposing and advancing dreams. It is one of their signature events. The even evening included a presentation of college funding, career explanate, career exploration and trade school opportunities. And some of the companies to name a few that are represented with Bristol my squibs, our own police department, Middle Sex Black Nurse Association, and Somerset County Miltech. And then on April 26th, I met with Miss Adams at McAfee School. Um, some of the some of the things that that are that they're doing there is MAC McAfee students participated in something

119called data derby. It hones in on their math skills and peer engagement. The students collected sneaker sizes data across the students and with the results they created graphs and engaged in friendly competition and focus on data analysis. And lastly they uh the McAfee community service club they led a meaning meaningful project. This was called the birthday kit. It uh celebrated everybody's birthday. They organized a donation drive assembled a birthday kit. um kits completing completed with the all the ingredients for the cake and all the candles and donated to the Franklin Food Bank. >> Very good. All right, Nick. Um we getting close to graduation time. What's going on in in your sector? >> So, first of all, I wanted to um thank the finance committee, Dr. Rali, uh Steve, and Brian for all the work

120with the budget. Um, I think this is probably the the first year that I've been really asking a lot of questions and Dr. Rali, thank you for all those long winded explanations. Um, so Franklin High School is hosting a Friday night live uh this Friday, the high school. Um, a shout out to the uh crew from the heights for their um uh recognitions and nominations. Uh, Mr. Brundage hosted his annual green fair last week and our very own Madricals are being honored tomorrow night at the Chamber of Commerce gala. That's it. >> Thank you. Um, Melie B. >> Yes. So, um, last night I had the pleasure of attending the Clara mentioned it, the district-wide, um, G&T invention convention held at Claremont, um, school. Um, my my daughter was actually part of the team representing

121McAfee Road School. They did not win unfortunately, but congratulations to the winner. Um, the team from Elizabeth Avenue School. Um, these kids really did an amazing job. I mean, this was at least high school level, you know, um, presentations. Um, they had slideshows. They had models of their invention. I mean, it was it was great. So, um, congrats to them and congrats to, um, the G&T supervisors and all of the teachers that, um, support these students um, in creating these projects. They they work on it for the better part of the year. So, just wanted to say congrats to them. >> All right. Um part of my um closing out, I want to recognize and um have this gentleman share at the podium our new VP at Franklin Middle School, Hamilton Street campus, Mr. James

122Overbertton. please come to the podium and um and uh introduce yourself and tell us what you got coming um to the district for our kids. >> Well, thank you. First of all, good evening and uh I am extremely excited to be the vice principal at Hamilton Street campus. And as someone with a uh with an extensive wellness background, it was great to hear all the things about uh the student wellness and and the staff wellness. And my thought has always been if we don't take care of the big ones, they're not going to take care of the little ones. So taking care of our staff is is amazing. The things that are put in place for the students, I'm looking forward to jumping in with that. But also um just through the entire process from

123the application process through the interviews and everything else the one word that kept coming back was family. It was always apply to be a part of the Franklin family. We're inviting you for an interview to join the Franklin family. I've been I've been teaching and involved in education since 1999. And I've been involved in nations and teams and groups, but this is the first time I've been I've been invited into a family. So, I want to thank you for that. And I look forward to being immersed into the community and the school and just getting getting down to work. I'm ready. So, thank you all very much. We Yes. All right. As we u prepared to close out, u I'm going echo what my good friend um Jimmy Parker said that um we was here

124um the bulk of the night talking about the um budget, but the budget wouldn't be the budget without the mothers. So, uh, in a, uh, week or so, embrace those mothers, embrace those mama bears that sent those kids to school and, um, embrace them, and let's give them their flowers and, um, um, their praises. And also, um, I'm proud during Mother's Day weekend. M, matter of fact, I'm going to start my journey on Tuesday. Um kudos to the class of 22 in the sense that I'm going down for my daughter graduation from college in the sense that um uh every year I challenge each class to um step up utilize the resources that the district have to offer. Um, of course, uh, I always had my hand on the pulse with the class of 22

125cuz my daughter was in it. And what one thing, uh, and, uh, Dr. the day I'm telling my story um that um with um I could share with um you that within that particular class with the um resources and the education that um those students and every year students came out of it. they when they went away to the Ivy's, the Big 10's, the ACC's, um the the big small schools, HBCU, wherever um they they went to from a academia um point of view. Um most of those kids knocked it out the skies, graduating with honors. Um so to hear that um uh if you utilize the the the the the programs it can be done in a high level. Uh and I would uh I always say that uh if uh with those who

126from a charter or whatever like Dr. with Valley say I'm not picking any fights because everybody have their own purpose. They have their own wings. But if you if you um take the top tier of our students, I'll match them up to anybody. Um and um with that said, be in Germany. Heat. Heat.