001Uh, I object. Right? No, it's all set. Okay, so Okay. I call to order the regular meeting of the Bogota Board of Education for Tuesday, April 28th, 2026. Please stand for the flag salute. Pledge of Allegiance. 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. New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of the public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provision of this act, the Bogota Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be published by having date, time, and place thereof posted in
002the Bogota Borough Hall, communicated by letter to the record, filed with the clerk of the Borough of Bogota, and posted on the Bogota Board of Education website. Erfan, please roll call. Sure. Mr. Solivers? Present. Mr. Oliverez? Present. Mrs. Cruz? Present. Mr. Miranda? Absent. Mrs. Knight? Present. Mr. Soliva? Present. Mr. Salam? Present. Miss. Rocket? Present. Mr. Chavez? Present. >> We have the quorum. For the record, Mr. Miranda is away on work. Also present our Superintendent Damian Kennedy, Board Attorney Thomas Kobin, School Business Administrator, Board Secretary Erfan Efsu, Assistant Board Secretary Elizabeth Ruiz and we do not have a student representative today. Um open the floor to hearings of the citizen citizens on agenda items only. Motion to open the floor on hearing of the citizens. Alivo? Alverez? Alverez second. Any board discussion? All in favor? I.
003Speaker, please state your name. You have 5 minutes. Um is there a motion to close hearing of the citizens? Rocket. Rocket second. Alverez. Alverez. Any board discussion? All in favor? I. Moving on to section 3.1 of the agenda. Uh Superintendent's report. Is there any reports, Mr. Kennedy? Good evening. First up since our last meeting, there were six HIBs reported. One at the middle school unfounded, three at Steen founded, and two at the high school unfounded. Also, at this time I'd like to announce our teacher of the years. Committees were put together in each school and teachers were selected. In Bixby School, Miss Schiavello won. In Steen School, Miss Ambrawski. In the middle school, Mrs. Haas. And the high school, Mr. Tempel. So, congratulations to those teachers. In May, there is a luncheon and uh they
004will get certificates. We will also honor them at the end of the year. Next up is our budget presentation, so I'm going to get that set up now to go over that. >> Good evening and thank you for being here. Tonight's presentation is about our 26-27 school budget, but more importantly it's about our continued growth of the Galt public schools. We are proud of the progress we made and excited about the opportunities ahead for our students. I want to begin by recognizing our Board of Education. Their leadership, collaboration, and commitment to students truly guided every decision we make. The budget reflects a shared focus on student success, responsible planning, and long-term stability. Also, shout out to our finance committee. Um Frank Miranda, Robert Alvarez, Trina Olivo, and Mr. Jose Chavez. Our budget is driven by
005what matters the most, our students. We focus on staffing, strong academic programs, special education needs, and a safe, well-maintained schools. Like many districts, we are facing rising costs and mandates, but our our priority remain clear, meeting students' needs while planning responsible for the future. One of our greatest strengths is our system of support for students. Through regular data reviews, team meetings, and targeted interventions, we ensure that no student falls through the cracks. This is how we continuously improve and respond to students' needs in real time. In ELA In ELA, we're seeing real progress. We are performing above the state average with especially strong results in early literacy. At the same time, we're focused on building consistency across grades and strengthening vocabulary and writing skills to keep the momentum going. In math, we're also seeing positive
006growth, especially at the middle and high school levels. Our algebra results are standout successes. Now, our focus shifts to strengthening foundational skills, so every student is prepared for a higher level math. We know that success is is more about than academics. It's about the whole child. We expanded access to counseling, early supports, and partnerships that bring additional resources into our schools. This means students feel supported, confident, and ready to learn. Our technology investments are focused on three things: reliability, safety, and instruction. We're strengthening cybersecurity, upgrading infrastructure, and enhancing classroom tools. The result is a more secure, efficient, and engaging learning environment for everyone. We can see we continue to see the impact of our referendum projects across the entire district. From upgraded facilities to new learning spaces, these improvements are making a difference every day.
007And importantly, our redistricting our redistricting policy was completed and successful, a direct result of thoughtful planning and teamwork. Looking ahead, we're expanding opportunities for all students from CTE pathways to college-level coursework to enrichment programs. We are creating multiple pathways to success because every student's path should be different and supported. So, let's start where the money come our funding comes from. The largest portion, 44% comes from state aid, which is funding we receive from state to help operate our schools. Close behind, 38% comes from the local tax levy, meaning our community's property taxes. We also receive about 9% from grants, which are targeted funds for specific programs, and about 7% from transfers, or money we move from other district accounts. The remaining two comes from smaller sources like debt service aid and miscellaneous revenue. The big
008picture, our budget is built on strong partnership between state funding and local community. It's just a pie chart showing exactly what this is. Now, let's look how our dollars are invested. The largest share goes to instruction, including both regular and special education. This is the core of teaching and learning in our classroom. Another major area is employee benefits, such as health insurance and pensions. This is especially important this year as these costs are increasing by over 20%, which has a significant impact on the overall budget. We also see rising costs in special education services, including therapies and student support. Other key areas including maintaining our buildings, keeping them safe and running smoothly, transportation, ensuring students get to and from school each day. Overall takeaway, most of our spending is focused directly on students, staff, but
009rising costs, especially in benefits and special education, are driving budget growth. This slide shows the same information in a visual way. Largest portion of the budget is instruction at 25%, special education 19%, employee benefits 15%. Together, these make up a majority of the spending. Our budget summary, the budget supports our key priorities including strategic staffing, technology upgrades and curriculum improvements. At the same time we are managing significant increases in cost especially health benefits. Even with these challenges our focus remains the same strong programs and strong support for students. Our investment is in student programs safety and facilities will continue to pay off. We are expanding learning opportunities, improving school environments and ensuring students have what they need to succeed both academically and personally. We understand the importance of being mindful of our community. This budget
010reflects a careful balance continue to invest in our schools while maintaining a responsible tax impact. It's about supporting students and respecting our taxpayers. So for the average assessed home of 494644 the the estimated tax increase will be $139 this year or $11.58 cents per month. Which reflects a 2% increase which by the way in the county is the lowest. And that concludes my presentation. If anyone has any questions we can also open it up to the floor if anyone has any questions. Actually it's better we have a motion to open the public for questions on budget. Okay. Can I have a motion to open uh questions on the budget hearing? Alvarez? Alvarez. Second? Olivo. Olivo. Any board discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. If anyone from the public would like to ask a question, please
011just raise your hand. All right. Motion to move to close um Alvarez Alvarez, second? Olivo Olivo Any board discussion? All in favor? Aye. Ms. Kennedy, thank you very much for that report. I I really want to thank you, your staff, the teachers, the board for always moving together and and always focusing on on what's great for for our children. Thank you. Well, just to be clear, I give the report, but Irfan does all the work. Yeah. We have to give a big thank you to Irfan. >> This is why we have money managers. Moving on to resolution 4.1, which is for the approval of the open session minutes for March 16th regular meeting. Is there a motion to approve resolution 4.1? Motion. Motion. Rocket and Idalia second. Any board discussion? Roll call. Mrs. Alvarez Yes.
012Mr. Alvarez Yes. Mrs. Cruz Yes. Mrs. Naeem Yes. Mrs. Olivo Yes. Mrs. Salam Yes. Miss Rocket Yes. Mr. Chavez Yes. Motion carried. Under section five, there are no policy resolutions at this time. Uh section 6.15, moving to resolution in the education section, which is for the approval of the agenda items 6.1 through 6.14. Is there a motion to approve resolution 6.15? Motion Cruz Function Cruz and Idali second. Any board discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Alvarez Yes. Mr. Alvarez Yes. Mrs. Cruz Yes. Mrs. Naeem Yes. Mrs. Olivo Yes. Mrs. Salam Yes. Ms. Rucker Yes. Mr. Chavez Yes. Motion carried. Moving on to resolution 7.10 in the personnel section. Uh which is for the approval of the agenda item 7.1 through 7.9. Is there a motion to approve resolution 7.10? Motion Rucker and Olivo second. Any board
013discussion? Roll call, please. Mr. Alvarez Yes. Mr. Alvarez Yes. Mrs. Cruz Yes. Mrs. Naeem Yes. Mrs. Olivo Yes. Mrs. Salam Yes. Ms. Rucker Yes. Mr. Chavez Yes. Motion carried. Moving on to resolution 8.17 in the finance section, which is for the approval of agendas items 8.1 to 8.16. Is there a motion to approve resolution 8.17? Alvarez >> Motion Alvarez and Alvarez for a second. Any discussion? Roll call, Arfan. Mr. Alvarez Yes. Mr. Alvarez Yes. Mrs. Cruz Yes. Mrs. Naeem Yes. Mrs. Olivo Yes. Mrs. Salam Yes. Ms. Rucker Yes. Mr. Chavez Yes. Motion carried. Moving on to resolution 9.6 of the building and ground section, which is for the approval of agenda items 9.1 through 9.5. Is there a motion to approve resolution 9.6? Motion Rucker and Olivo second. Any discussion? Roll call, Arfan. Mr. Alvarez
014Yes. Mr. Alvarez Yes. Mrs. Cruz Yes. Mrs. Naeem Yes. Mrs. Olivo Yes. Mrs. Salam Yes. Ms. Rucker? Yes. Mr. Chavez? Yes. Motion carried. Moving on to committee reports. Are there any committee reports this evening? Yes. Well, the negotiation committee met previous to tonight and again tonight to make sure that we could establish um availability and connection with the uh teachers representation. We will reach out to them, we being me, will reach out to them tomorrow to gather their availability, also to discuss the potential to begin conversations outside of, you know, a physical room, if you will, um to make sure that we jog this along. Perfect. Thank you, Ms. Rucker. Anyone else? I have the um we have BACSA that uh had the they ran their escape room. Uh is it annual? That Every every
015other year. About they're averaging every other year that they do the escape room. They actually had it up here in the um in the cafeteria slash meeting room um on April 16th uh at 7:30. Um we ended up catching the tail end of that. Um it was attended. It would have been nice if it was attended as well as it was the first year that it came out. Um basically what that escape room does is just educates parents on the various ways of uh finding things that um are easily hidden in a child's in a teenager's room. Um very educational for the parent and uh they gave out a lot of literature that night. They also talked about a survey that's going out to ninth and 11th graders that is um completely um anonymous, but
016for the ninth and 11th grader, they would get their parents, of course, um uh permission, but they would submit uh answers to some questions to help retrieve data. Uh and uh it's basically just to assist on trying to continue the fight against drug sale. Perfect. Thank you very much, Mr. >> They're very passionate, and you know, anybody that ever wants to go to a backs meeting, um, they they they really do they really do care and they really try. Thank you. Next on the agenda is old business. Any old business? Okay. Um, next on the agenda, any new business? Any new business anyone wants to discuss? Moving on to section 13.1, open the floor to hearings of the public. Is there a motion to open the floor for hearings of the public? Motion, Cruz. Second.
017Cruz, I second second. Is there any board discussion? All in favor? I. Okay. I don't know if I'm saying this right. Ms. Shoe? Yes. Hi. Good evening. Uh, my name is Bart Jaw. Yeah, good good evening, everyone. I'm president member of Bogota Board of Education, Superintendent Kennedy, and the community partners. Thank you for the opportunity to speak um, this event. I'm here to respectfully advocate for collaboration with Backs Up under the Drug-Free Community Support Program to implement the price survey in our school district. The price survey is a nationally recognized evidence-informed tool that provide valuable anonymous data on student experience related to substance use, mental health, school climate, and risk and protective factors. It is not simply a survey, it is a strategic planning instrument that allow school and community to make informed, data-driven decisions.
018At a time when youth face increasing exposure to substance such as vaping products, cannabis, and emerging synthetic drugs, alongside rising mental health concerns, have accurate local having accurate local data is crucial. The price survey enable us to understand trend benefit to Pagosa student, not national average, not assumptions, but real community-based insights. Through Bexa's support, this initiative will come at no cost to the district under the Drug-Free Community Grant. Bexa will assist with administration, administration, data analysis, and interpretation, ensuring minimum burden on school staff while maximize the value of the finding. More importantly, the result will directly support our district's goal, strengthen a threat strengthening prevention and early intervention effort, enhancing student wellness and school climate initiative, support grant opportunity and compliance with the state and federal expectations, engaging family and community stakeholder with meaningful data.
019This effort align with a shared commitment to equity and inclusion, ensuring that all students' voice are represented and that intervention are responsive to diverse needs within the community. In closing, investing a small amount of time in this survey can yield long-term benefit for policy, programming, and student well-being. I respectfully encourage the board to support the implementation of the PRIDE Survey in partnership with BACSAC. And thank you for your leadership and your continued dedication to the student and family of Bogota. Thank you. I just so you're aware, I did speak to the attorney tonight, so we are going to have um a final answer on us uh being able to help out with that. There is policy and we're just making sure that we're not overstepping our policy, but the attorney's on top of it and
020by tomorrow uh I think we're going to be okay to move forward with that, but he's just crossing the T's and dotting the I's on that. Yep. Thank you so much. And would you mind if um my sixth uh seventh-grade daughter want to say something to the board as well? Sure. Hi. My name's You just got to speak up. We can't hear you. Hi. My name's Manuela Beto. Good evening, President, President, members of the Bogota Board of Education, Superintendent, and community partners. Thank you for this opportunity. I'm here to advocate how important this survey is. The PRIDE Survey, as my dad said, is an evidence-informed tool that provides valuable anonymous data on student experiences related to substance use, mental health, school climate, and others. This survey helps us understand the students of our town more
021and show you what they need. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Let me disable talking. Vesna? Hello. Can you hear me? We can hear you now. Oh, perfect. Hi, Vesna Cabana um Bogota, New Jersey. I just wanted to take a moment and speak about um the future state of our football program. Um I would highly, highly encourage for the safety of our players and for the sake of having a program down the line that we consider co-opping. Um we're in a position where we have, I would say, 20-some-odd kids which really isn't a safe place to be. Just because we have 25 players doesn't mean that all 25 people are players. We're seeing that we have bodies, which is not the same to me as having players. I don't want to
022see us in a position where there is got to be a catastrophic injury to a child because, you know, he doesn't have blockers. We had an instance 2 years ago where we had to go down to our third quarterback because there is no offensive line to block for these kids. I am not really understanding why we're hesitant to co-op with another school. We co-op with Ridgefield Park for wrestling, for baseball. Why not football? When we're looking at a Pop Warner or Little League level, there's four towns that play. You play Ridgefield Park, Bogota, South Hackensack, and Little Ferry. And there was still not enough to make a team. Um I understand that for the upcoming season, it may be too late to co-op, but is this something that we can look into and maybe look
023at the numbers that we have. Okay, we have 25 players, but are these 25 players actual players or do we have, you know, really small bodies on the team? So, I would say this. I I've been in Bogota for 16 years in the high school, and we talk about co-opping quite often. Um just when we say we cannot field the team, then it is no longer our team. Then that means like as you said, we co-op with Richfield Park in baseball. We don't have many baseball games here. We would lose some football games here, and we only have about three or four a year. So, that is all being considered. I spoke to Mr. Appleton about this last year. We spoke about it actually a couple of days ago, so it is on our radar.
024And we will look closer into it who needs to co-op and if it makes sense. But we were hoping with the Friday night lights, the atmosphere down there last year, that more and more kids were going to start playing. So, we will see if there is any effect, but nothing's ever off the table. We are going to always look at what we can do to help our student athletes and students. So, I would say it's definitely on our radar, and there's never a yes or no until we have all the information. Is the driver really Are we looking at having home games versus player safety? Like why are we not prioritizing the player safety? I've Like I said, I've been here for 16 years. We've have 25 kids every year on the team. Um players
025I can't speak to what the team is until I speak to the AD and the coach. So, I can't tell you exactly what it is. So, until I know and Appleton comes to me and he makes a recommendation, then I go off of that. Okay. Now, in the event let's just say I know we graduated 11 seniors or you know, from last year. What happens in the event that we were under the impression we would have a team, but for whatever reason whether children don't qualify due to academic grades or they just decide, "Hey, I'm not playing." And we don't have enough to field the team. What happens to the players that are on the team currently? Are they able to go to a neighboring district and play if we're not able to have a
026team? That would be something we have to look into. We haven't had that happen too often. I know one year, maybe 14, 13 years ago, throughout the course of the year we had to go to a JV schedule, if I remember correctly, but that hasn't happened often. But again, these are all, you know, I can't predict what student grades are going to be or who's going to decide not to play. I do know and I have been checking in with Appleton that we have a strong base of kids going to the weight room right now, which he was very happy about. So, there is a group of kids that are working hard. So, again, this summer will tell us a lot, but like I said, I spoke to Appleton already and he's looking into what
027our options are. All righty. Fair enough. That's all I can ask. It's on the radar. Thank you. That's it. Anyone else? Motion to close hearing of the publics. Alvarez and Olivo. Alvarez and Miss Olivo. Any discussion? All in favor? I. There's no executive, so Motion to adjourn the meeting. You know, and really quick, I wanted to say one thing. I want to shout out Irfan and his team again because you know, I I there's a lot of other towns that are you know, they're proposing 10% increases. 2% is pretty standard, and we haven't had increases in a while, so 2% is nothing when a lot of other towns are are have budget deficits, millions of dollars in deficit. >> Hear, hear. 10% increases. So, it's really nice to not have to You know, with that.
028I to deal with that and great job to you and the team. Thank you. Agreed. Thank you. We don't take you for granted. As I always said, it cannot happen the board governance and our leadership and our superintendent's support. Thank you. Thank you everyone. But yes, it's it's a team effort and but he is an important piece of this puzzle. Yeah. So, that's for sure. We want to thank you all. Motion to adjourn. All in favor? I'll leave them. I'll leave them. All in favor? I. I. Have a great night. Good night, guys. Good night. Good night. Good night, everyone. Good night.