001[Music] you. You know, [Music] Hi. Hey guys. Hey guys. It's me, Kyla. It's okay. I'm okay. It's okay. I'm okay. It's okay. I'm okay. It's okay. I'm okay. It's okay. I keep coming back. I want you. Yeah. I just want you more. [Music] Hello. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] test. He [Music] Hey. [Music] Hey. [Music] Check. [Music] Check. Oh, wait. I think it's him. Hey, listen. You need to hear it anyways. It's still [Music] Do [Music] you feel it? Heat. Heat. [Music] Oh, it's Oh, Let's make it. [Music] All right, Dr. Osman and Miss Gardella, we've got a board meeting to have. [Music] Yeah. Good. Is that you good? I know. Call the meeting to order. Salute the flag. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
002republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. This meeting is in compliance with the open public meeting law and has been duly advertised in the newspaper as an official meeting. Roll call. Dr. Osman here. Mr. Walsh present. Mr. McCarron present. Mrs. Rivera present. Mrs. Baroas present. Mrs. Gardella present. Mrs. Cass present. I need a motion for approval of the agenda with addendums. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osman. Yes. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron. Yes. Mrs. Rivera. Yes. Mrs. Baroas. Yes, Mrs. Gardella. Yes, Mrs. Cass. Yes. I now turn the meeting over to Mrs. Pilly for her superintendence report. Thank you, Miss Cass. Uh, good evening everyone. Tonight, um, we always, as we always do, start with our high school board reps, but tonight is an even
003more special night with our board reps. Uh it is Katie and Collins last meeting as the high school board reps and it has been um an absolute pleasure having both of you part of our monthly board meetings. Your reports have been such a highlight of our meetings. Your the information that you share, your articulate and your energetic reports have really captured the essence of the experiences of our students have at our high schools. And I thank you for all the time you have dedicated to us. And we certainly will miss you. Um, so for now, um, until you come back and visit us, uh, Katie, if you could come to the podium and give your last Liberty High School report, Good evening, Superintendent Form Millie, members of the board of education, and distinguished guests. It
004is both an honor and a privilege to be here with you once again to share some of the exciting achievements and developments at Liberty High School. As always, our students and staff continue to demonstrate what it means to embody the spirit of excellence, community, and school pride. As the spring sports season winds down, we have much to celebrate. Our student athletes have made Liberty proud with their hard work, determination, and impressive performances over the season. Paula Eupeni was recognized as the Shore Conference volleyball player of the week, a well-deserved honor. In golf, Addison Salas earned a spot on the third team, all short, showcasing the tremendous skill and dedication on the course. Our softball team has won their division and will be advancing to the state tournament next week. Our track and field teams continue
005to shine with six athletes advancing to the group championships. Kylie Schuber, Katherine Spalttoff, Victor Akim Babo, Jason Lynn, and David Gatsky. Their perseverance and achievements are truly commendable. In addition, preparations for next year are already underway with both the dance team and cheer teams kicking off their triyouts. Behind the scenes, our PTSN has once again gone above and beyond for the teacher appreciation week. They ensured that members of our faculty felt recognized and celebrated. From thoughtful meals to sweet treats throughout the week, they made sure their educators knew just how valued they are. Similarly, the student council created staff superlatives to honor the teachers. We also recently held our junior formal at Jumping Book Country Club. A huge thank you goes out to Miss Kavanaaugh whose hard work and attention to detail made the night
006truly magical for our students. Liberty is buzzing with excitement over the first ever Jackson Township High School Field Day. This unique event brings together students from both high schools, encouraging new friendships, school unity, and a joyful celebration of the school year's end. Tomorrow, Liberty will also be hosting an art expo, an art tech expo from 4 to 6 p.m. This event highlights the creativity, innovation, and talent of our students in the visual arts and technology programs. We invite everyone to come out and support their incredible work. This will be followed by the Jackson Liberty spring concert choir concert beginning at 6:00 in the auditorium. As we move through the final stretch of the academic year, Liberty is hitting its stride. The number of days on the calendar is limited, but our momentum our momentum is
007anything but. We remain committed to finishing the year strong. There are still many more exciting events on the horizon. And thank you for letting me share this with you this year. It is truly an honor to represent Liberty High School. Thank you for your continued support, and I wish you all a wonderful evening. [Applause] Thank you, Katie. Uh, wonderful report as always. Colin, if you could come and give Memorial High School's last report for this school year. Good evening, Mrs. Permilly. Members of the central admin administration staff and board of education members, it's always a pleasure to speak on behalf of Jackson Memorial High School. With May in full swing, there's a buzz of activity and a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks. On the rising is something brand new. The first
008ever Jackson Township High School Field Day. On May 30th, all 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students and staff from Jackson Memorial, and Jackson Liberty will come together at Liberty for a day of fun, games, music, and connection. From cornhole and soccer to a massive inflatable obstacle course, plus a barbecue lunch and a DJ. It's a perfect opportunity to take a break from the daily grind and celebrate our school spirit as one Jackson Township High School. We're thrilled to bring our students and staff together for this unforgettable event. Looking ahead to Wednesday, June 4th, students in grades 9 through 12 can look forward to ice cream. During common lunch, student council members will be covering both Memorial and Clayton cafeterias with student leaders from each grade supporting the PTSN in making this a smooth and fun
009experience. Senior pictures begin on May 27th, kicking off one of the final milestones for our class of 2026. Speaking of senior year, we're hard at work preparing for the senior awards ceremony on June 10th and graduation on Thursday, June 19th at 5:30 p.m. We also have senior prom on June 12th at Southgate and Freehold. Two exciting events our students are eagerly anticipating. This spring, Jackson Memorial's high school's athletic teams delivered an impressive season filled with dedication, teamwork, and growth. The baseball team led by head coach Pat George have an 18-11 overall record and a 9-5 standing in the Shore Conference A South showing resilience and competitive spirit. Under head coach Haiti Danza, the softball team are 10 12 and 10 highlighted by solid teamwork and determination. The boys and girls track and field teams competed
010in multiple events including the championships with athletes achieving personal best and demonstrating strong progress throughout the season. Boys volleyball guided by coach Steve Vanheis posted a strong 16-10 record, 8-2 in the conference, displaying excellent skill and cohesion. The boys lacrosse team coached by Bob Wascowski faced a tough schedule but showed admiral perseverance despite a 1-15 finish. Meanwhile, the girls lacrosse team led by coach Britney Cordy are having a successful run with a 10-7 record and going 4 and three in the short conference constitution division. The boys tennis team are also having a competitive season marked by continuous improvement, dedication, and sportsmanship on the court. All of our spring athletes should be proud of their hard work and achievements this season. With the end of marking period behind us and the school year drawing to a
011close, we continue to focus on celebrating student achievement and finishing strong. A reminder that the sixth marking period ends on June 23rd with report cards available June 24th. We also have a lineup of endofear events including tonight with the steam STEM senior recognition, history on wheels on May 28th, senior signing day on June 11th, and finally underclass academic awards on June 9th for grades 9 and 10, and June 10th for grades 11 and 12. A shorten day is scheduled for May 23rd ahead of Memorial Day. Schools will be missed on May 26th in observance of the holiday. Finally, congratulations to our May seniors of the month, Alexander Santos and Alexandra Feroli. Your excellence and involvement are inspiring to our entire school community. Thank you again, Mrs. Permilly, and the board of education for your continued
012support. Jackson Memorial is thriving, and we look forward to closing out the year with unity, energy, and Jaguar pride. Have a wonderful evening. Thank you, Colin. Thank you both again. Um, so you can both take your name plates with you tonight as a little reminder of the time you served your community and the board of education. And best wishes to you, Katie, in your next steps and I will see you at graduation um and along the way before then, I'm sure. And Colin, have a great end of the school year and I will see you at high school next year as you will be with us um as a senior next year and that's exciting time for you as well. Um and as we just talked about, please come back and visit and say hello
013and let me know how things are going. Thank you again. So, as you have heard from both of the high school board reps, uh it is a busy time of the year in our schools as always. Uh last marking period is is upon us. Hard to believe. Athletics are busy and winding down into championships and all sorts of wonderful things. Uh many celebrations, events, coral concerts, awards ceremonies, proms, and more. Uh, Monday night I attended the ROC award ceremony, an event that is run by the cadetses themselves. It was a lovely evening for the cadets and their families. This morning I attended the Ocean County Superintendent and Mayor Association students scholarship breakfast where three uh students from Memorial received scholarships and three students from Liberty High School received scholarships in recognition of their high academic
014achievements. Uh last night I attended the Ocean County Student Unsung Hero Awards Ceremony, an award ceremony that honors students who have overcome tremendous adversity or trauma in their lives and who are an inspiration to others. It was really an incredible evening and two of our Jackson students received an award um and a very nice gift bag filled with lots of gift certificates. So, lots of uh nice acknowledgements happening for our students, their hard work, and that's all attributed to the support of their families, our teachers, our staff um and the administrators here. So, some other highlights to include um and you might want to look behind there's a couple of slides that Miss Irwin has put together um for the public and the board to take a look at. Uh Jackson's Memorial Alumni Celebration. I
015think that was last Friday. Uh the days start to blur a little bit, but uh Dr. Dr. Gitsky and I um popped our head into this event. An event that took place this past Friday at Jackson Memorial High School band welcomed nearly uh 200 Jag Band alumni and their families home back to the hallways, practice rooms, and performance spaces where lifelong friendships were forged and the soundtrack of their youth was uh was born. Uh band director Mr. Diaz and with the support of the parent group brought the groups together to celebrate 60 years of music making at the Jackson Memorial High School uh in one unforgettable celebration concert. It was an incredible evening. This audience this this room was filled with people throughout the night. The air was filled with music, laughter, hugs, and memories.
016From heartfelt speeches by an alumni Dan Zarrow, if you're familiar with him, from 101.5, and former band director Bud McCormack, who is iconic in this district, to the joyful conversations echoing through the building. It was clear this band is and will always be a family. It was a beautiful celebration, and I want to thank everybody who was involved in it. Additionally, Liberty and Memorial drama drama clubs came together. A fun drama workshop this past week in the drama club students from Jackson Liberty and Memorial took the stage together to learn, grow, and connect. This collaborative workshop was organized by Miss Veronica Bernett and Mrs. Corey Larson and featured master classes and clinics led by uh four incredible alumni, two from Liberty and two from Memorial who are all at different levels of success in their
017performing arts worlds. Uh in fact, two of them are Broadway performers. It was a one it was wonderful to see these students come together. Again, just an example of how we are coming together as one um and working collaboratively. Great experience for those students. Um, and how about the Jackson Memorial softball team won the Ocean County Championship. That's pretty amazing and awesome news as well. Uh, just we did send some information out to our community about honoring McAuliffe Middle School. We will be holding an event to honor McAuliffe Middle School on June 16th from 4 to 6 p.m. It will be an open house to see the school, reminisce, you know, talk to friends and view a slide presentation of memories. and we're asking for you to submit some of those photos and memories via
018a QR code so that we can compile that um and put that presentation together. There will be a ceremony to honor the school and all it has done to support our students throughout the many years of it being opening at 6 p.m. that that that evening as well. So, we are taking many steps still moving forward with restructuring. Uh, as you can see, there's lots of things that have been happening all along in the in the past months and weeks. We continue to move forward with planning, preparing for the district restructuring and evidence of this on this month's agenda where we are uh transferring over 400 staff members. It's been a a huge task. We are also working um I know many people are eager to see a design of the new school Jaguar mascot
019uh for the high school and we will be uh releasing and putting a vote out to our students the very early in June to make some final decisions on that mascot. So that's exciting and everybody's looking forward to that as well. Also just want to note on this agenda tonight um it's a little sad news for for for some of us here. It's some sad news but also some exciting news. Um, those of you who know Miss Jeannie Barber, she sits in the audience. She's going to be very mad that I'm speaking about her right now. Um, she is the assistant to the superintendent and not just me, but many superintendents, is retiring on August 1st. Mrs. Barber is an incredibly dedicated legend in this district. Uh, her institutional knowledge, experience, insight, hard work, I
020will also say friendship will be greatly missed. um no one will ever fill her shoes. However, we are really happy for her um to move on to this next step and be able to spend some time more quality time with her family into the next chapter. Some exciting things, I'm sure, are coming her way. Um, this won't be the last time that I have the opportunity to speak about her, but uh, it's [Applause] bittersweet and she will probably be very mad with me later. On another note, uh, just wanted to remind uh, families to check the district website for summer camp um, options and opportunities. We offer the summer theater, the film, the TV production camps, and camp invention. So, please check that out and enroll your students. Excellent enrichment opportunities for our students. Um,
021and just a reminder that Friday is a shortened day and that the district is closed on Monday for Memorial Day. With that, I concludes my superintendence report, Miss Cass. Thank you. Uh, now we have the standing committee meetings, but there is nothing for buildings and grounds, right? Yes. Is there okay some capital improvement projects district districtwide uh Elms rooms 120 123 installed new HVAC compressor Johnson room 204 installed a new HVAC compressor administrative building uh repaired a leak in the main fire system valve Crawford Rodriguez B-wing hallway repaired leaking heating clamps uh transportation Trailer bathrooms required uh repaired stall flooring and installed flooring. Switlick reinstalled underground Wi-Fi and communication wiring between the main building and the portables. Uh the next one is the ad hoc committees. Um and I will report on the policy. Uh
022we met on May 14th in attendance was Dr. Godlitzky, myself, Mrs. Gardella, Mr. McCarron, and Mrs. Porelli. Um, regulation 9191, which is a new fundraising policy. It's a regulation that we created for all district 501c3 organizations and booster clubs. Policy 511 um is eligibility of resident and non-resident students. Um, we actually left that for further discussion. Policy 24/19 is a mandated school threat assessment teams. um a parent there was a special request that parent notification be specifically addressed in the policy. So that was updated and policy 5112 um was the entrance age. Um it was discussed in April for May and June reading and it was a change in the language to clarify kindergarten age entrance. Thank you. Um next up would be scholarship. Mr. Walsh. Reminder, uh, all seniors receiving scholarships, uh, they will
023be presented on June 4th over at Liberty High School at 6 PM. State and county school board's representative. There's nothing to report. Advocacy. Um we've met with a couple of legislators and it you know we're working to educate them on maybe new language uh that will help all the districts in New Jersey. So maybe a focus on covering expenses versus just talking about a formula that's difficult to to change. So basically the feeling that we get is everybody's looking to see what happens in November at elections. So make sure you're registered to vote. Policies and regulations. I need a motion for approval of policy first reading revised. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osman. Yes. Yes. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. Mr. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroquez? Yes. Mrs. Gardella? Yes. Mrs. Cass? Yes. I
024need a motion for approval. I need a motion for approval of regulation. Adoption. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osben. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron. Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroas? Yes. Mrs. Gardella? Yes. Mrs. Cass? Yes. I need a motion for approval of the minutes. The closed session meeting, April 10th, 2025. The special business meeting, April 10th, 2025. The closed session meeting, April 30th, 2025. And the official board meeting, April 30th, 2025, business meeting. Motion. Second discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osben, yes. Mr. Walsh, yes. Mr. McCarron, yes. Mrs. Rivera, yes. Mrs. Baroas, yes. Mrs. Gardella, yes. Mrs. Cass. Yes. I need a motion for approval of the bill list. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osman? Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroas? Yes. Mrs. Cardella? Yes. Mrs. Cass?
025Yes. I need approval. I need a motion for approval of treasurers and board secretaries reports. Motion. Second discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osman. Yes. Yes. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron. Yes. Mrs. Rivera. Yes. Mrs. Baroas. Yes. Mrs. Gordella? Yes. Mr. Mrs. Cass? Yes. I need a motion to open the public forum on agenda items only. We will hold another public forum during this meeting for other questions. This public forum will be for questions on the agenda only. Motion. Second. Please sign in and state your name and whether or not you are a Jackson resident. Each person is allowed a maximum of three minutes to speak. No person may speak more than once on the topic until all others have been heard. Hello, Kathy Tapiro, Jackson resident. Just a simple question about our 9191 that will affect
026um 501c3s um that assist with um district activities in the schools. Um when will that regulation be available for review by those parent groups and where will we get it? That's it. Thanks. Um are there any additional agenda items? Do you want me to see seeing no one come forward? already need a motion to close public forum. Motion. Second. All in favor? I I Hi. Uh we plan on um releasing the uh regulations and also meeting with groups of people to review them because we know that it is a change to um regulations in the past and policy in the past. So we um will work with school administration. We'll also work with the parent groups to get that information out and schedule meetings so that we can articulate and share that information uh face
027to face with people. Um so within the next few weeks you can anticipate that happening. I need a motion to move finance. Motion second discussion. Um I just said I had said that every month I would um give people an update of what our unpaid um lunch balances are. So for this month currently it is $143,000. So that's a pretty big amount. I just want to keep everyone aware of what that is. And again any donations are greatly appreciated. Um anyone else? Yes. Number four. Uh could somebody explain to me what the purpose of the Phoenix Advisors is? Um, oh, finance finance number. Oh, Phoenix Advisors. Yes. Are you asking about finance number four? Yes. Yes. Okay. Yes. So, Phoenix Adviserss is a company that uh that we annually contract with. They do all of
028our advising for all of our bonds and uh our our our lease uh our short-term leases that we have. Um so, they look at the bond market and make sure that we're meeting all of the um the timelines for making those payments on time. So they're like financial adviserss. Yes. Okay. Yep. I had a question on number finance number 13. Um I understand it and I'm I I realized um my question was I thought that we were unable to use Ocean First as a lender uh for the situation that we were in. Yeah. So so this is actually um this is to get an the July state aid payment. The state offers this every year as an opportunity for school districts if you meet certain criteria to make sure that as you get toward the
029end of the school year that you have enough cash on hand to make it through and start the start the new year off in July. So this gives us our state aid payment, our July payment. They give it to you in June. They give it to you interest free. And so this is the application for that. But it's different than what we were discussing in prior meetings. That's what I'm trying I understand. Okay. Thank you. It's considered like a a bridge to get to the next state aid payment. I understand. I didn't I thought in relation to the other I could see why you would think that. Yep. Anyone else? Roll call. Dr. Osman? Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroas? Yes. Mrs. Gardella? Yes. Mrs. Cass? Yes. I need
030a motion to move facilities. Motion second. Discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osman. Yes. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroas? Yes. Mrs. Gardella? Yes. Mrs. Cass? Yes. I need a motion to move programs. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osben. Yes. Mr. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron, yes. Mrs. Rivera, yes. Mrs. Baroas, yes. Mrs. Gardella, yes. Mrs. Cass, yes. I need a motion to move students. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osman. Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes, Mrs. Rivera. Yes, Mrs. Baroas. Yes, Mrs. Gordella. Yes, Mrs. Cass. Yes. I need a motion to move personnel. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Dr. Osman. Yes. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroas? Yes. Mrs. Gardella Ebstein 18A 10G document J 613 and 614. Yes to everything else. Could
031you just say those numbers one more time slower? You want me to say it slower? Sure. All right. Um 18A Mhm. 10g document J 613 and 614. Thank you. Yes to everything else. Mrs. Cass. Yes. I need a motion to open public form for any topic pertaining to the board of education. Motion. Second. Please sign in and state your name and whether or not you are a Jackson resident. Each person is allowed a maximum of three minutes to speak. No person may speak more than once on the topic until all others have been heard. There's no pen, so I'll just Hi, I'm Helen Vasquez. I'm a lifelong resident of Jackson. I am also a bus driver for 23 years now and I've been a shop stewart for two and a half years now. I have
032a little thing. It's not a question. It's more a statement. I have a vested interest in the school district and the success of Jackson Township. I was a resident here. I've been my whole life. I went through the district. My children went through the district. Now my grandchildren are in the school. The bus drivers have been working the entire school year without a contract. Um, we've been patient and professional with the closing of Rosenau School, with the redistricting, the restructuring. We've done everything we could to be patient and be set on the back burner. And we have. Now, it feels as the shop steward and a taxpaying resident that the board is pushing to go to factf finding. Factfinding will be costly for both parties. a considerable financial burden, which the district struggling financially. I
033don't know if that's necessarily the best recourse for either one of us. We'd like this settled. The bus drivers and aids are looking for job security, a healthy work environment, and respect. Not a lot to ask for. Anybody else would ask for the same thing. We've got approximately 47 bus drivers that have left the district due to issues in the workplace. We feel that if we work together, the board as well as the shop stewards and the drivers and aids, we could minimize that in the future. The key to this is communication between both parties. And I'm hoping that the board is open to communicating and hopefully not going to factf finding and settling our contract and making it a healthy work environment for us to go pass on to the children we drive every
034day. Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing no one come forward, I need a motion to close public forum. Motion. All second. All in favor? I. Board comments. Uh we'll start as we always do down that end. Um it seems like the district is moving forward. melding together. All right. From what I hear from Well, I never worried about the kids. The kids will be fine, but the parents are adjusting. Okay. And uh I think things will be looking up. Uh have a safe ride home. Yeah. Thank you to the administration team for all your hard work with getting everybody situated. um coming up with everybody for where they're going to be uh placed next year. I know it's a lot of time um and you guys did a great job. Thank you. Thank you all for
035coming out. I just wanted to wish the seniors a great last few weeks of school. Enjoy it. And Mr. Nye, this was a hard vote today because I can't believe we're going to be taking you out of the classroom. one of the absolute best teachers my children have ever had. So, I wish you the best of luck and congratulations. I want I want to thank you all for coming out this evening and viewing us live stream. I want to thank you for all your years of service to Miss Barber and all the retirements. Congratulations on all the new appointments and everyone have a safe evening. Um I wanted to wish a um congratulations to Mr. Nye and Mr. Valco. I think they were an excellent choice and I'm wishing you the best of luck next
036year. Can't wait to work with you. Uh congratulations to Jeanie. It's been a pleasure working with you for these past four four years and I wish you a retirement filled with joy, relaxation, and many adventures. I also wanted to wish uh Katie uh congratulations on her upcoming graduation. um you've come so far from the uh sorry from the flag chair little girl that I once coached and I can't wait to see what your future holds. And I also uh um I know Colin that you're going to continue uh to work hard for all of the kids in uh both schools coming together. So I wanted to say congratulations to all the retirements and appointments this evening. I also wanted to kind of mimic um Mr. Walsh. I attended orientations at Jackson Township High School and
037Gets 56 as a parent and I left feeling really excited and um I was just impressed by the enthusiasm of the staff that were present at each event and um their their excitement for the success of the consolidation for our students and I do feel that we are moving in the right direction and you know we do as a board um tend to ask a lot of questions and we appreciate the administration's patience with us and thank you for helping us move through this smoothly. Uh always going last. I feel like I say the same things all over, but um I echo everyone's sentiments um with the retirements, the appointments. Uh Jeie, you will definitely be sorely missed. Um the girls softball team, uh kudos to you. I mean, that's great. Um, and I just
038want to wish all the seniors with the upcoming events and, you know, graduation and everything. Uh, enjoy it. Goes quick. So, have a good night. Motion. I need a I need a motion to adjurnn. Motion. Second. Second by acclamation. I I [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]