001some of the celebrations that continued from last month into this month, which I was happy about because oh yes, we had two snow days and the blizzard impacted us from coming to school. It just resonated the importance that one month isn't just designated to recognize and acknowledge anyone um heritage, anyone ethnicity. So, I was happy to hear that whatever Black History Month programs were planned for February, they continued into what happened, they continued into March. In addition, we also had our students participate from DGTA as well as Herd and Looker in the East STEM event at NGIT. And tonight as well as tomorrow, we are having Herd and Looker's first play, Willy Wonka Kids. So happy to share that information to you. If you obviously can't go there tonight, it's still open available for tomorrow.
002So, please go out and and be a part of that. I certainly will be there tomorrow because I wasn't able to make it there today. Uh March also saw the celebration of read across America and this really speaks to the priority goal of partnerships. How the district continues to strengthen its partnerships and to bring the community into our buildings to not just read with our students but to engage with the staff and I thank all the organizers for these events because it goes a long way to what it h what's happening in our buildings. Uh last for this particular side but certainly not least is the Cinderella performance. And one of the things that I do want to highlight is it's not necessarily the talent that we see on stage. It's also the talent that
003we see behind stage and even sometimes over in the orchestra area. We have a picture there of our stage crew. That's our students over to the left hand side. It is or the right hand side of the of the of the presentation. And I thought it was important to feature them because our scenes wouldn't be able to go off smoothly if it wasn't for them going in between um to set up the props and to also motivate our actors behind the scenes. I also wanted to feature the staff that's up front engaging with the community who's coming to watch the children up and and and and be a part of this play. And last, I also wanted to really not only include the orchestra, the orchestra that was made up of our own very teachers.
004And I thought that that was particularly significant because it shows our students that we wear multiple hats and the importance of learning an instrument or a talent and have that refined throughout the years and how it come benefit you many years down the road is evident in the talent that we have in our staff. So I wanted to feature a picture of them. I also wanted to feature an image of uh Miss Privish who is this was her in between um the first part of the play and the second running trying to make sure that everything was taking off without a hitch. And again like I said we often just see the final product. We don't get to see not only what goes on behind the scenes but also what takes place during an actual
005event so that it can continue to take off without a hitch. So I wanted to just commemorate that as much as possible by way of images. The next piece was the women's history month um events continuing to recognize and acknowledge a lot of our um women in the district. Ola Edwards did a great job at honoring a number of individuals in the community. I also appreciated seeing how our students continue to excel both in the the decathlon as well as having our kindergarten through third grade students be a part of the uh climate literacy collaboration program where they had the opportunity to showcase what they learned and how they learned it and uh had the audience of not just parents there but also the individuals who are putting these grants together and bringing these opportunities
006to our students. So, I wanted to just share that and uh bring to you everything that's happening. And we wouldn't be able to have this if it wasn't for our kids who are coming to our school. So, parents, again, we implore you, send your babies to school, make sure they're coming, whether they're in kindergarten, 9th grade, 8th grade, 12th grade. We want to see them in our buildings. We want to be able to support them and continue to build them. Uh last, but certainly not least, I also wanted to give a big shout out to two of our fourth graders from Deanna G. Taylor who won the poster contest. They're right there. um a nice picture of them. So I just wanted to we got wind of this today and so we wanted to uh
007applaud them and their efforts and all the individuals who are behind them when it comes to uh bringing these type of achievements forward. Our upcoming events it's a word again testing it's going to be coming at at towards the end of April into miday. We also are going to have our third CPAC meeting. So, look out for an email from the Department of Student Support Services of when that's going to be happening. And just as we've been doing every month uh for the last few months, it's just continuing to recognize the different heritage months that we have as well as the different staff and the different positions that exist in our building. And that's just a list of all of that. If I missed anything, please let me know because we certainly don't want anyone
008group to feel left out or unrecognized in continuing to build our workforce and having them be more engaged so that our student success and student well-being can continue. We are continuing with our monthly staff recognition series. And this month it was Ola Edwards. What I liked about Ola Edwards was they show shined a light or shown a light on staff that you normally wouldn't see at the forefront. I wanted to give a big shout out to Raphael Calino, uh Kareema Valters, Angie Perez, of course, Judy Alvarez, one of our teachers, and Jessica Russo, who is another one of our teachers. But especially I'm I'm very grateful that Ola Edwards is continuing to recognize not just our instructional staff but all members as much as possible of the support staff because our bu our district is
009not built just on educators and administrators. There are very many different faces that um are in our buildings and um supporting our kids and districts moving forward. So thank you Miss Davis. Thank you Mr. Laquan Guilford. Thank you to all the students and to the staff of Ola Edwards for everything that you do in addition to all of our other schools in the in the district. Forgive me for going fast. I just want to make sure that I'm getting this information but also being mindful of the other presentations we have before us. Uh there will be a second series if I want to call it that of a of a night to meet with me. It's going to be called spring into conversation with me uh Dr. Perez. It'll be the week of April 13th.
010I believe that's the week we all come back from spring break. So, as soon as we are able to hone in on a particular date and time, we will send certainly send that communication out. But, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that we will have a second uh night to um come meet with me and ask questions as we continue through the year as well as enter the closing out of the school year. And that's it. Thank you all. So, we'll now have the student rep come up and share with us her insights. Good evening everyone. My name is Jada Per and I'm here as Hillside High School student council board of education representative. March has been a very busy month for Hillside High School. The academic decathlon and band members took
011a trip to the Lincoln Center on March 6 where they saw a live performance called Jazz for Young People. They saw slideshows about the history of Louisie Armstrong and his music. There was a orchestra that was composed of Grammy winning award-winning musicians. And they played some of Louis Armstrong's famous songs like I can't give you anything but love, I'm confess that I love you, and Jeepers Creepers. On March 10th, our academic decathlon team placed 14th in the entire state of New Jersey. The state in the state competition. Wrench Doselin received a honorable mention in the interview and a silver medal in music. Barley Lewis, Matthew Guruso, and Wrench Johnson were the top scorers for the team. In addention addition, Wrench was named the team MVP in his for his dedication and leadership. On March 11th,
012senior Han Sab was nominated as the 2025 Song hero for Hillside High School. He and his family were were celebrated celebrated at the event celebrating at the with all the nominees at Union County. The Jets Club qualified for a competition in Washington DC. They'll all be going to they'll be going to on June 21st through the 27th. On March 21st, our jersey program went to their last competition of this year. All cadetses that participate did an amazing job in all categories. Speaking about competition, our student council held their annual rock paper scissors competition, ending with a ninth grader, Adoka Eu winning a $25 Visa gift card. Our student council is also hosting spring spirit week this week. Monday, Adam Salin day. Tuesday, dress as your type or gender swap. Wednesday, barbecue dad versus soccer mom.
013Thursday, twin or triplet day. Friday, comment pride. Tomorrow, March 27th, the student council is hosting the spring pep rally. Last but not least, our theater company presented their spring musical Cinderella Broadway version on March 12th, 13th, and 14th, which was spectacular. The student actors and crew members were wonderful and there was a positive feedback from the audience after each performance. The theater company is now getting ready to present their one act play on March, April, and May 1st. Please be sure to keep an eye on our websites to make sure you see the links so you can purchase your tickets in advance. Finally, on behalf of our student athletic trainers, there is a need for a formal treatment facility facility on location at Wildfield Stadium. Communication was sent to the board uh board back in
014February for your consideration. We hope this request be considered as there is a need to treat injuries injured players on site. Thank you all very much for your time. On behalf of the student council, I want to wish you all an amazing spring and happy spring break. >> Thank you so much, Jada, for that very well well written and concise report. Thank you once again. Uh again, our students work really hard. Let's give our student representative one more round of applause. At this time, we will move into public comments. Residents are requested to state their names, addresses, and subject matter. In the event it appears 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
015of the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All comments will be considered and a 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 are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board. >> That's good. Actually, uh I think we before we're going to move into public comments, I realized we have another presentation. Oh, excuse me. I think I thought we were done. Actually, that's a lot more fun. So, please let's have Ola Edwards do their presentation. I don't let the public comment. So, >> thank you, Dr. Howard. >> I like that part. Thank you. Thank you. Uh Principal Davis, please
016take it away. >> Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Oh, thank you. Good evening. My name is Kimley Davis. I am the proud principal of Ola Edwards Community School. Not only am I the proud principal there, I am a Hillside resident and a Hillside graduate. So, this is what you get when you go to school in Hillside. Um, I want to bring out some of my scholars. Um, we are I'm going to introduce first Willow Yoner. She is a sixth grade student and she is going to perform Somewhere Over the Rainbow for us tonight along with some violinists who will be helping her with her performance tonight. >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry. She need that to her. Yes. >> I'm try and be a good girl. Somewhere through the rainbow, way up high, there's A land
017that I heard of once in a la somewhere through the river. Skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true. Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind. me where trles melt like lemon drops away above the chimney tops. That's where you'll find me somewhere the rainbow. Blue birds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow. Why then? Oh, why can't I? If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh, why can't This song was dedicated for the women that fought for us for Women's History Month and the women in this room who have the power to do something phenomenal. Great job. Great job. Now I would like to invite Ola Edward scholars. These students will be presenting a poem that will reflect
018the experiences that they have and the pride that they have at Ola Edwards Community School. Hello, my name is Daniel Williams and I'm in the sixth grade. Hello everyone. My name is McKenzie Simolome and I am in fifth grade. >> Hello, my name is Enira Sarpong and I'm in fourth grade. >> Hi, my name is Gab Ramirez and I'm in sixth grade. >> Good evening, my name is Jenny Streer and I am in fifth grade. Good afternoon everyone. My name is Willow Yoner and I'm in sixth grade. I am a Jaguar, strong, intentional, determined to grow. I come from a place where every voice matters, where every story is heard, where families, where classrooms feel like family. At Ola Edwards Community School, we are not just a school. We are home. I am a Jaguar.
019I rise with purpose. I learn with intention. I grow. Not just in grades, but in confidence, in courage, and who I am becoming. Stronger in reading, stronger in writing, stronger in math, stronger together. Because here, no one learns alone. I am a Jaguar. I am one of 396 students, 396 stories, 396 victories, 396 dreams, learning, growing, and rising. Among us, 54 multilingual learners, 54 voices in more than one language, 54 students, showing that strength is not where you start, it's how you rise. And here, we do not stand apart. We stand together because at Ola Edwards Community School, inclusion is not something we say. It is something we live by. And barriers, they are not walls. There are doors waiting for us to open them. I am a Jaguar. I am a leader. Through the
020leader in me program, I use my voice. I lead my learning. I lift others up. Because a jaguar is not just strong. A jaguar is thoughtful. A jaguar is intelligent and a jaguar is intentional. I am a jaguar and when I walk these halls, I feel it. Support, encouragement, belonging, teachers who care, students who believe in me, a school that grows together, a family. >> We are Jaguars. We are 396 strong. 396 voices rising. 396 hearts growing. 396 Jaguars determined. We are inclusive. We are united. And we are unstoppable. We are the Jaguars of Ola Edwards Community School. And together we rise. Thank you guys. Bye. Take a bath. Take a bath. Take a bath. GOOD. THANK YOU, BOYS and girls. Those are my babies and they knew it by heart, but they they're nerves,
021so we had to make sure that they had it. All right, so tonight before I get started, I want to thank everyone. I want to thank the board members for all of the support that you guys always give us. Um, Dr. Perez, all of my staff members. Um, I want to thank Miss Beach and Miss Rosilia for all their help with the students um, tonight. And I want to thank thank all my families and my teachers for everything that they do. Those are our our babies that we just got to see. At OLA, our work centers around four key priorities. Creating a safe and positive learning environment, supporting academic growth for all students, building strong community partnerships, and promoting student leadership and character development. Everything I will share today reflects the commitment to those priorities.
022This year we have been very intentional about strengthening our school culture through character development and student leadership. We implemented studentled leader and me assemblies and hosted and hosted structured activities such as week of respect, school violence awareness week and red ribbon week. Additionally, we created intentional spirit week programming allowed to car align to character development, including career aspiration day and cultural day. These efforts are helping our students develop leadership skills, responsibility, and a strong sense of belonging. Our leader and me assemblies also serve as a powerful platform for student recognition. During these assemblies, students are recognized for perfect attendance. Each teacher during the assembly also recognizes two students um and gives out awards. These ensure that students who may not always receive an award for academics receive some type of award. Be it growth, effort,
023leadership, or just for character, being a good friend to someone else in their classroom. We want to make sure that every kid at some point throughout the year receives an award. In addition, each month we recognize student of the month, character of the month, and community member of the month. Every month we celebrate a different community member in our building. Um, uh, we send out a survey. Our teachers vote on who they want that community member to be. And as Dr. Perez mentioned, it's not just teachers. We're recognizing our security guards. We're recognizing our um uh secretaries, uh custodial staff. Um we have a a strong group of people there and we want to make sure that they know that they are appreciated. We are taking great pride in celebrating the diversity of our school
024community. Throughout the year, we recognize Hispanic Heritage Month, Veterans Day, Black History Month, Muslim American Heritage Month, and Women's History Month. During Hispanic Heritage Month, students participated in our monthly assembly where they learned about cultural traditions and celebrations and concluded with an experience by learning and performing the Macarena. So this is just a little video of them along with the teachers um performing the macarina. Some of them had no idea what it was and you know so they all found that to be fun. These experiences help our students connect history to real world values and lived experiences. One impactful experience for our students this year was the opportunity to welcome Ruby Bridges to Ola Edwards Community School. Miss Bridges shared her personal journey and engaged our students in a meaningful question and answer session. Her
025message emphasized courage, resilience, and the importance of standing up for what is right. Values that we strongly align with the character development work we are doing at Ola Edwards. This experience brought history to life in a way that a textbook never could. Women's history month. We are in Women's History Month right now. And in addition to learning about uh from a historical figure, we believed it was equally important for our students to recognize and celebrate leaders within our own community. During Women's History Month, we proudly honored several outstanding women for who contribute to making meaningful comp contributions in our community. Miss Judy Alvarez, one of our teachers at Ola Edwards, who is amazing. She also um was selected as teacher of the year this year. Superintendent Dr. Gretle Perez and all of her support and
026everything that she's doing to make this school district great. Dr. Tina Powell who has been a tremendous vendor to Hillside and a a huge support in our schools and um just doing wonderful things. Commissioner Michelle Dellesport for all of her support. Every time we call, she will come, she'll read, she'll do whatever it is that she needs to do to support us at OLA. And board of education member Helen Ecuahed, anytime I've called Helen, I've needed ice pops, whatever it is, she's always been there to support our students and she always makes sure to tell me if you need anything, give me a call. Recognizing these leaders provided our students with powerful real life examples of excellence, leadership, and service. Academically, we continue to focus on datadriven instruction and targeted supports for all learners. Students
027participate in Dibble's literacy assessment, benchmark assessments in ELA, math and science, Nagaleri ability testing, and access testing. Through professional learning communities, our staff continues to analyze data and adjust instruction to meet the needs of every student. We are also implementing high impact tutoring during this school day and we are seeing measurable growth and progress in our students. In addition to academics, we have expanded opportunities for student enrichment. Students can participate in Girls Rock Science Club, financial literacy club, empowering her mentoring program, or our book club. These opportunities allow students to build confidence, explore interest, and develop leadership skills outside of the classroom. We have we recognize that strong family partnerships are essential for any student and their success. So far we posted back to school night, literacy and math family night, parent teacher conferences and
028our honor roll breakfast. These events provide families with meaningful opportunities to stay connected and engaged. We also prioritized opportunities for students to build community and school pride. Throughout the year, students participated in spirit weeks, performances, and schoolwide activities. These experiences help foster positive and inclusive school climate and strengthen relationship among students. We continue to expand our partnerships to better support our students and families. We've collaborated with several entities within the count within the city of Hillside and community leaders of Hillside through initiatives like the Angel Tree program. We were able to support over a thousand families during the Christmas season. As we look ahead, we are excited about upcoming events including Autism Awareness Month, the Ola Edwards Color Run, which um Dr. Harold will be at. And yeah, I have pictures of it. Spring concert,
029field day, and our end of the year celebrations. We remain committed to providing meaningful and engaging experiences for all students. In closing, Ola Edward Community School is more than a school. It is a community where students are seen, valued, and empowered every single day. We are building not just strong students, but future leaders. And with your continued support, there's no limit to what our students can achieve. Thank you all. Thank you. >> Thank you, Principal Davis, uh again for that wonderful uh do here we go. Thank you, Principal Davis, for that wonderful presentation and thank you more importantly for bringing into focus for everyone the wonderful things that you do at O Edwards every single day. And we know that doesn't even highlight even most of the things that you truly truly do on your
030heart. So, thank you once again to you, your staff, your students. It really is the a true vision of what we do here in this town. So, thank you once again. This evening we're going to go a little out of order. Uh at this time we're going to have a presentation on the proposed and I will say that proposed >> tentative >> and tentative proposed and tentative budget uh from our BA Mr. Dwayne McNeel. So at this time would you please grant him your attention? >> Thank you board president. I do I also want to emphasize the word tentative. The reason why is because presently we have a you know we have a charter school that applied to come to hillside. Now at present there is no charter school but the charter school is on
031our state aid report. It could be possible that in a couple weeks that we get word from the state that the charter school doesn't even come to hillside. So that could be very well possible. From my understanding, that has been the case the past couple years. But regardless of that, I still have to include it in a tentative presentation. And just so you understand the the order of things with respect, you know, to the budget, there's a tenative budget that is presented to the county. The county approves the tenative budget and then there is a final budget presentation. The final budget presentation is the budget. That's what it is. So what I'm presenting to you right now is for the purpose of satisfying the mandate that the county has placed upon us, which is to
032include the charter school in our budget. So, with that said, I'm going to go into it so you can see what that looks like. Um I've already talked about some of the the process with respect you know to the budget but with any budget you you align your you align your fiscal you know objectives in the budget with your strategic priorities. So whenever there is a budget that is done, this is done in conjunction with the superintendent, with the building principles to determine what are the strategic priorities for the district and my job is to try to provide the fiscal translation of those priorities. and our mission and state and our mission and vision for the district drives those priorities. So what you're looking at is the enrollment as of as of this month. I
033believe it was the 16th of this month. I may have a later Yeah, I may have a later slide that shows a different enrollment number, but this is the most recent enrollment number that we have. And this will become a talking point as we as I go into one of the other slides, but this is where we stand. And this is enrollment is broken down by school as well. So, we're roughly above 2900 students. So some of our funding sources, I'm just giving you things that I may mention in the presentation so that you can have a better understanding of what I'm talking about. So one of those things is tax levy. And when we're talking about tax levy, this is the amount of local income or revenue that we raise through our property taxes.
034Property taxes is one of the main primary revenue sources of a school district. the other being state aid. And depending on which what kind of district you're in, it might determine whether or not you receive majority state aid, you receive majority tax levy. The hillside, it's it's balanced. So, we receive roughly about the same amount of, you know, the same amount of tax levy as we do in our equalization aid. But even then, equalization aid is not our total aid. So fund balance is also something that goes into our budget. Fund balance is if you're in a given year and you have re you have expenses against your revenues, whatever is left is what's considered fund balance. And then at a later time once the auditor audits that number, that fund balance can be used
035to go into your budget. extraordinary aid as well as some other things you know are here. Bank cap will become something that I probably will talk about more in depth when we do the final budget presentation. At this time it may not be necessary to go into depth about it. So enrollment our revenue sources our revenue source from the state is primarily driven by enrollment. So, why am I showing this? Well, as we can see, since 2023, Hillside has had declining enrollments, much to our dismay. In 2023, we had nearly 3,000 um 84 students. And as of 2026, according to the ASA, we had 317, but as I mentioned in our most the most recent report we ran, we had we had about 29 2910. Now, I know that that doesn't sound like a a
036large decrease, maybe roughly 100, you know, um more than 100 students. But if you think about it this way, each student on a per, you know, exp, you know, per revenue basis is roughly about $20,000. So if you have 100 students at $20,000, you're talking about nearly $2 million, which is a lot of money. So that's why I'm saying that while it may not seem like a lot of students, it does have an impact on our budget, and you'll see that in the next slide. Over the past two years, our budget has decreased by 3% or our state I'm sorry, our state aid revenues have decreased by 3% in each of the past three years. So over a two-year I'm sorry, two years, I said three. Sorry about that. So, we're talking nearly a $2.3
037million plus revenue reduction, which is for a district of our size, that's a large hit. And this is just to make the to drive the point home. This is this reduction does not consider inflation, increases in salaries, increases in benefits or charter school costs. It's just merely reduction in state aid. So this is what part of what I wanted to talk about with the charter school. Now, there is a charter school that has been trying to come to Hillside and they have unsuccessfully come to Hillside and I hope that that continues. But yes, I'm glad you said that. Everybody should be saying that here. So in our state aid report, the amount of funds that would be diverted from the district to the charter school would be roughly $4.37 plus million, which is a lot
038of money. If you take that and you combine that with the loss in revenue, the cumulative loss in revenue that I spoke of over the past two years of two plus 2.3 plus million dollars, we're talking $6.6 million over two years. Now remember, and I'm going to keep saying this because I want to drive the point home. This is provided that this charter school comes and as I stated before, it is something that I have to make you aware of because it is on our state aid report. It was on our state aid report last year as well. I don't know exactly how it may have been communicated to you, but it was. So with respect to our district taking a financial hit, other districts in our county have also taken hits. I'm trying to
039illustrate the point that revenue from the state is down all over. It's not just hillside. And for those of you that can't see that, I guess when I did this, it didn't it didn't translate into this squiggly mathematical line that means approximate. So, you know, for for for some of this, but well, actually for this one, this does apply. So if you look at this, Hillside, New Providence, Summit, Union Township have all been down by 3% this year in their budgets. And as a result, some of those districts as well as some others have tried to increase have it has necessitated that they've increased their tax levy above the 2% threshold. In Clark we have 6%, Cranford 73.9%. Kennorth 3.5, Providence 5%. You know, and you you get the message that basically, you know, um,
040state aid revenues are down for most school districts. This is a this is what our revenues would look like with the charter school coming to our district. So obviously they're going to be less because we have to account for them. So we have roughly 33 plus million in tax levy as well as 32 plus million in state aid which is inclusive of our decrease in revenue. So in total our revenue is north of $74 million. And again this is you know this has a the charter school has a a huge impact on this our appropriations for those revenues because we had to ensure that we submit a balanced tentative budget you know to the state. This is how our revenues, you know, are broken down, you know, by by program, by tuition, by facilities and,
041you know, and so forth. I purposely did not go into depth about this, you know, about this presentation because since we are mandated by the state to present this, I am talking in hypotheticals with regard to a charter school. But because it is on our report, we have to present it. And fiscally, it would be irresponsible to not plan a budget that is not inclusive of it. Now, like I said, if that charter school does not come to town, then when I go back to produce the final budget, it will look different. So with that said, this is the timeline for events that will occur. So tonight we're on the board agenda. We're trying to move forward with putting forth the adoption of a resolution for a tenative budget. And then tomorrow we submit that
042tenative budget to the county. Then we advertise in the newspaper um about when our final budget meeting will be. And it says May 7th. The reason why we're trying to push this out as far as possible in terms of when we actually present our final budget is we're basing it off of last year. And last year what we what our understanding is is that the word from the state in terms of the denial of the charter school came in or around the towards the end of April. So, if we try to cuz ordinarily this presentation might be during the board meeting in in um in April, but we're trying to push it out as far as possible in hopes that we hear from the state with a denial of the charter school and then we
043can move forward with, you know, re reworking this budget. As I said, I wanted to keep this brief and with I'm sorry that I'm hesitating to speak. It's just that it's a lot to have to budget for something that first of all we don't know if it's going to come and then secondly most importantly that has a you know an impact such an impact on our district. But in full transparency, that's what we're trying to do to ensure that you are aware of what's going on and that is our responsibility to do that. So with that said, um I want to thank you for giving me your undivided attention. Thank you very much for that uh very detailed and uh well constructed presentation, Mr. McNeil. We certainly will take all of that into advisement and
044realizing again that that is exactly what it says. It's a tentative and proposed budget at this time. Now we will go unless there's anything more we will go into public comments. Residents are requested to state their names, addresses, and subject matter. In the event it appears this public comment portion of the meeting may exceed 15 minutes, the presiding officer may limit each statement made by a participant to three minutes in duration. Issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board. All comments will be considered and are responsible 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 are discouraged and will not be
045responded to by the board. Students and employees have a specific have specific legal rights afforded by the laws of the state of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility, nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public. Members of the public should consider their comments in light of legal rights of those affected or identified in their comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. At this time, we will open up the microphone to anyone in public comments. >> Not me. Sure. >> Yes. Um, good evening. My name is Melissa Keegan and I am a junior at Hillside High School. A while ago in February, I sent a email to the grounds committees of the board of education um regarding trying to figure out an
046idea whether we should have an athletic trainer at the football field. I'm an athletic trainer myself, a student athletic trainer, and I have another athletic trainer with me, Brooklyn Rich. Um, Leuana Best did respond to me that same night and she said that she'll let me know if anything happens and I emailed her back and I said that I will follow up shortly. I emailed back after a month and I never got a reply. So, I decided that I should advocate for it more because after my first football season working as a student athletic trainer, I noticed the difficulties it was and how in labor and intensive it was bringing almost everything from my athletic trainer's office into a van all the way to the football field. And it may be a little confusing or
047me. Maybe me saying this might not change anything, but it's a lot and it's labor intensive and it's really hard on our other student athletic trainers. And I'm I understand that you guys have considered this and MCN had a talk with me, our athletic director at Hillside High School, but I would hope you guys consider it more by me coming here and me telling you guys how I feel. Um, it enables us better to take care of our athletes and to prevent further injury and emergencies and now Brooklyn, which would add on to what I said. Hi, I'm also a junior. Um, um, I've been doing athletic training for three years. I started my freshman year and I have a lot of experience with you know football and all the sports and um I just
048feel like uh I went I've been to like other um schools and I seen how they have like different um like different things, different tools and how they're more closer to their football field than we are. And I understand like that's nobody's fault, but um it'll be helpful to have like something closer by for like proper care for the athletes when they get injured like on the spot. And yeah, thank you. >> Thank you, L. >> Sorry. Um, so yeah, as regards to what I said, my athletic director talked to me and I don't think you guys will give me a response now at the moment, but I wanted to know since you guys were considering it, what your plan was. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hi, Paul Skelton. I'm a uh
049Sten Avenue in Cranford, New Jersey. I'm a teacher at the high school. Um I teach a whole bunch of stuff. You name it, I'll try it at least once. I may not be good at it, but I'll try it. Um, I just want to let you guys know and through the support of the board in the past, um, starting on a week from Friday on, uh, the 3, we are, uh, Miss Andiano and I are taking a group of students to Barcelona and Barcelona, Florence, no, Barcelona, Madrid, Florence, and Rome for a 10-day tour through EF tours. Um, it will be for me, this will be my third uh, international trip. For Miss Andino, it will be, I believe, her fifth. Um, and we are excited. We we appreciate the support we get from the
050district and the board when we put these trips together. Um, at the next board meeting, there will be an agenda item for our next trip, which is to Germany and Switzerland in 2028. I was hoping to get it on this agenda, but I was a little late with it. So, we will be doing that again in 2028. And, uh, again, we hope for your support in that when that comes along. But we want to thank you guys for what you've helped us out with in the past as far as um support and it's all we need. We don't need anything else. We just need you guys to know that that we're doing it and we're doing it for the best interests of our students. Thank you. >> Yeah. Yep. Uh next month we will have
051we're taking 13 students and five adults including Missino and I. We will have some of those students standing here next month. Thank you. >> Thank you. Take pictures. Is there anyone else? >> I like it when I have to duck because that doesn't happen very often. Hi everyone. Um Aruna Mthther 133 Silver A teacher at WK. First off, I just want to thank everyone for your continued support. um with everything that we do at WK last night we had 13 of our scholars inducted into Junior Roapp and uh social studies honor society. Very proud of them for that. Um on May 30th we have our second daddyaughter dance. Um so the flyers will be coming out soon. I know it's already live online but um I forgot to pick up the flyers on my way
052out of the building today. Um but the flyers are coming out. Um, and that will be on May 30th from 4 o'clock to nine o'clock. Um, and tickets are available online as of right now. $75 for father or father figure and the daughter. And if it's an additional daughter, um, another $40. So, it'll be fun. And we're planning bigger better this year than last year. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Uh Jill Seika, 146 Fairbank Street. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> Um I currently serve as the president of the Hillside Association of Power Professionals Union, and I stand before you tonight, determined and clear. It's time to finalize and sign our contract. We met in person on March 13th to discuss outstanding issues. I've been diligent and very persistent in moving this process forward.
053Updating drafts of the contract updated drafts of the contracts were sent February 12th, 19th, and March 16th. Despite repeated efforts and respectful cooperation from our side, we remain without a completed agreement. This delay is very unacceptable. Our PAR professionals perform essential work every day. We support classroom instruction, care for students, manage individualized learning plans, and often bridge the gap between students and their success. These are not optional duties. They're central to the educational mission of Hillside. Yet, our members continue to work without certainty, protections, and fair compensation that a signed contract would provide. Tonight, I'm asking for three concrete actions from the board. Commit to a firm timeline. Approve the final contract language and schedule a signature meeting within the next seven calendar days. Resolve outstanding language now. Any remaining edits must be limited to
054technical clarifications only. No new substantive changes. No reopening of bargaining on settled terms. Provide written assurance. Deliver a public statement to our membership confirming the agreement of the terms and the date the contract will be implemented. Delaying any further delaying further undermines morale risk staffing instability and sends a message to to the work of our power professionals that they are not valued. If there is a policy or budgetary concerns bring them forward now in clear terms so we can address them directly. Continued silence or procedural postponement is no longer acceptable. We've shown flexibility, patience, and professionalism throughout this process. All we ask in return is the same professionalism from the board. respect the negotiated agreement, finalize it, and sign it. Our members deserve the dignity of a clear, enforcable contract and peace of mind that
055comes with knowing that their rights and responsibilities are protected. I look forward to your prompt, decisive action. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Do we have anyone else? I kind of skip this part. Thank you. Do I have a motion to close public comments? >> All in favor? >> I. >> Thank you. At this time, we will have our committee reports. Vice President Hargrave, would you please read off the committee reports? >> Thank you, President Howard. >> Welcome. >> Board member Shapiro, can you provide the finance report? H. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Finance committee met this week to discuss agenda not agenda items. >> Thank you. Miss Eiguid, can you please provide the building and grounds committee report on Monday, March the 23rd? The buildings and ground committee met and discussed items one through
056two of which was the resolution for the auditorium HVAC upgrades at the Hillside High School and also the approval of the emergency evacuation agreement between the Hillside Board of Education and the Bright Munch Kings Learning Center. Thank you. Thank you. Board member Okai, can you provide the education report? >> Good evening. The education committee met on Monday, March 23rd to discuss line items 1 through 11. >> Thank you. Board member Horton Given, can you provide the policy committee report? The policy committee met on Monday, March the 23rd to review the one policy um use of movies and on videos for classroom instruction. >> Thank you. And board member Luana Best, can you provide the labor relations report, please? >> The labor committee met on Monday, March 23rd to discuss items 1 through 30 under the
057labor agenda. Thank you. And that concludes the reports. >> Thank you, uh, Vice President Hargrave. At this time, um, may I have a motion to go into executive session? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Be it resolved pursuant to the open public meetings act that the board of education meet in closed executive session at this time to discuss matters relating to personnel pending anticipated litigation labor negotiations negotiations contract negotiations attorney client privilege tactics and techniques are utilized in protecting the safety and property of the PL public. The board will reconvene in public session at the conclusion of the close session. The matters discussed in close session will be disclosed to the public as soon as the need for cons confidentiality no longer exists. Thank you very much and stay tuned. area
058was quite