001Call this meeting to order. Roll call, please. Mr. Musterel. >> Obiaka. >> No. >> Mr. Bono, >> present. >> Mr. Fio >> here. Mr. Harris >> here. >> Mrs. Perez >> here. >> Mr. Santiago >> here. >> Mr. Silva >> here. >> Mrs. Vasquez >> here. >> Mr. Rivera >> here. >> Mr. Holmes >> here. In compliance with the New Jersey open public meeting law commonly referred to as the sunshine law. The vinyl board of education has caused notice and posting of this meeting to be sent to the following announcing time, place, agenda, etc. The Daily Journal, SNJ Today, the Press of Atlantic City, Vista Bueno, the clerk for the city of Vinland, and the administrative public bulletin board. Please rise for a flag salute. Rossi school will lead us. To the flag of the
002United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [clears throat] [applause] Come on. Thank you very much. [applause] Thank you guys. >> Good job guys. Good job. Good job. >> I believe our students have a brief presentation to make as well. On behalf of the staff and students of Rossi Elementary School, we'd like to thank Mr. Yanos for his years of service to our school district. >> Thank you for being there for each student in Violin. We wish you the best of luck in your new job. [applause] >> Y'all really like it. >> Thank you, Scott. Is there a resolution for executive session? >> There is. Now therefore be it resolved that the board of education of the city of violent
003school district will convene in executive session for the following reasons as outlined ne NJSA 10 col4-12. Discussion is about employment matters and any matters falling within the attorney client privilege to the extent that confidentiality is required in order for the attorney to exercise her duties as a lawyer. >> Motion. >> So moved. >> Second. Mr. Bono, >> yes. Mr. Fio, >> yes. >> Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Santiago, >> yes. >> Mr. Silva, >> yes. >> Mrs. Vasquez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. We'll go into exec after special presentations. Mr. Yan. >> Thank you. Thank you, Rossi. School. Well done. Let's say another round of applause for our students, [applause] our safeties. Thank you, Mrs. Koya. We have two presentations this evening.
004The first will be Mr. Mtoell, business administrator, and Mr. Paul Faracio, facilities director, who will share an ESIP presentation. Good evening everyone. >> Mr. Yano central administration and board. I was asked uh this evening to give an update on our EIP, our energy savings improvement plan for the district. And so I'll get right into the nitty-gritty. Uh so basically how an EIP works and why Violent Public Schools took advantage of this opportunity with this uh that that is state-run and implemented. It basically takes mechanical and electrical equipment things that utilize energy and gives the opportunity to provide capital monies for replacement. And then within the savings of that energy and the energy costs, it pays for itself. So that it's what is called as a netneutral type of project. Basically there's no afforded money out
005of pocket. It's it's covered through the savings energy savings of the project. So, you know, it it works to upgrade and replace antiquated equipment, reduces energy, lowers utility costs, uh captures the cost for for the savings of the replacement. It's also a validated uh uh project. The state oversees the the validity of it. There's engineering that will be uh covered through the EIP to make sure that the district is getting those savings and they are what they were deemed to be as calculated out by the project. And again, the conclusion is a net zero expense to the district. And I apologize I didn't advance that slide. [clears throat] So project timeline, we we worked about a year and a half in uh project orientation. Uh the project rolled out this past July of 2025. Uh
006there was a lot of coordination and so uh the company is implementing all of these projects. Uh some are small, some are large. Uh the main thing what we call the lowhanging fruit is they are going into every building and replacing lighting and and lighting controls. Uh getting rid of the old T fluorescent systems and going with LEDs. There's a lot of cost capture, a lot of energy reduction in there. And as a matter of fact, that project is just kind of wrapping up now. uh all all projects need to be implemented within a two two-year timeline and we are on well on that on board with that timeline uh just specific to Vyron we should be wrapping up uh this summer September by September of 2026 so again what's included lighting we have lighting
007controls we have HVAC energy management upgrades and replacements. We have building insulations, caulking, do uh door closers, uh uh fixtures, window caulking, tinting, refrigeration controls. Uh specifically, we wanted to put definite capital improvements within the project. And so we looked at, you know, the challenges of the district currently and and things that we needed to upgrade. And we we concluded that, you know, it isn't half of the cost of the EIP, but it's almost uh it's a good portion. It's almost $10 million. We have three makeup air systems for Gloria Sabeter. uh two of the makeup air units for and three units makeup air HVAC systems for Pway Elementary. Additionally, we have a complete boiler replacement for this building which will be significant. Right now, where are we at the timeline? We have nine schools
008completed uh retrofitted and are finishing up all of the LED upgrades by this coming March. Uh the company is out and we're installing plug load controls and lighting software that manage uh what we call those energy vampires. uh things that can be left on overnight and and technically should be shut off by a by somebody, you know, that they're they're going to have uh managed plugs and software to handle that task. Window tinning should be in substantial completion by uh June of 2025. PC management controls, even our charging carts for all the Chromebooks. Uh we have software that tracks it, manages, doesn't overcharge a system if it doesn't if it doesn't need it. Uh refrigeration controls, airflow fans. We have coil treatment. We also are upgrading numerous transformers throughout the district with uh they call
009them harmonic balanced systems which just by upgrading the actual transformer just lowers the electric bill. It's wonderful technology that's available now. Uh and again our big ticket items on the HVAC are those dehumidifi dehumidification systems in the boilers. Uh getting into the costs the project is raised and estimate estimated was about $19,125,893 and some change. So, you know, in theory, year one payment to pay back for this what what we're saving is a million37. And so that projected energy costs will cover that payment. Now, there's a little adjustment. We just wanted to be transparent and note, you know, we we have to have everything implemented to save and they're working on that. So the savings could could be a little bit altered until everything is implemented. Year two comes in at 1324 and and uh
010again the the project net cost pays for itself and then after that you know there's a there's a there's a large it's the entire project is handling is handling the monies and so uh again there's a cost for I talked about validation so we've got included in the EIP is some engineering costs uh that they will run through and validate for several years to make sure Viand is receiving the energy that was promised back to them. So that it really truly is a netneutral project. It's something that the state's been running for multiple years now and m uh a multitude of school districts have taken advantage of it. So we're excited in Violin just to ju just to see improvements with overall energy reduction. Uh, are there any questions in regards to what I covered?
011Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Faronachio, for the update on the EIP and Mr. Merell. I know you guys are working together to put all of the details available for our public and for our board members. Next we have uh Mr. Mike Garcia of ForScott Associates LLC to present the 2024 2025 audit report. Thank you very much. Um there was a handout um that was put at um each board member's um spot on the DS and that handout is the synopsis of the audit report. The audit report itself is about 180 pages. So, we're just going to give you the bare facts here. And I think the items that I'm going to go over are really the items that are um the most significant for the board to be aware of as well
012as the public. Um first just to recap like we discuss every year when it comes to doing the audit um we're going to talk about the the numbers in a moment but the testing that we do here um you know we do um um um devote a substantial amount of time to audit procedures to make sure that the bank accounts and the cash that the district um that belongs to the district is properly reconciled and recorded in the um business administrator's accounting records that to be that the um treasurer's report and the um the report of the board secretary that's presented to the board each and every month that they're proper and accurate and that that cash is in place. Um we test revenues to make sure you you are receiving your um state aid,
013the tax levy from the city, um tuition from um sending districts and other miscellaneous revenues to make sure that everything is being properly recorded and deposited into um your bank accounts and that the accounting records are um appropriately um recorded. Um, we test expenditures to make sure that when bills are paid that there is a valid proper invoice from the vendor that the proper amount is paid. Um, and that if there is a bid or a quote that was required in a specific um, transaction that those procedures are followed. Then also that those bills are approved um, by the board on the bill list. Um, we test in the area of payroll to make sure that your employees are paid properly in accordance with their contracts. um we test their withholdings to make sure and
014specifically they're required to contribute a portion of um towards the cost of their health insurance. We make sure that those um calculations are properly made and withheld from their paychecks and reimbursed to to the board um to help offset the cost of health insurance. Your food service program is um like all food service programs in um in school districts is heavily subsidized by the federal and state government. So, there are additional procedures we apply to that area to make sure you're following the rules and regulations um that the federal government and the state imposes on school districts. Um that's just some of the highlights. Um whenever we find areas of error or exception, we're required to write a finding and recommendation for corrective action. Um happy to report that there are no findings and recommendations.
015It's a clean audit without any findings and recommendations. and where you would actually see that on the handout. If we go to the very last page of that handout, that's the section where we would report any findings if they existed. And once again, it's some of the various areas that we test and that we um um perform procedures on. And you'll see that under recommendations for all of those areas, the word none. Okay. I would like you now to flip one page forward. So now we're looking at the second to last page. And this is um in the top right hand quarter corner it's the landscaped page just so everybody knows um what I'm referring to here. Um in the top right hand corner you will see it's noted as exhibit C1. Um this is
016exerted directly from the full audit report. This is really in a nutshell this schedule right here um is really I think the most important thing for the board to be aware of. It gives us our um fund balance where we ended the year. And you will see the second and I'm going to be um referring specifically to the um actual column. The fund balance at June 30th was $40,759,783.79. So over 40 million in total fund balance. And let me um just um quickly cite that um the district did receive about an additional $9 million in state aid in the 2425 year. So that is um one of the main components as to reason for um to be able to have such a strong surplus condition. But of that 40,759,000 most of that money is already
017spoken for. And if we follow down a little bit further, um I'm going to break down that 40 million for you and explain what you actually have free and clear on that 40 million. Um and so you will see down a little bit further. I have um maintenance reserve in the amount of 4,919,000. So that's part of that total 40 that is set aside and only can be used for repairs and maintenance of your buildings. We then have an account called excess surplus 11,85,000. As a quick reminder, the state imposes a 2% cap on school district um fund balance. Whenever you have funds in excess of that 2%, the money gets set aside and must be used to fund the subsequent year's budget. So in this case, the 11.8 8 million is set aside and
018will be used to fund a portion of the 206 27 school budget. So that those funds will go directly towards that. Um and once again that 11.8 was the amount that you generated above 2% um at um in the 2425 year. Right below that, we also have an another account titled excess surplus that's designated for subsequent years expenditures in the amount of 13,619,000. That is the amount that you were above 2% at June 30th of 24. So we're looking at a snapshot at June 30th 25. That 13.6 million is still in your bank account on June 30th of 25, but is now being used to fund this current school year. So that 13 million is funding the 25 or a portion of the 2526 school budget. Continuing down, we have a reserve for unemployment in
019the amount of 1,84 I'm sorry, 1,84,000 set aside for future possible unemployment claims. We have a reserve for incumbrances in the amount of 4,139,000. that represents bills that were due and payable to vendors but have not yet been paid as of June 30th. Um it takes time for vendors to get in their paperwork um invoices and whatnot. Subsequently, that money is dispersed. So that's actually been spent as we um as we sit here now. Um the next item we also have some um amount that's designated for subsequent years expenditures in the amount of $844,313. Those are additional funds that the board used to fund the 2526 school budget. That leaves us. So of the 40 million, the last number is all that what we actually have free and clear. The 4,347,243.7. That is your 2%
020number, the maximum amount that you're allowed to have outside of those reserves and excesses that we talked about that then go to fund future year's budgets. So as we stand here now, the district is in good financial health. Um there are no findings and recommendations in the audit. Obviously uh a significant portion of the district's revenue comes from state aid and um we will always be subject to those fluctuations. We've done well the last couple of years um with state aid increases with a new administration in Trenton. We don't know yet what those numbers will look like going forward. But as we sit here today, um you're in pretty good shape. Those are the comments that I had. If there are any questions or comments you have for me, anything that um I wasn't clear
021on or any other questions that you might have on an area I didn't discuss, I am here at your disposal. >> I do have a question. >> Sure. >> In in terms of your recommendations and no findings, is that typical for a district not to have findings? Um yeah, generally speaking, um in South Jersey, districts are run pretty well. Um today, 20 years ago, not quite the case. You you saw more findings, but um I mean, you have a terrific business office. Scott runs a, you know, a great business office. You have qualified professionals, and you see, um more and more districts with no findings. Um, and once again, it's um I think, you know, there's a a much higher level of professionalism in the business offices. Um, at least in South Jersey, I see
022that. And, um, it's um, you don't see as many findings as you did 20 years ago. It's a higher level of professionalism today, I believe. >> Any further questions or comments? Thank you. All right. Thank you all. It's always a pleasure to be here and see you and um take care and see you next year. Thank you. Take care. The board will now convene into executive session. Mention reports, questions or comments. Very good. Approval of minutes December 3rd uh 2025 combined meeting. Questions or comments. Motion second. >> Second. Roll call. >> Mr. Bto >> minutes from December 3rd. >> Yes. >> Mr. Fio. >> Yes. >> Mr. Harris. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perez. >> Yes. >> Mr. Santiago. >> Yes. >> Mr. Silva. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Vasquez. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rivera. >> Yes.
023>> Mr. Holmes. >> Yes. Motion carries. >> Committee reports will be hyperl to the agendas for now on. They will not be read into the record. We don't have any um committee [clears throat] reports because we'll be meeting the last week of this month for the first time with our new committees. Public meeting report by the board solicitor or anything? >> Nothing to report tonight. >> Thank you. Uh the president is not here so we'll keep going. Public comment on agenda items or any other matter. Please limit yourself to three minutes. I have no yellow sheets. Is there anybody from the general public that wishes to speak on any topic? >> Sure. >> All right. Oh, >> public comment >> on agenda item. >> Public comment. >> What does that mean? >> The public would
024speak. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> Do you have anything? >> A question on one of the items, but that's okay. time. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Yep. We'll sidebar. >> Okay. >> Um >> Okay, great. Mr. Yano, motions and resolution. >> Requesting discussion and approval regarding personnel item 1.1 as noted on our agenda. >> Questions or comments? >> Motion and second. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Roll call. Mr. Bono. >> Yes. >> Mr. Fio, I'm going to >> recuse myself on employee 13753. >> Yes. On remaining items. >> I'm sorry. Say that. >> Recusing on employee 13753. >> Thank you. >> Yes. >> Mr. Harris. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perez. >> Yes. >> Mr. Santiago. >> Yes. >> Mr. Silva. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Vasquez. Yes, >> Mr. Rivera. >> Yes, Mr. Holmes. >>
025Yes. >> Motion carries. >> I'd like to take a moment to congratulate our new athletic director, Ashley Sale. [applause] >> Good evening. I just wanted to take a moment to thank the members of the board and central administration for the opportunity to serve as the d uh I'm sorry supervisor of athletics for violin public schools. I've had the privilege of working with our student athletes for many years and I'm grateful to continue that work in this role. I look forward to honoring Violin's proud athletic history while moving our programs forward in a positive and stu student centered way. Thank you again for your trust and support. Thank you. [applause] requesting appro discussion and approval regarding procedures and operations items uh 2.1 through 2.3 >> questions or comments. Miss Perez, >> thank you. I apologize. I
026jumped the gun there earlier, but >> Oh, good. >> So, I do have a question on our travel trips and travel. So, I'm looking at the list and we have two trips um one to Nashville and one to Austin, Texas that total in excess of $37,000. And I guess my question is, you know, I I also see a list. We're sending eight people to one. Let me see. I'm not sure how many to the other. Four or five. So, >> four to the other. >> Four. So, my question is, are are eight people necessary to go to Texas? I I understand we just had our audit and he said we were in good shape. We're in good shape now, but as a finance chair, I kind of know what we're headed into and uh for
02727 for 26 27 into 2728. Is there any way that that we can get an explanation and why we're sending so many people on a trip and and in excess of $37,000 for two trips? Yes. Uh there's two different opportunities for our staff to get involved in national conferences. The one is specific about MTSS, multi-to supports, RTI. That's been one of our major uh areas of work. Uh Mrs. Dearie and her team has been working on developing a manual guidance around MTSS. We have administrators who have been working on statewide uh committees to learn about MTSS. They're working on special projects. So we have this committee that's been working together to get exposed to the latest practices how we address our most at risk students. So this is the team that will go out get
028the data get the information get the training then come back together as a team because it's a system it's a schoolwide districtwide activity and there's a primary focus on elementary because that's where there's the greatest need. So that's why you see a lot of elementary. So, so I guess I and I understand I understand, but I guess what I'm saying is it requires eight people, couldn't do four, couldn't do half that, and they could come back and teach the teacher teaches basically is what I'm trying to say. I mean, I I think it's something we need to be very cognizant of moving forward and how our funds are being spent to make sure because I'm sure there's other PD out there that we need just maybe not just as much because I know MTTS is
029is very important, but I'm just saying there's going to be other issues that come up that we need professional development on and maybe we need to be a little more aware of what's coming down the pike. Okay, that's just my comments. further questions or comments for 2.1 to 2.3? >> I I do uh in the same vein as uh Mrs. Perez, are there opportunities for other professional development for other focus areas not just concentrated on this particular what this group is doing and do others have an opportunity to >> participate? Yeah. participate in other uh educational opportunities and attend conferences. That that would just be my my question. >> Absolutely. So, every school leader has a school-based budget where they have aligned professional development and registration. They can look at opportunities that are out there
030and they submit a requisition, submit a um request to attend a conference and it would be approved as long as the conference area that they are selecting aligns with what we're working on. So leaders have the opportunity in the past leaders have gone uh out of state to Washington DC to Nashville for other types of uh conferences. So it's open they have the ability to select regional conferences, national conferences as long as as long as they budget for those um opportunities. >> So point of clarification is most of the money Mr. Jana was talking about is located in the supervisor's budgets um in the district funds, not the schoolbased funds, >> but it comes from the district. Comes >> Sure. It's all one pot. It's all one $210 million pot. Correct. >> And then it's
031divvied up in accordance. So some's listed specifically [snorts] for PD, others are listed specifically for >> So they're right. So each of the supervisors will have curriculum writing. They'll have uh professional development stipens to pay teachers to >> train other teachers. teachers to learn from other teachers. Uh they'll have consultants, they'll have workshops, they'll have registrations for workshops, travel for workshops. So all that money is sitting in the uh supervisor's budgets on the district side. Yeah. >> Thank you, >> M. Mr. Mro. So these uh expenditures are within the budget for the year. >> Yes. Yep. >> Any further questions or comments? motion and second for approval of 2.1 to 2.3. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> My apologies. Mr. Bono. >> Yes. >> Mr. Fio. >> Yes. >> Mr. Harris. Yes, >> Mrs. Perez.
032>> Yes, >> Mr. Santiago. >> Yes, >> Mr. Silva. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Vasquez. >> Yes, >> Mr. Rivera. >> Yes, >> Mr. Holmes. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Requesting discussion and approval regarding finance items 4.1 through 4 let's see 4.17. >> Thank you. >> Questions or comments? >> Motion and second for approval. >> So move second. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Bono. >> Yes. >> Mr. Fokei. >> Yes. Mr. Harris, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perez, >> yes. >> Mr. Santiago, >> yes. >> Mr. Silva, >> yes. >> Mrs. Vasquez, >> yes. >> Mr. Rivera, >> yes. >> Mr. Holmes, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Approval of bills for November 2025. Any questions or comments? Motion and second for approval. >> Motion. >> Second. Roll call. >> Mr. Bono, >> yes. >>
033Mr. Harris, >> recuse myself from vendor 1074 and 1333 and yes to everything else. >> 1074. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Fio. Yes, >> Mrs. Perez. >> Yes, >> Mr. Santiago. >> Yes, >> Mr. Silva. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Vasquez. >> Yes, >> Mr. Rivera. >> Yes, >> Mr. Holmes. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> All right. Very good. Uh, board member and superintendent remarks. Start with Mr. Fio. >> Nothing at this time. >> Mr. Santiago. >> Nothing at this time. >> Miss Vasquez, >> I just want to thank Rosie School for the pledge of allegiance and for that such a sweet uh expression of their well wishes to Mr. Yano. It's very heartwarming to see kids take the time to do that. So, thank you Rossi. Safety patrol. >> Miss Perez.
034>> Thank Rosy school for the pledge of allegiance. It's always it's always neat to see the children come up here and do that. I see our ROC students in the back there. Thank you. Thank you for coming. We appreciate when you show up. So, thank you so much. And that's it. Have a great evening, everyone. >> Mr. Bono, >> good evening everyone. Few thank yous. Uh, thank you to Rossi Elementary and your administration for coming out tonight. Very classful, tasteful for our >> for our superintendent. Sorry about that. No, Mike. >> [clears throat] >> Uh, one of this year's, uh, Violent Board of Education goals is to get the word out on all the amazing successes and happenings in our district, academic achievements, school events, athletics, extracurricular activities, arts, and theater. We want to showcase
035all the great things happening within our students, educators, and staff of Violent Public Schools. So, you know, we can't do this alone. So I would uh encourage all of our, you know, VIP public school staff, teachers, administrators, security guards, school secretaries, all of our staff to help us achieve this goal by informing us and letting us know when they see something that inspires them by one of our students or staff members. You know, ask outstanding accompl excuse me, accomplishments throughout this year. feel free to speak about them at one of our board meetings or pass your message along to one of us and we would proudly announce it at our next board meeting on social media and we'll do our our part to to get the word out. Um so a few highlights I had
036from this past this past month, this past week. Uh this past Saturday, uh my son Luke and I we travel to Bridton to watch our Violent High School men's basketball team compete. Uh they dominated in Bridton beating the Bulldogs on their home court. Um what a great team to watch. If you haven't seen them yet, I'd encourage you to go. Our Fighting Clan uh basketball team improved their record to 7 to1 on the season. Uh great job to all the athletes and coaches on an amazing season this far. Keep it going. The team can use some community sport this Friday evening, January 16th, um as we take on Holy Spirit. Uh the winner of this matchup will get get the number one seat in our conference. So let's go violent. On Tuesday, I attended the
037Wallace School's 8th grade class of 2000 or 2030. Wow. 2030. Say that guys. Makes me feel pretty young. Uh orientation at the VHS Tanner building. Um this event highlighted all the expectations and things happening in our freshman academy. Uh myself along with 250 plus eighth graders were very impressed. We heard and saw performances um from students uh from student le groups. The eighth graders listened to VHS student leadership as they described their high school uh team experiences. Some of the presenter uh presenters were the uh junior Air Force ROC. Always a job well done. Great job. Uh the VHS marching band played beautiful music violent dance team. They put on a awesome show for the kids. The cheerleaders, our VHS choir who sang a beautiful start spangle banner to open up the morning's festivities. The
038eighth grade students also heard from all the 910 building administrators, guidance counselors, athletic director, CT instructors, social services. Telling you it was an amazing event. Um, shout out to our principles, Mr. Hall, Mr. Lapsley, Mr. Adams. Um, I felt like I wanted to go back to high school after attending this event. Um, we uh and I think we should honestly uh videotape tomorrow's eighth grade event if we have the capabilities so we can showcase it to the uh social, you know, on our social media sites, all of our parents and VHS community so they can see and witness it for themselves. It was a great event. I'm going to try to attend them uh tomorrow as well. Uh last a couple more things. Saturday, uh, January 24th, VHS marching band is hosting a fundraiser breakfast
039at the VHSTA building. If anyone can come and support, enjoy hot breakfast, feel free. Uh, lastly, uh, congratulations to the new athletic director, Ashley Sale. I wish you the best of luck. Um, and you know, uh, I believe that you can do the the job and look forward to seeing all the great things that that our athletic department can contribute to the success of our district. You know, winning brings a lot of great things to the district. Uh, and lastly, uh, congratulations to our, um, VHS fighting football, VHS fighting clan football coach, Dan Russo. Uh glad to see you back and good luck with uh the team this year. Thank you, >> Mr. Harris. >> Gee, >> that's pretty good. >> Thank you. >> I want to say congratulations. >> I have big shoes to
040fill in, Dennis. >> Yes, [laughter] >> it's it's the seat. It's the seat, Dennis. >> I want to say congratulations. Thank you to Rossy School for leading us in a salute. Kids did wonderful, but then I would expect that because their adviser and the principal are two of the best in the district. So, thank you to them all for coming out. Congratulations, Ashley. I look forward to uh working with you. Good luck. And I want to take one second, and I had it here to congratulate the violent police department on their uh crossing guard program for being recognized by the state for this year in the uh first step program. So, congratulations, Sergeant Sterkeley, and to all of our crossing guards who work for us tirelessly, and uh I appreciate their service. Thank you, >>
041Mr. Selva. >> Yes, I'd like to thank the Rossi School Safety Patrol um for the flag salute. Um well, kids for the flag salute. Um congratulations to Ashley. I'm looking forward to working with you. And lastly, I'd like to say thank you and congratulations to Mr. Muserell for a clean audit report. Thank you. But no findings, >> Vice President Rivera. I want to be put back over there. I feel like everybody said everything already. Um, [laughter] uh, thank you to the Rossi school students for coming out and leading us in the fight, like others have said. Um, thank you to Paul and for Scott for that EIP report. Um, it may not sound like it's, but it's millions of dollars of savings that we're going to be benefiting from. >> So, $19 million project. >>
042$19 million. That's that's a a significant amount of money that is like the said is a net cost or net neutral. What was it the net neutral? Um which is amazing. Um and lastly, I'll keep it short today. Congratulations, Ashley, on being the new supervisor of athletics. We look forward to great things from the athletic department. Even greater things from the athletic department from the best school district in New Jersey. Thank you. Have a good night. Superintendent Jana. >> Yes. Thank you for the opportunity. Uh just a quick shout out at first. Um one of our team members is not here with us this evening. Uh she's recovering from uh some surgery and she'll be back with us soon, but I wanted to make sure that she knows. I don't want to say her name,
043but I want her to know that we're all here thinking about her, missing her lovely presence, and can't wait for her to come back as soon as possible so she can give us all some of that attitude. Big thank you to Rossi School. Great job today with your children, your students. Wonderful work. Always a pleasant place to visit. And thank you so much for the cards. I'll read them all tonight. And I'll save my crying for later. Uh quick shout out to Coach Russo. We're very excited to see him come back. And uh I know the students are excited, the teams are excited, the the the high school's kind of buzzing. And I know Miss Sail has been working uh trying to get everything in order so that we can have an awesome launch to
044the school year. That's why we have so many athletics appointments on the agenda today. I want to recognize uh Dr. John H. Winslow Elementary School and their principal Heather Johnson. Uh I want to share with our community that they've been invited the team to serve as a 2026 NJPBSIS leadership form showcase as a showcase school through Ruckers University. This recognition reflects the school's successful implementation of positive behavior supports as demonstrated through the annual fidelity assessment. The forum will take place March 27th, 2026 at the Mercer Conference Center in East Windsor where three members of the Winslow team will deliver a 20-minute breakout session highlighting breast best practices and lessons learned to that whole community. So, let's hear from Miss Johnson and her team. [applause] Another opportunity where our community is being spotlighted at the state
045level. Mr. Bono spoke about this already. So just eighth grade visitations are doing great. I know our team was out there. Mr. March and Mr. Bermudas was out there as well checking out the team looking at how everything was going. And uh I believe Mr. Hall was like the one of the main leads on setting up everything over there. And I know Mr. Adams was raving about you today saying Mr. Hall really really did an amazing job. And of course, it's the whole Tanner team, Lapsley and Miss Craig, and everybody else that's supporting uh just an amazing day. So, I heard great news about it. And I think I think Doug gave us a thumbs up that maybe he can get there tomorrow and do a little bit of There it is. You know, uh
046some filming of the of the project. So, thank you, Doug. And Rob up in the booth. So, that's the class of 2020, the class of 2030, excuse me. Amazing amazing events, amazing things happening at VHS. Tomorrow, transition and continuity school-based staff meetings are kicking off and to the first school will be Depalto Elementary School and that's where we're going to work with each of our buildings from mid January through midFebruary concluding on February 18th. These meetings are designed to foster candid conversations with our teachers around school highlights, challenges, and key connections so that we can support a seamless transition uh from my exit of the district to what comes next. And these meetings are important. So we want our teachers to participate whoever is available and come out so they can be heard and share
047so that there we don't miss a step. Mr. Bermudas will be joining me at those meetings uh and taking some notes for me. All schools will receive an additional invitation just to remind them of the kickoff starting tomorrow at the Palto CPAC January 30th 9:30 a.m. here at Landis. Special guest from Pill Elementary School, our uh PCG team, eighth graders who work with our sixth graders. really incredible mentoring program that we have at all of our middle schools, but the pillar team is coming in to present and work with our community. Uh, all participants who attend that CPAC meeting um are encouraged to support our Code Blue drive. More details about the types of supplies that we're asking for donations will be shared shortly, but every year we support Code Blue and the work that
048they do for the community. Uh, I believe I've covered everything that I wanted to cover tonight. Thank you. >> Very good. Thank you. Uh thank you to Rossi School for the Flag Salute tonight. Thank you to Paul and your team uh for your hard work on these projects that are coming up. Again, Scott um to you and your awesome team for another clean audit with no findings. Thank you. >> Yeah, I'd like to thank my team if I could. >> Yes, please. >> Um the accounting staff, payroll, accounts payable, all did a fantastic job. Shannon, Carrie leading the way. So, thank you for the opportunity to thank them. appreciate it. Uh and also lastly, um Miss Ashley, uh for the athletic director position, she's already a permanent fixture there, so it just makes sense. And
049she the transition will be smooth and I'm excited to see what you accomplish during your tenure. All right, if there's nothing else, motion for adjournment. Second. >> All in favor? I. >> Thank you. Have a great night.