001Is that ready to go? Another one. Is it Mr. Is it Mr. Okino volcano? Volcano. Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't get this. to hit play on this. Yeah. Good evening everyone. The executive session of the Wayne Board of Education public works session meeting of April 3rd was convened in the conference room of the Wayne board of education 15 Ellis Drive Wayne, New Jersey. Statement of compliance setting forth day, time, and location was read with the requirements of the open public meetings act. Roll call was taken. The meeting was recessed and is now being reconvened. ask everyone to please stand for the flag salute and a moment of silence. Um during during our moment of silence tonight, I'd ask you all to please remember uh Gail Oaken, a former board member who passed away uh last
002week. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you everyone. Please be seated. Dr. Tobec. So, good evening everybody. April and May are important months when we take some time to recognize our district employees and programs. So, um next week we'll be celebrating National Assistant Principal Week. We're incredibly thankful for the tremendous contributions of our assistant principles at Wayne schools that play a vital role in shaping the daily environment of our schools and are essential to the access success of our students, teachers, and the entire school community. Your dedication, hard work, and leadership are key to our continued success. A heartfelt thank you to all of our assistant principles for your
003unwavering commitment to education, leadership, and the achievement in our schools. April is also National School Library Month, and the theme for 2025 is drawn to the library. Our school libraries and media centers serve as vibrant hubs for various learning activities um with school librarians and media specialists managing these dynamic spaces. Tomorrow is National School Librarian Day, a time to honor the dedicated professionals who ensure the smooth operation of our school libraries. These librarians invest countless hours organizing and maintaining library while also providing a crucial support to help students access the resources they need to continue with their education. They foster an environment where learning thrives every single day of the year. And Mr. Mr. Pavle will be reading a proclamation in a few minutes. Also, par profofessional day was yesterday, April 2nd. In Wayne Township
004public schools, our PAR professionals are an essential part of the team dedicated to supporting and enhancing the educational experience of every student. Their unwavering commitment, hard work, and compassion ensure that students receive the individualized attention and support that they need to thrive. From assisting in the classroom to providing crucial support for students with special needs, power professionals play a vital role in fostering an inclusive, nurturing learning environment. Today, we celebrate their invaluable contributions and extend our heartfelt appreciation for the difference they make every day in the lives of our students and for the broader school community. Thank you for your dedication, passion, and tireless effort. So, I understand that some of you may be here tonight to express concern about the contract that was canceled with the Wayne Police Department for our class three officers
005and our school resource officers. Um, of course we everyone knows we are facing a difficult budget situation this year and today President Pavlac released a press release on our district website. While specific security details cannot be publicly disclosed, there's an effort to work collaboratively and Mr. Pavlac will speak about that important issue later tonight. Few notes about the agenda for members of the public. First of all, we continue to receive a steady stream of retirements from our longtime staff members. We have five additional retirements. For those of you who follow our meetings, you saw the board of ed recognize our longtime business administrator, Bill Moffett, who is now retired. Tonight, we welcome Dr. Vincent Okino, who will be working with us as our interim business administrator and board secretary. So, welcome, Dr. Okino. Thank you.
006[Applause] Also, the public will notice that we're seeking approval from the board of ed to submit a grant for additional funds from the trees for schools tree planting program. If awarded, our tree planting efforts are 100% covered by the department of environmental protection. And we're looking to plant trees trees throughout the district to replace many trees that we've lost due to the ashbor beetle infestation as well as areas where we have poor drainage. And also we hope to use some trees for security screening for our students in common play areas. Okay. So each year the counseling department holds a counseling showcase where our counselors um share some aspects of their work directly with the board of ed and with the community and anyone who attends the board meeting where they're having their counseling showcase. This
007year we're doing something a little bit different in that our counselors felt very strongly they wanted to share information directly with the community through a presentation that you're about to view. Schools are very different places when compared to even 10 years ago and much of that has to do with technology. So tonight our counselors will be discussing a critical issue which is the impact of social media on our students. It's from their perspective. So to get started, I'd like to introduce Jennifer Montana, our supervisor of health and wellness, and she in turn will introduce our counselors. [Applause] Jen, you have to go to the mic. [Music] So, thank you Dr. Tobac for your introduction and thank you to the board of ed for providing us the opportunity and the space to share this information with
008all of you tonight. We are thrilled to have so many parents and community members here and we are excited to talk with you about some of the impacts and concerns surrounding social media. These challenges have been seen at every level throughout our district. Uh and we have school counselors from every level here tonight to make sure that this information is shared. I'd like to take a moment to introduce them before we get started. From the elementary level, from Tunis Elementary, we have Kristen Valencia. From Ryerson Elementary, we have Crystal Olsen. From AP Tune Elementary, we have Christine Cordera. From George Washington Middle School, we have Jacqueline Murphy. Uh, from the high schools, from Wayne Valley High School, we have Katie Liola. And from Wayne Hills High School, we have Jonathan Roman. [Applause] Okay. All right.
009So, before talking specifically about technology concerns, we wanted to pause here first for a moment to highlight the overlap between social media and online concerns um and harassment, intimidation, and bullying. These numbers are presented together in a chart format for easier reading. This does not necessarily mean that all of these cases and numbers are correlated with each other. You can see here the upward trend in HIV cases in the four years since 2020 versus the four years prior. The second chart indicates the number of HIV instances with additional review needed as a result, whether in the form of a crisis review or collaboration with law enforcement agencies. This type of collaboration might arise in situations involving inappropriate photos or videos being shared online. The online originating column indicates cases that were not school-based. They originated
010online and they were perpetuated online. They had nothing to do with school, but they needed to be investigated according to state law as they began to impact the school day. So, here is a sobering thought. Looking at these numbers, roughly 18%, that's about one in five of all HIV cases from the past three years would not have happened without social media. On the previous slide, we indicated that some of the HIV cases necessitated a crisis intervention review. While the focus of this presentation is not on the crisis is not only on the crisis process, we include the trend data here. We will address technology specifically in the next few slides, but we want to ensure the parents have a full and complete picture of the mental health trends among today's youth. and the tools to
011support them. This is unique to this generation and we need to be able to provide appropriate support. The potential dangers of social media use are increasing exponentially yearbyear. Even in cases that do not rise to the level of crisis intervention, we know that there are other associated and welldocumented dangers associated with social media use. Depression and anxiety are two of the most referenced, but it's more important to know that these conditions can be made worse by some of the things that we see on the other slides. Some of these can look like each other as well. For example, what may seem like a new lack of attention may also be connected to poor sleep or increased thoughts of anxiety or depression. Low self-esteem especially can stem from comparison to others or feeling like you can't
012measure up to someone else's highlight reel, comparing yourself or feeling isolated from other peers or friends. All of this can contribute to a downturn in emotional health. And we're seeing this daily at every um age level. Experts often compare the internet and social media to a playground. In real life, when we take a child to a playground, we are aware of their surroundings. We can see how many people are there. We can be aware of suspicious body language or other potential concerns. And we can see how people are interacting with each other. As adults, we recognize that there are things we pay attention to that our children, not having the benefit of all our life experience, will not pay attention to. This can sometimes lead to instances of overp protection versus underpro. We understand that
013these statistics may seem like fear-mongering and that plenty of children will interact online and not encounter a predator. We approach this from an awareness perspective of having knowledge of who is being allowed to access your children. We know that by now uh many of you are aware of the ubiquity of these platforms. We uh do want to mention that platforms like Roblox or Among Us are primarily gaming sites. Um but there are settings that do allow for general interaction with larger in larger games with unknown individuals, including chat features. If you do not wish for your child to use the game in this way, be sure to take a look at the settings and make sure that the settings align with your family's preference. When student concerns impact the school day, the district offers a
014variety of supports and resources. All of our schools have professional school counselors who conduct individual and group sessions as needed. Child study teams also have professional school psychologists and school social workers who provide additional mental health and counseling support. Individual buildings may have their own initiatives as well. for example, a club like well-beings at the high school, therapy dogs, and utilizing things like the peace path for teaching conflict resolution. We also partnered with community groups and state agencies to encourage wraparound care for families in need. NJ4S especially has been instrumental in providing consent-based care to students throughout our district. We also know that much can happen outside of school. If you want to add extra layers of security or protection, there are many options. Many of us are already familiar with the use of firewalls
015and filters from our workplaces, but these features are also available for use on home networks as well. Firewalls may be hardware, software, or cloud-based and are designed to block unwanted access while still allowing outward communication. In contrast, a filter can prevent access either by blocking websites that you identify in advance or since we know this is a moving target by looking at the content of a website in real time and block it in line with your settings that you set ahead of time. Some services can be purchased, but your internet service provider offers some of these enhanced parental protections at no extra cost. We have provided links here for all the major internet service providers in our area. This presentation will be posted on the district website for your reference if you want to revisit
016it and be able to visit those links. One of the most important action pieces we wanted to highlight for you tonight is the take it down website. If anyone should find themselves in the difficult situation of having inappropriate or explicit images or videos shared online, you may have some recourse and a shot of removing them from the internet. Take it down is anonymous and can take steps to remove the content from some online plat platforms. We are also sharing general recommendations on how to create a family screen time plan. This includes ideas like keeping screens out of bedrooms at night to promote restful sleep and planning family activities together. Watching a movie or series as a family can also be a way to open up conversations that may be difficult or uncomfortable to start. If
017there's a TV show or book that's trending in popular culture, talk to your kids about it and ask for their ideas. These are great ways to keep open communication flowing between parents and children. So, where do we go from here? We've included a few guiding questions as a district that we can consider. A review of policy could be considered or possibly the creation of a district goal that encompasses an age appropriate coordinated effort to increase education on issues of cyber security and digital safety. Cell phone policies have been a topic of discussion in several New Jersey towns, including Cherry Hill, New Middletown, and Ramsey. We've also linked to uh these articles that summarize these changes. Uh some districts have taken it upon themselves to implement policies or adjustments. Um potentially that could be considered, you
018know, in conjunction with the age appropriate coordinated effort to increase awareness of cyber security, digital safety. Okay. So, we are happy to answer any questions that the board may have. We also understand there is much board business still to come tonight. Uh parents, if you have questions or would like more information on any of the resources or information that was shared tonight, remember that this presentation will be posted on the district website. You can also reach out to your child's counselor with any questions. Uh we wanted to include this upcoming event. The gathering spot is a district goal this year. We invite you to attend the upcoming sessions uh based upon which elementary and middle schools your children attend. These three presentations are geared towards elementary and middle school parents. There's one held at each
019middle school with the intention of also providing the information to parents at the elementary schools that feed into each individual uh middle school. Thank you to all of the school counselors, child study team members, instructional and support staff, and the administrators who provide direct support uh for students and for their families in our school every day. And thank you again to the board of ed for your time tonight. Thank you. Any questions from the board, Harry? No, I know I received an email about the George Washington Middle School event coming up on uh Monday, April 7th. So, if you want to please I know it was on the board just in really tiny letters. So, if you want to please uh advertise for it or mention that event and the other ones. Yes, absolutely. Um
020I'm maybe this will work to get us back. You're right. The font is a little bit small. So, the gathering spot um this presentation will be delivered by two Wayne Township elementary school counselors. Um it is a a presentation that they've put together based on work that has been done, you know, by multiple summer committees of the school counselors. They've also added a lot of new and really relevant information that goes a little bit beyond what we talked about tonight and offers a little bit more of the, you know, the science behind it and some tools and actionable tips for parents. Um it is obviously a longer presentation than we are able to share. Um and the gathering spot is an appropriate forum for that. So, we encourage all of you to attend. Um, George
021Washington Middle School is on Monday the 7th. We have one at Anthony Wayne for their elementary schools and parents on the 24th. And on the 28th, we're hosting the same event at Skyler Kfax. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] So then there's just one last thing I have to report. It's data related to harassment, intimidation, and bullying incidents in the Wayne Township public schools. Um, since the last time I reported, there have been 12 incidents of HIV, and only one of those cases were deemed to be actual HIV cases, which is a very good percentage. Thank you. That concludes my report. Um, I would just like to start off tonight just to and I'm sure why many of you are here. The board and the town are in conversation with each other right now
022concerning the security of the schools. It isn't a good place. I can't say more than that right now. I'm not going to divulge any security plans or whatever, but I can tell you at this point, as the mayor said last night, we are in a really good place and everything is looking very positive. So, I just want to start off by telling you that. Excuse me, Dr. Quino. Uh, revisions to the agenda, please. Yes, we have. We have under item number one, we're including the the uh resignation of principal pas. You need to use your mic. Okay, let me help you out here. Okay, mic is on. There we go. We got it. Great. Thank you. Okay, we're adding to item number one, the res resignation, I believe, of uh uh oh, it's a retirement
023for Kenneth Bezoli. And also on item 10, T10, the approval of the extracurricular advisor. We're adding panelist Stonewall and the uh I believe that's the only [Music] ones. Excuse me. Of the approval of the employment separation agreement and release of letter of resignation. I don't have the employee number 6650. Employee number 50. Thanks. That's it. Thank you. This portion of the meeting is open to citizen for comment on agenda items only. Residents are asked to state their name, address, and subject matter. Comments are limited to three minutes per person. Members of the public are discouraged from speaking negatively about an employee or student. The 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
024at a subsequent meeting under old business. Do I have a mover, Mr. Jeno, Mr. Batter? Anyone from the public wishing to speak on an agenda item? [Music] Good evening. Laura Walker. I'm a Wayne resident and also a mom. I have my two kids here. Um I know that not much can be divulged about the current plan for the safety of the kids in this school. Ma'am, that's not an agenda item tonight. You have to wait to the public portion. That's what I thought. Okay. Sorry. You're welcome. Harry seeing no one I move to close. Mr. Pacis, Mr. Paul have a mover on the agenda or Mr. Batter. Any comments, discussion? Seeing none, roll call. Matt and Ryan and Mr. Battershell. Good. Yes. Mr. Alquinn. Yes. Mr. Badishell. Yes. Mr. Faber. Yes. Mr. Gordano. Yes. Mr.
025Uh, Mr. Paul, yes. Mr. Pavle, yes. And Mr. Pacos, yes. Motion carries. Motion carried. This time, um, Mr. Jardano, read a proclamation. I'd be honored to. Uh, we have a procl excuse me, we have a proclamation for school library month for April 2025. Whereas the school libraries to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information. And whereas the school library media specialist role is to provide the leadership with expertise necessary to ensure that school library is an integral part of the instructional program of the school. And whereas the board of education has entrusted the school librarian in each school to teach the skills of locating and using information through traditional resources and new technologies to provide literature appreciation activities and to guide and encourage content and recreational reading to every student.
026And whereas lifelong learning begins as a systemical excuse me systemically developed through the school library uh curriculum of elementary and secondary schools. And whereas a school library contributes to the individual growth and development of all students while fostering both excellence and equity in education. And whereas the school library media specialists of the Wayne Township public schools have dedicated themselves to work for quality school libraries for all students. Now therefore be resolved that the board of education of Wayne Township public schools does hereby proclaim April 2025 as school library month in all the public schools and calls upon school administrators, teachers, students, and citizens of Wayne Township to recognize and support this action and to participate throughout the month of April and the celebration of school library month. Thank you. Thank you. This portion of the
027meeting is open to citizens for comment on any topic. Residents are asked to state their name, address, and subject matter. Comments may be limited to five minutes per person. Members of the public are discouraged from speaking negatively about an employee or a student. The 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? Mr. Patter. Anyone from the public wishing to speak on any item? please. I'm sorry. Uh, good evening. Uh, my name is Dan Dipsy. I'm from the Wayne Boys and Girls Club located at 153 Garside Avenue in Wayne, New Jersey. Um, I serve as a unit director at the
028Boys and Girls Club, and I'm here to express my concerns regarding the potential impact of field use fees on members, a significant portion of which consists of Wayne residents. As you may be aware, the Boys and Girls Club of Wayne along with other organizations such as the PAL soccer club um provide essential services to Wayne children services that are not offered by the schools or the Wayne parks and wreck. If field juice fees are implemented for local youth um excuse me, I'm sorry. Uh for local youth organizations, we'd be forced to pass these fees onto our me our members. This would place an undue financial burden on families who already contribute to the community through the school taxes. The result could be a barrier of participation um in important programs, forcing some families to make
029difficult choices between paying bills and enroll their children in sports. The price increase could exclude many children from valuable programs that our organization along with other organizations provide. Wayne's excellent education system, community spirit, safety, and strong youth programs are among key reasons why families are drawn to this township. In light of these concerns, I respectfully urge the board to reconsider implementing field juices fees for in town youth programs that serve Wayne student population. Additionally, we have learned that there is consideration for outsourcing Wayne's before and afterare program. Should this be approved, the Boys and Girls Club would be eager for the opportunity to partner as we provide these services successfully in 13 locations, 11 schoolbased sites, two club houses across seven school districts. Our children, our childare programs adhere to New Jersey Office of Licensing
030Standards. In our experience, licensing new locations can be a minimum of a six-month process. I only mention this because it is a time-sensitive process which can not something that we could expedite uh should the decision be made closer to summer. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you sir. Thank you. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Come up please. Yeah, just come up. Okay. Sorry for earlier. Um my apologies. Laura Walker, 38 Maple Lab in Wayne. Um, I am a mom, a businesswoman, and a taxpayer in this town. I know that you cannot divulge much information in terms of what the forward-looking statements are for the security in the schools, but I have some concerns and if you can answer these questions, I would appreciate it and I'm sure many other people would as
031well. Um, one of the most pressing and top questions are, it appears according to the documents that were shared via social media, which it was very fitting that these uh this group of I think they were teachers, were they teachers and counselors that came up and they were talking about bullying and social media and things of that nature. Um, a widespread tap into Wayne was sent out that there's going to be no police presence in the schools. It's a problem. No one else was made aware. It was a slap. It was a shock. It's scary. Um that said, other documents circulated on the internet, such as the board of ed is in rears of paying $50,000 of administrative fees for the last four years. If the calculation that I have here is correct, because the
032agreement is dated October of 2021. I'd like to understand what agreement was made where that didn't have to be paid. Is it written anywhere? Is there a binding agreement? Was it executed? And how did we get here? Um, that said, if we do the math, that's $200,000 that you're behind. Then if we add on the layer of the officers, which by the way, in my opinion, are not paid all that much. It's another $450,000 for just some of the itemized uh information that was listed in one of the press releases or news releases. So, I'm trying to understand how this happens and how it happens without a binding document or if there is one, where is it? Um, and then finally, you know, I'm very uneasy about this. I'm a mom who works full-time. I
033have my kids in school and right now I drop them off at school at Randall Carter and I got police presents like that and that makes me feel good. Makes me feel really good. Changing that changes a whole dynamic. I am now afraid. Social media, my nine-year-old has been asking me incessantly for a phone, which I don't want him to have. But if this is removed, I will be left with no choice but to get him a phone, which I don't want him to have. My 5-year-old, who's a kindergartener, same situation. Now, I understand some of what's been released, the grammar schools may not change, and the middle schools and the high schools are going to change, which in fact, that is a bigger issue. And if we have Netflix watchers here, there's a movie
034called Adolescence that's out. I encourage parents to watch this. It's scary. Mental health and the crisis that we have right now is at its highest level. I really, really ask from the deep of my heart, deepness of my heart, to please try to figure out a way. And if you've got it under control and you feel confident about it, that's wonderful. But I still I've I really want to know how the board and the township of Wayne, which by the way, I've personally emailed the mayor myself asking these same exact questions, if not a little more in depth in terms of what is the itemization for the administration fee. What does that actually include? Because when I sat down and I did a breakdown today, in fact, just googling around to see what these things
035cost, it doesn't equate $50,000 on a forward-looking basis. That number can change every year. Why was this arbitrarily decided and not really looked at going forward? Maybe you'll spend $20,000 one year. Maybe the next year you'll only spend 10. I don't know. But I just know that for my children, for my sanity, because I'm someone that's works and I'm not right around the corner from the school, that I know that their safety is of the utmost protection with the Wayne police and I trust them. Sora licenses are very easy to obtain. I know people personally who have had SOAR license who have actually committed crimes in the act of duty and it's not it's not what you're getting. Now, that's not to say that a police officer wouldn't have something, okay? We've all watched the
036news, but it's less likely. So, I I I please ask that um that you folks really give this a really deep hard look because for me, I now may have to get my nine of my 5-year-old cell phones. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. [Applause] Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Hi, Jen Lee in 48 Terrace Road. Um, well, I'm happy to hear that the conversation between you and the township is going well. Um, I did want some clarification if in the event that doesn't go the way that we want it to. I just wanted to clarify some of the stuff that I saw in the press release just to get a good understanding. Um, so the current salary difference based on the proposed salary for the officers that we currently have. I know
037some of this might be HR stuff, but I want to have an understanding of if we're trying to attract police officers to stay in our district if it's comparable to what they're already getting. Um, the current salary off offer from our district that we're advertising is actually less than the starting salary for a brand new officer. and we're trying to get seasoned professionals to stay on. So, um it doesn't seem to me like it's very competitive to keep these people on if we are cutting um other things. Um would the officers be required to carry their offduty guns if they are no longer in contract with the Wayne under the Wayne police? Um and would the new contract make our officers open to any personal liability? um just to understand if it's not just pay
038cut, is it also something where they would um potentially be o open to some kind of a litigation um from being in the school buildings around the district. There are large inequities between the buildings. Some elementary schools have a a vestibule where there's a security vestibule, a second um you know layer of security into these elementary schools and my child's doesn't. But what my child's school does have is Officer John. And Officer John is on top of everything. He is constantly out every single morning, rain or shine. He's doing drop off. He's making sure that kids aren't getting hit while they're coming in and out of the school, but he's also on top of security inside of the building. I've seen him work. I've also had the pleasure and the honor to work alongside some
039of the other officers in our elementary schools, and these men are phenomenal. They are doing things without being asked. And being an educator in other districts before being in Wayne, I have seen disasters in security. This is not what we have here. We have excellent security here. We have excellent care for our children. And this needs to stay. These men need to stay because not only is it just what they're providing, but they are part of our school community. The children love them. It's just like it would be as if you're taking their their teachers away. Folks, one person at a time, please refrain from clapping with also regard to staffing because I have to also speak about the educators here. 40 positions are being removed and I also know that this could be another
040thing where we're going to say it's an HR thing and I might not be able to know, but the the town doesn't know what 40 positions are being taken away or how that is going to affect individual buildings. So there's no way for us to know what is going to happen in each building or what is going to happen to the quality of education in these buildings. Like is this going to be putting an additional strain on educators who are already being asked to do more with less just because of what the state requires all the time? We have less time. We have less money. Now we have less people. I mean it gets to be to a point where good people are leaving this job because they are overwhelmed and burnt out. So, what's
041going to happen to our teachers in these buildings? Um, you know, having a $7 million deficit is a big amount of money, and I honestly do not I I know that what you do is hard. I don't know if what we were hoping for was this money to come through the referendum. I mean, the money is never guaranteed. I understand that. But to have this big of a gap where we're losing so much in one year is scary. And aside from that, it's also alarming to see a lot of our administrative positions, you know, people are jumping ship here. And it I want to know why. I want to know why. And I'm sure the rest of us do, too. Um, and I know people have their personal um reasons for leaving places, but if
042there's so many positions at once and there's so much administrative turnover, what is that going to do to our schools? What is that going to do down the line when there's people who are working here who no longer know what our our district and our community is about because there's nobody there to help. So, um anyway, I um thank you for your time. Thank you. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Hi, Maria Fernandez, Three-wheeler Road. I had a question about the Tunis roof. Um we every time it rains basically the buckets and the pales are coming out. Um some children are basically dodging them in the hallways. We had a pretty serious mold issue just a couple of months ago. I know last year we were approved for a grant from the state
043and that somehow fell through over the summer. I just wanted to understand where all of that is and what the timeline looks like and how that's being taken care of. We will answer you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Jeff Diverter 140 Redwood A. Good evening. As an educator for almost 20 years in a town 11 miles away from here, I'm also a father of my oldest of three children. currently goes to Pines Lake with my second starting next year and my youngest soon to follow in a few short years. My wife and I deliberately chose to purchase a home and build our life here in Wayne because of this community's exceptional reputation, its commitment to education, to safety, and to family values. We didn't just move here,
044we planted roots here. We chose Wayne because we believed it was the place to raise our children. And now we are watching those values become compromised. I'm here tonight because I strongly oppose the decision, and I know you're working on it, to eliminate the school resource officers from our schools and replace them with board hired security guards because that's really what they are. Frankly, this decision is short-sighted, reckless, and deeply disappointing. In the district where I've spent almost 20 years, we both we have both security both types of security exist. The difference is night and day. Board hired guards are often political appointments, positions handed out as favors rather than based on skill training or a genuine commitment to school safety. Too often they are ineffective, disengaged, and simply not equipped to handle the critical
045responsibilities we expect from them. SRO's on the other hand are professional law enforcement officers trained, vetted, and experienced. They are not only visible deterrent to violence or danger. They are mentors, role models, and trusted figures to our students and staff. Their presence brings a large a level of reassurance, discipline, and real security that cannot be replicated by private hires. Removing SRO's strips away a vital role layer of protection and sends a dangerous message that our children's safety is negotiable and that is unacceptable. Let me be absolutely clear. No child can learn, no teacher can teach if they do not feel completely safe. And after a child's parents, there is no stronger, more trusted symbol of safety than a uniform police officer walking the halls of their school. This isn't just about budget and lines. This
046is about lives. This is about trust. This is about keeping our children and educators safe in the place they spend most of their day. I urge you, I beg you as a parent, as a lifelong educator, and as a member of this community, try to work this out. Leave them in the building. do what's right because nothing, no budgets, no politics, no bureaucracy is more important than the safety of our children. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Rachel Cooper, 20 BL court. Um, as I stand before you, not only as a concerned parent, but as someone who has grown up in this town and has gone through the same district my son is now navigating, I've seen the firsthand values and education that this district has instilled and
047in students. But I'm here today to express my deep concerns regarding some of the pressing issues that are damaging our schools, most importantly our children. One of the most significant challenges we face is lack of transparency regarding mid-year teacher changes. When students and educators are removed and replaced without clear communication, it creates an unstable environment to for our children, an environment where learning is disrupted and trust is eroded. Children need consistency in their education and suddenly changes leave them insecure and anxious. We're witnessing a disturbing trend for bullying in our schools. It's heartbreaking to see our children's mental well-being decline because of unadressed bullying incidents. Despite ongoing efforts and talks about solution, many children and students will face harassment without any real resolution. Our children deserve to feel safe, supported, and in their learning environment,
048and we must prioritize and address the issue before it escalates any further. Another near and dear matter to my heart is to replace the Wayne police officers. These officers have built meaning relationships with our children, playing a vital role in fostering trust and creating a safe place for them. To cut costs for police presence is frankly shortsighted. We are risked jeopardizing the safety and security of our students and putting them in harm's way simply to fit a particular narrative. Let's consider the implications if we move to a third party security who will bear the cost of insurance. What accountability will these individuals have? Retired officers may not possess the authority to make arrests and every second counts, relaying a delayed response from 911. This could have dire consequences and we must ask ourselves, are we
049willing to leave our children vulnerable as we have in Yuvaldi, Texas. In conclusion, I urge the board to prioritize the mental well-being of our children, ensure parents and transparency to the parents and consider the decision to remove our dedicated police officers and the safety of our students and integrity of their education should never be compromised. Together, let's advocate and for the solutions, but you're removing some of the finest in the state. Thank [Applause] you. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Hi, Jannine Marti, Pleasant View Drive. I know it was a really hot topic and um everybody was talking about it for the past week and I'm really glad that there are some discussions happening, but I wanted to say thank you for moving this meeting and showing us that you agree to have
050transparency because that was definitely a communication between me and you that went on for the past week. Absolutely. Appreciate it, Don. Anytime. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Justin Joseph 36 Ruckers Court. Um I just want to talk about when you look at the SRO contract. I know that was not renewed, but there was fees fees from the town to the board of ed. I mean I I don't like we're all one town. Like it's coming out of one pocket going into the next pocket. End of the day, even the fees as as Dan mentioned going to the people using the fields, it's going to come out of my pocket. Like end of the day it's all we're being tax ready and then all of a sudden it's another tax on top of
051it. Just want to express my concern with that. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Anyone else from the public wishing to speak? Not one time. Sorry. Seeing no one move to close. Mr. Faber. Second. Mr. G. Dano. Dr. Tobeck. Yeah. Right. So, I tried to write everything down and I didn't catch everybody's name. So I'll try to um answer everybody's questions. Okay. So starting um with the Boys and Girls Club representative. Okay. So um bottom line I what one thing I can answer for is the beforeare and afterare program. There was a request for proposals that went out and there were six organizations that responded but the deadline for that has since passed. Okay. So um that I can talk to you about. So, I just wanted to mention for the parents that came, um, I
052understand why you would be here to talk about school security because there is nothing more important than school security, right? In the end, I do know when I stop by schools, especially at drop off and pickup, when I see officers there, I see also a sense of reassurance in in the in the minds of the eyes of the parents when they come out, when when the officers greet them, when they come in the door. Okay. So as do as Mr. Pavlac said there is something in process there is a resolution that is forthcoming but it will require some time to basically make some adjustments to a contract. Okay. So there is a contract and there has been a contract that has been in effect. The other thing like um I'm glad for example um Miss
053Walker you're here because in the end social media is of course not the best source of information. Board of Ed is not in a rears when it comes to any fees, any administrative costs. Although you are on something regarding the amount of money that is involved in these administrative costs. Okay. And some of the concerns you have about year-over-year or are they just are they costs that exist in one year but not another? Okay. Um so there is a there is a contract. There's always a contract. There's a shared services agreement. So whenever a township and a school district agree to work together on a project, there has to be a shared services agreement in place. And so there has been one all along. Um with regard to some of the questions, so Mrs. Leighton,
054you spoke about some inconsistencies with the security situation at some of our schools. Okay. So it is true that some of our schools have vestibules, some of them do not. Um it's not from a lack of effort. The district has been in the face of two failed referendums. The district has been as best we can putting money aside every year to at least build one two refer um one or two security vestibules each of our schools. So that progress is continuing although our current budget situation does hamper our ability to do that. Okay. Um, as far as the other questions you had regarding a replacement force, I don't know that that's necessarily important to discuss at this point only because it's a hypothetical situation and the board will have more concrete information probably at our
055next meeting, okay, to share with you. Um, so for the woman who came forth to talk about the Tunis roof, okay, that is another project that is going to go on this summer. the district is able to fund the project with the remaining money we have for facilities work. So that project has been um already developed in terms of the plans from the architects from approval from the department of ed and so we're going to move ahead with the part of the building above the library if that's the area that you're referring to in that that wing is that yeah that's okay. So however there are other roofing issues across the district and again that's also a referendum issue in which case there's not much we could do about those particular projects. So there's part
056of the building. Okay. question after the meeting. I'll be happy to talk to you if if you have a follow-up question. Okay. Um, so the other question I guess that came up was regarding um so Mrs. Cooper, you spoke about some issues regarding bullying. I would like to know a little bit more um regarding the concerns that you have about our anti-bullying program. We happen to have our district-wide coordinator here tonight, so we'd be happy to speak to you after the meeting. Um, with regard to questions about the budget, I know that that was a lot to share with the community at our last meeting. We talked about a $7 million a 7.1 million gap and yes, there are a number of reductions that were made in a very strategic way, not across the board
057cuts. board. Uh the board has been working on this literally for months to make decisions that have the least effect or no effect on educational programs. So that is ultimately our goal. That is our core business. That is what we do. So we start at the top in terms of administrative staff. We work our way through each position that we have in the district. We look at class sizes. We look at circumstances that exist in each of our schools. And that is the basis for the reductions that have been made. And it's also something that is taken, those reductions have been made from all different parts of the district's operations. Okay. Uh Mrs. Marti, you just had a thank you message. And um the other comments about the police officers, obviously that's already been taken
058into consideration by the board and as Mr. Pav said, there'll be more information coming when the time is appropriate, but there is definitely some solid information that will be shared with the community. Thank you. Any old business? New business. Board member comments. Mr. Alquin. How's it going everyone? Um, thank you everyone who came tonight to talk and share your concerns about, you know, the Boys and Girls Club, the uh the SRO issue. And um I'll keep it short. I do believe that we have two ears and one mouth for a reason, right? We want to listen more than we speak. And um we didn't just listen to everyone, all your calls, all your messages. We heard you. We heard all your concerns. And um I'm just happy that the board president and Dr. the toeback,
059you know, informed you that there is something in the works and, uh, it's looking good for us as a district and as a town. So, um, thank you again. And just real fast, I just want to remind everyone that, um, the volunteers up here, the administration over here, no one would ever do anything to jeopardize the safety of a student or staff member, right? Um, but we are also human and we do make mistakes. But I promise you that we will learn from the mistakes that we make. All right. Thank [Applause] you. Um, so first of all, thank you for coming out and also for all of the uh constructive discord on um on various social media um platforms as well around the entirety of this topic. I always think it's important that you get
060your ability to be able to talk and get out your points whether they're here or online. Um to be able to go through and do that. Um I think I've always been a big supporter of making sure that we have safety in schools all the way back to when I first ran. Um and so I think that I am very happy to that we are making good progress uh at this point to be able to continue to support those uh those needs that we have and we'll we'll see where all of that lands. Uh I do want to speak a little bit on the security vestibles as well uh in some of those schools. Right. A referendum went out for that a number of years ago. I think it was 21 that referendum went out
061last uh and that was voted down. The problem we have when that happens and a referendum gets voted down is it means we cannot then go do that. You as the public have chosen not to be able to go do that uh at a point in time. So we then have to wait for that to expire before we can go back and do these and then we have to find room in the budget and get these things through as well. Um so there are more consequences sometimes to some of these nos that have uh slightly more uh time impact to be able to address things over a period of time. uh and so that adds some complexity to to our ability to be able to add some security measures in and around those. And then
062the other thing I wanted to talk over a little bit was the uh social media presentation uh as well. Uh I think that really highlights a number of situations that our kids and in general the entire population go through with social media. Uh I think when these are good discords like we've had around the police online over this period of time that talk very much about the details and the issues and let people express where they where they have issues like that can be a great thing for us to be able to get those out. when those things turn nasty and become individuals and attacks on people that has the kind of uh results that you see for our children or indeed for other individuals then that can be a much much bigger problem for
063everybody to to be able to go through and deal with. So I really hope that we consider that impact of social media and what it enables you to do when you're sitting behind your keyboard. Thank you. Uh first of all, thank you all for coming. I had a prepared statement. I'm going to hold off on that because I don't find it's necessary at this point. I am actually the opposite of Mr. Battershill. I am finding that I do not want to read what's on social media. Uh it's much like Wikipedia. It's not peer-reviewed. Some sometimes the facts aren't there. It creates far too much emotion. The little that I did read infuriated me because of the efforts we've been putting up here. If you notice, take a look at this board right now. You flipped
064it in three years. Only, you know, old man Methuselo over here was here forever and myself who's stepping down at the end of the year. The only two left from the original boards we had three years ago. And yet the problems are still here. And when we try to go resolve them, what we get is we get vitrial. We get profanity slung at us. We're told that we are mismanaging. We're told we are less than our sworn duty to be here. We're all volunteers. I'd love to quadruple all of our pay right now. I think I could vote for that right now. We'll get it immediately here because we're here on your dime, but you're here on my time. And let me tell you something. In the six years I've been on this board, the
065last three weeks have been the busiest three weeks that I have seen. And we're talking about serious things having to do with money. When Dr. Tobach showed the picture of the gentleman walking off the cliff, everybody goes, "Oh my god, where did that happen?" It happened with Governor Christie in 2012 when he turned around and put a 2% cap on everything. It's a great idea for taxpayers and at the time wasn't a bad idea. Yet the consumer price index, we got enough smart people here. Is it 2% every year? Is the cost of living 2% every year. We were okay for a while until the CO money ran out. We moved at one place and did what the law said for us and when we were able to move that we could move over and
066we basically were able to stall it to this point. So when people say where did this come from? It came out of left field. It started in 2012 and we've been working on this for 13 years trying to as the old saying my parents say starve Peter to feed Paul in this case and now it's come to the end and you've brought up a very legitimate topic the safety of our students. There isn't a person up here that's going to tell you that we're going to sacrifice even a millisecond of safety for our students. But when we sit down and we look at it and you say, "We got to cut something someplace, somewhere, somehow. Can you lend us a hand?" And the last 6 months, it's been a resounding no from everybody we've gone
067out to. It's been a resounding no from the general public. It's been a resounding no from across the aisle that way. It's been a resounding no from people online who accuse us of mismanagement. That infuriated me. We had a an auditor come up here and tell us that we were practically award winners for five years in a row with our fiscal responsibility. I got the empirical data. Where's yours telling us that we're being we're misusing the funds? We're number one in athletics in the state in spending number one. Nobody beats us. We got a well of a program and that's been brought up. I brought up the the old obscenely good speech you keep going back to tap into. Uh Ferris, you love quoting me. So, I appreciate that. But we talked about that obscenely
068good day when we were so high in athletics and we were so high in academics and we are so high in activities. All of that costs money. All of that to get the best people in the best situations for our kids. So for 20 years we said, "Hey, you know that crack in the wall? That's all right. Let's go put the money in AP history instead. Oh, we got a leak in the roof right now." The choice at the time was leaking in the roof and mold or do we have, you know, the expenses we need for the plays or for the kids to play lacrosse or hockey. You go out to those graduates who in the last five years have told go talk to them. Don't even ask us how was Wayne? What did
069it do for you in your life? I'll bet you my next paycheck that they'll say it was pretty good here. There's a price to be paid for that. We are trying to be transparent. We are trying our very best. You showed us a dissatisfaction with who sat in these chairs and you replace them. Good for you. That's the election system. We brought out and said, "Could you give us a hand with this on the referendum?" The original referendum was $400 million. I almost fell out of the chair when I saw that. It was going to break a record for uh for all these different uh referendums we've done. And we said, "No, we'll be responsible. We cut it down to 25% of that." And then people still said it was too much. Well, okay. So
070now the rubber's going to meet the road. We're here right now. And you're worried about security and we're never going to compromise security. You're worried about paytoplay. It's going to be an issue we're coming up here. I bet next meeting is going to be pay to play. They're going to come for a lot of stuff's coming down right now. We've got the four top people in the district all retiring. We got to do all of that at the same time with these people who are volunteers. So when something comes up and we say, "Hey guys, could you give us a hand? Could you vote for something on?" If we bring a new referendum up or we bring a a question on a vote or we pass the hat around, understand we're doing it to try
071and help you and your children and your futures. And people told us it's great to be in Wayne. We love the education system. A lifelong educator. Me too. Love it. But you came here because we had a great system. Wayne, great city, better schools. It's all I ever keep hearing here. But it's going to cost us. And that's the reality of it. You know, I'm not taking a 2% cut on it cuz I'm getting nothing out of this. I put my expertise in because I felt this town was worth it. Everybody up here put their time in because they think this town is worth it. So we ask you please give us a hand. Think about it please. Thank you. Thank you Mr. That was very well said Mr. Judano. Um and I think uh
072Dr. Tobach answered a lot of uh questions from the public here. Uh so thank you Mrs. Walker. Thank you Mrs. Leaden. Thank you uh Mr. Diver I believe uh Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Marti, and Mr. Joseph for bringing up the security issue was well noted. Uh, you know, I I try to stay away from social media. My wife's been telling me to delete it for the last um 5 years at least. Um, but I'm always tempted to go on and see what's going on. Um, it actually is a way I I uh keep in touch with my family uh in Greece. So, um, it was very interesting and and it was very timely that we had a social media presentation tonight because I believe the amount of anxiety and depression it caused to a lot of
073families was was ridiculous. Uh, so I mean some of the comments were like, "Oh, all the board members should have children. It should be a requirement." You know, if we include the two trustees that are not here, there are 32 children represented here. 16 kids are actually in the district and and they go to school in our schools in this district that we pay money for. So, whoever's spreading that fake news on social media, we have a vested interest here. So, we would not compromise on the safety of our children. You know, nobody's going to tell me that they care for their child more than I care for my child, right? And back and forth. So, um, our commitment is to education and safety. Mr. Diver, I believe, said it. So, that's that's what we
074do here. And, you know, this is a volunteer position. Um, don't believe everything you read. Don't believe everything the mayor tells you. Um, you know, it's the political season. What did what does he call it? The uh the wacky season, I guess, or something like that. Silly season. So, um, uh, Dr. Sobec, thank you for for letting everybody know um, you know, and answering most of their questions. Mr. Fernandez, um, and, uh, um, uh, Mr. Mr. Gibsy, uh, for the Boys and Girls Club and the field use fees. I know, you know, that's that's going to be a very difficult decision. You know, um, a lot of us use, you know, uh, have our kids at the Boys and Girls Club, they have them at the Wayne PL, they have them at the Wayne Little
075League. Those fees are going to get passed on to to our families, uh, if we do, um, do this. But, you know, it's all about math. you know, um, we can only raise, you know, taxes 2% on our portion when health insurance is going up 15%. You know, math doesn't work. Um, and, you know, other expenses and other fees. And another thing that, you know, social media was out um, you know, wrong about was, and there's a lot of regret out there. I see a lot of people regret voting no on the referendum cuz now they realize the budget actually includes maintenance of facilities where we could have had some breathing room with the with the referendum. So um so you know there's people that that are regretting their their no um another thing uh
076people were saying oh we got to get this uh budget audited. We have an auditor every year. There was a tap into article in December where the auditor did say uh our reserves are going to be tight for a district of this size. So I mean they're there. It's public information too. So um you know a few weeks ago when it was the first reading of of the budget there were four people in this room and I invited everyone come out to the second meeting. So thankfully we've uh exponentially increased that amount here tonight. Um so you know we're here on a volunteer basis. I want to hear solutions. Give us solutions. If you know something that I don't know something better, please you know we're here we're here to to help the district, you
077know, and and as are you. Uh we're all taxpayers here and coincidentally we're all parents here. So um have a good night. Mr. Favor. So, I'm not going to repeat everything that everybody else said, but you know, one of the things that we talked about were the fees, right? Letting groups use the fields is actually a cost for the district. We have to pay custodians to clean up afterward. We have to pay people to be here while the fields are in use. So, it's not that we're looking to charge to make money. All we're trying to do is recoup the costs that we are actually incurring and we have to pay out. So that's not about just letting you use a field and then everything is fine. I mean there have been situations where people
078have used the fields and left them in such a mess. The amount of overtime we had to pay to have them cleaned was just absurd. So that's something where again that's not just trying to, you know, make money. We're just trying to pass the costs off so we don't have to incur those costs. um you know talking about you know the fact that we're cutting and things like that like pretty much every cut that has been presented somebody has come up and spoke against talked about cutting staff talked about having to pay um talking about trying to revamp the security these are the solutions that are available to us because there aren't a lot of solution that we don't have a lot of levers to pull here when we have to cut money you know
079most of our budget is a fixed cost that we cannot adjust. So, you know, I get it that nobody's going to be happy with a cut, especially ones that impact them. But there's not a lot of choices. But what I will ask you to do and ask everybody to do, and I don't know if people knew this, but there's approximately 12 billion in state aid that is given by New Jersey State to the 526 districts. The top 50 districts in the state get I believe it's somewhere around seven or eight billion dollars of that money leaving the remaining 400 you know 70 districts or 460 districts to actually go out and fight for the last 20%. There are districts whose increase for this year was greater than our entire allocation of funds from the state.
080So while we're dealing with these situations, the place where you could, you know, put some of your energy is toward writing letters to the state government, writing letters to the governor and saying, why are we paying 52% of our property taxes to fund our schools, but then also only getting such a limited amount when other districts are only paying, you know, 10% of their property taxes to fund their districts and they're getting, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars to fund their schools. It's not a balanced calculation. So that would be very helpful if you could voice some of your frustration in that direction because that's the only way that we're really going to be able to solve this is if they start allocating money on a much more, you know, a much fair basis.
081That's something where it's been a discussion for a long time and we've lost aid for years and then they started bringing it back, but it still does not recoup us, you know, the amount of money that we've lost over the years. You know, the referendum was, you know, it was a good thing for a lot of reasons. I understand why so many people were against it. But the part that people didn't understand is that money that we had to do those projects with now came from the reserves. That money was now had to be reallocated. So that extra cushion that we had in the bank is now depleted down to $10 million. I mean, one issue that happens in a school could wipe that out. So, it's not that this was something that, you know,
082I can't argue the points of how we got to where we got to, why we had so much maintenance that was up that, you know, or so many roofs that needed to replace. I wasn't here for that period. I was kind of inherited something and we tried to come up with a solution that would work. But now we're in the situation that we're in. And to think that I would leave my daughters unprotected in a school is is just something I can't even fathom. that you would think that I would actually agree to send my daughters to a school where they were not protected. That it just blows my mind that, you know, people don't realize that I have the same fears every day dropping my kids off at school that you do. I have
083the same concerns about the quality of the education. I'm not sitting here, you know, trying to say that I'm any different than any of you. I have a different vantage point of seeing what we're allowed to do and what we're not. And that's why I've encouraged so, you know, start planning your campaign, run for the board because when you get on this side and you see how many things are locked in that you're not allowed to touch or you're not allowed to do, it will blow your mind. The process is not as cut and dry. Like you can't run this like a business. You know, you're limited as to what cuts you can make, who you can cut. You know, there's so many things that you just you don't have any idea until you get
084on this side. and I was just blown away. So, please consider running for the board because we need some people with some good ideas, but it'll also help let people see that we're not as crazy as you think we are. Thank you. Do we have any time left after all those long speeches? Listen, I'm I'm not going to beat a dead horse. All the same. Listen, I have five kids in the district. We said, you know, how many kids we have across all of us. Um, we're all getting hit the same as everybody else. And like Mark said, I would never put my kids in a situation where they weren't secure. You know, the pay to play stuff, all that stuff. We're all affected by it, but decisions have to be made and we have
085to weigh what what works. If we came in and said, "Well, sorry. We have to cut some of the athletic programs because we have the most in the state and we're spending all this money, then everybody's going to freak out that we're cutting those different programs." So, um, decisions have to be made, but understand that us as parents, we're making those decisions and being affected by them. So, that's it. Um, just to address a couple things. Uh, Mr. Dipsy, the last time we resurfaced, we returfed the fields. The town paid 30% of that. This time they didn't do that. We bore the 100% cost for two fields. I have to keep the lights on. We all We all know what our electric bills look like. All right, that's why I scream at my kids every
086night, turn the lights off. But the problem exists, and you've heard this, this has been set up here uh tonight in 2012 when Chris Christie cut our state funding to $150,000. Gone. Told our budget had to be in in a week. And we were told on a Thursday night, you're only getting 150,000 out of 10 million. Our B our state aid has never been restored to back where it was at all. Then you had when the voters voted on the budget back in the day. A lot of you are too young to remember this. What happened was when the budget went down, it went to the town council. They did their due diligence. But when the town council cut 1.752 million dollars out of the budget, you've now reduced the 2% you could raise your
087budget next year by $2 million. That $2 million is gone. So now you're in the whole 2 million. You're never catching up with the 2% cap. You can't do it. The costs are continually rising. It's just like you when you equate it up here to you and I. I got my auto insurance bill. It went up $700 from last year. So what do I have to do now? I have to find $700 in my budget at home to make up for that increase. We have the same thing here. We have we have students that have to go out of district and they have to for for a multitude of reasons and I'm not casting them that this is all about them. I'm just giving you an example where I have a two we have a
0882% cap. These added district schools that our children need to go to for their disabilities. They could increase their tuition whatever they want. It could go in on average and Dr. is here and she will attest to this. Your added diff an out of district placement roughly is anywhere between 60 and $75,000 per student. Add another $500 a day on for transportation on top of it. And if we only have one student going to one school, there you go. It's 500 a day. And the transportation costs across the board have gone up probably 30% since co plus now they search charge it on top of it for fuel. So we have to come up with the money somewhere. 2% doesn't give you a lot. And then like this year you say oh well the state
089gave you some more money. The state specifically gave us the money to go to special education. It's not, hey, listen, you got a windfall, go spend it. It was directed where it's going. So, we have no choice. Our our health insurance premium 16%. I mean, you know, 2,000 people, 1500 employees, it's a lot of money. So I it really disheartens me when people tell me they read on social media because I do not I hardly go on social media. Um that old mismanagement as Mr. Bazaka said we have auditors. We have not had an audit finding in this district I think in the last probably nine years at least. We have an inramba group that just came in. They're looking at everything and saying, "Wow, the places we go most of the time, we see
090a mess. This is like heaven here. Everything's where it's supposed to be. Everything's lined up. You don't have money hanging out in file cabinet drawers. So, I mean, listen, people think what they want. I can't change what people think. I'm going to go to the school security issue because I've been totally villainized. I've been called a lot of things. I will never ever compromise on school security. All right. I wore the uniform those three gentlemen were in the back. I actually hired all three of those gentlemen in the back as I hired each and almost every one of the class three specialists officers and I trained them because I'm a school resource officer instructor. I trained them. And for people to think, oh, you're going to go out and hire a private security company? Never
091in the picture. I would never sit here and agree with that. 100%. I I fight against outsourcing because when you outsource, you have no control. You don't know who you're getting. Yes, absolutely. It would ne as long as I'm here, it's never going to happen or I'll never support it. That I will say we are in a good place with with where we're going right now. I believe you're all going to be very happy with it. But those guys in the back and that whole police department over there, they're the best in state. They're the best in the country of what they do. And they're the best in the schools. So, believe me when I tell you it's you're going to it's going to be okay. It's going to be I wish I could sit
092here tonight and tell you, hey, listen, here's here's what's going on, you know. And I just have to caution people about what they put on social media about school security and what's happening in the schools and what they see. If you have that issue, email me, email anybody up here. Email Dr. Tobath, Dr. Kasmar, anybody you want. Please don't put it on social media. I Everybody who emailed me about this about the school security issue, I answered back. And listen, I'm open to discussion. I gave people my cell phone number. I'm like, call me. You want to talk about it? I'll be here after the meeting right over here. You want to talk about school security? Come on. I'm more than happy to. And I'm gonna be honest with you. All right. There's no The
093other word is oh transparency. I hear that all the time. We're transparent because this meeting tonight was supposed to be up the hill. But we knew you were upset. That's one reason we moved to here because of that. Uh just one last thing. There was a comment and I think it was Mrs. Leighton maybe if I'm wrong I apologize about administrator administrators leaving. Let's look where I can talk tell you why two at least two of the administrators left to move up to better jobs. Our assistant business administrator left. She became a business administrator. Our assistant director of special services left. She became a director of special services. We're doing a great job training people for the rest of the state. That I can tell you. And that's why a lot of times you have
094that, right? Mr. Buffett retired. Listen, it's not unusual when you have a transition of administrations that people, you know, retire and leave. Nobody's forcing anybody out the door. That's another misconception that's out there. Oh, you're forcing them all out the door. Absolutely not. We have a great administrative team here and we always have and that's that dayto-day what these people go through. I sat the other day up in the board office at a meeting and they're going nonstop with what's going on in the budget meeting and what's going on in the district. You got a great team here. But unfortunately, listen, we can't make everybody happy. We just can't and we try to do the best we can. And I know there's certain, you know, programs people want and but we look at the cost.
095We look at the number of students involved. We had to make some tough decision. We got rid of administrative positions. We got rid of supervisory positions. Oh, yeah. Everybody says, "Oh, you're too topheavy." Well, we're not too topheavy if you compare us to the rest of the state and school districts our size. We're not we're below where we should actually be when you look at some of the districts. All right. But we still cut at the top. And I said this the last meeting. The administration started at the top. We didn't start in the classroom. Unfortunately, when you're down $7 million and the perfect storm hits, it's going to have an impact. And we're right now we're working on the following year's budget to minimize any impact that's going to happen. That's what we're going
096to do. But again, just to close, as far as the school security goes, I'm not going to I am never going to compromise anybody. My wife works in the district. Their my friends up here, their kids go to school in the district. I know kids in the district. my whole neighborhood. I'm not compromising anything. So, as I said, all the social media stuff that everybody's flying around, you have a question, email me. I'll give you my cell phone. If you want my cell phone number, I'll give it to you. I don't care. I'll be happy to talk to you and I'll be honest with you. I'll give you an honest answer. You may not agree with me. That's fine, but but at least you're going to know the honest answer and the perspective of it.
097I thank you all for taking the time out of your busy nights and even having your children here with you. I thank you. You're heard. Believe me, you're heard. And I like to hear from people because I like perspectives. And believe me, there's a number of times in my tenure up here that people have changed my mind. So with that, I take a motion to motion. Mr. Dana, Mr. better shot, right? Matt, thank you everyone.