001Good evening and welcome to the annual reorganization meeting of the board of education. Today is January 8th, 2026. Adequate notice of disorganization meeting setting forth time, date, and location has been provided in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act on January 8th, 2025 by permanently posting a copy on the exterior and lobby bulletin boards of the offices of the board of education, which is a public place reserved for such announcements. Transmitting a copy of this notice to the record tap into wayne.net net, the municipal clerk, and the district website. Please stand for the flag salute and moment of silence. >> I pledge algiance 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. Okay,
002thank you. Moving on with the agenda, I will be reading the results of the schoolboard election held on November 4th, 2025 in order of the highest number of votes received by the top three candidates. Mrs. Barbara Regaloso 9,837 Mr. Keith Haymon 8,957 Mr. Joseph Agnes 6,470. At this time, we will proceed with the administration of the oath of office to the newly elected board members. The oath will be administered in alphabetical order, beginning with Mr. Joseph Agnes. I would like to now invite Mr. Agnes to join me near the podium along with his family and friends as I administer the oath of office. Yeah, we're on. >> Okay, please your raise your right hand. Oh, sorry. >> Please repeat after me. I state your name. I, Joseph Agnes, >> do solemnly swear >> that I
003will support the Constitution >> of the United States >> and the Constitution >> of the State of New Jersey >> and that I will bear truth faith >> I will bear true faith >> and allegiance >> to the same >> and to the governments >> to the governments >> established in the United States >> and this state >> in this state >> under the authority of the people. >> So help me God. >> I state your name. I, Joseph Agnes, >> do solemnly swear >> that I possess the qualifications >> prescribed by law >> for for the office >> for the office >> of member of a board of education >> of member of the board of education >> and am not disqualified >> and I'm not disqualified >> as a voter >> pursuant to
004>> RS19 col4.1 >> RS19 col4.1 1 >> and I'm not disqualified >> due to conviction of crime >> or offense >> listed in >> NJSA >> 18A12-1 >> and that I will faithfully >> impartially >> and justly perform >> all the duties >> of that office >> according to the best of my ability ability >> according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. >> Congratulations. >> Thank [applause] you. >> And you can take a seat up here. >> Do you want to take pictures? [clears throat] >> Joe, let first get pictures. >> [applause] >> Now, I'd like to ask Mr. Keith Haymon and his family and friends. And we have Mayor Verggano here tonight to swear. Mr. Haymon. >> Mayor. >> Yes. Thank you. [laughter] >> So cute. She's >> She's
005ready. >> She's trained. >> She's adorable with her little necklace. >> Hi, honey. >> You going to reach down low [laughter] step. >> So, before I administer the oath of office, I just want to take a moment and thank the members of the board of education for all the time that they give up. It is much appreciated by the community. Uh to the families of our new members, take a picture tonight for the before and because there will be an after picture and it's not going to be the same. That's for sure. >> There's a lot of time putting [laughter] I can say the same for me, right? >> I know >> there's a lot of time and effort that goes into being a board member that really isn't appreciated by the general public. And
006I say that as a former board member. So I salute all of you for all that you do. Uh, as I've said uh just on January 1st in my state of the township address, people want to move to Wayne for the schools and that's one of the reasons that our home values are so high and people get into bidding wars to come to Wayne and we're very proud of that and we want that to continue. So, I have said enough and Keith is ready. Whoops, we lost the Bible there for Hi. And the Bible is back. It's It's close enough. It's in the vicinity. Whoops. Now we dropped the Bible. >> Okay, we're good. This is the longest oath of office I've ever had. Are you ready, sir? >> Yes, sir. >> I state your
007name. I, Kam, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution >> of the United States >> and the Constitution >> of the State of New Jersey >> and that I will bear true faith >> and allegiance to the same >> and to the governments established >> and to governments established >> in the United States >> and in this state >> under the authority of the people. >> So help me God. So help me God. >> And we're going to do this one more time. This is the fun part. I Please state your name. I, Keith Aman, >> do solemnly swear >> that I possess >> the qualifications >> prescribe by law >> for the office of >> member of board of education >> and am not disqualified >> as a voter >>
008pursuant to >> RS19 col4.1 >> rs94.1 >> am not disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense. >> Am not disqualified due to conviction of a crime or offense >> listed in NJSA >> 18A >> 12-1 >> and that I will faithfully >> impartially >> and justly perform >> all of the duties >> of that office >> according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. Congratulations my [applause] >> congratulations. >> Thank you very much. You did a great job. >> Thank you. >> Very good. >> So, mayor, how many years ago were you sitting up here? >> Shh. >> You don't have to answer. >> I can't do the math. It's >> I know. >> It's a big number. >> Take a picture. This is the before picture. [laughter] >>
009Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. Thank you very much. [applause] >> I need you to sign that tomorrow. >> Sure. >> I think he's here. Thank you. Thanks. >> Thank you so much. >> Now we'll have Mrs. Barbara Regaloso. We have Judge Romana here tonight to swear in Mrs. Regaluso. Barbara, do you want the Bible? >> And here's your oath. >> Yes. Oh, you there's fashion. [laughter] >> Um, >> hi. >> Nice. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Well, first of all, it's just an honor to be able to perform this uh service. >> Thank you. >> For a very dear friend and a family who's been very close to our family for many, many years. So, congratulations on your big victory. >> And we'll swear you in. >> So, I >> I >> do
010so well. See you. I, Barbara Regaloso, >> do solemnly swear >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> that I will support the Constitution of the United States >> and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and and the Constitution of the State of New Jersey >> and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. >> And that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same >> and to the governments established in the United States >> and to the governments established in the United States >> and in this state >> under the authority of the people. >> So help me God. So help me God. >> Do we read the other one? >> Do you? Okay. So again, I >> I Barbara Regaloso >>
011do solemnly swear >> that I possess the qualifications >> prescribed by law >> for the office of member of the board of education >> for the office of member of the board of education. >> Um I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to RS194-1. I am not disqualified as a voter pursuant to RS19-4-1. >> And am not disqualified due to the conviction of a crime or offense. >> Am not disqualified due to a conviction of a crime or offense. >> Listed in NJSA 18A12-1 >> listed in NJSA 18A-1 >> 12-1. and that I will faithfully >> And that I will faithfully >> impartially >> and justly perform >> all the duties of that >> office >> according to the best of my ability. >> So help me God. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >>
012Proud of you. [applause] >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Take pictures. >> She does. >> She has it. Thank you. We will now proceed with roll call. Mr. Agnes >> here. Mr. Eloquin >> here. >> Mr. Faber >> here. >> Mr. Haymon >> here. >> Mrs. L Leandre >> here. Mr. Ryan >> here. >> Mr. Paul, I apologize. >> Okay, [laughter] still here. >> You're the one with two first names. >> He answered. >> You did answer. Mr. Pavlac >> here. >> Mr. Pacos, >> present. >> And Mrs. Rialosso here. At this time, I will entertain a nomination for president of the board of education. Is there a nomination? >> I, Barbara Regalos, would like to nominate Don Pavlac as the president of the Wayne board of education. >> Any others? [clears throat] Sec. >>
013Second, Mr. Faber. Any others? Okay, since there's only one nominations, I will do roll call vote if that's okay. Mr. Faber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Haymon. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lamandry. >> Yes. >> Mr. Paul. >> Yes. >> Mr. Pacos. >> Yes. >> Mr. Agnes. >> Yes. >> Mr. Eloquin. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Riggaloso. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Pavlac? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Congratulations. Thank you everyone and I appreciate the uh support of all the board members and their faith in me to lead the boards coming here. >> We'll now take nominations for vice president. >> I'd like to >> Mrs. Mandre >> I'd like to nominate Barbara Regaloso for vice >> Mr. Alquin. >> Thank you. >> Any other nominations? >> Nominations are closed. Roll call. >> Mr. Haymon. >> Yes. >>
014Mrs. Leandry. >> Yes. >> Mr. Paul. >> Yes. >> Mr. Paracos. >> Yes. >> Mr. Agnes. >> Yes. >> Mr. Eloquin. >> Yes. >> Mr. Faber. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mrs. Riggaloso. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Pavlac. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Congratulations. >> Thank you. Congratulations, [applause] >> Mrs. Demarco. Any revisions to the agenda? >> Uh, yes. Yes, we have one revision under organization meeting L administrative item number nine which is the approval of administrative positions for the 2526 school year. We are remove for number 14 safety officer. We are removing Desi Young III and adding Rosanna Guerrero. Thank you. At this time we will open this portion of the meeting is open to citizens for comment on agenda items only and general items. We're only going to have one public session tonight. Uh
015public comment session tonight. Residents are asked to state their name, address, and subject matter. Comments may be limited to three minutes per person. Members of the public are discouraged from speaking negatively about an employee or a student. Board bears no responsibility for comments made by the public. Comments regarding employees or students cannot be legally responded to by the board. Other comments may be responded to tonight or at a subsequent meeting under old business. Do I have a mover? Move to open the public session. >> Mr. Pacos, Mr. Paul, anyone from the public wishing to speak? >> Uh, I believe so. >> I don't think. >> No, I don't think so. >> Mr. Marco, is it on? No. >> Yeah. Okay. Good evening, superintendent and members of the board. My name is Pete Opahori. I have
016provided each of you a two-page letter documenting what believed to be an improper reduction in force and subsequently campaign of harassment aimed at foreign facing my reg resignation. Most disturbingly, HR recently dispatched two individuals who took over my role to my private residence. They trespassed into my apartment building, Mountain View Crossing, and approached my front door to serve a rice letter, a blatant act of intimidation that crossed over professionally and legal boundaries. I am here tonight backed by my union with full support and ask for one thing that you read my testimony and launch a full independent investigation into these actions. I am ready to answer any questions you have. Thank you, Peter Alpahari. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Miss Pots. Good evening. >>
017Hello. Uh my name is Heather Pototts. I'm the president of the Wayne Education Association. Um and just on behalf of the WA, I wanted to say congratulations to our new board members, Mr. Haymon and Mr. Agnes. To our reelected board member, Mrs. Rigaloso, and congratulations to each of you as well for board president and vice president. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Mr. Troy, welcome. >> Good afternoon or good evening. [clears throat] Um, so my name is Joe Troy. Um, I live at 12 Fairview Terrace here in Wayne. Um, first things first, I'd like to begin by congratulating Barbara, Joe, and Keith on being elected to represent Wayne Township um, at the board of education. Thank you for stepping forward to continue to serve uh the community
018at a time where public education faces significant challenge significant and complex challenges. We appreciate your willingness to lead, listen, and make difficult decisions in the best interest of our student. I also want to extend a sincere thank you to Matt Gordano and Ryan Battershell for their service over the past three years. Board service is demanding, often thankless, and requires countless hours of work behind the scenes. Your time, effort, and commitment to Wayne's students and families are truly appreciated. As we look forward, um this board and this community will be navigating a challenging landscape. Wayne is facing bud a budget deficit, the impact of a failed referendum, um, and anticipated results of an impending demographic study, and the negotiation of a new teacher contract during this term. These issues are going to are not unique to
019Wayne, but they place real pressure on our local district and demand thoughtful, informed, and collaborative decision-making. Uh now more than ever, it's critical for our community to understand what the school board is and what it's not responsible for, how decisions are made and what constraints exist um at the state and local levels. An informed and engaged community strengthen accountability and that helps us that to make sure that our discussions remain focused on what matters, our children's education and well-being. I urge everyone here and those listening beyond this room to stay informed, ask questions, attend meetings, and get involved. Our elected officials should be working as hard for our children as we do every day as parents, caregivers, educators, and community members, and meaningful engagement from the community helps to make that possible. Thank you very
020much, and good luck. >> Thanks, Joe. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Seeing no one move to close. >> Mr. Faber, Mr. Paul. >> This time I'd ask uh to move the agenda. >> Mrs. Mrs. Regaloso. >> Second, >> Mr. Faber. Any discussion on the agenda? >> Yeah, >> Mr. Faber. I mean, I'm sorry, Mr. Bazakos. You know, for uh item uh L1, um just want the finance committee uh to, you know, think about doing an RFP uh on a possible new depository >> that will be moved that will be moved to the committee um and also will be moved to our uh RFPs as we go out within the next two months for RFPs. It's long overdue. Um, and after CO and everything else, I think it's time maybe we can negotiate
021some better deals. >> Agreed. >> Absolutely. Thank you. Any other comments, discussion? Seeing none, roll call, please. >> Mr. Agnes, >> here. >> Mr. Eloquin. >> Yes. >> Mr. Faber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Haymon. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leandry. >> Yes. >> Mr. Paul? >> Yes. >> Mr. Proacos? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mrs. Regaloso. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Pav. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Any >> any old business? Any new business? Board member comments. >> You may. Okay. So, Mr. Faber, we'll start down by you. >> I just want to say welcome to uh you know, Keith and Joe. Glad to have you guys on board. We do have a lot that we want to accomplish this year and you know you guys are going to come and jump right into
022it. Uh there really isn't a slow period except you know maybe during the summer but we get into this you know we got a lot of things to a lot of decisions to make and we get right into budget season. So you know you're going to get a lot more gray like I did in the last few years. But it's really great to have a team here that I think we're all going to work very well together. I've spoken to both you guys. I know where your hearts are and what you're here for. So I think we're going to have a really great year this year. And um I just want to thank everybody for coming out. >> Thank you, Mr. Bakus. >> Yeah, I just want to say happy new year to everyone uh
023our students, our educators, our staff, and everyone uh in our community. I hope the new year started off well for everyone. And um just want to say uh welcome to the new members, Keith and Joe, and welcome back, Barbara. And uh let's let's get to work. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? Mrs. Regalosa, >> if I may take a moment to thank the Wayne community for letting me serve on the board for another term. Thank you for letting me do what I love to do. I really enjoy working with everyone to improve our education. To our new board members, Joe and Keith and your families love um I'm so hopeful and excited to have these two guys on our on our staff. They have such great ideas. And just speaking with them lately, I mean
024the because just I'm just I'm hopeful for this year. Um, happy new year to our community. We're hard at work for our students, our teachers, and our administrators. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Yeah, I'd just like to say welcome and Barbara. >> Thanks. And um our district is huge and has lots of like Mark said, lots of things to conquer this year, but I think everybody up here on the board um we work well together and we welcome you guys again [clears throat] and we have a lot to accomplish, but keeping kids and the education system here in the forefront has always been the focus of this board that I know. So, and I'm so proud to sit here with them. And so we press on and we continue to do what
025we do best, keeping the kids in the forefront of our endeavors. Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Well, I'll end up uh finish up for the evening. Uh first, I want to thank thank the board for their uh trust in me to to selecting me as president for the board. I'm truly honored and I appreciate the confidence you show in me. You've shown in me and I'm proud to serve alongside each and every one of you and I'm looking forward to a strong and productive year together. I also want to take a moment to welcome Mr. Agnes, Mr. Haymon, and welcome back Mrs. Regaloso. Um, we're glad you're all here and we appreciate your willingness to step forward and serve the community. I look forward to working with each and every one of you. To
026our superintendent and the administration team, thank you for your leadership and your steady work you do each and every day to keep this district moving forward. Your role is critical and we value your partnership between the board of education and all those in administration and we that support our buildings, our staff and most importantly support our students. To our teachers and staff, thank you for everything you do each and every day. You are the heart of this district. You make a difference every day, often in ways that the public never sees. You support your students academically, socially, emotionally, and you do it with the dedication and professionalism. On behalf of the board, I thank you for this. To our parents, guardians, and community members, thank you for being here and staying engaged. Your involvement, your
027support, it matters. Strong schools are built with the community and the district that works together. And I want you to know that this board values open communication and partnership. As we begin this year, I want to share a positive update. Financially, we are not in the same position that we were in last year. We're not in a great position, but we're not where we were last year. That gives us an opportunity to plan more thoughtfully and strengthen what works and stay focused on the long-term progress. And while we have some important challenges ahead, I view them as opportunities to a plan smart and to build for the future. Over the next several years, we will continue to see growth in our student population. We will continue to address the aging infrastructure and we will continue
028to look for ways to expand and maximize classroom space so that we can maintain the quality education our community expects and deserves. Another important situation we face is the increase in enrollment driven by a large scale by the large-scale developments we see in our community. Within the next month, we will be uh looking at our demographic report that we've uh authorized to be done and we'll be reporting that out to the community. That growth is a sign that our town remains a place that people want to live and also demands for our schools. We'll be we will be tackling this situation immediately and looking looking closely at enrollment trends, project uh projected developments, impacts, and what that means for our staffing, facilities, and classrooms. We're going to stay ahead of it. We're not going to
029chase it. We're well behind. We're well behind beyond chasing now. Now it's time for action. One of our first major projects for priorities for the upcoming year is the budget. The budget is more than numbers. It reflects values of the districts and the priorities that we set for our students, staff and programs. This year we will I will be speaking to the board asking them to consider several community committees including different committees for budget and looking forward future committees. I think it's a val it's valuable when community members can learn more about the budget and how it's built, asking questions and helping us through the priorities. This kind of involvement strengthens our transparency, builds our trust, and helps everyone better understand the decisions we make. At the same time, we all know one of the
030biggest uncertainties every district faces is state aid. We will continue to monitor that closely and plan responsibly as we've done in the past and make sure that we are positioned to respond to the changes while protecting the stability of our district and the programs our students rely on every day. As president, my goal is to help the board work as a team, keep our meetings focused and respectful, and support a positive working relationship with our administration and superintendent. I want the public to see a board that listens, communicates clearly, and stays focused on what matters, student success. So, here is what I hope I will see from uh here's what I hope you will see from us in the upcoming year. A steady focus on academic excellence, student growth, continued responsibility with financial planning and
031transparency, thoughtful planning for enrollment, facilities, and classroom space, open communication, and a strong partnership with the community. We have a lot to be proud of in this district and we have a lot to look forward to as well. I'm excited for this year to come. I'm committed to doing this job the right way with professionalism, respect, and a focus on what's best for our students. I thank you again for your trust, your support, and your commitment to our schools and for each and every board member. We are here for you there. We are the people you elected to be the voice, but that doesn't mean that ends here with us. We want input from you and that's why we'll be moving forward. And one of our goal, we were going to be setting goals. We
032have a retreat set for January 24th. We're going to be setting goals for the board. What does the goals this board needs to accomplish this year? And we are going to move forward in a positive way for each and every one of us. I thank each and every one of you for coming tonight. And again to our new board members and our returning board members, thank you to our sitting board members. Now, thank you for the time that you give to this community and to this district. And at the end of the day, you all have one goal, our students. Each and every one of you. Thank you. I'll take a motion to adjurnn. Motion, >> Mr. Favor, Mrs. Regulos. Thank you everyone. Good night.