001[Music] Good evening. Today's Thursday, April 24, 2025. Time is 6:30. Brian, can we please have roll call? My thing's not working. Yes. >> See the switch on the side? Maybe that's not on >> the power button. >> Mr. Grio, >> present. >> There you go. >> Dr. Hopkins >> here. >> Miss Inosencio >> here. >> Mr. Jackson. >> Miss Lort >> here. >> Miss Maris >> here. >> Mr. Parker. >> Miss Singh >> here. You have a quorum. >> Thank you. Can you also read the Open Public Meetings Act, please? >> In in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act, public law 1975, chapter 231, Sunshine Law. Copies of this of the public meeting notice were sent to the Courier News, the Home News Tribune, the Star Ledger, the Franklin Reporter, Tap into Franklin Township,
002Franklin Township Clerk Manager, district schools offices and associations, PTO presidents, and posted on the district website. Thank you. Can I get a motion to move into confidential session, please? Moved by Nancy. >> Seconded by Dennis. Um, all in favor? >> I. >> Thank you. We have a motion to adjourn to confidential session for the purpose of discussing confidential matters including personnel matters, a workman compensation settlement, and an administrative contract discussion. minutes of the confidential session will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists. We'll be back. Good evening everyone. It is still Thursday, April 24th. We're at 7:39. I apologize for the 9-minute delay. Uh we are coming back from confidential session for the purpose of discussing confidential matters including personnel matters, a workman's compensation settlement, and an administrative contract discussion. minutes
003of the confidential session will be made public when the reason for confidentiality no longer exists. If you are able to, please stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance. Nick, can you lead us in the pledge of allegiance, please? >> Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Erica, can you read the mission statement, please? [Music] The mission statement of Franklin Township Public Schools. Franklin Township Public Schools embraces its diversity, fosters excellent excellent educational innovation, and empowers all students to achieve their highest potential. >> Thank you. Can I get a motion to adopt the agenda? >> Moved by Bill. Can I get a second? Seconded by Nancy. All in favor? >>
004I. >> Thank you. With that, we'll ask our student representatives, Darthy and Heidi, to give us our report. >> Hi, my name is Darthy Sashri and in case you don't remember me, I'm one of the new student government BOE liaison. Hello, my name is Haiti Vera and to start off our announcements, we recommend that you come to the Green Fair on May 3rd from 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. to learn more about Franklin High School's recycling initiatives. [Music] >> Apologize. >> Thank you. >> Project Graduation's permission slip is available now on the class of 2025 Google Classroom. Tickets are $20. Students should fill out the permission slips and pay before May 17th for a $5 discount. The next student government meeting will be Thursday after school in room C123. This summer leadership training conference and
005final fundraisers are on the agenda. Election paper is due as well. DECA is conducting a food drive to benefit the Franklin Food Bank. Members can bring in non-p perishable items like canned foods or even water bottles and more. The the drop off boxes can be found in the school's store. On Wednesday, April 30th, FHS Model UN will be hosting a fundraiser at Panera Bread on Elizabeth Avenue. The fundraiser will run from 4 to 8:00 p.m. Show a copy of the flyer at the checkout counter or use code fund D4U. Thank you very much. Next, we're going to go on to the public hearing on the advertised proposed budget for 2025 2026. You guys appreciate it. >> Have a great day. >> You too. Thank you. Have a great night, guys. Yeah. >> Good night. [Music]
006>> Okay, folks. Sorry for the momentary delay. Just wanted to get the young ladies organized. Um, well, welcome to the 2526 school budget hearing. Um, this is the third run through, so things are a little bit different on this goround. First, I want to just take an opportunity to I don't think the introduction is necessary, but at least acknowledge our board members for all the work that they did extremely challenging budget year. Uh those with an asterisk and there's a double asterisk there for one person who unfortunately couldn't be with us this evening, but they are members of the finance committee of the board. And although the entire board had involvement in the process, the finance committee had even deeper involvement in the process. So, thank you and thanks to the finance committee for all
007the work that was accomplished. Also note that this process starts very early in the school year and there are a number of folks that are involved in not only managing the budget but developing the budget. close to 40 in this district and most of them are here. Actually, most of them are in the back here or a giant representation of those folks are sitting right here. Yes. [Music] >> Sure. Um, so most of those folks are here on this side in the back. Uh but of course they get a lot of their information from some very important people in our school district and that's our teaching staff, our paraprofessionals, our support staff and a lot of those folks are sitting over there on that side of our venue tonight. So we have a good portion
008of our teaching staff or representative portion of our teaching staff here. We have a representative portion of our uh central office administrators and our building administrators and I want to thank them too. This has been an extremely difficult and trying year. Lots of ups and downs and it's because we've all worked together that we've gotten to this point. And I think it's important to acknowledge that this is not one person. This is not five people. This is not a board. This is not a group of administrators. This is a group of teachers. a group of administrators, support staff members, and a board of education working together. And when you're able to do that, um you're able to get to what is now this finished product. So, we're going to go real quick through um some
009of the challenges we've had this year, some of the differences between what we term the preliminary budget and now what is considered the final budget being proposed. Mr. Freed, our school business administrator, will talk about estimated revenues and projected tax impact, which you've already heard about if you were at our special meeting. Um, none of that has changed. Our special meeting on April 10th, we talked about that. Uh, and then we hope to gain board approval. Once approved by the board, Mr. Freed goes to work and he and his staff upload all of the information that's necessary. And then by July 1, everything is ready and we turn into the new school year. July 1, 2025 is the beginning of the new fiscal year for us. So, challenges in FY26. Well, we had a reduction
010in revenue, millions of dollars lost in the form of state aid, state facility tuition increases, semi-aid projections that were reduced, fund balance revenue loss, and interest revenue reductions. On top of that, we had increased fixed expenses that were way above the cap or the levy, the levy cap rather. Salaries, health benefits, transportation, utilities, pers contributions, insuranceances. These are all things that one would consider well certainly not salary and health benefits but a lot of the other things not directly related to the classroom but yet are part of our fixed expenses and they too need to be covered. And what happens when these kinds of occurrences happen is you get an imbalance. And on one side, this is all of our classroom spending called the adequacy budget, things that are connected to the classroom. And then
011we struck a preliminary budget that really didn't have a lot of what was necessary to support what the Department of Education considers to be adequate spending for educating the population of students that we have. So when you have that, they provide state aid unless, as I said on April 10th, unless they determine that in their definition, you're not taxing at a high enough level and you're not covering what they determine to be your fair share based on property wealth in the township and average income in the township. And when that happens, they don't provide you with aid to balance that equation out, but instead they provide you with the opportunity to the add to your levy or add spending to get toward adequacy um and provide a small 5% amount as to whatever you agree
012to um to bring you closer to adequacy as additional state aid. And they call that tax levy incentive aid. And we talked a lot about that in our meeting on um April 10th and the board authorized we were 20 million below adequacy and we were more than 20 million below our fair share. So the board authorized a portion of that adequacy spending and we applied to the DOE and received notification just yesterday that we were approved for what almost all of what we applied for. So that helps to balance this out a bit. And what exactly does that increase in academic expenditure look like for us? Well, on the program side of things, it helps us to restore supplies to the content areas and the schools because we had a pretty significant cut to the
013school budgets and to the content area budgets as part of the preliminary budget back in March. It allows us to restore those programs that support social and emotional learning. It allows us to restore our road to success alternative program back to what we currently have rather than trim it down to what it was going to be under the preliminary budget. It allows us to restore after school busing. It allows us to refresh our Chromebook program. It allows us to restore our full complement of academic intervention support teachers. It allows us to provide our full complement of academic coaches all paired down during the March 18th preliminary budget presentation. It allows us to restore the secondary dean of students both at the high school and at the middle school level positions we had eliminated during the
014March 18th preliminary budget presentation or were recommending and were approved. Um, and it allows us to restore those vacant teaching positions that we were taking in order to balance the budget so that we can maintain class sizes and allow for more academic opportunities as we fill those positions. So, how does all this tie into your budget goals, the board's budget goals? Well, the preliminary budget already considered these things and I talked about it back on March 18th. No need to review these been online since March 18th. Nothing different here. What wasn't included in the preliminary budget that turned into the advertised budget that is now being restored as a result of the application approved on April 10th is the Dina student positions and the behavioral health supports in the form of RBTs, clinical social workers,
015so forth and so on. Those were things that were significantly impacted when we first rolled out this budget back on March 18th. again. And that's all under the goal of health, mental wellness, and safety, under the goal of providing to meet the goals of our strategic plan. These were all things we had committed to through the preliminary budget and we talked about those back in March. These are the things that we were able to restore or bring back. And in this case, we restored after school busing, which was not part of the March 18th budget. But now, thanks to the April 10th application that has been now approved by the commissioner, that has come back under goal three, specialized programs, technology, STEM, and all the wonderful things that we do do. All of those green
016buttons were things we previously had talked about and said, "Hey, these are items that we as part of the preliminary budget will continue." These blue items have been things that now have come back. A deferred Chromebook and and Tech Lab refresh. The restoration of RTS, remember that was going to a 4-hour program and would have shrunk in size, is now going to be a six-hour program. and we're back with our focus on career development as part of that program. Really important. And we've worked hard to get there and now we're back under four, which is our equity goals, bilingual education, uh, responsive instruction, content specialization, all of this stuff we had talked about as maintaining as part of our preliminary budget. Plus, we're restoring content area budgets to support PD and core subject areas. So,
017we had reduced those budgets um by a significant amount in some cases over 25%. They're still down in comparison to previous years, but they're not nearly as down as they were when we uh first presented this back in March 18th. Goal five really hasn't changed much. This is our communication goal and we hadn't lost much. Um, these are relatively I don't want to say inexpensive items because everything has a value, but uh, as far as the rest of our budget goes, things that were easy to maintain. So, not really any change under goal five and under goal six, not really any change here as well. I will tell you though, we're doing very well with our solar panel revenue. We just had a meeting uh last night with regard to that. You know, we own
018the solar panels on Claremont School and we had estimated a payoff several years from now and it looks like we're going to exceed what we had envisioned and pay them off a lot sooner, which means then that revenue will help not only to provide electrical savings, but that revenue will come into our budget and help to fuel programs in the future. So, uh, really excited about that and even the facilities committee is talking about other opportunities that we might have down the road once we get those particular things paid for. And that really takes us to what you're likely most interested in, and that's the revenue and appropriation side of the budget. And Stephen's going to hit you with a lot of numbers, um, many of which we've talked about, but this will be the
019first time they're together. uh one set of numbers that were part of the preliminary budget have now been expanded to include the additional expenditures that were approved by the commissioner um that we had applied for back a week and a half ago. So these are now the adjusted numbers that he'll be speaking about plus that tax impact that we talked about back on April 10th as well. So Stephen, you're up. there. Good evening, folks. So, as Dr. Roali said, I'm just going to run through the numbers with you. They are uh different from the preliminary budget numbers. as he said uh you know due to the u u additional spending application that was approved by the board of ed and by the DOE. [Music] So this is our levy um 175,899776. So this represents our
0202% levy cap uh increase over the prior year's levy um inclusive of the additional spending application. The next line 3585205 that is our healthcare adjustment for health benefit costs are that are in excess of 2%. It's an allowable uh waiver they call it for a total levy of 179484981 and uh that represents 86% of our entire general fund revenues budget. So in this district we're uh very much tax levy dependent. In some districts maybe it's half you know tax levy and half state aid and other grant monies but um in this district 86%. So we fund the line share of our budget with the tax levy. These items did not change from the preliminary budget. So but I'll I'll go through them quickly. Uh these are cap reserve projects that are coming out of our
021reserve account. Hot water heaters at FMS, maintenance vehicles, classroom doors and lockown shades at all of our schools. boiler replacements at FMS. Um, Elizabeth Avenue School enclosed walkway replacement and SGS freight elevator replacement. HVAC rooftop unit replacements at SGS alarm replacements at Elizabeth Avenue School. uh furniture replacements for our B&G building and other miscellaneous upgrades for a total cap reserve withdrawal of 1.5 million. Our maintenance reserve um withdrawal also did not change from the preliminary budget. It's a $1 million withdrawal uh for those items listed there. fire inspection, sprinkler repairs, waste removal, dumpster fees, HVAC repairs, replacements, building management system repairs and updates, Ahira and IPM services. For those who don't know, Ahira is um asbestous management for inspection and management of existing asbestous containing materials and IPM stands for integrated pest management and it's
022pest assessment, monitoring and prevention with non-chemical tactics. uh also miscellaneous supplies and maintenance vehicles service and repair. So this slide did change uh but the only one that changed is the tax levy line item. So this is our local revenues and um you know the first line is the tax levy. uh you could see that's 1794 985 which is you know the vast majority of you know that column which is 185061981. Um so the tax levy that's the 2% cap plus the health benefit waiver plus the additional spending allocation. the fund balance that's excess surplus. Uh we uh are not planning to use any. That's represents unspent appropriations from our fiscal year 24 budget that we use as a revenue, but we didn't have any available us to us to use. So, so we did
023not we're estimating the same amount of tuition um for uh incoming students that are not residents of Franklin. Uh cap reserve and maintenance reserve the 1.5 million and the 1 million unassigned surplus. We're planning to take an additional 700,000 as compared to this year. That's use of surplus. Um yeah, so that that's use of surplus. are allowed to carry on our books at any given time 2% of our expenditures. That's the cap that is put in place to the amount of surplus that we're allowed to have. Um and uh we're dipping into it to come below 2%. So when we build next year's budget, we have to plan to refund that back to the 2%. It's a complicated concept, but it's distinct from the regular fund balance line, which is excess surplus. This is unassigned
024surplus. And the last item is all of the miscellaneous and interest income. We're just estimating a a slight reduction in uh interest in coming in in interest income. So this slide the the item that changed from preliminary is the total state aid. It's still actually a decrease of 280,592. Um, but we we we gained a little bit in our additional spending application. That 5% of the additional spending application um you know is coming to us in the form of a tax levy incentive aid which is a roughly 500 grand which is built in. The rest of it was you know allowed to be tacked onto our levy. So that amount represents categorical transportation, special education and equalization and security aid plus that tax levy incentive aid. The extraordinary aid we're estimating to be u same
025amount as this year 2.750 million that's aid for uh aid support for out of district tuitions. the semi-ade um they uh that number is given to us you know so they tell us what we should budget there and they you know drove that down 88.21% 21% which was a huge loss for us. Um but that's reimbursement for health related services provided to Medicaid eligible students. So our total general fund revenue um we're projecting uh 28,884 934. We also have special revenue fund and the debt service fund. Those did not change from a preliminary. Um so our total operating revenues uh we're estimating for 2026 to be $235,76188 increase of 15,274101 um and a percentage increase of 6.93%. It's worth noting that um a month ago when we did the preliminary budget that uh that 6.93
026was 1.91 you know and uh you know that was you know causing significant budget cuts on the appropriation side just to balance cuz the budget was only going up 1.91. So, um, yeah, made a significant change the, uh, the tax levy incentive money. So, this is our entire appropriation budget kind of shoehorned into a handful of categories. First bucket there is regular instruction and related transportation. That's mostly instructional salaries and transportation costs. uh bilingual AAS and alternative ed the next bucket special ed instruction is the next bucket and primarily salaries co-curricular that's athletics and co-coordinators student support services is uh CST nurses guidance and related services such as OT PT and speech services out of district tuitions this is our tuitions for students uh needing to attend specialized out of district schools administration and technology,
027operations and maintenance. That's maintenance, custodial and grounds. Uh employee benefits, that's primarily the medical benefit costs, but also includes our uh uh pension contributions that we have to make to PRS and social security benefits. Capital outlay. This is the capital reserve withdrawal plus a little bit of extra for um depreciable assets that are worth more than 2,000 that we have to book there you know in capital outlay as a result of being depreciable and the charter school tuition um you know that's our charter school tuition which is only going up projected to go up 163,538 and we hope that continues to be the case as we go through the uh cuz you know they do different true-ups throughout the year based on the enrollment at these schools and our hope is that uh you know
028our projection and the projection they told us is accurate. So the tax rate and how it affects the average homeowner in uh Franklin Township. So these numbers are presented and calculated on a calendar year basis because that's how the the township uh presents it. Um so our calendar year 2025 tax levy 177,69789. Now that represents to us on a fiscal year basis the second half of this current year fiscal year that we're in because we were we're July to June. So it's taking half of this current year levy money and the first half of FY26 which is uh July to December to come to the calendar year. And now when you take that and you and you and you you know divide it into the net valuation taxable that's you know people call that the
029the ratables that's the all the values of all the properties in Franklin and you divide that out by what our levy is you get a tax rate per $100 of 1.06%. So um it actually is a tax rate reduction of 0.06% 06% over the the prior calendar year. So how it affects the average assessed home um from the tax assessor I guess I get the average assessed uh average home value which uh was given to me as 555485 and you'll see that that went up from prior year from 477100 to 555485. Multiply that times the tax rate that we calculated 1.06 06 and you have an annual tax impact uh for the school tax portion of your taxes of $5,912 and that's an increase over prior year of $673. Again, that's the school tax portion
030which usually represents about uh roughly half of what your actual property tax bill is the municipal and county portion as well. And that concludes my presentation. Um I will begin with uh just thanking everyone for this presentation and especially Mr. Freed for the comprehensive numbers and uh you know it couldn't be clearer than this and for the finance committee for looking into it really carefully and I will start from my left. Nick, any questions? >> No, I'm good. >> Nancy, Erica, >> no questions, thanks. >> Jimmy, >> no questions. >> Lori, >> no questions. Thank you. >> Bill. >> Steve, what' you say the ratable was in Franklin? 16 billion. >> I don't know. Is that the middle one there? >> 16 bill697. 16 bill697,499 499,400. >> Yeah. >> So 697 million. Sorry. >> So
031the public can understand that all these warehouses you see and all these corporations and all the homes are what that represents. years ago the the ratable in Franklin when I came here was two billion and the town has grown that much. So I'm going to make comments later because we're not voting right now. But when people talk about the budget, they have to understand the value in Franklin Township. And um that's also where we get our philanthropic dollars from. The different foundations, the different fundraisers are from the people here with our successful businesses. So this this is a very serious discussion throwing around this much money. Um but we're grateful in Franklin to have so much business and industry. Well, we'd really be in trouble. Some of these towns, I don't know how they do
032it. Of course, we got trucks running all over the place and warehouses every time you turn around, but it it adds to that $16 billion ratable. That's all I have to say at this point. >> Dennis, >> um just one thing. Um Dr. Valley. Um, since we got the uh addition from the state, what were some of the things that we just could not bring back? Um, yeah. So, um, you know, we weren't able to totally restore our budgets with regard to content area supervisors and building budgets. You know, we originally had o in some cases over 25% cut. there's still probably around a 10% cut on those um somewhere in that neighborhood. Administrative expenses that were trimmed down uh all those things that we talked about in the preliminary budget um that are non-classroom
033related couldn't even be applied for. >> I'm good. >> Okay. So now I'll ask for a motion to open for public comments just on the budget item only. 3 minutes per speaker >> and I would just say for those cuz Mary's not here tonight uh for that if you're coming to the microphone there is a clipboard here. You just need to put your name, address, state your name and address and then write it. Um and then that's it. >> Okay. Motion uh to open by Nancy. Can I get a second? >> Second. Seconded by Jimmy. All in favor? >> Okay. Comments from the public is now open. 3 minutes per speaker on budget only. [Music] Madame President, seeing no one coming forward to speak about the budget, I move to close the public session. >>
034Can I get a second? >> Seconded by Dennis. All in favor? >> Okay. So, can someone move adoption of the 2025 2026 budget? Moved by Nancy. Can I get a second? >> Seconded by Bill. Brian. Can we get roll call, please? >> Mr. Deglio. >> Yes. >> Mr. Grio. So um this is the voteh. [Laughter] So when the preliminary budget came out, my first concern I saw that they were going to uh there was the elimination of many things and one of them was the deans and I was very clear to say I would not vote for this budget if the deans were not reinstated because unless we have discipline in our schools and we have a lot of administrators here tonight. I've been in your shoes. Unless we have discipline in the schools, especially
035that the the deans are for the high school and the middle school, of course, then nothing works. So, I'm really happy that so much was reinstated. Um, but everybody here tonight is what I would call friendly fire. You're all friends. There's nobody from the public here, but we're going to hear about the tax increase from the public. Years ago, some of you were here, we had a vote on our budget. Maybe 10 years or 15 years ago, Christie, the governor, changed that and put the school election back in the general election. And you don't have to vote on your school budget anymore. You get a 2% increase automatically. And then if you want to increase it, you have to go for a waiver and all that kind of stuff, which we had to do. Everything
036you see here is what we need to run the schools and to run them the best that we can. And it it would help if all of you out there would talk to your public about what those benefits are that we're voting on cuz all they're going to say, you raise my taxes. I mean, I've heard this for 45 years. You pick by pocket because we're the only people, the school board that the public used to be able to vote on. The municipal government, you don't vote on that. They have to fix a road, they fix the road. They want to build a youth center, they bond for it. Build a youth center. These are all great things. The school board's different. So, um, you know, we're the board of ed will hear about the
037tax increase cuz it's it's it's significant. It's not our fault. We had a major budget cut and a major increase in expenses. On the other side, people's homes have increased in value. That's called assessment. So, a house that you bought in Franklin for 300,000 is now worth 800,000. And everyone likes to beat their chest about that because they're proud of their home being worth almost a million dollars. But when you have to pony up, the board of vet gets the anger. So I'm just sharing with you reality. This is not kumbaya here tonight. This is real stuff that we're going to have to pay the price for. I won't say anything else about what the price is, but you guys got to be vocal out there and tell your parents how much you appreciate and
038how much next year this board's going to work to find areas where we can save tax dollars. But u Dr. Ravali, great superintendent. Uh this the administrators great. We have a lot to be proud of in Franklin. I personally I love talking in this microphone. I personally am indebted to this school district for five successful children. And I want you to hear this. And when they asked me and they ask my kids who are topof the line at all the industries they're in, you went to Franklin? Yeah. And I learned about the real world. and I made friends with people from different nationalities and made them the people that they are. So, thank you for what you do. But I wanted to share with you what the board has to face in tomorrow morning's newspaper.
039Thank you. >> Yes or no, Mr. Gripper? >> Yes. Thank you, >> Dr. Hopkins. Um just to small uh piggybacking on um uh gripple um statement I'm going use those words statement uh that yes this is a serious very serious matter that um all the board members u have um bestowed on in the sense that one of the greatest assets is our students. But for us to have um a um rich um growing or highly educated student we have investors and our investors is the public that are uh have these tax levy um upon them. So I I I want to challenge both in a sense of um the students, the teachers, the administration that the monies that is being um being exposed to the educational part of the uh upbringing of these students that
040our investors. We definitely want to thank our investors, which is the the public out there. And with that said, my vote is yes. >> Moscia, >> yes. >> Mr. Court, >> Miss Maris, >> yes. >> Mr. Parker, >> yes. >> Miss Sing, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Thank you. Now we're on to the superintendent report. Oops. I just wanted to thank Mr. Freed's staff. I'd like to thank, as I did earlier, the board for this continued support, the administrators who are here uh who work so hard and the teachers that are here who work so hard on putting all this together and what they do every day. So, um, just want to extend appreciation on behalf of everyone and, uh, that's it for us. I think we've said enough. >> Thank you. Uh, board president's
041report. Uh, a couple items. Um, on this agenda, you'll see this evening there is the creation of a board ad hoc committee on athletics. Once approved, I will ask the board members if they wish to serve and announce the members of the committee at the next month's meeting. The purpose of the committee will be to review, assess, and recommend revisions as needed to the policies, protocols, program, and facility needs of the district athletic program. On the agenda, it is motion A14. On March 3rd, 2025, our talented musical students from Franklin High School opened the Somerset County School Board Association Unsung Heroes event. As the coordinator of the event reported, their music helped set the event's tone and added a special touch to the evening. Our thanks to the high school string quartet who performed. And
042congratulations to our high school senior Ashley Fino Diaz who was honored as an unsung hero for our district that evening. It was a great event. Seal of biiteracy. We are pleased to share that 56 of our high school seniors have met the criteria and qualify for the New Jersey Seal of Biiteracy, meaning that they have proven proficiency in more than one language. One of our students earned the seal in two languages. Congratulation to all those students. Green team success. Congratulations to the high school green team and vice principal Rod Brundage on their recent 10,000 grant award from sustainable Jersey for schools. Mr. Brundage represented the district at the award ceremony and spoke to those from other districts, explaining his team's journey in the grand process. One of the organizers of the event commented that Mr.
043Brundage's words and success had inspired others at the event and asked about grant opportunities. The high school green team will use the grant award to create an outdoor learning center in the courtyard area of the high school providing a space for quiet reflection as well as provide an opportunities for FHS teachers to conduct full class activities outdoors. Congratulations to the whole team. Mr. Brundage and his team will be hosting the annual green fair at FHS on Saturday, May 3rd from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There will be an electric car show, a petting zoo, and plenty of other exhibits for children of all ages. Finally, PBSIS recognition. Another team celebrating success recently is our positive behavior in schools team. Miss Sharon McNeel, district behavior specialist, and all those who work on the school-based PBIS teams
044should be congratulated for being recognized by the Northeast Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Network as a gold level district of distinction because of their commitment to fidelity of the PBIS platform. The district will be honored at a leadership conference this spring. Congratulations to Miss McNeel and all involved with this important work. Now I am looking for again a motion to open comments from the public. 5 minutes per speaker. Agenda items only. Moved by Nancy. Can I get a second? >> Second by Nick. All in favor? >> Okay. Comments from the public. Five minutes per speaker. Agenda items only. forward. [Music] Yeah. [Music] >> Hello. Um good evening honorable board and fellow community members. Um so there are rumors present um that the school district of course now that I know has acquired funds to restart
045the late bus program which is crucial in securing the path for students. Now I'm saying if the late buses have been approved for the next school year I would ask you to publicly confirm that for me and everyone else present at this meeting as it would help provide clarification for this matter. Additionally, if the late buses have been saved, I thank you for your willingness to listen to the over 350 verified voices of Franklin Township community members who sign their names in support of the program that allows Franklin Middle School and high school students to participate in the many afterchool present um the many afterchool programs present at the middle and high school. Again, I would just like to um state how important the afterchool programs are to supporting the success and future of students
046as I know from my experience that Franklin is seen around the local area as having and excelling in after school programs. And I believe that to ensure that students have um access to these programs such as office um hour support and just the clubs that late buses are crucial for both middle and high school students. I mean, right now I'm wearing an aviation club jacket, which is an amazing club, and I wouldn't have been able to find that club or my passions in aviation without the late buses. Thank you for your time and consideration in my opinion. Um, have a wonderful evening. Thank you. >> Thank you. [Music] Motion to close by Bill. >> So seconded by Lori. All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. John, do you want to address that? >> As soon
047as I Yes. As part of the preliminary budget, you are correct. they were not funded uh as part of the adjusted budget or what has now become the final budget that the board just voted on. Late buses are once again included um as they are this year. Now there was a point where we were ending them a little sooner this year but then at the request of the high school principles one in which was the interim and now one in which is the uh permanent I say that permanent principal um they've asked us to restore some time so I don't remember what the new cut off date is May 15th which is when testing is over so forth and so on and we're ending up the year. So, uh, and that's pretty typical, by the
048way. So, yes, they'll run typically this year, they'll run typically next year, both at the high school and middle school level. Thank you. [Music] Thank you. Now, we're on to committee and leazison reports. I'll request a speed reading so we can get through the agenda fast. Um Erica, do you want to begin with your report? >> Uh you're the chair of Heat. Heat. You did not have a report this month. Probably. >> Lori, do you want to read? >> They've been moved. >> H >> We're looking for them online. They've been moved. >> Oh, they've been moved. Uh-oh. >> They're under reports. If you look at April 24 agenda, there's a section called reports. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] No problem. Let me make this bigger. Okay. Yeah. So, the policy committee uh met on April
0499th virtually. Committee members present Nicholas Demiglio, myself, Jimmy Parker, and of course the superintendent, Mr. Ravali, Dr. Ovali, and um Ardan Singh, our board president, and Mary Clark. The meeting began at 5:30 p.m. The committee reviewed and discussed policy 5111, eligibility of resident and non-resident students. The committee approved revisions which reference a uniform tuition rate for non-resident students. The committee reviewed and discussed policy 5841 secret societies. The committee approved a revision which removed a list of protected categories. That list of groups is now uh replaced uh with reference to the law. Superintendent Ravali spoke to the committee briefly about the upcoming special board of education meeting and the meeting concluded at 6:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted. >> Thank you, Jimmy. The personnel and negotiations committee met on the 22nd of April at 6:00 p.m. They met
050for 67 minutes. Uh the members of the committee, Erica Asencio, Walter Jackson Singh, board president, Dr. John Rali, superintendent of schools, Brian Banano, assistant superintendent for business, Colleen Delin, manager of human resources, and myself as chair. The committee reviewed the following items. Personnel report from the 24th of April. Number 10, the personnel committee reviewed the board reported dated 24th of April. The report includes the appointments of the acting vice principal at FMS, a position that will be shared between two staff members. Also reviewed were approvals for special education and language arts teachers for the 2025 2026 school year along with the hiring of pair professionals and substitute safety officers for the current year. The attachments include the 2025 2026 reappoints of administrators, certified staff, pair of professionals, and clerical staff, as well as approvals for
051federal programs. The report also includes appointments related to additional sessions, curriculum writing, and spring sports. The committee also reviewed leave of absence requests, retirements, and updates related to extracurricular activities, and pair professional transfers. Uh workers compensation was also discussed. The committee reviewed a current workers compensation case. The summer schedule was discussed. The proposed summer schedule was presented and reviewed by the committee. Uh negotiations as well were discussed. Mr. Banano provided an update on contract discussions and proposed salary increases for non-aligned staff. And for the good of the order, Dr. Bali addressed topics including the school calendar, give back days, and the summer schedule. >> Thank you, Lori. Uh the facilities committee met Wednesday, April 23rd at 6:02 p.m. In attendance were Mr. Walter Jackson, myself, Lori Maris, Miss Arman Singh, Dr. John Raali, Mr. Brian
052Banano, Mr. Steven Frerieded, and Mr. Mark McNamera. We reviewed change orders. There's a chiller replacement at Franklin Park School change order number two to be paid from the general repair allowance in the amount of $3,56. This is to repair the existing roof at the location of the new chiller. Also, a chiller replacement at Franklin Park School change order number three to be paid from the general repair allowance in the amount of $8,279. This is to insulate economizer lines in the chillers that were not provided for in the contract documents. Um chiller replacement of Franklin Park School change order number four to be paid from the general repair allowance in the amount of $6,869. This is to remove, rebuild, and reinstall the two existing CHW chilled water pumps. Um and the final change order zufall project
053change order number five and six. The result of these change orders is a credit back of $50 to the allowance. These change orders are to replace laminate countertops with coran for a cost of $13,950 and a credit for concrete work at the ramp, stairs, and deck areas in the amount of $14,000 for a net credit of 50 $50. Um our zufall project update, Mr. Mr. McNamera updated the committee on the zufall project itself. Mr. McNamera gave the committee project updates about the chiller replacement projects at Franklin High School and Franklin Park School. Relative to facility use, we had a request. The committee discussed the facilities use requests that will appear on the agenda and our energy report. Mr. Frerieded presented the committee with the status of the Claremont solar system. The meeting adjourned at 6:15
054p.m. Can you also do finance, please? Finance Committee met Wednesday, April 23rd at 6:15 p.m. In attendance were myself, Lori Maris, Mr. Mr. Walter Jackson, Miss Nancy Laort, Miss Artem Singh, Dr. John Raali, Mr. Brian Banano, and Mr. Steven Frerieded. Our financials and contracts were discussed. The committee reviewed the supplemental bills list for the month of April. Committee reviewed the board secretaries report, treasurer's report, and transfer report for the month of March. our charter school payments. The district paid $1,745,787 in tuition and $24,713 in transportation for the month of February. This brings the total charter school costs to 21,9898,166 for the year to date and year to year-to-ate tuition $19,437.33. I read that wrong. Please excuse me. 19,437,333 transportation year to date 1,001 million $661,133. Our fisc year 26 budget tax levy incentive update. Mr.
055Fried and Dr. Rali discussed the highlights of the fisc year 26 budget in advance of the public hearing at the next public meeting. This meeting ended at 6:33 p.m. Thank you. >> Thank you, Nancy. Curriculum. The curriculum committee met on April 10th. President was myself, Erica, Lori, uh Dr. Logan, Dr. Valley, and we discussed a motion to approve a new course. um adaptive physical education grades 9 to 12 for specialed students beginning April 2025 and a motion to approve an MOA with Fairley Dickinson for the CTE aspects of video production 2 and aspects of video production 3 courses and their corresponding curricula. The committee or the meeting concluded at 6:27. >> Thank you. Nick, do you have any report? >> There was no meeting. >> Okay, thank you. Okay, we're on to new business. >>
056Can I have a motion to move all one monthly reports M1 minutes of the board meetings? A1 travel and related expensive reimbursement. A2, affirm harassment, intimidation, and bullying decision. A3, teacher appreciation week. A4, special education week. A5, Autism Awareness Resolution. A6, sick awareness and appreciation month. A7, donations. A8 employee employee work schedule summer 2025. A9 emergency bus exit drill report. A10 special education board policy statement of assurance. A11 revised policy second read. A12 revised policy first read. A13, facilities use. A14, establish a board of education ad hoc committee. A15, construction trades grant. B1, warrants and payroll roles. B2 financial reports. B3 contract approval. B4 change orders. B5 award of RFP private preschool provider partners. B6 award of a EU-RFP risk manager. C1 out of district students school year 2024 2025. C2 field trip destinations. C3
057field trip applications. C4 new course. C5 memorandum of agreement with Fley Dickensson University. P1 FTA association president fourtime leave. P2 separation agreement. P3 personnel report number 10 dated April 24th 2025. P4 settlement agreement. So there's a motion for R1, M1, A1 to A15, B1 to B6, C1 to C5, P1 to P4. Can I get a second, please? Second by Nancy. Any discussion on any any topics? Erica. Jamie, >> Lori, >> no. Thank you, Bill. >> No. >> Nick, >> no. Brian was nice enough to explain a question that I had. Thank you. >> Thank you, Nancy. Dennis. Okay, Brian, we're ready for roll call. >> Mr. Deglio. >> Okay, so I abstain from check number 125392. That's a check made out to the Chamber of Commerce, which I'm president of. So, that's a little bit
058of a conflict. And also on the payroll on the personnel report, any um salaries related to Elizabeth Avenue School. I'm good with the rest. Okay. Mr. Grio, >> yes. >> Dr. Hopkins, >> yes. >> Miss Inosencio, >> yes. Miss Lort, >> yes. >> Miss Maris, >> yes. >> Mr. Parker, >> obstaining from P3, yes. >> And Miss Singh, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. And now we're on to comments from the public. 5 minutes per speaker. Any topic. Can I get a motion to open? Moved by Nancy. >> Seconded by Erica. All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. Comments from the public. Five minutes per speaker. Any topic is now open. Please state your name and address and there is a clipboard. Make sure you write that write your name and address on
059that too after your comments. Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Susan McCarthy, 12 Pillo Lane. Um I am a parent in the district, but I'm here tonight in my role as the president of the SJS HSSE Players Alumni Association. For those of you that might not be aware of our group, the association is a nonprofit run by a board of trustees, which was created to support the middle school theater program, now known as the SGS HSSC players. We do so by fundraising during the performances via sales at the cafe, kisses for the cast, and raffles. The association uses those funds to help with purchases needed for performances, but also importantly to give scholarships in memory of two students who had performed on the SGS stage, Kevin Mascll and Andrew Rosenello. Since its inception
060in 2017, the association has awarded over $17,000 to graduating seniors at FHS who participated in the theater program. Tonight, I'm proud to say that this year we have added a new scholarship with a focus on leadership in honor of Ava Naj. As a member of the board of education for 22 years, 15 of which she served as president. Ava oversaw referendums, school construction, and important to this conversation, the renovation of the SGS auditorium, and from what I heard, she was even picking out carpeting colors. In addition to her contributions to the district, which were vast, Ava was a founding trustee and officer of the alumni association. When I took over as president a few years ago, she ensured that I had everything I needed to be successful and to make sure that the association was
061not only sustainable, but also that we met the standards of our bylaws and the requirements to maintain our nonprofit status. In the days and weeks before she passed away in the fall, Ava was on the phone with Terry Sio, who became a trustee herself after retiring from the district, to ensure that Terry knew exactly what Ava expected relative to plans we made for the future. She was leading and looking forward, making sure that our association would remain viable in order to continue its mission right up until the very end. I understand that there is something in the works in this body to honor Ava in the future, but the trustees ask that I come tonight to ensure that our voice is heard in support of that effort. Ava was a true force of nature, someone
062who saw a need and used her voice and vision to make a difference in our district. While I only knew her for a few years, I'm grateful for all the support and gu guidance that she gave me and I'm honored to be a part of the alumni association. She was so instrumental in molding. The first annual Ava Nash scholarship will be awarded at the alumni cabaret at SGS on May 31st and I invite you all to join us for what's always a wonderful night of amazing talent. We will also recognize the recipients at the FHS senior awards night on June 5th. I look forward to seeing how the board recognizes Ava as well. And please know that the alumni association will participate or help in any way. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you.
063[Music] >> See no one else coming forward to close the public session. >> Okay. Motion to close by Bill, seconded by Nancy. All in favor? >> I >> Okay, we're on to the last item. Good of the order. Nick, do you have anything? >> Good of the order. Okay, so yes, thank you Sue for um those words and for bringing that up. I've been speaking with Mary Clark um and I believe she is going to be in touch with you about what she has planned for that. Um, I want to thank the PTO's and the PTSOs in the district for teacher appreciation and all they do for the teachers and the staff and um also thank the FTEA for their continued support and partnering with the PTO's and the PTSOs to donate to help fund
064those events. So, just a couple of things. Uh Franklin High School and Project Graduation have bingo night again on May 9th. Um the clothing drive has been moved to June 7th. Uh there were no available dates in May, so they moved it to June 7th. Uh PTSO and Project Graduation will be holding the annual food truck festival again on May 17th and the Chamber of Commerce gala is on for May 7th where we recognize the Warrior for Life Foundation as one of our honores this year. That's all I have. >> Thank you Erica. >> I'm nothing. Thanks, >> Nancy Jimmy. >> Yes. One of our students, um, Ardan Gray, uh, was invited to participate in the pin relays. So, if you know what the pin relays are, it's invite only. Uh, she is one of
065the top triple jumpers in the country. Uh, if you want to watch her on TV, she should be performing, I believe, tomorrow. uh 26th actually on the 26th it will be televised so you you should get a chance to hear on TV. >> Thank you Lori. >> Nothing Thank you very much Bill. >> Okay Susan that was great. Your your script was really well done. Very very accurate. So thank you. It's going to be a great great tribute. That's all. Dennis, >> nothing tonight. >> Okay, with that meeting's adjourned. [Music]