BUDGET MEETING FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 5TH, 2026.

001To the flag of the United States of America to the republic for it stands nationy. Pursuant to the open public meetings act, adequate notice of this meeting has been provided. having the time, date, and place the meeting posted in the bulletin board and administration building on April 9th and by sending a copy the meeting notice to the star ledger in the local source on April 9th, 2026 by filing a copy with the township of Hillside and the Hillside Public Library. Roll call. Okay. All right. Roll call. Okay. Miss Best >> present. >> Missed >> present. >> Is not present. VP Hargrave >> present. >> Miss Horton Given >> present. >> So Kai is not present. Miss Parks >> here. >> Mr. Shapiro >> here >> and president Dr. Howard >> President at this time I

002want to thank everyone for coming to our special meeting to present uh the proposed budget. Hopefully everyone has gotten to timely notice. We're going to ask everyone certainly that your opinions are certainly welcome for those who signed up for public comment. Um I'm going to turn the presentation over to Mr. U McNeel to provide his assessment of where we are with the budget. Um but first after which time we will go into public comments and then exec executive session. So Mr. McNeel. Uh, if you're ready, please proceed. >> Okay. Thank you very much, Dr. Howard. >> You're very welcome. >> All right. Good evening, board, superintendent, my colleagues, and the same members of the community. Thank you for coming out. We're glad that you're here because this is important and we want everyone to hear

003what we have to say. So with all presentations, we start with our mission vision, you know, for the district. And our mission and vision for the district is that you know we provide all students with the knowledge and skills needed to be successful and be engaged citizens and the budget is a big part of that continue. So some of our district facts right now our enrollment hovers around this amount 2900 plus students. continue. These are a couple things that I might mention during the presentation. I might you might hear the word tax levy, state aid, fun balance, miscellaneous things. Just to be clear, our state aid is the revenue that we directly receive from the state. Our tax levy is the amount of money that the amount of revenue that we raise through property taxes.

004As a school district, a big portion of our money comes from property taxes. You may hear me use the word excess surplus, which is generally unused appropriation from prior year budgets. That could have been, you know, how that actually occurred could be various reasons for it, but you'll hear me use that word. While you may not hear me use the word bank cap, I do have something in here where it talks about the statutory levy of being 2%. You will hear me talk about that, so I just want to make mention of it. And those are probably the only things I'll really be talking about here. You can continue. Okay. So, let's get started. Thank you. I We have to talk about that. I don't know why that keeps showing up on my computer. Anyway,

005so our total budget, if you include our general fund, which is north of $74 million, and our special revenue, which is north of 7 million plus dollars. Our total overall budget is north of $82 million. of that budget. Our tax levy comprises roughly 41% of that. State aid, it's about 40% of that. And then you see the various breakdowns by dollar amount. So, as I said before with tax levy, you see how important it is to our budget. Those two things, state and tax levy together make up 80 over 80% of our revenue. Continue. So where does the money go? Well, it goes to various places. We have instruction, employee benefits, transportation, maintenance and operations because just like any business, a school has expenses where they have to maintain themselves. Instructional support. If you notice

006the amounts in this budget, over 60% of our budget, when you're thinking about instruction, special education, instructional support, administration, over 60% of our budget directly supports student instruction. Employee benefits alone account for $16 million. If anyone's been watching the news, you know that health care is on the rise, especially in New Jersey, and the costs are becoming astronomical. So, it comprises a very large percentage of our budget. And one want to make clear here is that most of the costs for district are fixed. meaning that these are our costs and they don't go away. They only go up continually. Enrollment has been on a downward decline for the past couple years. Why am I mentioning that? Well, as I mentioned before, a large portion of our money comes from the state. That money that comes

007from the state is driven directly by our enrollment. Continue. From the state, our revenue has been on the decline for the past two years. Some of these things I've mentioned before in the other presentation for the tenative budget, but they're important to mention here. So we're looking at $2.3 million in total reduction over the past two years. So two consecutive years of 3% reductions. And that's before you consider things like inflation, salaries, benefits, charter costs, which we're going to talk about. Continue. As you know, there is a charter school that applied to, you know, be in the hillside and that charter school represents a $4.37 million hit against our budget. Now, the charter school isn't approved, but why am I mentioning it here? Well, when we get our state aid notices and it's the state

008tells us how much money we're going to get. There's also something called the charter school appropriation in that which means they tell us how much money we have to give to the charter schools students that go to charter schools. Now, while this charter school isn't here, this amount is on our state aid report. because it's on our state a head report. We have to account for it in our budget. If we didn't account for it in our budget, it would be irresponsible because let's say if I left it out the budget and then what happens charter school comes. Now we have to figure out how we're going to pay for it. So if you take the charter school and the state aid deduction combined over the past two years, we are down by about $6.6

009million. It's a lot of money in two years. Continue. If you take that into consideration with the cost pressures that our district faces, and we face many, I only listed a couple here, but our revenues tax levy goes up by 2%. That's what we're capped at by statute, but salaries go up by plus percent. Inflation is now up to about three and a half%. out of district placements up by 5%. Health insurance 10% some districts are experiencing 30% increases in the state health benefits plan. The point that I'm trying to make by this slide is that we get 2% on our tax levy and as I mentioned before it comprises about 40% of our revenue but we operate in an environment where our revenue is constrained by that while facing these rising fixed costs. continue.

010>> Speaking of tax levy, in Hillside, we had a few years where there was no tax levy increase. And why bring this up? Well, I'm bringing it up because I want you to understand what the impact of not increasing taxes has on the school district. And perhaps maybe you know you might have a clearer picture of this. So let's say we take six we start six years ago. We start at that's where we're starting at. At that point the tax levy was about $31 million. Now the way tax levy works is that tax levy is compounded. So if it's let's give you I'll give you a round number to make it easier. So if it's $30 million and we increase by 2% that's roughly 600,000. That means the next year it'll be 30,600,000. You apply

011the 2% on to that then the next year it'll be roughly 31,200,000. You you get the picture and it continues to compound. And by doing that, that allows the district to have more money for programs, for students, for jobs because whether you know this or not, school district in any community is one of the largest employers, you know. So that's important to a school district. So if we had applied let's say the 2% levy by the time we would have reached the current year our t our revenue that we would be taking in might be somewhere roughly around $35 million instead of the 31.6 that we apply the 2% um cap on. That is you know a difference of roughly three $3.4 4 million. So what I'm, like I said, what I want to try

012to get you to understand is that this is not something that situation that we're in. Some of the factors have been in the making over time. And I think that part of it maybe decision is not to probably increase the tax levy. a lot of districts had co money so to speak, you know, and I think that in a way when you have money, it kind of it has a way of masking what the financial issues are. And the reason why I'm saying this is because I'm saying this because I want to be very clear. I'm not pointing any blame on anyone, past administration, anyone. I'm just making the point that, you know, like you have money, you got money in your pocket, sometimes you you don't, you know, like it, like I said, has

013a way of masking what your fiscal reality really is. Continue. So in addition to the cost pressures in our budget, we have another cost pressure and we have what you would refer to as a structural gap in our budget. Well, what does that mean? A struct in a budget, you have your revenues and you have your expenses. And generally those things equal one another. So if you have $70 million in revenue, you're going to have $70 million in expenses. The moment you have 71 million, 72 million, you're exceeding your revenues, you're in trouble. Just like your household bills, you have a monthly budget, what you take home from your job, and you have your bills that you have to pay. And the moment you exceed your take-home pay, you know, you're in trouble. So it's

014the same for school district. So in our budget we have a structural gap of around $4 million. How do we know this? Because in our budget we have excess surplus that we use Oh, feel free to take one. >> Yes. Hello. We have excess $4 million that we're using to support our budget. The reason why this is important is because that $4 million that's excess surplus. It's a one-time revenue source. It's not reoccurring like tax levy or state aid. So, this is important to understand because we have this $4 million this year continue. But if we think about it for future years, there's no guarantee that $4 million is just going to show up from somewhere or even next year. So what I'm trying to illustrate here in 2627, we balance fund balance, but then

015we have limited fund balance coming up for 2728. So you see that now that recurrent revenue source begins to not meet our expenditures. Fast forward into 2829 and remember this is just a projection. So but a projection that I'm using based off what our fiscal reality I believe to be is. So by the time we get to 28 29 there may not be any you know one time you know um funding to fill the gap in our revenue and this is important continue with the reality that we're facing what are some of the actions that we've tried to take to balance >> well had to reduce some staff have and no one takes that lightly because as I said we recognize our position in the community as a school district with the school district being

016the largest employer in this community. So, we don't take that lightly, but in order to balance this budget, we had to reduce staff program adjustments. Like, for example, summer school. We're still having summer school, but you know, we had to reduce it maybe by a week or so. So, it's not going to be as long as we would have liked to have had it. Leveraging fund balance, which I just discussed. um 20% 25% reduction in athletics. We have had some positives you know throughout despite all of this. We have maintain our core instructional program. We have been able to purchase new curriculum for all content areas. And with making that happen, you know, we had to remove some things like we discontinued courtesy busing. Well, we're, you know, we have that on the table, not

017as a whole, but for W and it impacts roughly about 29 students. But this is something that we put in our budget to try to meet the holes. So if we think about what we've done, if we distribute it by position position, I'm saying that with emphasis because I'm going to speak on how it impacts individuals. So by position, we had about 40 roughly 46 positions have been impacted and as you can see, it's across the board. teachers, administrators, custodians, secretary, security, aids. So, it's not just isolated to one group. Well, despite this, and I want to credit the work of our district leadership, not just the superintendent, but our building principles as well, because they and our directors, they worked really hard in trying to help us with reassigning people like identifying what their

018vacancies were, individuals that may be impacted about cuts and how they can go into a vacancy rather than lose their jobs. And I credit our district leadership, like I said, our principles, our directors, our superintendent with being instrumental in that because while we identified 46 positions that I mean 46 positions, it impacted 21 individuals. Continue. What do these tax cuts mean for I mean sorry tax increases mean for the community? Well, what our proposed levy is is the 2% plus an additional health healthcare waiver cost which goes up to a total of 6% on the tax level. What does this mean for residents? Well, the total tax levy is north of 1.9 million. Now, when I say tax levy, I'm not referring to your individual taxes. I'm referring to the entire tax base of the

019Hillside community. So, that's the proposed increase. If it was 2% then it would be north of 600,000. So at 6% it's about 1.9 million. So in the average home of $500,000 what this means is it means a tax increase of approximately $88 a month. And that equates to about north of a$1,000 plus annually. I know in some presentations people will try to break it down by day to say, "Well, your tax increase is the equivalent of a cup of coffee." >> I think you deserve better than that. I didn't do that because I know that that's not real. I know what's real is that $88 hits your pocket on a monthly basis. $1,000 of a year hits your pocket on a monthly basis. And with all of this, we didn't take it lightly. So that's

020why I didn't try to frame it in that way because I didn't want to insult anyone and I didn't want to minimize what we're trying to do. Continue. Why do you feel this more? Why do you Why would you feel this tax increase more than maybe other communities? Well, your ratables when you look at a typical school district, the ratables in the community generally increase anywhere from 2 to 4%. In a average community in Hillside, they've increased by less than 1%. We've gone up from about 912 million plus in ratables to about 915 million plus in ratables. And you know these ratables increase, we have housing development. You know, you have new houses coming into the community and there's not a lot of development in the community. So because of that, when the taxes are

021raised, everyone in the community feels it more because there's no additions to the tax base to share the burden. So I'm I'm saying this because the limited growth in ratables means that that expanding the cost is not expanding at the same pace and it's just felt more directly by you as individuals. Continue. So I'm just showing you this just to illustrate because I mentioned the tax increase. Now I know that you do fill this on a typical home $500,000 as I mentioned roughly around 88 $88. Now we reduce the tax rate let's say it was 5% even 4%. What I want to try to get you to understand is that every 1% increase is roughly maybe a $15 savings a month. That's still real money. But for a school district, you take that 2% increase

022and let's say it's down to 4% instead of 6%. Right? That's about $30 on an individual level. But on a school district level, that's $600,000 plus for us. So, I'm trying to get you to understand the difference that you know you that those percentages matter for us for what we do with our programming to teach kids and to continue to be one of the largest employers in the community. Continue. I want to close with this and I'm sure there'll be questions, you know, and the board will, you know, probably have comments as well. First, I want to thank everyone for taking the time out of your day to come and listen to what we have to say. We we really appreciate that. And second, nothing that we've done to try to make this budget work

023was taken lightly. A lot that went into this. A lot of a lot of long nights, a lot of conversations with people, a lot of difficult conversations, you know, with people that that we take no pleasure in. And what we're showing it's not easy. And I know that something stuck with me before I presented. You know, Dr. Dr. Howard had said, you know, how how are you going to present this? You know, because this is heavy, you know, how you going to present it? And I I thought about that. I I gave an answer, but I thought about it. And the only thing I could think to to do was to try to be as honest and transparent as possible. So you understand exactly what we're looking at. Not hiding any numbers, not hiding what

024we're doing with job cuts, just putting it out in front of you on the table. So you know, you walk away here and you didn't feel like that there was more that could have been said. you know that you you understood the situation that like how we got here, what's facing us today and what could potentially be facing us tomorrow. So I do want to thank you again for your time and while I know this presents no comfort through similar things, you know, um Hackinack $25 million budget deficit. Monlair $20 million budget de budget deficit. I mean these like we're trying to make sure that we're not in papers that we that we have these we're trying to write because we don't write it today maybe not tomorrow maybe not the next day but maybe

025a year or so from now hillside might be in the paper and we don't want that and this is why we've taken a difficult action to do what needed to be done. >> So, thank you. >> Thank you very much, Mr. McNeel, for a very detailed um open and moderately forensic presentation of our current situation. At this time, I would like to entertain a motion to go into public comments. At what point does the board um appropriately ask questions? >> I just wanted to know when the board's place was to be able to ask questions with regards to the presentation and how >> great point Mr. Shapiro. Um, I think at this juncture if the board does have any questions that might be a good time to do that because it may have a >>

026actually I think maybe have the public to do that because then we can answer their questions and we can just add our questions afterward. I I leave it to the will of the board. Would you rather hear from the public first? Rather have your questions answered? I I think it's best that we hear it from the public first because again our whole purpose our being here is to serve them. So at this time again we have a motion >> motion. All in favor? I >> residents are requested to state their names, addresses, and subject. In the event that appears public comments, the public comment portion of the meeting may exceed 15 minutes, the presiding officer may limit each statement made by a participant to three minutes duration. Issues raised by members of the public may

027or may not be responded to by the board. All comments will be considered and the response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate. The board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding students and employees of the board of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Specifically, comments regarding students and employees of the boarded and will not be responded to by the board. Students and employees have specific legal rights for by the laws of the state of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility, nor will it be liable for comments made by members of the public. Members of the public should consider the comments in light of legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they

028are legally responsible and liable for their comments. And I do add to that tonight because it's a special meeting, we as board members are also members of the public. So we need to be very cognizant of our comments as well because we are also going to be allowed to make comments and give our two cents so to speak tonight. So at this time I open the microphone to our first president. >> That was a great presentation. Um, I really want people to consider the presentation because you're not going to get this in other districts. No one is ever going to break it down like he broke it down with pictures, graphs. They're probably put numbers on a piece of paper. So, I want you guys to consider the um the presentation and just think about

029your questions when it comes to this budget. >> The microphone is now open. Anyone has public comments, please step the microphone. >> Amen. Whoever's playing that I appreciate all the work done. I understand the position that you're in. Thank you for >> Is it on? >> Yeah, it sounds me now. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. As a former board member, I want to thank you all for the hard work that you've done. I know the spot you're in right now. Thank you for the honest presentation and giving us an actual dollar figure. But that's just like saying head or gut. We still going to take it either way. And um but what I do want to ask is uh when this budget was put together, was there any consideration given or any study given

030on HIA? What would closing save you? How would it affect the budget? And also I spoke to President Howard and asked him about maybe asking the state could you go into capital reserves in this extraordinary situation asked him could you take a percentage out to help lower the level. >> Okay. But again I understand your position is a tough spot. All right. Thank you. >> Sure. Um I could start with the capital reserve question. That's probably the easier one to answer. That'll take the least amount of time. So that's we thought about that and for capital reserve we have 200 million I'm sorry I wish wishful thinking $200,000 plus. So our capital reserves have been depleted. The year prior to that there was about in 2425 there was about three and a half million in

031capital reserves. But this is where we are now. So we don't we don't have that money. That's first part of your question. Second part of your question, you asked about HIA and it's a good question. We were when we originally went into this with our work with the budget, the one thing that we tried to do was not close any schools. We wanted to try our best to not include programs, but we thought that the closure of a school would have a greater impact on the community. So to that end, let's say just hypothetically, right, if another person came and they asked, well, you could have closed Deanna Taylor. Know the Taylor only has 200 kids. You know, we can And yeah, maybe we could maybe we can split the students between the two elementary

032schools, but we tried our best to avoid things that would have the biggest impact on the community. >> Not at this point. Okay. Okay. Um yeah, I hope that that um at least in part address your question. >> Of course. >> Can everyone hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay. Good evening. Good evening everyone. My name is Amaya Presley. >> I'm a senior in high school and I'm here on I'm here to represent Louisa. She's not here because we were notified last minute, but she has prepared a statement for me to deliver to you all. >> I'm here to speak about Bole and the impact he has had on the high school over the past 18 years. He began with very limited resources working out of a small space and through his dedication, he built a

033program that has grown stronger year after year. During his time here, he has mentioned he has mentored over 50 interns from colleges such as Kaden and Sen Hall. He has provided more than 20 scholarships through his own efforts along with supporting community scholarships. He has also organized annual athletic training workshops, trips, and giving students opportunities to be involved in professional environments, allowing us to gain real hands-on experience. His work goes far beyond what is expected. He consistently puts in extra time to make sure every athlete is safe, prepared, and cared for. His reputation extends beyond our school as he's often asked to assist in other schools because of his knowledge and commitment. Recently, he was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, which reflects the the level of respect he has in his field.

034Importantly, has created a positive and working and welcoming environment for his student athlete. He he makes sure everyone feels included, appreciated, and stands up for his students. That kind of leadership is not something that can easily be replaced in any organization. Strong communication, accountability, and support with a department are essential. When these when these areas are a challenge, it can make it even more difficult for dedicated individuals to continue doing their jobs effectively. Despite this, Oy has remained committed to this school and it and its students, continuing to give his best every single day. From my experience as a student, I've seen how this program still has the potential to grow, especially compared to others. Replacing boil with outside trainers from a company may seem like a solution, but in the long run, it may

035cost more and set and set the program back. More importantly, it risks losing the consistency, trust, and level of care that Bo gives to every athlete and student. That kind of dedication cannot be replaced by someone who is only present temporarily. Removing a position like this does not move the program forward. It sets it back. Po has given years of effort, leadership, and care to the student to the school. This decision is not just about budgets. It's about the long-term impact of students, athletes, and the quality of the program. Thank you. And I would also like to ask what you guys uh plan to put in place of the athletic trainer position. >> Yeah. um to right we we can't speak directly to personnel matters but to answer your question with regard to what do

036we plan to put in place we're still working that out honestly at the moment we we don't know >> good evening >> my name um 207 other street. Okay. So, um I want to thank you for the graphic um presentation and forensic presentation of the project proposal. And like she said, it was well presented and nailed down to make sense to an average person. But I also want to thank you for not closing this HIA because I moved into the hillside June last year and it was because of this school that I moved my school kids to this school to this uh hillside because I lived in East for 14 years and one of my kids went and saw something about Magnus and said she would like to go to Magn School and we find

037out that she couldn't move from the ch schools police academy to magnet school unless we live in Union County. Um eventually we chose to move into hillside and it would have been a disaster if one year after moving here this school is closed and also and you know that just like I'm here um every wife or every mother who wants to move into a different town will first of all ask what is the nature of the school And that was the only question my wife asked before we moved here. And so when she found out that HIA was a highly regite, she agreed. And so I also went I know that the budget issue is something that is nationwide and in fact it's a global issue. you know budgets you know finances had at individual

038level at institutional level but I want also this board going forward to look at how other schools have combined other aspects of street while you were while you were presenting I looked up uh not education foundation I looked at maran abine educational foundation. I look at Summit Educational Foundation. I look at Educational Foundation, Sham Educational Foundation. These are these are side 501c organizations that help fund programs. Some of them fund program up to 1.7 million here in New. So I am putting it forward for this board to take out some time to study how these people have been able to you know raise funds you know from other streams to support instead of I don't want to talk about you know um taxes you know because it's already high. I just don't want to talk

039about that because to add another $1,000 is going to be high and then the city council may also move to add some other you know taxes. So I don't want to talk about that. I think that you know we still have to work to agree at whatever level how the tax but I know that may we may not go without raising taxes you know. So uh this is what I want to present now and I thank you for your presentation. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Good evening everyone. Good evening. >> May I'd like to just give you a little packet if it's okay. >> Of course. makes me so much to be able to address the board. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. >> No worries. >> Oh, that's Oh, okay. Pass it

040down. So, you can >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I wrote something just so I can make sure. Um, my heart is heavy and in these times I'm sure I'm not the only one. So, I just wanted to write something so I'll make sure I get it in and don't miss anything because of my emotional makeup right now. Good evening board members, Hillside staff, community members here and online. I stand before you in a unique position as an employee of Hillside Public Schools District and a lifelong resident of Hillside Township since 1974. People choose, as the gentleman just mentioned, to come to buy a home in a community for several important reasons. Among the most significance are quality of life and safety. For families with children who are planning to have children, the strength and

041the reputation of a local school district is often the deciding factor. Eliminating my position as a district residency investigator student information system will feel significant loss and only and not only to the hillside public school district but to the township of Hillside as a whole. This role is essential in man in maintaining an integrity of the district, ensuring compliance and supporting the community I am deeply so connected to. Not only am I employed but as a 26y year taxpayer and a proud owner of my childhood home. >> Thank you. I appreciate it. Since taking this role, which has proven to be far more extensive than initially anticipated, I have successfully identified out of district placement, as you mentioned, sir, earlier, resulting in an estimate savings in the district of approximately at least a 100,000 to

042300,000 in tuition and related expenses for students who no longer were eligible in the district to receive these services or no are not in the district at this time. correct? You know, at this present time, in addition to this role, um I fostered critical partnerships with local police department and the district homeless liaison, which by the way, I am boots on the ground. And when I find someone who may not live in the town, it may be for several reasons. So, we need to be able to identify and then address it, you know, and and allow the district to continue and maintain a decent quality of life because everybody finds themselves in a unique and peculiar situation from time to time. And you don't want anybody to just look at one side and not look

043at everything as a whole because that's what you're looking at for the budget, everything as a whole. Okay. Thank you. So in addition to that um I work with the homeless le liaison ensuring consistent communication and coordinated support for families in transition because that's what it is. It's a transition. These relationships are vital to both compliance and compassion allowing us to uphold district policies while ensuring the students in need receive services and support they deserve. So once we identify now we need to present and give them some services because these children are still going to be in our system in our district but they're going to be in an unusual position. Um in our provisional we we we in our um in your packet. I just want to address what's in your packet. In your

044packet is a sample letter from a family. That's just one of many that I received stating the children don't live in the district. Um this person hasn't been here since 1923. this person is still living here and we're still going to school and these people know that these children don't live here. These things come to me. Whether it be by a a teacher sharing some things, whether it be by a student speaking to another student, whether it be by a anonymous letter, I get these and I need to address them. Um there have been so many ways we've done we've done data and the data has changed over the years for Hillside School District because 2019 uh 2020 we went green. So a lot of things that were paper were now online but people you

045know it's a little resistance people don't always want to be online. So by the time it went online you know no one really understood the whole over intaking that I had to do or that had to be done until we were able to start seeing it and then we were able to control what we're looking at. So with that being said I've been able to identify so many things. I gave you a residency letter. In your in your package is a provisional letter. The state and also in your package is the state laws for residency and the state law for truency and juvenile delinquency and so on and so forth. This is to understand that we have to at this point let so many children in without having anything. So we'll let them in. They

046need to have an education. It is the law as so eloquently put by our acting superintendent. It's the law and we're going to follow the letter of the law and I agree with that. If that's what we're supposed to do, I am, you know, hands-on. I'm I'm agreeing with that. However, once we do that, we're also looking at the fact that we need to um vet and understand do they live here. So, that's where the role becomes pivotable that are pivotal that I'm able to go and assist the school and the districts in making sure that they do indeed live here and the reason why they don't have documentation. So, again, I'll know whether to place them in homeless or something to that nature. You also have the between the law and the other areas,

047we also have charter schools, the funding that we are talking about because we're trying to save money. And I get it. I I get it. I totally get it. We're trying to save money. We're trying to save money where we can, but we don't want to save money in the front door, sir, and let the money come out in the back door because if we're letting charter children in that don't live in the district, we're paying for their charter school and we're paying for transportation and loop. So, these children have to be vetted as well. And then we also have again the homeless liaison area and those students. Those students need to be identified and addressed. I'm done. With all that being said, I'm just going to present to you some of the things that

048you may not have realized, may not have looked at. Not many people asking me any questions until the last minute. So now I'm here and I'm going to answer whatever is asked of me from now till the time that you asked me to leave this door. I'm going to work while it's day because when night time comes, no man can work. So these students mean something to me and all the families who I've helped in this areas that call me, they're going to get everything that I gave them in the beginning of the year, they're going to get it till I walk myself out the door. Thank you so much and have a wonderful >> Hello, my name is Paul. I I wasn't going to speak, but right now I'm in tears. First of all,

049I really don't know her that way, but she didn't say the most important thing to me that I've seen her do when those had that fire here in Hillside and those kids place got burned. That organization that she's in made sure those kids had somewhere to go, where to live, make sure they had clothes. How can we let her go when she I mean I saw it. I didn't know her. I end up working with her. End up working with her. Mona um the um uh advisory committee of the recreation. We was out there with her. I didn't know this woman. She went to their houses. She made sure they had food. I mean, she went beyond the the you know, she didn't even know I was gonna speak. I didn't even know they was

050gonna let her go. You can't let this this this can't do it. I mean, you just can't do it because this is what we need. People who who believe and love kids and care. I saw what this woman did and she means it from the bottom of her heart that she cares for these kids and you can't let her go. And I don't even know her. Hawaiian Thompson eps 1480 Stanley Terrace. I just had a couple questions as a former board school member. How much does it cost to run HIA? I know it is a great school. However, my daughter was in the seventh grade and she went to Koworth at the time because we didn't have a magnet school and it was called the Little Scholar Program and they had that inside the high

051school. So I'm trying to imagine like how much how many administrators we have. I think we have about 90 students at HIA, but what's the budget to run it? Because I don't want to take anything away from those students because they are a little higher level, I'm assuming, um, than WK students, but at the same time, is it cost efficient to keep that school up and running? And also, is there a study to say that they are performing higher than some of the AP students at WK? So, that's my question. Can we have that or later? >> Sure. Um, some parts of your question I may not be able to answer. Like for example, like how they perform relative, >> you know, but but I can speak to >> Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. But I

052I can speak to to the question about cost. >> Okay. >> And also another question. Do we have space? Another question before you answer. Do we have space in another school such as I know we expanded um was it Ola Edwards I think the name is now. We expanded that school when we were on the board. So do we have space to trans you know transition those students to another school if if if you don't want them to go back to WK. >> Right. >> Yes. So all right. So the first question just about cost. in general. So about cost, there is a million plus in salaries for administrators, teachers, custodians, nurses, counselor, you know. So million plus in salaries about 300 um sorry about three let me make sure I got that right. One,

053two, three, four, six, seven, eight, nine, seven, 11. Yes. So nearly about 400,000 in benefits. >> And then just in terms of just, you know, miscellaneous expenses like supplies and things of that nature, we're talking about roughly about 1.5 million. Now you asked another question because you asked about consolidation. >> Yes. >> Right. So with the question respect to consolidation, right? if we were to consolidate let's say HIA into a middle school, let's say like WK because that's a middle school and so it seems like it would be appropriate for them to be in middle school classes. Now again I'm answering this but as I said our position was not to close any schools because of the impact that it will have in the community and we tried to stay to that but I'm still

054answering your question. I just wanted to preface it with that. So if we were to let's say go into WK on the surface it would appear that we would save $1.5 million. The problem is that with W, what we did to try to rightsize staff is that our cuts at the school level were driven by collapsing sections, which means that we identified sections in every school where we can consolidate. Now, if let's say we didn't do that, then you probably can just move all these kids into existing classrooms with existing teachers. But because the driver of our decision to make cuts was collapsing sections, that means that those sections at WK wouldn't be no longer under enroll because we made cuts to ensure that they weren't. So now getting to that point in terms of

055what the actual positions that we would need we couldn't cut core content area teachers because those 90 plus students science math social studies ELA all your content core content area classes those teachers would still have to go over to W to still teach those classes. The reason why I'm saying why I'm talking about staffing so much is because all of the costs that I mention is primarily staffing and benefits. So that's why I'm talking about staffing. So you'd have to bring over those teachers and it's also the possibility for all of your special area teachers, art, physical educ education, Spanish, you may have to bring those teachers over as well. where you actually where we would actually get the cuts because essentially what we would be doing is we would be cutting staff. That's where

056the savings would come from. So in order to account to consolidate within that school, the positions that we identified that could be cut would be the principal, custodian, security guards, guidance counselor, and the nurse. If so basically administration and support not necessarily teaching staff. So if you take those amounts that those amounts are roughly 600,000 plus I said one two three four five six and that's probably another 180,000 in benefits roughly and that's provided to everyone receives benefits. So, we're looking at somewhere between um potentially seven and just under 800,000. That would be the savings to your question. And then, as I said, those savings it would it would come from FA like there's no there's no operational. Currently we don't have reason. Currently we don't have any vacancies in any of the schools that

057those teachers could fill but I know certain times we do have vacancies that is filled by fulltime subs. >> Yeah, you're right. >> So so I mean I don't know the teachers personally. I don't want to say and I don't want anyone to lose their job rather is at WK or it's a young lady right here behind me. So, I'm just thinking in regards to maintenance, electricity, you know, like how like is I mean, I don't know if y'all consider like how can we try to consider cuts because like you said, no one wants to lose their job. Everything is high right now. So, no one is trying to lose their job, but at the same time, taxes is going to increase. Yes, we have the school board taxes. We already know municipal tax is

058going to increase somewhere. We don't know the rate, but it's going to increase. And unfortunately, No just a procedural matter motion to extend public comments beyond the allotted time. >> All in favor? >> Please continue. M. >> So in that in that matter is that is there any type of consideration because the school ran with those same teachers and those custodians and the nurse prior to having hia. So, I'm not saying shut the school down, get rid of those teachers, but I'm just saying is there any way because I know there are empty spaces unless you cut those positions. I don't know. I just kind of popped up in here. So, and and and it's a it's an important question. So, as I was saying, because we had to make the cuts and because our

059cuts, especially at the classroom level, were driven by identifying sections that could be collapsed due to underenrollment and you know, things like that. That's the reason why we know we can't just put them in existing classrooms. Because if we could just put them in existing classrooms, it would be for every dollar that we spend in salaries, that would be the savings, you know, because you basically would say we could, you know, cut all of the positions at HIA, take all of those students and put them in existing classrooms. But as I said, because the driver of our cuts was identifying the sections for under enrollment, we don't have like the classrooms don't have this. They wouldn't have that space prior to these cuts. Yes. What you're saying would have applied. So in essence, the dollar

060figure that I mentioned to you, you know, in terms of the savings, um I also mentioned the staff like the number of staff and type of positions that would be tied to that. We're primarily talking about administrative positions and support. >> So just quick question. So how many students are actually at HIA? How many um principles and and teachers? I'm just getting a visual because I like I said, I like the school. I like the students but I just want to get an idea. >> Sure. There there is only one administrator at at HIA. there is about around 90 students I think you know roughly give or give or take some students >> and in terms of overall staff there are two 13 staff members and that's not just teachers that's custodians across the board

061like >> so basically at this moment with the school running there will be no openings at any other schools at this current moment based on your budget cuts. There will be no open positions for those those teachers to transition into based on budget cuts at this current moment. >> At this current moment, what we tried to do is like I mentioned earlier, we tried to work, you know, with the principles, with district leadership to identify where we did have vacancies. So the people that we were cutting, we could actually move them into those vacancies to try to prevent people from losing jobs. So that was also the other part that was connected to our strategy with um doing job cuts in terms of you know we looked at collapsing sections for enrollment and then we

062also looked at trying to reassign as as best as we could. >> And the last question is what is the projected percentage of teachers that may be retiring this year? >> Yeah. Um, >> has anybody come in like you know I mean I know it's >> we have confidential but I'm say >> we have retirements and with those retirements the retirements are part of the cuts. >> Okay. >> So basically when I mentioned the 46 positions key word positions like not people >> but you know that you know in terms of what we actually tried to remove. So basically losing job through attrition, you know, that was a part of it as well. So you know, and I think it sounds like what you're trying to get at is if there are some retirements, can

063we Yeah. Can we move them in there? And because we took that into consideration with our cuts, you know, we don't have, you know, that flexibility because it was either when people retired, we did one of two things. It was either we moved the person into that position or we um didn't fill the position and removed it all. >> Honesty and your transparency. >> Sure. No problem. >> I'm sorry. I have um did did he answer the first question? >> I think she I think she asked about the um the grades or >> Okay. Good evening everyone. Good evening. >> I'm Alina Mitchell, 1431 Maple Avenue, Hillside, and I've been in Hillside since 1973. >> Wow. >> Okay. And um you know, I when I first came to Hillside, I came from London, so I

064went to Lynon public schools, etc. And I kind of compared Hillside to London. back then. Okay. And you know, and of course, you know, when I even when I went to high school, you know, we had high school, we had college prep, we had business classes, etc. And I always tell people, you know, I said, "Boy, it was funny. My first job I got was something I learned in high school." Okay, very good. I said, "That was fantastic." But, you know, I was impressed with the schools in Hillside. I lived right behind, you know, 10 W. And, you know, when I first had my children, I said, "Ah, you know, I I said, "Ah, that'll be great. The school's right here." But I decided because with me working, etc., I put my kids in private

065school. But they still came back in. They were at Hillside every day. They had their friends in Hillside. They went to pro the summer program park, you know, stay in the park, etc., etc. And you know, I've been coming to these meetings. I don't say I'm here every meeting, but I've come to quite a few of them. And the HIA Academy, I was very impressed with the students, you know, because you, you know, you have kids that love what they're doing. and their learning, you know, because I was always in a technical field working with computers, etc. And I was always impressed with the school and, you know, and I said it would be nice, boy, you know, like if they could, you know, expand that program to more students in the school, you know,

066but I just think that um, you know, I don't want to see anybody lose jobs, etc. So, we should try to do the best that we can because you don't have, you know, you have quite a few teachers that genuinely care, you know, and Cheryl I, she cares about the students. I see quite a few of them that care about students, you know, and you can't necessarily find that. But um like as far as I know that this is showing the salaries that we pay you know like all of our you know teachers etc. But now we have additional expenses. All right. We have expenses for like special ed students that have to go to other schools and stuff. Where's that broken out at? On >> on the slide. Yeah. >> Wait a minute. Oh,

067you mean >> onet I I didn't I just saw plates a lot of places said salary. >> Oh, that sheet. >> Yes. >> Because I know that we would spend and say for instance children with the private school. Don't you? I usually have to supply books, etc. >> Oh, okay. All right. I I can provide context for for this. Okay. >> So, what you're looking at is not a complete breakdown of the budget. That's not what you're looking at, right? And that's not what this is intended to be. >> What this is, we had a tenative budget presentation. >> Okay. Got it. >> We had a tenative budget presentation in March >> by statute, >> right? Also by statute we have to have a final budget presentation. >> Okay. >> If there are differences >>

068and like your expenditures between your budgeting, right? >> For example, like you may have changed something >> in the tenative budget, >> right? >> Um I mean sorry it was something in the tenative budget, you changed it in the final budget, >> right? >> By statute, you have to document that change. >> Okay. >> That's what you're looking at. >> That's what we're looking at. >> Yeah. You're right. So there's a res that's why this is a resolution because it documents all of all of the lines >> that between the tenative budget and the final budget >> that we looked at maybe there were more cuts that we had to make >> right >> and that's what you're looking at. So that this is not intended to be okay >> a budget. If you want

069to see the tenative budget that we start with started with, it's online. >> Okay. >> And then once the, you know, final budget is approved, that'll be online as well. >> Okay. >> So then that at that point you it's what you refer to as the advertised budget. >> Okay. >> And then that will give a breakdown of everything >> of everything. >> Okay. >> Yes. And last but not least, um, you know, I live on Maple Avenue and you know, for years I know we have students that aren't our students because I watch them get on the bus every day going back towards Newark, you know, and I can remember many years ago I had my niece in custody of my niece and nephew and all the hoops I had to jump through for

070them to be in the school system. I had to show them all kinds of papers, etc., etc., you know, and as a resident who never had a child in the school system, you know, it's like, you know, and there's a lot of us there, you know, it's like shouldn't be spending money. I mean, I don't begrudge any child as education, but the whole thing is is when we know stuff like that, at one time it wasn't allowed in Hillside. And now everybody, you know, turns their head the other way, but this is stuff we're paying for. And I know it's if W they're catching the bus. They're up there at the high school catching the bus, too. So, you know, that's something else we need to look at. But, you know, I thank everyone for

071their time working on the budget and like I say, we don't want to see anybody get laid off and we definitely don't want to touch the HIA Academy. And as far as charter schools, I've been against them for the last 40 years. And because it's first off, I didn't like the fact that, you know, their requirements are lower as lower as far as teachers are, etc. you know, teachers are, you know, they don't they don't have to do the same things that a regular public school teacher, you know, and it's like I just don't feel like it's right for Hillside and we don't need to take money from our school and when we're doing good things in the school, we don't want to mess with that. Thank you. Good evening everyone. My name is Evelyn

072Oper. I am the very proud director of languages and I also oversee the Hillside Commons band. Unfortunately, my role is one of those roles that have been rift a reduction in force. Um it is devastating because most of you know where we've come from. Um I am an instructional leader. That is what I do. That is who I am. That is what I came here to do. And because of that, as an instructional leader, I have ensured student achievement. And I don't want us to forget about that. My leadership is directly tied to the ways in which we have seen the growth of our MLS in this district. And so I don't like to talk about what I do because I am humble, but I do need to do that now. I have overseen the

073growth of RMLS from about 250 to 500 students in a threeear span. I have overseen the staffing of those students as well because when we first when I first came uh 2022, we did not have enough ESL teachers. In just last year, we exited 54 mls. Thank you. That is a good feat. 54 mls. When I got here, I believe that number was 10. 21 22 school. This school year we have over 65 64 students receiving the Jersey Seal of Bitacy which will which means that our students are proficient not only in English but in another language. Um I have had a direct impact in increasing our parental involvement across the district for our also in general for the district. I have also worked with almost every instructional teacher in this district because RMLS do

074not just sit in ESL classrooms. They move from content area teacher to content area teacher. And so my work has also ensured that most teachers are prepared to deliver instruction to RMS. Um that's just a little bit I don't have a lot of time. I'm a little taken aback as to why I was not offered my instructional supervisor role as I am tenured in that role as per NJSA 18A 28 um 28-6. Um, and I just wanted it to be publicly known that I would like stated to my tenure position because I am tenur and because also of some laws. Um, I do not take my work lightly. I come here every day and I do the job of about five people and I do it with a smile on my face and I do

075it with pride and I do it because it needs to get done. I understand that you all had a job to do and you made the wrong decision and I'm just here to let you know that I would like to be reinstated as an instructional supervisor. >> Mr. President, motion to extend public comments another >> Oh, this might vertically challenge. What happened? >> All in favor? >> Public comments have been extended. >> Oh, okay. >> With your presence, please go. Please proceed. >> Thanks so much. Good evening, board. Good evening, everyone. Um, Andrea, New Jersey. Um, couple of questions. One, I understood Miss Alina Mitchell's question to be, could you break down the cost that are leaving the district, not is it in this package? Did I understand the question? Okay. Could you please break

076down the costs that are leaving the district for children? I know you said it's not in this because this is the revision. And then the next thing was said it's online. Where specifically online is it? Because we looked for it before we came to the meeting tonight and we were not able to locate it. So, if you can tell us where that was. Um, my next question is how did we determine who to riff? What's the criteria that was used? And the other thing that I noticed was on one of the slides you showed that there is a decline in enrollment over a period of time and you have percentages. Did we make our modifications at the same rate that the decline is happening or greater? And did we consider keeping some of the positions

077and perhaps asking employees if they would consider not taking a raise? And I asked these questions because we also at the municipality are having to make tough decisions. So these are not these are not questions in any way to disparage or anything like that. It's more to gain an understanding of what you did and how you did it because as we know the board increases will also affect the municipal tax increases. >> Okay, >> those are my questions. >> There's a lot of questions. Um, so I'm trying to remember them all. >> Okay, >> first one was the breakdown of the funds that are being the district. When you say in terms of what do you mean like out of displacement? >> I think what you asked was dis um >> that were being spent

078but he said in the regular budget this was just things that they adjusted. >> Right. Yes. Her question wasn't about that. That's why I was trying to >> do we know how much leaves the district >> out of when you say >> so whether it's IEP whether it's special needs whether it's >> I don't think we have charter schools yet. >> So we have um 45 students which is 10% of our special education students that are out of district and that cost a district approximately $5 million. Thank you. >> That was the first question. The other question that you had was with regard to where was a tenative budget posted. >> Yes. >> Posted on the business administrators business offices tab. >> Scroll all the way down to the bottom past names of the individuals

079in the office and there should four to five links. >> Okay. >> It should be the first one at the top. >> Okay. So if I'm if I'm on the main page, the first thing I click is >> go to department and department something else and then you'll get a window and you'll see business office is one of the first five options. Click on business office or business administrator. When you click on that, you'll see Mr. McNeel's picture followed by his office app. Scroll all the way to the bottom. You'll see four four to five links at the bottom. At the bottom and I believe it's the first link that says tentative budget from March. >> Perfect. Thank you. And then when the final one if you know provided is approved final one you'll find

080same location. >> Okay. Yes. >> Uh the third one was how did we determine rifts? >> I think that's what you call that right. >> Yeah. >> So what we tried to do is we tried to first address non-tenure teachers >> you know or staff because it wasn't just teachers as we talked about. We also when it did come through teachers we tried to look at enrollment like in sections. So if there were sections that were underenrolled then we targeted those particular individuals. In some cases like I said before we were able to move individuals into other open positions that may have been available. You know that was our rationale for how we targeted. We like I said we tried to target non non-tenure individuals. We tried to base our targets at least teaching staff

081in terms of classroom enrollment. And when it came to non nonten I mean sorry non-eing staff there were like let's say like security or custodians like for security we just looked at buildings and just determined that maybe there was a surplus of let's say security guards or custodians in a particular facility and that's how we you know targeted you know our cuts and some instances you We tried to figure out roles that could be consolidated like if there was two positions if there could be a hybrid role. So those were you know factors that we use as a part of our methodology to arrive at our cuts. >> Question number four. >> Yeah. I know right. Like it was like I said there was a lot >> unless if that was it. about um if

082you presented the opportunity to those certain people um that were rigged if they would not take pay raise. >> That was one and also the one in between was the rate of reduction in enrollment. >> Yes, >> it was on one of the slides. Yes, it was. And I asked when we did if when we basically when we do the math of that you said it was approximately 3%. >> Did we reduce >> like expenditures by that >> equivalent? >> Yeah. Yeah. Makes sense. >> Cumulative because I know you said it was a cumulative. >> Yes. And that's a that's actually a very good question. >> Those two were my last two because I think I had like five. >> Oh, okay. So I'll start with that one since that's the the last one you

083just said and that's the one that's most fresh in my mind. So when it came to what you mentioned about state aid, right, there's a reduction in revenue. So with a reduction, you know, you have student enrollment decreasing, which go to that next slide. >> With student enrollment decreasing, you're going to have a corresponding enrollment, I mean revenue because our revenue from state aid, which makes up about 40% of our revenues, is driven by student enrollment. So the question is was there a corresponding decrease in expenditures relative to the decrease in enrollment? >> Well, from what I could tell I believe the answer is no at that time because remember like this was we tried to write the ship for 2526. who you know in terms of 2425 to my knowledge there wasn't a decrease

084in let's say staff at that time so you know so we tried to write the ship in this year >> okay >> not cumulatively though just for the one year >> no no no it's going to have a cumulative effect because not only are you talking about that you have to take into consideration that our budget includes a you know, a $4 million plus charter school hit, >> you know. So, if you take that into consideration, go on that next slide. So, you take that into consideration, you know, you're talking about, you know, six plus, you know, million dollars. So, in this year, yeah, we had the cumulative effect of not reducing expenditures in the prior year 2425. that's obviously going to carry over because all other expenses are going up. >> So yeah, in

085this budget, not only did we account for the current year, but we had to, you know, account for when it, you know, when things weren't done prior. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> And the >> No, there was not a hire, >> a raise. A raise. >> Oh, there was not a salary freeze offer. >> Okay. >> Thank you. That was it. >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> Sure. >> And I appreciate your presentation. >> Oh, well, thank you, >> Anthony Salters, 528 Chapman Street. Um, first, your presentation was very good. I didn't think I was going to like it, but it was understandable and good. >> Um, a few things. I respect everyone's opinion here, voice and concern about HIA, but we should only have one set of facts. You have a bunch of

086opinions. Fact number one, HIA's he just said enrollment is going down in September. HIA's enrollment is going up to 105 106. He said that HIA cost $1.5 million. If we right now have 89 students and we're getting state aid at $22,000 a student, that's $1.9 million. If we gave 50 more dollars, it would round off to $2 million. So, HIA is operating with $500,000 to spare. So, someone should be asking where's the extra $500,000 that HIA kids are bringing in. So, as the founder of HIA over the last three, four years, we've had people for whatever reason want to always ask, could we close HIA? So, in trying to preempt this, which I have definitely failed, I said we need to help other schools Three years ago, we got state aid to put automated chairlifts

087in W HIA and the high school. If you go there, if you're here, there's automatic chairlift here. Two years ago, we went to the state and we got $750,000 for the the addition to Deanna Taylor school. All that money could have went to HIA. 2025, we successfully lobbyed the state of New Jersey to get $500,000 for a esports center at the high school. No one's asking where's the esports center. No one's asking what do we do with the $500,000. We keep talking about hi which Hawaiian said it's a great school. So I feel kind of funny that I got to come up here and defend a great school possibly being consolidated. But we brought money in to these other schools and I don't think we're asking the right questions. Where is that money? We could

088talk about the $500,000 from 2025. Where's that? Where's the esports center? But again, I want to say this again for facts. HIA brings in $500,000 more than they spend in the total operation of the school. Salary, electricity, everything. supplies $500,000 more than they actually use. Thank you. >> Raven Watson, 8:30 Jerome Avenue. Thank you for your presentation and thank you for being upfront and honest. I just have a couple questions. Do the district have any data to show for each for this school like the um the data to show like how the students are doing like once they finish here are they going to the high school? Are they achieving because the school has been around for a couple of years now. So do we have any data to support that this school is doing

089so well? That's my first question. And then my second question the previous speaker said that the state gave this school uh 500k. So, is that how state aid work now? That they separate schools in the district and give different schools a certain amount of money or do they give districts an abundance of money? Not abundance, one set amount of money for the district to use for the schools. >> Okay, >> that's my second question. And yeah, that's my main that's my main question. like for state aid, do the state say, "Okay, Hillside, we'll give this school this amount, this school that amount, or do they say we give the district this amount, and the district determines how they're going to use it for the schools?" >> Right? So, I I'll answer the second question first

090since that's fresher in my mind. So, with regard to the whether or not the state when they give money, do they give it to individual schools? Well, they give it to the district. That's how that generally works. I don't I just came this year in July. So, how we were awarded the money I may know know all the details of that, but I do know that we were awarded it. And to that end, the money did not just disappear. So that while I don't necess while you didn't necessarily ask what was done with the 500,000, I'll share it with you anyway. So there was an esports center that was on the table and the former superintendent that was here uh made a decision to not move forward with esports center. Part of the reason for

091that is because the esports center required matching funds um well over a million dollars in matching funds that the district did not have. We would have had to come up with that money. So instead money was used on existing capital projects particularly um we have a modular unit a new modular unit that we're that we have at Herd and Looker and that's where those funds went to. Right. it went it went towards um that particular project. So it wasn't that we didn't want to you know that the superintendent didn't necessarily want to go with esports because I I I do believe he that was really what he wanted but the fiscal reality was such that the district just could not provide the matching funds for it and because those funds were awarded to the district.

092However, we it arrived to us, >> you know, that's what they were used for. >> Okay. I wasn't really concerned, but I'm just sure concerned about that. I just was curious how the state award money and then Huh. >> Okay. And then my last question for you. So, you answering it. It's not like the state says for this school we're going to give Okay, >> that was for capital funds. That's a little different because that that wouldn't be like on a per student basis like you know you usually get those specific amount. >> It was it was $500,000. >> Okay. >> And you know and it was for capital >> it was for capital projects. >> Okay. Yes. >> All right. And then um >> all right that's all I know. But the data I

093guess someone can get back to me about the data like to show like >> that can be found on the >> say that >> okay that's online >> okay it's on it's on the district website and I can find that >> oh they haven't yet okay >> mic is not on >> the QAC process is still in ongoing so once the final report comes back we have to report to the state and they'll be made Okay. And last question about the charter school students. Do I know this is set aside for the school if it's approved or not. Do we have a number um amount of how much we pay now for the students that are attending the charter school? Like how much of the budget? How much now? >> Yeah, it's it's roughly um

094Oh, for the charter not not this. You mean just the charter schools in general? >> Oh, yes. Yes. So, we Yeah. So for the charter schools in general, it's about um two million just just above two million plus. >> So that's how you got to the six million, >> right? Yes. If that answers your question. >> All right. Thank you. >> Sure. >> Mr. President, I'd like to extend public comment time. >> Motion. We have a motion to extend public comment. >> Motion. Do you >> have a second? All in favor? >> Thank you, Mr. Shapiro. >> Mr. Salt is before you speak, sir. Um, in the interest of time, uh, we absolutely did not want to have to put the threeminute cap on tonight because we wanted to give all the residents time to

095speak. So we approve interest of time sorry in the interest of time I'm just going to ask everyone please just when you come with your questions please have succinct because uh the board members still have some questions and there other people other folks in the neighborhood have some questions so again we just want to kind we know we've gone away the three minute limit but just please be succinct with your questions proceed. >> Thank you. I only need one minute. Um, this is a classic case that two things could be right at the same time. When the board gives you aid, they don't earark for anything specifically besides aid, maybe capital. That's it. So, Miss Watson was right about that. But what I was talking about with the $250,000 um for the air chair lifts,

096the $750,000 for DTA, and the $500,000 for the esports center was not in the regular budget. It was in the June appropriation. And every appropriation in June is earmarked where you have to use that money specifically for whatever project they say. So, two things can be right at the same time. >> I'm sorry, Mr. Soldiers. Can you just clarify? Are you accusing the district of having committed fraud with state funds? Because I just want to clarify. If they earmarked money specifically for something and the district did not use it for that, then they would have misappropriated those funds. Is that what you're saying? >> I mean, those are your words, not mine. >> You said about right. >> You said about want to clarify, right? If the state specifically gave the district money for a

097specific project and the district did not use those funds for that specific project, are you saying that that's what they did and that they misappropriated those funds? >> I'm not saying they spent the money. I just came up here and asked what happened to the money. But if the money was spent, then yes, the money was misappropriated if that's the case. But it is in June is specific spending. >> I don't know if you had another question. >> Okay. >> I'd like to respond to that. Um just to let the district just to let everyone know that if what Mr. But you know what the gentleman just came to say and what Mr. Shapiro attempted to clarify. Yes. If we have money that is geared towards a specific thing, you must use it for that

098specific thing. State aid letter for that 500,000 did not say that that money was for the sports. We have that state a letter. State aid letter says that that money was for capital projects. It's very specific about it. When the state gives you money, it tells you what it's for and what it was for was capital projects. It tells you the revenue account that you must receive the money in. It generally will tell you the expenditure account that you must spend the money in. So all to that point, all of those things, you know, were followed. And if that letter did say specifically that it was for esports, then yes, to Mr. point we would be we would have misappropriated funds but that is not what happened. >> So Mr. McNeel sorry to take the

099public's time but just on this critical point of fraud I want to clarify please can I just ask two follow-ups on this >> sure one so it's your statement here >> it's your statement here that the district received funds from the state and the district those funds in accordance with the intended purpose that the state had in allocating those funds. Absolutely. >> And is it further your opinion or your view that that money was used to the benefit of the students of this district? >> Yes, absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Come back up fourth time. >> Mook George Cook 531 Pur Street. I just want to make it very clear that when it wasn't to criticize it, definitely not to ask about closing it. I was asking the question to see if you guys had

100asked a tough question and done your due diligence and I respect the fact that you have I respect your presentation and I just wanted to make that clear. >> Thank you. >> Jordan, >> we have any other members of the community? Please, ma'am, come on up. >> She's watching on TV or is she here? >> Hi, how are you? >> How are you? Um, my name is Nikia Mortin 404 Street, Hillside, New Jersey. Um, I've been a resident of Hillside since I was born in 1979. I came through the Hillside school system. My son came through the hillside school system and he was one of the first kids to actually graduate from HIA. My son, his name is Khal Thomas. He was a senior this year. He wasn't an A student. He was an average

101student. He had a 504. students that went to hia were not only kids who excel. There were kids who were average and a little below average and had 504s and have IEPs. I'm a proud teacher in this district. I teach at Danny Taylor. This is my 26 year teaching. I decided to do my last 15 years in Hillside because this is where I came from. And when I heard that HIA may be on the I want to say chopping block in order to be dismantled kind of hurt my heart because being a special education teacher here in the district, our kids come go in there. Even our kids who are not so popular but are kind of what we call brainiacs, that's where they get to flourish. They get to be themselves. And without a

102I don't think a lot of these kids would flourish that go there. So I'm not coming here as a teacher. I'm coming here as a parent. I'm coming here as a student from 1997 graduating. And it would just break my heart if that was to happen. But I do have a couple questions also about the 2026 2026 2027 budget. Um, the first thing I wanted to ask the charter school that we're saying that's coming, what phase is it in? >> Phase two. Yes. >> So, will it be happening next year for 2026, 2027 or will be the year after that the actual charter school would be here in Hillside? >> We actually don't know to be honest. We just know that it's in phase two and that they have until June 30th to be given

103an approval. >> An approval, >> right? So, we don't know if it's for I would assume that Well, actually, you know what? Let me let me back that up. Based on the state aid report, it has to be this year because if it wasn't for this year, we wouldn't have all the students accounted for it in the state aid report. >> Okay? So, we have to the 30th of >> the state does to approve it. What if it doesn't approve? Do our teachers and our administrators still lose their positions? Detaches >> some some positions. But I'm not I'm not going to lie to you. Like we when we did this, we were very intentional in trying to, as we say, rightsize, you know, the district. So there may be some positions that may be that

104may come back, but that's not going to be the majority. >> Okay? even if the charter school was not approved. >> Right? And the reason for that is because what I was trying to illustrate in the presentation is that outside of the charter school we've supported, our budget is supported by excess surplus of $4 million. That $4 million is one time. That's not like recurring revenue like tax levy or state aid which we get every year. That's a one-time amount that's propping up our budget. Okay. >> And I was trying to make the point that over time, you know, there's no guarantee of how much we would have, we probably won't have another $4 million lying around next year in excess surplus, you know, like even in our fund balance. Our fund balance has dwindled

105over time. So, it's definitely not that much. >> Okay. So, my question again. Sure. If the school board I mean well if the state does not approve the charter schools some some of the teachers and some of the administration will be saved not all even if it doesn't. So may I ask another question how much of our tax money goes towards schools? Um well the school district in terms of the revenues that we receive about 40% state aid 40% of our revenues would be from the tax levy >> and our taxes just went up. >> Yes. And like I said before >> but it went up tremendously. So you mean to tell me that money that the taxes have went up because my taxes have gone from $12,950 to $15,920. My dad lives on McQueen

106Place. His is already was $14,238. His taxes have went up to $17,450. And he's a senior. >> Yeah. And >> so my question is if that money is being if we're getting 40% why can't we save some of our teachers and our administrators because we are getting the funding. >> I'm saying this because I grew up here. >> Of course >> I've been up here as a student when they tried to cut funding for students when they tried to cut teachers. I don't say much in the district. I'm a quiet kind of person, but when I see my peers and my administrators and my supervisors losing their positions for unnecessary for something that may be approved, it may not be approved. I just have a little bit of a problem with that, especially when my

107taxes are going up and I know where the money goes. I'm just I could assure you that any cuts that we made, they weren't taken lightly and they weren't unnecessary. Any cuts that we made were to close the budget gap that we have. And it's the fact that your peers, >> you know, people that you know, you work with, that you see every day. >> That's hard. No one here pretends that it's hard. And it's it wasn't easy for us to sit and have individual conversations >> people to tell them that >> in this this market that >> they're going to lose their livelihood. You know that's >> it wasn't it wasn't easy by no stretch of the imagination. >> And I'm sorry I just have one other question. I know I'm a little bit

108over time. My last question is this. Was it ever brought up for everyone to take a a cut, a freeze with our salaries? Was that even brought up? Why not? >> Because I think that a lot of us in order to save our teachers and our ministers jobs, we would take Why wasn't that brought up at all? Because part of the reason why it wasn't brought up is because the unfortunate reality is that the big biggest expenditures of school district are salaries and health insurance. So if you have to address you million budget gap, the way that you're going to address it, this is tough to say, it's through cuts of positions because that's going to get you to that number. >> Doesn't necessarily make it right, but just the math, >> that's what will

109get you there. Even if we had freezes, freezes alone won't, you know, it won't get you there, you know, by itself. Now, it's not now, but like I said, we did not present that as a as an option. >> Is that still an option or no? >> Well, at this point in time, it's it's not because >> Yeah. So unfortunately because there's labor contracts contractually district is obligated by law to ensure that everyone's salary is in accordance whatever the contract is. You would have to get every single employee in the district to agree that they are willing to reduce their salary by x amount and that's probably unlikely and it would be a court it would be considered ille. >> Okay. Did you give us that that option to do that or did you just

110got you made this yourselves to come about and say, "Hey, we're going to make cuts instead of asking the teachers, asking administration or asking our board president, our VP, you know, would you be willing to do that before you did these cuts?" >> So, through discussions that were had with the administration, all kinds of issues, including those kinds of issues were raised. As a lawyer, I have a legal obligation to advise. You can't do something that's illegal. >> Okay? >> Even if people want to agree to it because it would be contrary to to contract law >> and and the law in the state. So, you don't want to have a circumstance where you agreed with the employees and then come October employees said, "No, I don't want to do that." >> But isn't that

111the same way when we vote for our um three-year contract? Isn't that would be the same way? And that's a legal binding contract. >> Wouldn't that be legal binding for one year? >> Not the same. >> Okay. >> Unfortunately. >> All right. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Do we have any more members of the community would like to speak? There being none, I'll take a motion. But before we get to close at least the public comment section at that time then the board members will open up with their questions. Do I have a motion to close? >> Is there a second? >> All in favor? >> I before we begin the board members questions and comments. Uh I just feel it prudent to mention that we are sitting here and we we've gotten some

112advice to us but we're also learning tonight as you are from the BA from super our acting superintendent and from you and one very very important thing to please remember that the nine of us we absolutely live here too and everything that affects that tonight goes on with each and every one of us as well. Um I was listening to you ma'am listening to your tax figures and looking at mine too. um is real and we want we want you to understand that we understand it's real. And that said, um in the past, one of the things that didn't happen, I'm not accusing anyone of placing blame, but board members didn't really have much of an opportunity to speak, and that's something I decided I certainly want to change while I'm sitting in this chair.

113So, tonight, I do want my colleagues, if you have anything, and I know you have many questions and comments yourself. As I said, we're residents, too. So, Miss Pence, you have a question. Let's begin with you. >> Good evening. Um, my only question is, and I'm not sure that you have mentioned it tonight, um, M. McNeel, is what would occur if the board didn't agree with the budget or didn't pass the budget? What are the >> the options of that, the consequences of that? That's a good question because um there are consequences to that. So we have to present the budget by the 7th, which we're doing, the tax levy is certified by the 14th. If let's say by the time we get to the tax levy there's no budget on the table that you

114know votes the budget down. Well, in that instance, the state would probably come in. They would send in a state monitor potentially at the district's expense because the state doesn't pay for that. The district does. So, they would send in a state monitor and there'd be a couple things that would happen. one, the state, like I said, we pay for it, but most importantly, the state monitor would then be able to override the authority of the my authority is business administrator. So, the financial decisions as well as the authority of the board and the board is publicly elected. So, I don't know if we necessarily want that to happen, but those are real consequences. Is that definitively what will happen? It may not definitively happen, but it is a very strong possibility because the reason

115why a state the state would send in a state monitor is because they look at a district and say, "You couldn't pass this budget. This means that whatever reason your financial house is not in order. We need to send someone in to make sure that it is. So that could be the potential consequences of what will happen. >> Before we have the next question, Mr. McNeel, what would be the approximate cost of a state monitor coming if that were to transpire? I recently read um in Hackinack that there was a board member who was on record and they had quoted the cost because they're having challenges with their budget too. They quoted the cost at about 200,000. I don't know if that's accurate or not. I'm not going to say that that's how much the

116cost would be, but let's just say that I do know definitively it is a six figure amount because the person that's coming in, you know, is they generally have a background as an auditor or a CPA. So, this is someone, you know, has a strong finance background. So, it's going to be a six figure salary of some kind that probably could be in the range of one to 200,000. question. >> Vice President Hogre, >> um, I previously asked if you could ask the state for an extension to possibly get more time for them to determine if the charter school is going to be coming to Hillside or not. Um, did you ever look into that and what were the results? We I spoke uh directly with the county superintendent and we have to abide by

117the deadlines that have been imposed not just on our school district but other school districts. They did propose saying we could push this all the way up until next week, but then that would call for another meeting and it would still not stop this presentation from happening because it is due on the 7th or by the 7th. So the extension would be until next week. >> You could have the extension, but the budget would still have to be submitted. >> So it would be a >> board member Horton Given. >> Thank you, President Howard. Uh, and thank you to the community for your questions. you've addressed a lot of my questions, so I appreciate um you taking the time to come and share and ask your questions. But I have a couple more questions. Um

118I wanted to know what approach other than the adjust the suggested cuts that we had, the riffs that we had, have we identified to reduce costs? Like are there any programs that we are reviewing to to cut costs? And if so, is it possible for you to provide us with analysis that kind of depicts that information? So a number of the programs that have been cut are NTN which is a national teaching network. Reimagine uh reimagine learning leader in real scholastic success uh leaders of the 21st century missiondriven educational leaders another >> lumi is another uh program initiative has been our I did say reimagine learning I And then that also takes away us from also building training center or trailers on the field which a couple of week a couple of months ago that's

119also now off the table. >> What else? >> Say off the table you mean >> meaning budgetary reasons we can't do it. >> Okay. is that I have another question. Um I believe that we calculated the proposed tax increase. Can you confirm that? And what are you proposing that tax increase to be? >> We so in the budget that we have, we're proposing that the increase to the tax levy is 6%. What makes up that amount is the 2% cap that we're allowed to do. And then the remaining amount comes from the healthc care um cost waiver and that brings the total increase um to about for the tax levy to about 1.9 million which is roughly a 6% increase. I think my other questions were answered through the community. >> It's mess. Yeah, absolutely.

120>> Um, so I do have a couple questions that were brought up in the presentation and what you said. So, when it comes to summer school, is that still offered online or is that in person? >> In person. >> Okay. Yes. >> And then when it comes to athletics, it's at a 25 degrees in that >> 25% cut. >> Cut. So what is being cut when it comes to athletics for the district? >> Some of the like coaching like coaching stipens like that teachers would get >> or like we wor with the athletic to director to determine which ones because he knows that best. and he identified various programs that were underenrolled. >> Okay. >> So like you know like wrestling, elementary, basketball, >> you know like um flag football like some some of those

121programs. >> Okay. Like flag football girls or boys? >> I'm I'm sorry. I don't know um which one specifically. It could be girls, but I >> the girls team >> it could be. >> Okay. And um another question about um the freeze um when it comes to paying fees, I'm a part of the union and stuff like that because I'm a part of the union. So, was it brought up in a let's say meeting per se to speak to AFT about a possibility of um freezing some let's some employers pay I guess what they're getting from um the district >> what >> yeah um freezing their pay increases but that brought up to I'll defer to council on No. Um, that wasn't something that was discussed. That that would be something if it were desired

122to be presented by the union, but once again, contractually is illegal, right? If there's a difference between or maybe there's a difference between asking people to reduce their salary versus having cuts >> uh or sorry, versus having a salary freeze >> contractually. If there is an increase, we are legally obligated because it was negotiated and agreed upon by the parties to provide the increase whatever that increase was or is. >> And once again to suggest that >> we would do that as a administrative body or or as a board someone challenging that could say I'm a part of the union. I'm not in agreement with this. How did you do this? this is illegal >> rather than have that fight. It was not something that was proposed. >> Yeah. Um I know because for us

123Montlair we do step up here we do step up right based off credentials whatever the case may be tenure stuff like that. So what I'm saying is was it proposed to aft of a possibility and if so if these the union agreed hypothetically what would happen >> just as I said to just as um I mentioned in terms of deferring to council you know because of that we didn't bring this up just based on our response from council. Yeah, I think if if it's challenged, we lose because the court would say you entered into negotiations. It was negotiations that were legal and binding on all members of the union as well as on the administration. for you to say now that you are not going to uh observe and obey, if you will, the negotiated

124agreement. That one person could say, "I'm not in agreement with that. I was pulled in order to determine if this should be accepted." I said, "Yes." Now, I'm not in agreement with it. That's a violation. You can't then say, "Well, we're gonna pay you and not pay the 600 other members." Then the next member might say, "Well, I think I want to be paid too." >> How is so, okay, so when it comes to AFT, I know every year they do an agreement every three years. So, how's the how's the agreement done in the district when it comes to the union? Like, is it every three years? Is it every four years, two years? So, when is that I'm just saying hypothetically. When is that agreement up? during your next year. >> We're going into

125year three. Year three of a three-year contract. >> Yeah. >> Going into year three of a three-year contract if I'm not mistaken. >> Yes, that is correct. >> Board member. >> That's correct. Thank you very much. BA, you did a wonderful presentation. Um my question will be we have the the gist of everything here has been charter school charter school if the charter school is not approved what will now be our projected percentage because you're you're saying 6%. >> Good question. Well, if there is no charter school, it doesn't change the fact that we still have a budget deficit. Now, we have had conversations about this that while our position, as I had stated, you know, in the presentation, 2% tax cut, let's say, if we move it down from Andre, can you bring up

126that slide? Yeah, this no that one. Yes. So if we reduce from six to let's say 4%, right? That may save the average taxpayer $30 individually because it might think of every percentage about $15. For us as a district, that would mean that we would forego 600 plus,000. Now, is that something I want to do as a person that has a fiduciary responsibility to the district? Absolutely not. But at the same time when we've had these discussions we've talked about the balance that we try to strike you know between being able to run the district and being able to you know um give relief to the community. So we did say that if there is no charter school that we would entertain, you know, maybe going to 4%. >> How would that happen? Like if

127if we have so much time to pass, >> is it an amendment to the budget? How how would that occur? Especially if they they have until June 30th to approve or deny a charter school. So technically you won't be able to make any adjustments for that budget. >> Yeah. That and that's the part where that see but the question about when it came to like let's say like job cuts can those be restored? that's a little easier because even if we have until June 30th, you know, once they, you know, they certify the tax levy and they give it to us at that point, you know, they're not giving the money to the charter school. So, we would have the money. So, then in that case, we can make those decisions related to the district.

128Now, when it comes to the tax levy, I have to be honest with you. I'm not sure how we can do that because they have to certify. Well, let me say this. It's supposed to be certified by the 14th >> and I believe the township has to have theirs certified around that, you know, time, too. So, I don't know. It could be possible that maybe there and I'm just speaking hypothetically could be a delay in certifying the tax levy. I don't know. But if somehow there was a delay in certifying the tax le township and then word came in that this charter school is no longer you know coming to our district and maybe in a scenario like that then yeah it would be possible to reduce the amount but without that if let's say

129we don't get that letter by the 14th tax levy is certified beyond that I honestly don't know how how or if that could be first. >> Miss Parks, >> I have one more question. Um, so for the positions that are being cut, per se, right? And every position is essential. Correct. Right. Agree. So how what's the plan in place to if a specific position is is it is cut what's the plan in place to do whatever it is that was under that certain position per se like what's the plan when it comes to that? So let's say for example athletic train like athletic training director right per se if that's cut what's going to happen like how is that going to work or like let's say if there's a teacher teaching a certain section if

130it's or something like that and that has certain requirements and stuff how is that going to happen during the next school year like what is going to happen with that >> question So with any positions that were cut, we had to really consider what positions could be collapsed and what could be consolidated. Not a very easy decision to arrive to for anyone in this position right now. I can certainly say that our focus in looking at this and in determining what needs to be on the table, what should be off the table really came down to one thing. Our our staff and educators are absolutely valuable. Our students are invaluable and we have to make a decision where we can continue to have things in place at the expense of bringing the best to our

131students be it by resources for professional development for our educators. So we need to be mindful that we have both the right resources at the right time and that we also are ensuring that we have the right positions in place to support the students. And with all that said our enrollment is declining. So as much as we want to save the positions that we've identified, we can't sustain some positions. >> So not an easy decision to arrive to. Um like I said, it's easy from the outside to say, "Well, what about this? What about this? What about this? Did you think this? Did you think that?" Yes, we've been we've been playing around with this crossword puzzle looking here and looking here. Okay, let's take this now. Let's do this. But then at the end

132of the day, do we want to have all the skills go here and our skill? want to hold our kids up. >> And that's how we began to approach all of this. Um, it doesn't get lost on any one of us. the impact that this has on every single person, >> but like I said, we have to continue to make sure that we're putting the students at the forefront and do we have the right programs right now for them >> or did we accelerate some programs that could have perhaps held off on for 27 28 or 28 29 instead of focusing on the ones that they needed. We also have to ensure that we have the right resources for them, the right program, the right professional development. how are we investing in our teachers and

133if we're going to bring certain positions back that then means okay we'll bring this back then we took away from here so it's not an easy decision by far uh we did keep the students at the forefront as much as possible we were mindful of how many impacts or how many hits I should say can this community take and uh we presented to you what we thought was I would say the most equitable presentation in terms of balancing but also looking show looking to see we didn't just focus our cuts on educators per se we went across the board and where we could collapse where we could absorb we did >> how would you measure the success of that so you're saying that you're going to have to combine some positions right how are you

134going to measure the success of and obviously taking on another role making sure that I'm able to manage what I currently do and what you're now adding on to me successfully. How are you going to measure that? >> So that has already been something that has been observed since I set foot with my original position as CNI director. I began to look I began to assess how the actual department was set up. what what particular responsibilities and tasks fell under the individuals that were pegged for the CNI department and >> the curriculum and instruction. So, in looking at the curriculum instruction department, I needed to look to see how are how was the program how was how was the department set up individuals that we have in place? What was their workload? What was their

135walkthrough schedule? How what was their impact with staff? How often did they touch staff on a weekly basis? Um, prior to me stepping in, there was a the supervisors did this, the principles did this, and there was a a pretty heavy load on our school building principles. And so I had to be mindful of bringing those two roles together so it wasn't them working in isolation but really working more collaboratively and how could the supervisors now leverage some of the work that our building principles were tasked to do. For example, lesson plans observations were not a part of our department supervisors uh task. So in looking at now consolidating or collapsing certain offices and departments those things were considered. how can they be um observed by way of developing schedules to see what what schools

136are being hit and by whom. And I just tasked my supervisors with sharing with me a weekly schedule of where they are because I wanted to understand how often were they hitting classes, how are they hitting the classes, how are they assessing the platforms that we currently have in place, how are they observing, if at all any teachers. And there were gaps and there wasn't there weren't just gaps necessarily within my department but there were gaps that we observed and I had observed even before this position came to be and in being mindful of that as we're moving into the 26 27 I had to really consider the programming that we also had. So my my assessment of the current platforms and programs that we have began almost in September. I I didn't just look

137at usage reports. I look to see how how many programs do we have and which one can we actually pick to see this is working for our kids. What we currently have is a mo multiple resources, multiple apps, but we don't know which one has the most impact. We know that we're using them because the usage really indicate the impact. So that's one. Um, so it's really a lot of boots on the ground and really ensuring that where our instructional leaders are, where our department heads are, that they're actively working and monitoring and supporting buildings and not just touching them at different times of the year. >> So it sounds like um you are referring to like instructing your teachers and that kind of evaluation. What about your support? The services that we offer to

138our students that are not instructional such as homeless, the homeless coordinator and you know our truency. How are we going to ensure that we will benefit from absorbing those into other roles? That's the effectiveness that that I'm really asking. I know that we'll have to monitor obviously the instructional and you know the administrators and all that but I'm talking specifically and I want to go specific but specifically about those roles that are um they're targeted roles and we're we're we're cutting those roles. So, how do we how are you proposing to make sure that we do not lose? I understand the question, but it is now leaning towards personnel. And I want to be mindful that nothing I say is misinterpreted or that a fragment of what I say is taken to be as me

139evaluating or making any other comments outside of what your question is. Right. So, >> if I may, I'm going to circle back to a point you made earlier, Mr. and Dr. Perez. You mentioned some of the programs that you sunsetted. Can you give us an estimated cost of what those programs the the savings were by eliminating those programs and more importantly um what type of impact if any will that have on student learning assessment and growth? That's my first question. I have to more start with that one. >> That's about 400,000. It's not that much. >> NTN Oh, NTN by itself is like 200,000. No, I'm sorry. I think the number 700,000. >> It's uh it's estimated 700 to 800,000. And of those programs I mentioned, there are four of the of the nine that

140we would like to see about we would like to reconsider bringing back to our students. Four of the nine. >> Having said that, I'm sorry. Can I >> I had two more questions. Miss Horton, you asked many other questions. I wanted to to the tax levy. We you gave an option of 10% then 10% went to 6%, 6% went to 4%. At the end of this, let's just say all right, for argument sake, we go somewhere in the middle and you mentioning writing, you mentioned writing the ship. What assurances do we have that this is going to write the ship or this is going to be an ongoing thing year to year? And I know there's some things you can't predict like the loss in state aid and other expenditures. I understand that. But I

141think all of us need to know is there's going to be a stop gap, a cure all or a next step. Can you speak to that and have one more after this? >> Yeah, sure. um as you said I can't speak to the future because there are you know there are other variables there at play like if there is declining enrollment that's going to impact our state need so it's difficult to quantify it but what I can quantify is that we do we are currently using like I said outside of the charter school we're currently using four million plus and surplus revenue. I mean, you know, excess surplus, which is not a really it's a one-time revenue source. So, in that sense, we have a structural budget deficit of $4 million outside of the charter

142school. So to that end, I can't say definitively that let's say if you're talking about next year like will there be an increase in taxes above 2%. I can't say that definitively. But what I could say is let's say if there is no charter school on the table, right? Let's say this goes away in its entirety. We're only dealing with tax, right? Then it could be possible that with the, you know, even with the the structural deficit that if we're applying the tax levy as we should, you know, every year we're doing 2% that at some point in the future we could close the gap if we're doing it regularly and we don't have instances where we're taking off a year or two consecutively where we're we're doing no taxing. increase at all. I think

143that is where the problem gets further compounded. But if let's like I said hypothetically if there is no charter school and we're continuing to ply apply the 2% then there could be at some point that we meet a point in the future where we continue evaluating you know um our cost that we get a point where the ship has become right side and maybe there's not an issue where we're trying to do like 6% like you know in a year because we've done our due diligence and just stayed at that 2% cap. But like I said, even that is still challenging because factors that I'm omitting like for example state aid we what I tried to stress in the presentation is we operate in an environment of stagnant revenues and rising fixed cost. That's the

144challenge, you know, and even if we do our due diligence and do 2% every year, health c healthcare costs is not going up by 2%. You know, salaries is not they're not going up by 2% either and salaries and benefits alone represent more than 70% of our budget. So in that kind of physical reality, you know, it's that's why it's hard to just omit those factors because I understand what you're saying, you know, and I want to just give you kind of the straight answer to say, yeah, it'll be this, but with those factors, you know, at bay, I can't, you know, tell you that without including them. Fair enough. Um, and thank you for that and everything you said was true. But I just feel it I feel compelled to just mention theoretically also

145>> that does work in theory, but we also live here and live in this town and% exponentially there. We live in a town for seniors. >> We live in a town where taxes are going up. We live in a town where people's revenues are going down. 2% theoretically on paper does work. understand what you're saying but there are people who need to pay the bills every year to year two. So it's u slipper slope to say the least. My last question. >> Sure. >> In terms of those who are returning let's just say for argument option okay I'm splitting the difference here at 6% between four and 10. What would your priority be in terms of staff that is returning programs that are returning that would go in to fill that gap? We know there

146still may be some losses, but what would the priority be? >> I'll let Dr. Perez answer that part um about >> if it's about positions, we can't get into positions, but >> yeah, >> really thinking more in terms of programming. We can discuss. >> Okay, >> let's talk programming position. Positions we can discuss afterwards. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So of the four programs we are considering considering uh bringing back it would be uh leaders of the 21st century uh NTN uh missiondriven educational leaders that's something around that and then uh reimagined learning. >> Could you speak a little bit to what exactly those entail and the impact they have on our students? So NTN has been with the district for the last three years and they have been working with um nearly every grade level

147and I believe they would hit every grade level by this uh beginning school year and they have been working to better support our math programming. If you uh look at these math scores for our students, they have not been great. And so NTN is um pretty much known and recognized for not only the work they do in terms of supporting school with math instruction, but they have been working specifically within our school to both coach teachers as well as administrators when the administrators are available and develop force and how do they develop mathy in the classrooms? So they work I believe grades two to eight if not like it's two to eight um mission driven this particular program works directly with our administrative leadership and how to not just approach teacher evaluations and how to

148provide feedback but he also of course our building administrators with coaching um and how to use data and what I mean by data is how are we scoring teachers and then looking at our at our student performance and how are our efforts in line with how our students are performing versus teacher evaluation scores that they have. Uh leaders of the 21st century is a program that is based at the high school and work specifically with students who are going to be entering we're going to be leading the high school primarily junior seniors this year. the individual worked in the psychology class, showed them executive functioning skills, showed them how to network, showed them how to um develop certain skills that they would need outside of high school. They were pursuing whether they were pursuing higher

149ed, uh type of just going straight into work, they worked on building their confidence in addition to the skill and executive function skills that I mentioned. M Vice President Hogre. M >> Mr. Shapiro. >> Good evening. Thank you. Um thank you to Dr. President also to uh Mr. McNeel for all of this work. I know I know it wasn't easy a lot of hours. Um not what we see here is what's happening tonight, but there was hours and days and weeks that went into this. So thank you for all of that. Thank you also to the um union leadership that I know here um that had to be um uh played an integral part in conversations. So, thank you for that. And of course, also thank you to the staff and the parents as well

150as the uh students um for working with us and and through all of this. Um Mr. McNeel, I think most of my questions are are for you. Um and most of them are just for the purposes of clarity. >> Okay. um because some things have been asked and answered, some things have been said and I just want to make sure that for as I did with the out of turn questions that I asked you, I want to make sure that we're clear on certain things. >> No problem. >> There there's been a decline in enrollment that I think you put up on one of the earlier slides. >> Yes. >> There's a direct correlation between the decline in enrollment and the decline in state aid revenue. Correct. because we receive money per pupil and so

151as the enrollment goes down so does our state aid irrespective of any funding increases or decreases. >> Yes. >> Lower enrollment equals lower state aid. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Thank you for that. >> Sure. >> Um over the period of time that enrollment dropped over these years though you neither of you were in these chairs but you've seen the data going back. Did the previous administration and the district increase or decrease staff over the time that the student population was decreasing? >> That way, >> sorry, >> based on the data that we obtained, it appears to be that way >> that it that as student enrollment was declining uh was >> we were increasing our expenses while our revenue was was decreasing. And part of this is an effort to correct. >> Yes. For

152that >> we've seen the enrollment decline over a period of years. I believe it was beginning in the around the postcoid year. I think 2021 is what you showed us over that same period of time in in the broader township. There was a precipitous increase in taxes. Have we taken a look at all either at the district level or the township level um for a correlation and or causation between increased taxes and decrease in student aed scholaraged human beings living in the township? Meaning as the taxes go up, do we see fewer and fewer um families of with children of school age being able to be present in this community? I wouldn't say that we've taken that. >> We haven't right. We haven't done that analysis. But >> yeah, not a causation, but definitely a

153correlation that as taxes have gone up dramatically over 20% in the last three years, um we've seen we've seen our student population drop. >> So, it would also potentially be possible that as we continue to increase taxes, um we might also see continued decrease in our student population. Um, one of the gentlemen who came up to speak, he he mentioned moving to the township for a specific reason and in that context he mentioned a magnet school. I just want to clarify myself. Um, terms matter that old definition. Second slide was all the definitions. This was not one of them. I just want to be completely clear. To the best of your knowledge, Mr. Neil or Dr. Is there a magnet school in the borders of the township of hillside the legal technical definition of what

154a magnet school is? >> Then I would have to look at the legal definition of it. But I can say that it has referred quite often as a magnet school in the district. >> We have a magnet school in this district. Mr. Hamlin, can you help us with the definition of what a magnet school is? So since I have not done an analysis of the HIA school um >> no my question just is whether or not there is a magnet school in this district >> I don't know >> under our operation >> I don't know it's not something I've researched >> we don't know whether or not there's a magnet school here >> if there is or there isn't what's what's the point >> well it came up in public. There's a number of comments

155about it and so I think as a member of the board I and the public should know whether or not there's a magnet school because my understanding with regard magnet schools is they have the right ability to attract students from other districts. You're attracting students who live geographically in other districts. When a student lives in another district and they send their child to one of our public schools and the money doesn't follow them. when you have a magnet school and the child lives out of district and they come to your district, the money does follow you. So I think that there's a material purpose to the question and a real reason why we need to know this information because if we have a magnet school that is attracting students from outside the district to come

156here that has a net impact on our budget and since this is a budget hearing it's very very relevant I think >> to to the advantage of the school district to get other students here and get the funding from other districts. That's what you're saying. >> A magnet school has that capacity. And so I'm what I am asking is do we have that in this district? >> No. No. So I'm I'm asking you a question. If >> what you mean is if we have a magnet school that would enable us to attract more revenue from other districts that would not take away from Hillside. Correct. >> That's my understanding. >> Okay. So with that said, probably if we don't have a magnet school, you should maybe the board should assist in trying to create one

157so that happens, >> right? No, but I'm asking for a fact around them. >> I don't know. It doesn't sound like we have that aspect of magnet school because I I haven't heard anyone saying that students from outside of Hillside come, >> but that's a good idea. So maybe the board could look into trying to create a magnet school so that you get that fun. or to define it as such clearly defined I think with the where the sticking point is as it's clearly defined to define it as such would automatically lead into that that that becomes something that becomes probable and andor possible would that be fair >> there was a fullthroated defense of hia u a number I was just curious because I may have missed it when you were making your presentation

158did you present, suggest or otherwise comment on an intention to close ha. >> No, like you no I just that's it >> like an intention. >> No, no, I mean that were people speaking as I clarify that was something that you had um that you had put forward. >> Yeah. No, >> I see on the uh finance agenda, one of the first items is a approval of just under $1.3 million in additional health insurance premiums. Can you please speak to that and clarify for us? >> Sure. It's not health insurance premiums. um that when your expenses go up, the state allows you to pass certain waiverss and those waivers basically allow you to um increase the tax levy beyond 2% without vote you know like you know without voting at the polls. That's what that

159is. So the state included that waiver in our budget. That's what it is. So, it's a waver to go beyond the 2% and it's not an increase in health insurance premiums. What it is is that because health insurance premiums have gone up that the state basically says okay, we will allow you to increase the tax levy to account for that going up. Like same is offered you know for other things too. Like so for example, if like your transportation costs, you know, happen to skyrocket, then the state will allow you to have a waiver that allows you to increase tax levy to account for increase in transportation cost and so forth. Yeah. >> So we're attributing twothirds or four 4% of the tax increase to with under that amount. >> Yes. Right. And just to

160clarify for me because I don't know that this was even mentioned in public but this goes back to one of our previous meetings. >> Does that mean that that 4% is not bank cap? That 4% is not bank cap. So, as we had talked about before, we have currently um roughly $1.5 million in bank cap, which was not included in this budget. And we talked about trying to include it, right? Since it wasn't included, that bank cap will expire at the end of this year. We won't have access to it >> and there's another million next year that we have a bank cap and if we don't put it in the budget, that bank cap will expire. Also, >> is there any material advantage or disadvantage to the district to using the waiver as opposed

161to the bank cap or vice versa? I mean, what was the driving what what drove you to determine that that 4% should be under the waiver as opposed to under the bank cap or is it just the semantical difference? >> I mean, the state had included that as a part of our budget. for the budget software um that we access the state will automatically include these waiverss so that they um made that decision to include the health insurance waiver. Initially we had mistaken it for bank cap but when we looked into it further and we looked at the numbers we realized that it wasn't bank at all and it actually was a health insurance waiver or health cost waiver. >> Thank you. >> Sure. Do we have any other board member comments and or questions?

162>> Yes, >> Miss Parks. >> So, let's say HIA is a magnet school per se. Um to board member Shapiro's point, if we identify those students who don't live, be charged the district that they're coming from. >> Yes. >> So online you said it is a magnet school, but I think you should look further into that. >> Okay. Um >> ma'am um >> we can't hear you >> but unfortunately we've closed >> at one time two students that I know went to the magnet school that >> school in we have any more questions or comments from the board members. >> There being none, I'll enter. May I have a motion to go into session? >> A second. >> All in favor? >> All right. >> Executive session. We thank everyone for your patience. I know

163it's a late hour. Thank you so much for your comments and your questions. If you wish to remain, by all means, please do so. Uh if it gets too cold, we'll turn the air off. uh but it doesn't seem to be the case. So, thank you all for coming. Um and we will be back. Uh >> um >> Mr. Shapiro. >> No, just one note, this gentleman should be thanked as well. >> Yes, Mr. >> Yes. Um um the gentleman he's referring to is the one that's standing up and Dr. he has been supporting the district with uh you know navigating the the budget process. So he's been very helpful and instrumental in that and we'd like to thank you for that. >> Thank you Dr. Thank you. Thank you for your guidance. It's it's

164been appreciated. Uh we will go into session and hopefully we'll see you soon. >> All right. My