001really close to the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [Music] Mr. V I'm here. Mr. Eston here. Mr. Gaka here. Mrs. Miller. Mr. Fender. Mr. Peny here. Mr. Cesleberger here. Mr. Chapman here. Mr. Garcia here. In accordance with terms of the sunshine law, adequate notice of this meeting was posted in all school buildings, the administration building, burough clerk's office, public library, three newspapers, and tapped into on April 4th, 2025. Please be advised, there's no smoking on school grounds inside or outside at any time. Please silence all electronic devices pursuant to district policy number 0167. Each statement made by participants shall be limited to 3 minutes duration and no participant may speak more than
002once on the same time. Thank you. Superintendent report. Thank you, Mr. Casio. This evening, we have a a number of wonderful presentations. Our first presentation is from Kennedy School. Kennedy School will be presenting on uh some of the amazing events that happened at uh at Kennedy throughout the year. So, I'm going to ask Dr. Heiden, principal of Kennedy School, to come on up to the podium and introduce to you the officers of the student council and let us know what's going on in Kennedy. Okay. Thank you, Dr. Thank you, Dr. Janzy, and members of the board. It's it's certainly an honor. Um, like I said to the boys, I invited a lot of uh people from South Lakeville to listen to us tonight because our boys did a really good job on a a quick
003presentation. Um, there's a lot of pressure for these three boys, but I picked the three boys I thought could handle the pressure at the most uh easiest level, especially in front of a an executive board in and a large crowd like this. So, I'm going to turn over to our executive board of our student council at Kennedy School. uh we look for leadership uh from kindergarten all the way through fourth grade. So we we watch that development. It's a privilege for me as a uh as a principal to see these three boys come in the door for the very first time as kindergarteners and now about to leave us as fourth graders with such leadership capabilities that I know Mr. McCann's going to really be impressed by. So I think you're going to share um
004in my applause at the end because they did a good job in their preparation. Okay, at this time I'll turn over to our president. This is Jack Fusa. [Music] Good evening, Dr. Tenzy, Miss Melissa, members of the board of education, and everyone here tonight. My name is Jack Beluzi, and I'm the proud president of Kennedy School Student Council. Being president comes with a lot of responsibility, like making sure Matthew acknowledges. I usually the debate. By the way, we are here tonight to talk about some of the wonderful programs our school offers to its students. Let's start with one of our favorite programs this year, Tiger Tales. This is where our fourth grade leaders are paired with kindergarten students to work on team building and character education activities. Whether it's reading together or playing teamwork games,
005we learn just as much from our kindergartener buddies as they learn from us. I love watching how much our kindergartener buddies look up to us and sometimes they literally look up to us because we're a whole head taller. We also had an amazing time at our annual trunk retreat in October organized by an awesome JFK PTSO. The creativity of all the parents who decorated our trunks was so cool. Some of them were scarier than my math homework. Also, the candy, well, let's just say I was worried about the dentist visit afterward, but it was worth it. Another special moment program was our veterans day program. In November, we honored the veterans in our Kennedy community, including family members, our students, and staff. It was a great reminder of various sacrifice and gratitude. The men and
006women showed when they served our country. It made us all feel proud and thankful for their service. At Ky School, we believe that our true heroes in our life besides our parents are also those that risk their lives for us in the United States military branches. And how will we ever forget the legendary St. Patrick's Day scavenger that just passed? Every year the students at Kennedy try to catch the mischievous leprechaun and every year he somehow escapes. I have a strong suspicion that the the leprechaun may or may not be look like Dr. Highland. the fourth grade. The fourth grade will certainly miss trying to catch him next year, but we will anxiously wait to hear if that will ever happen in our lifetime. Being swim council president has taught me a lot about leadership
007and also that tried to keep Matthew and Noah on task as a full-time job. Thank you again for letting us share the amazing things happening at Kennedy School. I'll now hand it over to my vice president, Matthew Wallace. [Applause] Thank you, Mr. President. To the community outside of our school is Jack Fuzzy. The entire Mr. President thing has taken me a while to get used to. Good evening, everyone. I'm Matthew Rolles, vice president of Kennedy School Student Council. My job as vice president is to help lead and support our student council and also keep Jack humble. We're a great team. and we've really had an exciting year so far. Let's talk about one of our students favorite events, theater week. This Friday on April 11th, our amazing students will take the stage at the high
008school auditorium and report. In preparation for the show on Friday after school every day this week, our gymnasium has been filled with close to 80 students singing, dancing, and a whole lot of rehearsing. We can't wait to show everyone what we've been working on. Also, throughout this week, it is autism acceptance week at Kennedy School. You've been learning about how unique it is, how unique, and how we can support and celebrate individuals with autism. This Friday, we'll have assembly and blow bubbles for autism. Blowing [Music] bubbles for autism started 15 years ago in New Jersey with Kyle Mosa and his preschool class. Kyle loved blowing bubbles and his mom had the idea for the whole class to blow bubbles together so they could participate in a shared experience. This idea spread each year and now
009tens of thousands of people all over the world participate each April. Another awesome program we are currently involved in at Kennedy School is the noetic math competition led by Dr. Haidok himself. A group of us meet after school solve really challenging math problems. This year there are 45 students that have formed third grade team and fourth grade team. This is the most amount of students that compete. Our competition is coming up next Wednesday, April 16th. Let's just say bring competition. This year we are going for the best scores ever for our school district. And we can't forget about career day on Thursday, April 17th, organized by our incredible school counselor, Mrs. Krauss. Last year, it felt like there were 100 careers represented from police officers and scientists to mechanics and engineers. It really helps us
010start think start thinking about what we want to be when we grow up. Who knows maybe one of us will attend when we are older and talk about our own careers. Jack the scientist, Noah the teacher and me the New York Yankees owner. Yes, I see it now. And now I'll pass the podium to Noville, our secretary. Hopefully he brought his notes. If not, don't worry. Jeff and I are always here to back him [Music] up. Hi everyone. I'm Lensbomb and I'm the secretary of Kennedy of the Kennedy School Student Council. As secretary, I keep things organized, take notes, and help make sure our meetings stay on track. Let's just say keeping Jack and Matthew focused is a challenge, but I'm eighth for grade eight so far meetings. Yes, Matthew. That's in my notes right
011here. One of the biggest things we've worked on this year at Kennedy School is raising money for our new playground. And we have some awesome events to help us reach our goal. Earlier this year, we held a home run derby. And let me tell you, it was quite epic. The teachers competed and Miss House won by hitting the ball further than anyone. Even Dr. Haidok and Miss Officer Petillo. It was definitely a day to remember. This event raised over $6,000 and we are very grateful for the donations of many businesses and families. On May 20th, we'll have Miss Mahones fun and fitness day. This is a a fun day of outdoor games and activities right in our school backyard. It's the perfect way to celebrate the end of the school year with fun and teamwork.
012Miss Mahon always does a great job coming up with a theme and many parent volunteers to help make the day go very smoothly. The students cannot wait. Then on Tuesday, June 3rd, we will be hosting our first ever staff and student ice cream social. This was an idea from our very own student council member, Brooke Webster, and we're so excited to make it happen. On June 3rd, all of the students and teachers will meet after school some to enjoy some ice cream together, socialize, and play some fun lawn games. I mean, who doesn't love ice cream and playing with games and with friends and our teachers? And finally, on June 6th, we'll be on Friday, June 6th, we'll be back at the high school auditorium for our talent show. This year, students and staff will
013be performing, and it's another fun way to support our playground fundraiser. I won't spoil the acts, but get ready for some surprises. We hope everyone here can come out and see our students and staff perform on the big stage at the high school. It's been a year full of memories and are proud to be part of this amazing team. Thank you for your time and thank you for supporting all of us at Kennedy School. As you can tell from the events we described, we love our school and this is why we always say Kennedy rocks. I'm really grateful to help represent such a great group of students as fourth graders. Jack, Matthew, and I are really h lucky to have the opportunity opportunity to lead our school as the student council executive court. Thank you
014for listening. And now I'll turn it back over to Mr. President. [Applause] Thank you, Noah and Matthew. You both did well. You can both take the rest of the night off. I just wanted to come back to the podium just so I have bless you know I'm the president. So at this time I turn it over to our school leader Dr. Thank you everyone for your attention this evening. I'm going to end on that because these boys uh they put together a great presentation. They're well spoken. Uh they were calm and that's hard to do, right boys? Um this is just a testament of what Kennedy's school offers our kids. Um we do a lot of things obviously outside the classroom within our schools. These are three of the brightest students uh leading our charge
015in Kennedy School and we're very proud of them. Thank you to their parents tonight. Thank you to our PTSO for supporting everything we do and thank you to the school board, Dr. and Mrs. Melissa for everything you do to support us in school. Thank you. always have a little gift for you for Friday. We have autism uh bubbles for autism. So like they'd like to give every board member and our members of our central office uh some bubbles to blow on Friday in in remembrance of the program that we support. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you Dr. I [Music] guess you man. Thank you. Nice job, guys. You did a nice job. Good job. Very funny. So good. Come on. Who's the script writer? [Music] [Applause] Mr. President, how about one more time? [Applause] Well, we
016have a couple more presentations uh this evening. Uh we are going to be acknowledging the outstanding accomplishments of our high school students and the various um clubs and activities that they belong to. So, I'm going to ask Mr. Piscola to come on up to the podium and we're going to start with the seal of literacy from the state of New Jersey. Thank you. And uh good evening, Dr. Tany, Miss Bliss, and board of education members. Uh at this time, I'd like to respectfully request to not have to follow any of those young men in public speaking because I can't live with the outstanding job. So, great job, guys. This evening, I'm here to do a couple of things because we have a lot of high school students that have really done a lot of exceptional
017things throughout the course of the year. The first is earn the New Jersey State Seal of Biiteracy, which is an award that recognizes students who are proficient in at least one language in addition to English. Not only will the Department of Education recognize this accomplishment with a certificate, but also with a seal that will embossed on the students uh transcript. So, if they receive that college, they'll see that on there. The state will release these certificates in June, but we are here tonight to celebrate these students accomplishments. Before announcing the recipient's names, I'd like to extend my gratitude to our world language and ESL departments for their continued work with our students as well as my my outstanding staff at the high school who helped oversee the tests and make sure they were run well.
018[Applause] We are proud to have 13 high school students who have earned this prestigious award. If you are present and I call your name, please come forward. But I'm going to recognize all students. Our first was our only student to earn it in French and that was Tony [Applause] H. students earned it in Spanish. Again, if you're if you're here, just come over to to the right of me. Uh, Alexis Altavaria, Ariel [Music] Catalyani, Ty Co, [Applause] Jasmine, Tiffany Nel, Betsy Morales, Jazelle Peda, Jasmine [Applause] Cortillo, Natalyia Quincia [Applause] Guerrera, Sarah Seen, Sana Valadiius, and Aaron Valdez. Congratulations. So, Congratulations. We meet again. There you go. Mr. service will also be recognizing the students who participated in several of our high school clubs and activities and have received accolades and awards for their participation in
019a number of competitions that were held throughout the uh the state. So, Mr. Stole, are you ready? Yeah. Thank you, Dr. Tanzy. And again, thank you uh Miss Flesa and the board of education for uh uh recognizing our our outstanding students and the activities uh that they are a part of. Uh at the high school, we have a multitude of extracurricular and co-curricular activities. um today you're just seeing a small portion of those uh activities and some of the accolades that they've attained throughout the course of the year. Um we have so many I reached out to our club adviserss because we have so much going on so many times and we said you know put forth any kind of accomplishments you've received throughout the course of the year. So this is the stuff I've
020received back from our adviserss. I do have some of my adviserss here today. So I'll be doing some of these and I'll have some of them going. The first thing I'd like to recognize is uh through our coral and musical department that in uh November of 2024, four of our coral students were selected to the TCJ uh honors festival uh honors band. Uh those students were um and they were again uh brought to this award who participated in this weekend event which culminated in a public performance. Students were also able to work with the music professors at TCJ Corell for advanced workshops and vocal classes. These are all students that are doing all those outstanding performances that you see. Uh those students are Dylan Nichollet, Jason Miller, Sophia Mill, and Tatiana Rollins. All right, let's
021come forward. Thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. [Music] All right. Our next club activity that will be recognizing this evening is actually one of our newer clubs, our gaming club. They're now referred to as our Cyber Tigers Overwatch team. Uh they're advised by Mr. Daniel Salvis. They they compete inside of our new gaming lab. If you haven't seen that high school, it's it's outstanding. So um they competed against other New Jersey high schools and finished the regular season with a record of 7 to1. They defeated they defeated Pleasantville High School in the quarterfinals of the playoffs after which they were invited to the finals for the uh for for our for our league at Georgian Court University in the semi-finals. We defeated uh Northern Valley Dammers to go up in in New Jersey by a score
022of three nothing but uh in the finals took second losing to Barnagate but took second overall in their final uh in their final competition. to recognize the students that are part of that varsity team. Uh Jefferson Medina, Sean [Applause] Downey, Carter Roman, Nicholas Rebellion, David W, and Scarlet Burz. [Applause] Okay, our next accolade is to our debate team. Our debate team has an annual competition that takes place here. This year was uh was uh over at the high school uh for winning the best team overall in the January 2025 debate team that uh against Piscato Magnet School, the club run by Mr. Carl Spart and assisted by a number of different employees, including our uh media specialist, Mr. Bracie. research prepared and practiced uh on the topics of uh pink tax and over-the-counter birth control.
023The individual teams competed in four debate rounds and all the students hard work and dedication paid off winning three of the four debate rounds against Piscatoaway magnet. A special congratulations to the following students. Uh as I'll mention some of them had re uh achieved special accolades but uh I will be calling up and recognizing the students who are part of any accolade. I'll recognize that as well. Uh Jaylen Kofi Kiana Andrew, Isabella, Chris [Applause] Zuba, Zoe Cabrera, Zoe was a best rebuttalist, Haley Mayos, Avery Green, Riley Fillian Officer Street best constructive award. Uh Evan Parales and [Applause] Shet. Congratulations. Congratulations. [Music] Congratulations. For our next uh we'd like to recognize um a student for our uh HOSA club, the Health Occupation Students of America. And to do that, we have our adviser, Dr. Karen Winger,
024come forward to recognize our student. [Applause] HOSA is a national association for those students who wish to pursue a career in the medical field. Fuja placed first in her competitive event at regionals, beating out students from other highly competitive colleges. Fa proud of you is an understatement. You really accomplished something wonderful. I'm so proud of you. [Applause] And I apologize. Some of my debate team members uh the page cut off and uh the rest of them were right here. So I apologize for that. That's what I was looking at. I'm like I have all these other certificates. Where did that go wrong? Congratulations. So uh Jaylen Kofi [Applause] Evan [Music] [Applause] Pales, Emily Morrison, [Applause] Savannah, Julia Adnau, [Applause] Yes. Aaron [Applause] Everel Owens. [Applause] Our model United Nations which is run by Mr. Mitten
025Shock continue their yearly success in competitions around the country. This year, the model UN team took home accolades at both Rucker's Model UN competition where the school won for best medium delegation as well as at the University of Chicago where multiple students earned a multitude of recognitions and distinctions. our uh our members from United Nations who had a place in those competitions. Elizabeth Ali Nash Riley [Applause] Million Aries G Kylie Chi, Chameleia [Applause] Chavez, Alice [Applause] Deng, Alice Al. Sally Hamada, Sabrina Lewis, Ashley [Applause] Morales, Alvin New Lea O'Neal, Chin [Applause] Oh dear. Ray Pascal Cameron Cameron Rasamus Red [Applause] Rasmusen. Thanks Terry Risby. [Applause] Lindselle Singh, Samantha Singh, Elvis Buba, Molly Van Wake, Alex Ward, Ben Wardell. [Applause] Okay. Board of Education, your model, United Nations. Congratulations. I'd like to call uh Mr. Philip
026Scaros, our adviser for the Tiger Tech. [Music] All right. Um, so I'm moderating for Tiger Technotics team 564 and we had a fun year. We did a Rockville uh district event and it was it was a tough fight. The robots had to build they had to have a lot of different um parts of them. So they had to be able to pick up a large like uh rubber ball for one thing to be able to toss it into a catching contraption. they had to pick up these cylinders of what's called algae. Um, it's very hard, you know, to do both of those things. And then at the end of the event, we were actually cast with reving onto a chain and being able to lift themselves up off the ground. So, we've been working on
027the robot since January. Um, ran into some snags here and there, but our team did a really good job this year. We were able to um make it into the playoffs, and we actually placed first in a for a team of 30 with two other schools. So um great job to those guys and we just want to recognize um all the members that contributed to it. So we had Malik Alam alum moti Savannah anesh Valerie [Applause] Antonio Banthony Petrio [Applause] Camila Chavez, Ari Darren Shang, Alex Dang, Alisa Dang, Hisha [Applause] Genskian, Christian Guerrero, [Applause] Bills, Kesha, Kelvin, Khan, Ryan Le, we Leo, Sabrino, Lousel, Jason [Applause] Miller. It takes a lot of people to build this robot. Hamzo Muhammad, Ashley Morales, Alvin Nen, David, Aana O'Neal, Mahau, Sear, Nathaniel Rapoli, [Applause] Lenzel Senna [Applause] Arjah
028[Applause] Shakin Van Wick Neil WS will w and Synia Zo [Applause] So, thank thank you um Mr. Pasco, thank you Mr. Ceru, thank you um Miss Kuru for all your help in supporting the club and also thank you to the board um for your you know uh just helping us build the build the club and just make it as best we can be. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Congratulations. [Music] Finally, let's call Miss Catherine down to recognize members of our club. [Music] the time these extraordinary students. Um in the summer, seven days of the summer, they actually took the time to build a float from the ground up and then they used it to educate all the people that were watching parade on what should and should not be recycled, which can be very confusing.
029like the cups that you get from the donuts, the plastic one. They like hold it up and then tell you recycling it or garbage and they won best in the whole. Okay. [Applause] No, it's okay. [Applause] Jawan, Freddy Shaw, Daniel [Applause] Schwarz, Jackson Desmond, Lauren Castro, Bill HS [Applause] Angelique. Thank you. [Applause] Congratulations. [Music] Congratulations. Congratulations. [Music] I don't want to brag, but we have the best students in the state. Proud of you. We have another presentation. Uh for those of you that don't recognize Sophia, Sophia has been here a couple of times before. Sophia was here last year when she served as the president of the sophomore class and now she's back here serving as the um president of the junior class. Uh she's not just just a president of the class, she's also
030a varsity soccer player, a varsity lacrosse player, a member of the National Honor Society, and a member of the uh Spanish National Honor Society. So, I'm sure you have another amazing report for us here when you're ready. Thank you. Good evening, Dr. Tany, Miss Melissa, and members of the board of education. My name is Sophia Vatab, and I'm the junior class president here to speak on behalf of the high school. I was recently named secretary of the National Honor Society, and captain of the varsity lacrosse team. I also play soccer for the varsity girls team, participate in the Spanish honor society, academic team, humanitarian club, student leadership, cancer awareness, key club, and your cool kids at the high school. Spring sports began began their preseason on March 10th and started their official seasons last week.
031Baseball has three wins and one loss. Golf has one win and five losses. Lacrosse has two wins and two losses. Softball is undefeated with three wins. Tennis has two wins and one loss. And the boys and girls track teams continue to work hard for their individual records. We wish the teams the best of luck for their future games. This past weekend, the Model UN team attended Rucker's Model Congress 2025 at Ruckers University, competing against top model UN teams. Due to the team's efforts and dedication, they earned outstanding delegation second place against 25 other schools. Stated adviser, Mr. Shaw. The award winners include Riley Billian, best delegate, first place. Ray Pascal, outstanding delegate, second place. Molly Vanwick, distinguished delegate, third place. Elizabeth Ali, position paper award, fourth place. Alex Wardell, position paper award, fourth place. Kylie
032Chi, position paper award, fourth place. And Ashley Morales, position paper award, fourth place. Tiger 24 was a great success on Saturday, March 22nd. Between children's activities and a volleyball tournament, $280 was raised to support families in needfield. Prom tickets were on sale last week. We have sold 300 tickets so far between students and their guests. The prom is Thursday, June 5th at the Marold in Somerset from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Cultural Heritage Day was held on Tuesday, April 1st. The event featured students cultures in the form of fashion shows, performances, artifacts, and food. Thank you, President Mary Springfield, Advisor Nightm, and the Jersey and Historian Club for making cultural heritage day an enjoyable event every year. This past weekend, drama club presented Charlie in the Chocolate Factory, and over 750 people attended. This year also
033marked the first time cast members visited local elementary schools to promote the show, performing two musical members to the elementary student body and leading them in an Oompa Loompa singalong. Many new attendees arrived from the elementary schools. Career Day is on April 10th during the school day hosted by the high school's counseling department. Career Day is only for 10th and 11th grade students based on statemandated requirements for college and career readiness. Both 10th and 11th grade students will be divided into four four groups indicated by their last name. There will be three time sessions in different locations throughout the building. The first at 8 to 9:00 a.m., the second at 9:20 to 10:20 a.m., and the last at 1:20 to 2:25 p.m. The evening of Thursday, April 10th, the counseling department is hosting college and
034career day fair from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the gym at the high school. Over 20 universities and colleges will be in attendance, including military recruiters, technical school opportunities, cosmetology, entertainment management, and other career services. The 2025 local scholarship application is now open. The deadline is Monday, April 14th. Seniors are strongly encouraged to apply for these local scholarships. We are excited to welcome back Tiger Farms. Starting next week, the Transition Academy will be running Tiger Farms. Visit them on Wednesday, April 16th, April 30th, and May 7th from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. for seasonal flowers, baked goods, and more. Tiger Cars is located at the South Eagle High School student parking lot. Spring break starts on Friday, April 18th through Friday, April 25th. We return on Monday, April 28th. St. Peters University Hospital will be presenting
035its program, Beyond Just Say Now, making informed choices on substance use. On Monday, April 28th, during the first block period, freshman and sophomores classes will attend the program in the auditorium. Juniors and seniors will attend during block two. The program was created to provide students with full instruction on the risks of smoking, vaping, alcohol consumption, and marijuana use. This program is critical for preparing our students to make informed decisions and avoid the risk associated with smoking, vaping, alcohol, and marijuana use. NJSLA testing will begin Tuesday, April 29th, and continue through Friday, May 2nd. Students in the ninth grade will be testing in ELA in their current math course. Some upper classmen may be testing. All 11th grade graders will be taking the 11th grade NJ and JSON science exam. The high school spring concert is
036scheduled for Thursday, May 1st, 2025, starting at 600 p.m. in the high school auditorium. We wish them much luck. AP testing begins the week of May 5th through May 16th. listed on the event schedule. The day of service is scheduled for Friday, May 30th, with a rain day of Monday, June 2nd, 2025. The high school has a lot of exciting events planned. The class of 2026 will be hosting the color run with proceeds going to the MRA Tarro Foundation. The junior class will also be planning a trip to the South Pico Recycling Center to design a mural. Thank you all for the time and opportunity to update you on the successful events at the high school this month. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week. Thank you. Thank you, Sophia. Wonderful report
037as always. Um, a reminder to our preschool age parents and guardians, preschool registration is now open. If you have a child who's turning three by October 1st, 2025 or a child who's turning four by October 1st, 2025, please register for the preschool program uh lottery today. You can find the information on our district website. Uh just to let you know, the registration opened on Monday. We have over a 100 applications that have been submitted as of now. Uh we also have a number of our families requesting information regarding summer programs. Our summer enrichment letters went home to grade eligible students along with the registration information. Title one and uh summer music letters have also been sent home for parents and guardians to review and to register. We have uh college boot camp scheduled for the
038end of August. And the district will also uh continue offering credit recovery for any high school student who needs to make up a class over the summer for second seat credit. These seats are available based on the endofear grades. Thank you. Thank break. Anybody wants to hustle out here wants to hang. It's up to you. Not yet. [Music] out here. Not here. [Music] She'll be a great job. She'll be a great job. Thank you very [Music] Hi. Thank you. Congratulations. [Music] All right, we're going to move along here. Any board member comments on presentations? Uh yeah, too bad they're all leaving. But I mean, wow. I mean, the Chos Kennedy kids did stand up there and read uh with with some jcularity about what they do in the school. It was just great. And you
039know, I could see them on the debate team and other things when they come up with the school system. Sophia did another excellent report. It's good to hear what's happening in the school. Um and the recognition for the students in the high school um extracurriculars I mean all their hard work after school in addition to the academics they do during school and extracurricular activities are also very important for the education and enjoyment of all students. It it builds friendships and it introduces them to lifelong experiences which they may not be able to get during the regular school day but they can pursue outside of the school day. And uh it's great to see the recognition and the large amount of kids that are participating and do have accomplishments. Thank you. Anybody else? Yes, sir. I
040just really want to echo what Bill said, but I also just want to say that the Kennedy kids that spoke, it's amazing because when you listen to parents or adults or grown-ups speak of um um and um not one um not one hesitation, they just they were so good and so for and so young, you know, I just thought they were really great. I just wanted to just mention that. Thank you. Uh just real quick, I'm not going to, you know, be duplicative of what they said, but I do want to also say thank you to the uh teachers who do the uh the advising for uh these clubs and the extracurricular activities. Our students wouldn't have the opportunity to do it if it wasn't for them and uh you know, it's really appreciate appreciated
041that they take their time uh to do that. So, I want to say thank you to them as well. Congratulations. Thank you, Doug. Anybody else? All right, move along. Any public comments on agenda items? Seeing none, resolution to approve prior board minutes. So move. Second. Any discussion? Mr. B. Yes. Mr. Esman. Yes. Mr. G. Yes. Mr. Py. Yes. Mr. Celberg. Yes. Mr. Chapman. Oh, thank Mr. Castio. We swam team. All right. Curriculum student curriculum student activities. Second [Music] discussion call Mr. B. Yes. Mr. Espen. Yes. Mr. Ginois. Mr. Py. Yes. Mr. Zelberg. Yes. Mr. Chapman. Yes. Mr. Casio. Yes. Policy. Nothing there. Personnel. So move. Second. Any discussion? Please vote. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Gakus. Yes. Mr. Pissy. Yes. Mr. Cesleberg. Yes. Mr. Chapman. Yes. Mr. Castia. Yes. Finance. Move. Hold on a second. A
042through X. So move. Second. All right. As part of the discussion portion, I'm going to say a few words. As you may know, the district is severely underfunded for the 2526 school year. While the district costs continue to rise above the board across the board, current state funding formula has resulted in a $1.6 million reduction in state aid from last year. The rise in expenditures and standard increases such as employee salaries and health benefits when compared to the restrictive 2% tax levy cap resulted in the district operating in a deficit for very first day from the very first day of budget preparation for the upcoming 2526 school year. Because we are unable to raise the amount of money the state calculates that the school district must spend to provide its students with a thorough and
043efficient education. We are considered to be under adequacy. Since we fall into the status, the state has notified us that we are one of approximately 300 districts in the state and we qualify for a one-time tax levy incentive option to close the gap in the district's budget. This means we are able to apply to New Jersey Commission for of Education for permission to increase the tax levy in order to meet the standard. Tonight, we'll be voting on a resolution to request permission from the commissioner to raise the tax levy levy to the maximum allowable amount for the 202526 school year in order to reach adequacy. While this will result in increased taxes for the South Planefield taxpayers, we assure you that we did not make this decision lightly. However, we were simply left with no
044other choice. Without doing so, we will be required to to increase class sizes, cut programs, eliminate numerous faculty, staff, and administrative positions, which would be devastating to the district, not only next year, but far into the future. Given our limited options, we feel that this is a necessary step in order to continue to provide our students with a highquality education, giving them the greatest likelihood of success for the future. to not take advantage of this opportunity no matter the consequences and or backlash would be irresponsible. Thank you. Anybody else? Roll call please. Mr. B. Yes. Uh I'm standing on myself on letter J. Should I decide to go down to the convention on paper myself? Mr. Espen. Yes. Mr. Giannis. Yes. I'm standing on myself. Mr. Mr. Peny. Yes. Mr. Senberg. Yes. Mr. Chapman. Uh,
045yes. I'll abstain on myself. If I go to the convention, I'll pay. Mr. Cassio. Yes. Also, a letter J. I I abstain. I'll pay myself if I attend. All right. Any public comments? Hello, Scott Miller. Um, just want to take a second and um, just, you know, my daughter's here um, in the play this weekend. They did an outstanding job. Um, you heard we had a lot of people come in attendance. Um, but I just want to take a chance to just publicly thank the administration here at the school. They gave an awful lot of support um, both in time and materials. um the print shop um to giving us time um to work on things on the stage um moving some classes to do some independent work while we were getting things done on
046the stage uh with Miss Oie and Miss Carl. Um so I just wanted to say thank you for that time Mr. Boscolo um the kids had a phenomenal time was a great show and look forward to doing one again next year. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Miller. Any board member comments? Seeing none. I got one. [Music] I just want to thank Mr. Miller for coming up there and saying something positive. Very rare that we have somebody come up to that podium and actually have something nice to say. So, thank you very much, Mr. Miller. Anybody else? All right. At this time, we're going to an executive session. uh matters attorney client privilege will be discussed. No action will be taken. Should be half hour. Second. All in favor? Bye. Miss you.