001Check. Check. Check. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] to flag United States. 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. Mr. Walsh, present. Mr. McCarron, present. Mrs. Rivera, present. Mrs. Baroas, present. Mrs. Gardella, present. Mrs. Cass, present. I need a motion for the approval of the agenda with addendums. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron, yes. Mrs. Rivera, yes. Mrs. Baroas, yes. Mrs. Gordella, yes. Mrs. Cass, yes. I now turn the meeting over to Mrs. Primilli for her superintendence report. Thank you, Mrs. Cass. And good evening, everyone. Um, tonight, as we always do, we will start with our high school board rep reports. And tonight I'd like to begin with Katie from Liberty High
002School. Good evening, Superintendent Permilly, members of the board of education, and distinguished guests. It's a privilege to be here once again to share some of the exciting things happening at Liberty this past month. Our winter sports season has come to a successful close, and we're extremely proud proud of all of our teams. Some of our athletes have earned special recognition, and we'd like to highlight their achievements. After hosting the region six wrestling tournament, the boys wrestling team sent four wrestlers onto the state tournament. William Hutchko, Armani McCann, Tucker Pazino, and Jordan Aash. Both Jordan and Armani placed to become Liberty sixth and seventh state medalists and the first since 2015. Jordan placed seventh while Armani placed eighth. Additionally, our JLHS competition cheerleaders won the next level national championship in Providence, Rhode Island. They advanced to
003this competition after winning the state title for the fourth consecutive year. Our athletic trainer, Mr. Grande is in the final rounds of the short conference wrestling coaches association trainer of the year competition with back-to-back nominations. He consistently ensures our athletes perform at their best. We are incredibly lucky to have him. Spring sports are underway and they have started scrimmages this week. Li the Liberty boys baseball team had an early jump on the season when they attended the Shore Conference baseball coaches association sportsmanship dinner. This is an event where teams from across the area gathered for dinner and hear from a guest speaker. It was great motivation and inspired them for the upcoming season. Our clubs have also been very active. The Jackson Liberty STEM Academy hosted a big sale this week and the dance team
004is currently hold hosting a cookie dough fundraiser. Meanwhile, the PTSN is very busy preparing for our bingo gift auction. In addition, our arts programs continue to thrive. On March 11th, Liberty hosted the Jackson School District Museum night, providing an opportunity for all Jackson students to showcase their work. This event was a tremendous hit. Earlier on March 6th, 7th, and 8th, the Jackson Liberty Drama Club presented their production of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, which highlighted the talent of many students. Liberty is also proud to support the McAlliff Middle School Drama Club in their production of The Lion King Jr., which will be be performed on March 25th at 6:30 and March 27th, 22nd at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Additionally, Liberty is hosting several important events including the College and Career Planning Night, the
005School District Trade and Job Fair, and the Jackson Education Association Vision Day. These events are intended to help students succeed well beyond graduation, helping them plan for the next steps in life. We are very fortunate to have so much support and access to impressive resources. A necessary part of academic achievement is completion of state testing. Our juniors recently fulfilled the requirement of taking the NJGPA. We're confident that they all scored well. Our events are built into our days to help um motivate the community as well. We recently hosted a spirit week to promote health entitled March into Wellness. Student council is also busy planning events that will take place during lunch as a way to promote unity and hype everyone up about the merger that will take place next year. As much as we've been
006working as a community to make this year great, there are some individuals worthy of special recogn recognition. We'd like to recognize a few people for their ex exceptional achievements. Sam Capan and Katherine Spalto have been named seniors of the month, while Victor Akin Babo and Nyla Nyla Laan Spears has earned athlete of the month. Lastly, family and consumer science teacher Mr. Zenovitz has been named line of the month. Congratulations to all of them for these impressive accomplishments. As the first marking period of the second semester comes to a close, we are hitting our stride and are working harder than ever. AP classes are on their final stages of preparation and committees are meeting to discuss possibilities for next year. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to represent Liberty tonight. Thank you all for your
007time and have a wonderful evening. Thank you, Katie. That was a comprehensive full report. Um, I'd like to now call Colin from Memorial to the podium. Good evening, Mrs. Perily, members of the central administration staff and board of education members. I'm excited to be here tonight to share some of the amazing things happening at JHS. First, I want to give a huge congratulation to our students for an incredible showing at Battle of the Classes. The competition was fierce. The Naz was high and in the end, the juniors came out on top. A huge shout out to everyone who participated and helped make the event such a success. Looking ahead, spring sports are officially underway. Our athletes in spring track, boys and girls lacrosse, boys tennis, girls softball, boys baseball, and boys volleyball are ready to
008take on this season with dedication and school spirit. Some of those sports have scrimmages this week and we wish them the best of luck. Can't wait to see all they accomplish. March is filled with exciting events for our students. This Friday, we are hosting the annual dodgeball tournament where teams will compete in a fun and competitive showdown. It's always a highlight of the year, and we're looking forward to another great event. Last week, Shrek the Musical was a huge success, captivating audiences on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with incredible performances from our talented cast and crew. The hard work and dedication of our students truly paid off, bringing the beloved story to life with outstanding acting, powerful vocals, and stunning set designs. Each night, the auditorium was filled with energy and excitement as the audience cheered
009on the fantastic performances. A huge congratulations to everyone involved. Your commitment and passion made this production an unforgettable experience for the JHS community. Also happening this month is March into Wellness Week, a time dedicated to promoting mental health and well-being for our students. This year's spirit days include tie-dye Monday, wear green Tuesday, wear what makes you happy Wednesday, pink, red, and hearts Thursday, and Jagar Friday. As we continue to plan for the future, our branding and merging communities are working hard to develop ideas for uniting our schools as Jackson Memorial and Jackson Liberty come together. This transition presents an opportunity to build a stronger Jackson community, and we're excited to see the creativity and collaboration that comes out of these meetings. Scheduling for next year is also underway and students are making important decisions about
010their classes. We encourage everyone to take the time to explore their options and choose courses that will set them up for success. For our juniors, an exciting night is just around the corner, junior formal. This year's theme is masquerade, promising an evening of mystery, elegance, and unforgettable memories. The dance will take place at Battlegrounds on May 2nd, providing the perfect setting for a night of celebration. Bids are currently being sold, so don't miss your chance to be part of this incredible event. Get ready to dress your best and dance the night away. Lastly, our students recently had the opportunity to attend the VOTE Career Day Expo, where they gained valuable insights into a variety of career paths. It was a great experience that provided real world knowledge and exposure to different job industries. As always,
011thank you, Mrs. Primilli, and the board of education for your continued support. I look forward to up to you again next month. Have a great evening. [Applause] Thank you, Colin. Again, um an incredible report, comprehensive. There's just so much happening for our students on a daily basis in our schools. And uh thank you for mentioning the rebranding committee and the students that are participating in those uh conversations. Um we've definitely have been moving forward and I'll talk a little bit more about that in a few minutes. Um you know, Katie mentioned the end of the first marking period of the second semester already. the time is just going so rapidly in the in the school year. It's hard to believe that we're already there and then we're talking prom um prom bids and and moving
012forward. There's just um it's just speeding ahead of us. So many wonderful opportunities though for our students. Um I just wanted to mention a few district happenings. Some of them you you've actually heard about from our high school students this evening. Um but first of all, I just want to make a comment that this is the time of the year that we receive a lot of retirements from our staff. Um you'll see some on the agenda this evening. There are several retirements um on the agenda and I believe we've approved a few at the last um board meeting as well and I'm sure we will approve more in the upcoming months. But this is the time that people put in their letters and they make their decisions and it's not always an easy choice to
013make those decisions. Um people are very committed to our students and to our our community. Um and tonight there's there's quite a few on there and some retirements from some really uh long um long staff members history here. Some staff member that have been with us for a very long time, some more than 25 years that are retiring um including three principles. Tonight on the agenda, I just want to take a moment to say to all of our retirees that um we want to thank you for all of your years of service, your dedication, uh your commitment and the impact, the positive impact that you've had on students, families, and staff. Um it does not go unnoticed and uh you've made a difference. I think it's important for people to know that. Uh you've had
014a real positive impact on the lives of so many. and congratulations on your retirements and best wishes. So, moving on to some of the district happenings. Last Tuesday night, we um we had our district-wide museum night. It was a lovely evening. The atrium in Liberty was just filled with student art. Um some of it 3D art. If you were unable to attend, please check out the Facebook post. There are some pictures. The art's amazing. I'm just always in awe of the amazing talent that our art teachers are able to pull out of our students. Uh I loved some of the pieces that were were 3D. They had a whole selfie area where students had had produced art for the purpose of people standing there and taking selfies. Uh what a what a what an interesting
015smart creative way. There was so much creativity. Some of the three-dimensional work was just incredible. I want to thank say thank you to all the art teachers for their daily instruction and pulling out such great work from students and it was really heartwarming. The most most heartwarming part of that evening is watching the students glow in sharing their art with their family and their friends. It's just incredible. It's a great night. If you haven't weren't able to get there, check out the uh the website. I also did attend the two high school productions, Lightning Thief and and Shrek. And Colin said it well, as did Katie. Uh just again in awe of the talent, the dedication and the commitment of our students um and our staff, the creat creativity of the sets, set designs and
016how they make things happen, the choreography, the music, the vocals were just phenomenal. Um I actually bring my mom to these. She's blown away by them as well. So congratulations to um both the students on stage and offstage. It takes both. Um and to all of our teachers, advisers, and volunteers. They were incredible shows. And as mentioned, um, Katie, thanks for the plug for McAuliffe over there that their production of The Lion King is on Friday and Saturday this even uh this week. And then Spongebob forgets is in on April 11th and 12th. So I encourage everyone to get out and support our students. As our high school reps mentioned, our spring sports are well underway. Um, I can actually hear some of the the practices happening from my office and we see we see
017students practicing about looking forward to getting out in some warmer weather and seeing some of our students compete. Uh, I do also want to say congratulations to our elementary um spelling bee winners. Last night, 25 elementary students competed in this year's spelling bee. So impressed with these students and their strong skills of spelling that any one of us as adults may struggle with uh to spell correctly. And thank you to the staff who coordinated and ran that event. It's a lovely event. Also, congratulations to the Memorial uh DECA students. 31 members of the Jackson Memorial High School chapter uh of the New Jersey DECA joined over 4,600 high schools in competing in the areas of business, finance, hospitality, and marketing in an annual um competition for career development. The winners will advance to an international
018competition um in Florida, Orlando, Florida. So, we have some students who will be attending that. So, congratulations to them and the hard work and to the adviserss and students. Just want to give a a quick plug to the trade and job fair uh March 27th at from 6:00 to 8 at Liberty High School. It's a wonderful opportunity to get out and hear about some of the trades and jobs um that uh provide special maybe skills that you need to um to learn and or uh careers that do not require necessarily a four-year degree. Also, kindergarten registration is open. Please visit our district website for more information about how to start the process for registering and also posted on our website. We are experiencing a shorter shortage of drivers. We've had many retirements. Uh we need
019bus drivers. So, please if you know somebody who's interested, pass along the information and ask them to apply. Um before I move on tonight with uh this evening's presentations, I just want to mention that uh we I do want to comment on our um restructuring progress. We did put out information to the community last week about the steps that we've taken forward to begin um moving forward in some of those difficult decisions and the work that needs to be made. Committees have been formed. Uh we still have a lot of work to do, a lot of decisions to make. Uh but nevertheless, we are moving forward. Uh we're working hard and we will continue to work hard and making some diff difficult decisions but good decisions to unite our district and we will keep our
020community informed. As we demonstrated last week, we will continue to update as we ma move forward. Come the April board meeting, we should have even more information um in moving forward with some of the big decisions that we've have to make. So my last uh um comment before we move on to the presentations as part of moving forward with making decisions for strategic planning, you'll see on tonight's agenda uh the appointment of three principles, a transfer for three principles for the 2526 school year. Uh for the high school, we have Mr. Brignola who is being transferred as what will be the high school principal for next year, Mr. Parino who will be the middle school principal and Miss Phillips who will be the upper elementary principal. We congratulate these principles and know that they will
021do excellent work to develop a strong culture among the staff and the students and to help with transitions and over the next few months. Uh as I said we'll continue to keep you updated as we move forward in making decisions and progress. So with that we do have three presentations tonight before I conclude the uh my portion of the superintendence report. So this evening we will start with um our annual first reporting period for the violence vandalism and hip report and tonight we have the director of security John Bajowski here who will come to the podium to present that to the board and to the public. So, there will be slides. So, board members, you're going to want to turn around. Good evening everyone. Uh, thank you, Mrs. Primilli, superintendent, the district administrators, and the
022board members. Uh, my name is John Powski. I'm the director of security here in the district as well as the anti-bullying coordinator. Uh tonight I'll be doing the semiannual report uh report period one uh from September through December 2024 uh both on the harassment, intimidation and bullying and the violence and vandalism reports as well. Uh the Jackson School District's commitment uh the district is committed to creating a safe learning environment for all of our students, investigating all complaints of harassment, intimidation, and bullying, preventing all acts of harassment, intimidation, and bullying. Uh the district is proactive and prepared um to make uh the culture and climate in the schools positive and friendly uh through various uh programs behavioral threat assessment training uh for the staffs, for the teams, for the district, understanding school violence, uh the
023I love you guys foundation standard response protocol implementation and training through the DOE and the office of preparedness and emergency preparedness. I love you guys. Foundation again, standard respon uh reunification method implementation and training. Uh district training for all employees and anti-bullying specialists policies and procedures for addressing and reporting HIV violence and vandalism and substance use. The anti-bullying coordinator and anti-bullying specialist meetings, HIP policy and data review, HI investigation procedures. To the left you have the schools uh with their respective anti-bullying specialists. um through their endeavors. Uh there's events and initiatives uh to prevention um hip prevention assemblies at every school, at every grade level. Uh focus on explaining that when it comes to bad behavior, we do not do that here, especially the parent guardian nights to help better understand and prevent incidents of
024HIP. uh classroom lessons, grade level activities, character education through bucket fillers, pause uh pause positive programs, peer mediation, uh morning announcements, school spirit days, character education groups, social emotional character education, diversity and equity, uh especially for the parents and students, social emotional evening or presentation of mindfulness, district-wide suicide prevention and education, climate and culture meetings, surveys to strengthen the use of data to target our programs and approaches. So with this section just uh the comparison between the 2023 20 24 school year and the 2025 2024 25 school year specific to September and December. Um we're always looking there's more decreases uh with the numbers and I'll give you a couple minutes to look at that. Um and where there have been an increase, uh they're working on uh proactive and reactive strategies to continue to
025decrease those numbers. Same with this uh same as the previous slide uh regarding the number of incidents. Again looking to reduce comparative from the 2023 2024 school year to the 202425 school year. And for this slide, these uh couple different sections going on to the right. There are different classifications of actions of investigations through the HIV incidents. Uh demeaning, offensive text messages, name calling, offensive comments, mocking, teasing, taunting, and physical. Uh the motivations, uh the top section, these are the numbers that we came up that through the investigations. Uh motivation of founded hibs, that's that first section. The second section is the outcomes of all investigated hip incidents. Uh specific to the left is consequences and then to the right are the remedial measures for those incidents. And that bottom section is a location of
026founded hibs. Uh it's broken down to four different uh onschool grounds, off school grounds, on the school bus, and then cell phone and then internet. And those are numbers for that. Any questions on the HIP report? The secondary level went up a lot. Yes. Uh from 24 to 23 to 24. I mean, I know you can't necessarily make a hypothesis, you know what I'm saying, but um I think is are we getting better at identifying possibly? Yes. So, what happens I spoke to the coordinators um and they had said recently uh within the last couple years, two years, more programs for them to present to the students to feel more comfortable reporting stuff. Okay. So now the kids are feeling more comfortable in coming forward to say this is an issue, this is an issue
027as in before the before that. And I noticed that um you know you had 106 parent teacher conference or parent student conferences compared to how many actual cases and you know I want to thank every staff member who participated in doing that because it definitely is probably a benefit for those kids. Oh absolutely absolutely. So the drastic increase it gets is basically because of reporting. Yes. Yes. I again I spoke to each school's individual um anti-bullying specialist and I I asked them what they credited that to and they said um presentation specifically they mentioned the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office their presentation for reporting um once they had that presentation that they brought to the school it was like an increase um at all the levels So this is the CMA annual report uh for violence
028and vandalism, substance abuse and weapons offenses in our school district. Again, report period 1 uh September through December of 2024. As far as a background and overview, the state of New Jersey began collecting this data in March of 2002 with the objective uh to collect and report incidents datas concerning serious student misconduct in the areas of violence, vandalism, HIV, weapons, and substance abuses. Uh so the five U categories uh that we focused in on again compared from September December uh 2023 through September and December 2024 and those are the numbers. This is at the elementary level uh with respect to the uh fights, assaults, threats, sexual offense and then the hibs alleged and confirmed uh with all our five elementary schools. And this is the numbers for the report period one. This slide is for
029the secondary uh schools specific gets maul liberty and memorial and uh these are the numbers respective to the fights assaults threats sexual offense the hip alleged and confirmed again for the period of September through December 2024. This is the substance abuse section and as well as vandalism. Uh the section to the left, vandalism incidents. Uh for September through December of 2024, we only had one at our um secondary schools. to the right. Uh the substance under influence of students, the number of incidents uh involving marijuana or alcohol, prescription drug, uh substance suspected and refused exam. Those are the numbers for that. And then the bottom right section is the substance possession of the same marijuana, drug perilia, alcohol, undetermined. And those are the numbers for that. So this slide is uh for weapons offenses in
030all of our schools and there's a definition of what a weapon is um relative to to our laws. Um the one caveat is that a toy gun is not considered a weapon and if it's brought into the school um it wouldn't not necessarily be reported. Um that's more at the younger ages. And then the number of incidents compared to last year uh to this year uh went down. This is the action taken by the school district. Uh the actions are police notification, no complaint filed. Police notification complaint filed in school suspension and out of school suspension. And then the bottom section, I'm sorry, the impact of students. Uh I apologize. It's student offenders and student victims. And we will continue to strive to ensure a safe district and school environment by bringing school and district
031safety teams and school anti-bullying specialists together to review data using that data to plan programs and inform uh practices, approaches, and curriculum building strong partnerships with the Jackson Police Department and local law enforcement. Uh providing training for school administrators on the effect of prevention and response to violence, vandalism, and substance abuse. Uh educating all stakeholders on how they can make Jackson school safer and providing community events to educate parents, guardians about school safety. Any questions? Yes, I got a question. one. Um, can you specify what exact interventions are being utilized to address the substance abuse usage for both the possession and the um I know there uh with the again talking to the specialists um prevention they do have different speakers coming in uh different organizations uh talking about the dangers of not limited to
032like marijuana, alcohol, vaping Um with that if a student is found there's some punitive uh as well as also helping that student out with that parent uh providing services for them u to educate them to keep preventing that aspect of continued continued use. Did you I remember uh when they legalized marijuana we saw like a big increase of marijuana use in the school. I mean obviously that was I think the year before this data is in. Did you happen to just like peek at it? Is it going back down or is it about stagnant? I mean it was going down on here. It has been and I I think I want to say the fat of it you know now that it's um out but the students are still getting in trouble. Um, so talking
033being in the in the hallways and talking to the students, um, there are there's a lot of students that know that it's still dangerous and and even though they're some students are doing it, uh, the other ones are kind of like I want to get away from this. um it is decreasing and I think that also helps with the school doing these presentations prevention aspect but also educating parents too um that it's you know it's still not okay and to do this you know especially at a young age there was a large increase in I in school suspension versus out of school suspension a large decrease was there a change in policy or something as far as the penalties are concerned I believe. So it went uh there was a shift in the model u
034for exclusion and inclusion um to also again educate the students um to prevent them from getting in trouble or you know code of code a kind of code code of conduct violations or anything like that. Um yeah so Mr. Dr. Walsh, we obviously prefer to have our students in school and learning. Um, and so there's an emphasis on education, being proactive, and also being reactive if an event happens that we are educating the students on how to improve. They were they meet with if it has to do with the substance, they're meeting with the student's assistant counselor and we avail ourselves more of the inschool suspension. um so that the students are still having their education um and getting the supports that they need to prevent this from happening again. It's the most severe cases
035that we have or a a case where we've done all of that and have not made progress uh that we move to a out of school suspension. Are there any other questions from the board? Thank you, Mr. Bachki. Thank you. Thank you. So, also tonight, um, we're required to ensure that the board has their ethics, um, overview and training every year. And Mr. Zitmer, our attorney, is going to do an ethics presentation for the board this evening. And I believe there's a little, um, quiz involved. Good evening, members of the board, members of the administration, members of the community, staff. Uh thank you for inviting me to speak this evening on the New Jersey School Ethics Act. Uh the nuts and bolts of ethics for school officials. Um in New Jersey, school officials are governed
036by the New Jersey School Ethics Act, which really prescribes the the ethical dos and don'ts of board members and school officials. And I'll explain who school officials are under the School Ethics Act. And I always uh think a good place to start this presentation is with the preamble or the opening statement uh to the school ethics act which says that in our representative form of government, it's essential that conduct of members of local boards of education and local administrators hold the respect and the confidence of the people. Officials must avoid conduct which is in violation of the public trust or which creates some justifiable impression among the public that such trust is being violated. And what does all of that mean? It means that board members not only have to avoid actual conflicts of interest,
037but they have to avoid the appearance of impropriy. The Jackson School District has to feel confident that when board members uh act on matters, when they vote, when they participate in discussions, that they're always acting in the best interests of the Jackson School District and the students that you're serving rather than your own personal interests, uh your own family members personal interests or financial interests or interests of businesses that you're involved uh with. You have to be here for the students and your action has to be reflective of that. So the school ethics act applies to of course board of education members uh but school officials is really how the act defines it. So it's board members um as well as officers of the New Jersey school boards association and highle administrators within a school
038district. The code of ethics within the school ethics act only applies to board of education member conduct. And so I've handed out to everybody this evening uh a copy of the code of ethics and on the other side of the page are the prohibited acts. Those deal with conflicts of interest and that applies to everybody. So the code of ethics only applies to board members. The prohibited acts again dealing with conflicts of interests applies to all school officials. And let's walk briefly through the various code of ethics provisions. Um section A basically says board members have to follow the law. You're supposed to uphold and enforce laws, rules, regulations of the state board and orders pertaining to the schools. I think that's pretty self-obvious. Um, section B, you're here for all the students and you're
039supposed to make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of all children regardless of race, religion, creed, uh, sex, social standing, and so forth. Um, section C really defines what it is to be a board of education member. board. Board members are responsible for setting policy of the school district. You're a policymaking body. That is the main function of board of education members. And of course, we use a policy company. They give us templates uh for all of the different areas that involve our school district. And it's up to the board to take those policies and shape them to the Jackson School District in the way that we see fit. Um the code of ethics says you're supposed to confine your board action to policym, planning for the future, and appraisal. taking a step back
040and saying, "How are we doing?" Setting goals for the district, setting goals for the board, and so forth. It goes on to say that you're supposed to frame those policies and plans only after the board has consulted with those affected by them. And how do you do that? You don't do that in your individual capacity. You do that uh through your work on the various committees. And we're obviously at every board meeting, we hear committee reports, and we hear what our committees are up to. Um section D is an area where board members sometimes get themselves into trouble. uh because I think sometimes board members forget that they are not responsible for administering the schools, not running the schools, but seeing that the schools are well-run and the code of ethics says you will carry
041out your responsibility not to administer the schools but together with your fellow board member see that they are well-run. Um New Jersey code goes on to say that if somebody were to file a complaint against somebody for instance for violating that provision, what would they have to show to show that a board member administered the schools? uh they'd have to show that a board member gave a direct order to school personnel or became directly involved in activities or functions that are the responsibility of school personnel or the day-to-day administration of the school district. Uh and here's kind of an extreme example from a case uh an ethics case that was filed against a board member where the SEC referring to the school ethics commission found a violation where a board member uh on his own
042decides one day he's going to go into the guidance office and starts having all the assistants there making make him copies of the SAT reports. Uh then heads down to the locker room. This is in the middle of the school day by the way. Heads down to the locker room. uh does an inspection, starts telling the PE teachers how they should be better supervised in the class and so on and so forth. A clear violation, a clear example of a board member getting involved in the day-to-day administration of a school district and there was uh found to be a violation in that particular case. Section E says you recognize your authority rest with the board and make no personal promises or take private action that could compromise the board. uh you have the authority to
043act and take action when you're sitting at our board of education meetings of course we vote on matters uh through the various committees as I mentioned before but once you're outside this room you don't have the authority to act on behalf of the board you don't have the authority to speak on behalf of the board again unless you've been authorized to do so and um we have to be really careful about that board members have to remember that uh once you leave this room you really don't have the authority to speak or act on behalf of the board and if you do it's considered taking private action there's lots of cases where board members do their own investigations into matters and they really kind of step outside their lane. So, we have to be careful.
044Um, section F says you're supposed to surrender your independent judgment to special interest groups or partisan political groups or using the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends. I think that's pretty obvious. Uh, confidentiality. Um, I always stress to my board of education clients that um, maintaining confidentiality is so important. As you know, you come across a lot of confidential information in your capacity as board members. Confidential student information, confidential personnel information, uh attorney client privilege communications, and the law, as you know, allows us to discuss confidential matters in executive or close session. And I always um warn my board clients that if board members don't feel confident that what they say in closed session stays in closed session. It really undermines the ability of the of the board of education to
045be an effective body because nobody's going to want to have open and honest dialogue and debate about topics for fear that as soon as the meeting is over, whatever said in that room is going to be leaked. So I always implore board members, not only is it an ethical responsibility, but it's so important for the smooth functioning of the board of education that you maintain and respect confidentiality. And I also go on to tell board members uh your family members, your friends, your relatives. They are not bound by any of this. So you shouldn't be sharing information even with your closest friends because we all know there's no such thing as secrets. And it always amazes me uh when I go to certain boards where confidentiality isn't respected, how quickly things get out into the
046community and somebody may have just simply told a family member and then the family member tells somebody and before you know it, everybody knows what's said and and again it really is undermine it undermines the the whole operation of the school district. The other part of section G that's important to remember is that you have to provide accurate information. And we'll talk a little bit later about the free speech rights of board members and that you don't lose your free speech rights to be a board as a board member, but it's important that when you speak about school district issues that you're accurate in what you convey. Um, accuracy is very important and if you don't know something and if you're not sure about something, you're better off not saying it and checking to make
047sure that what you're saying is is is accurate. Um, section H says you're supposed to appoint the best qualified personnel after considering the recommendation of the superintendent. As you know, by law, every personnel recommendation, whether we're talking about appointing, transferring, terminating, has to be on Miss Pormilly's recommendation. Board members cannot make motions to appoint staff, remove staff, transfer staff, etc. without the recommendation of the school uh chief school administrator. And the code of ethics says you're supposed to appoint the best qualified person after considering the superintendent's recommendation. There's another section of New Jersey law that says board members aren't supposed to withhold their approval of the superintendent's recommendations. And it goes on to say for arbitrary and capricious reasons. So in other words, if you're going to vote no on a personnel recommendation, it's got
048to be for a wellfounded good reason, not an arbitrary one. And we can certainly talk more about that later if you have questions. Um, section I, you're supposed to support and protect school personnel in the proper performance of their duties. You're not supposed to evaluate your staff in a public arena like this. We're allowed to discuss those matters in close session. To to show somebody violated this uh somebody filing a complaint would have to show that a a board member took deliberate action which resulted in undermining, opposing, compromising, or harming school personnel in the proper performance of their duties. Um, section J I happen to like. I think is a great section for board members. Uh, this section allows a board member when when they're at the local supermarket and a parent comes up to
049them and complains and says, "Oh, I know you're on the board of education. My child's teacher is giving too much homework. Can you handle that matter for me?" You're supposed to say, "Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I'm going to refer it to the superintendent of schools who will uh address your concern." You're supposed to refer the complaint to the chief school administrator. Um, is it okay as a board member to refer a parent, for instance, to the chain of command? Yes, that's fine. If you said to them, look, have you spoken to the child's teacher, your child's teacher? Have you spoken to the principal? Have you worked your way up the chain of command? That's fine. But at the end of the day, the point is that board members shouldn't be handling
050these complaints on their own. You're supposed to refer them to the superintendent. And it goes on to say that you should only act on those complaints after the failure of an administrative solution. And with the administrative team in Jackson, we don't have to worry about there ever being a failure of an administrative solution. Um, who can file a complaint if somebody believes that there's been a violation here? And the answer is anybody can file a complaint. If if you believe that there's been a violation, it could be a board member, it could be a community member. The answer is anybody. Is there a time period by which you have to file these complaints? What do you think? No. No. No time period. No statute of limitations. Does anybody think there is a statute of limitations?
051In other words, if you don't file it within X period of time that it's time barred. What do you think? Somebody said three years. I heard yes in the audience. The answer is six months. It used to be a year. I think the school ethics commission was getting so many complaints they actually shrunk the window of time down to six months. So, if it's not filed within six months, it's time barred. It's out of time. Uh, a board of education can't file a complaint against somebody, but individual board members could if they wanted to. And like I said before, there's a six-month statute of limitation. Um, the New Jersey School Ethics Commission is the only entity that can determine whether a board member or school officials conduct violated the school ethics act. Who comprises the
052school ethics commission? Anybody know who is who's this magical school ethics commission? Who's on the eth who's on the ethics commission? I'm not asking for names, but does any do folks understand how they're appointed and so forth? Um, they're appointed by the governor. The school ethics commission consists of five citizens, five community members who again are appointed by the governor. Uh two school administrators serve on the school ethics commission and two board members. So if you don't if you have some extra time on your hands, haha, and you want to serve on the school ethics commission, you as a board member could go uh volunteer to work on the school ethics commission and and and adjudicate these cases. The way it typically works is the school ethics commission, if there's factual issues in dispute, does
053not actually hear the cases. What they do is they assign the cases to an administrative law judge for a full hearing. The administrative law judge issues a decision and then it goes back to the school ethics commission to essentially give the the thumbs up or the the thumbs down. Um, we can request an advisory opinion. So, if there's a question about a board member engaging in a particular course of action, you can write to the school ethics commission and say, uh, I'm thinking about doing X or I do you think it's okay if I vote on my sister's employment in the Jackson School District? And you could write to the school ethics commission and they will issue what's called an advisory opinion telling you uh whether or not uh what you're thinking about doing is
054okay or not. Um, the only time I've ever gone to the school ethics commission, just to digress for a second, is I represent a school district where a senior a s a senior student got on to the board of education, a very unique situation. He was 18. He got elected to the board in his senior year. And my client asked me, "Can he vote on his teachers? Can he vote on fellow students? What are the limitations?" And I and I scratched my head and I said, "This is a great opportunity to go to the school ethics commission and get an advisory." and there wrote us back a very detailed letter explaining kind of the dos and don'ts of what that senior student could do and he turned out to be a great board member by
055the way. Um what are the sanctions for violating the school ethics act? Um at the lightest end of the spectrum we have a reprimand which is kind of a slap on the wrist. It's a letter from the school ethics commission. A censure is a resolution read at a public board of education meeting kind of embarrassing for the board member quite frankly. Uh suspension is exactly what it sounds like. removing the board for board member for a certain or school official for a certain period of time. And then lastly, in the most extreme cases, removal from the board of education. Um, can you file an ethics complaint against somebody who's no longer on the board? What do you think? I see some yeses. The answer is yes, you can as long as it's within that sixmon
056statute of limitations that I talked about before. The only thing is suspension or removal are obviously not going to be an option because they're no longer um on the board. Um, I mentioned this before, you don't lose your free speech rights as a board member. Um, where board members oftentimes get themselves into trouble is for instance on social media or they write letters to the paper. What you have to do, and it's right in our board policy 0146, is that you have to very you have to make it very clear when you're speaking outside this room uh or posting on social media or whatever the case may be that you are speaking as an individual and that you're not speaking for the board of education. and what our policy says. And I want to read
057this because it's important. Board member shall not represent his or her personal opinion as the position of the board and and shall include in all formal expressions in which his or her board affiliation is likely to be recognized, including on social media, a statement that is that here or she's a member of the board. Uh that the person is speaking as a private citizen and that the opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the board of education. And you should have the specific disclaimer that the school ethics commission recommends, which is as follows. And the disclaimer, this is kind of their their model disclaimer language. So if you're going to post something on social media, you should immediately follow whatever you said with this statement, which is that the following statements are made by
058me in my capacity as a private citizen and not in my capacity as a board member. These statements are also not representative of the board or its individual members and solely represent my own personal opinions. Um the only kind of exception to this is the board president by policy is the spokesperson for the board of education. So the board president kind of de facto is authorized to speak for and on behalf of the board of education. But everybody else um should have that disclaimer. So um every year you know I like to do a little quiz based on the latest and greatest cases from the school ethics commission and that's why I handed out this um code of ethics section so you can refer to the various provisions. But this is an advisory opinion request.
059What do you think about this one? Is this a true or false? A board member is permitted to review the resumes of candidates who were within the candidate pool for a position that was being recommended by the superintendent. This was a request that somebody got. I see Tina shaking her head. Yes. So the answer, do you think most of you think that's true? It is true. Good. We're one for one. All right. Yeah. So we talked before about the fact that board members have to appoint the best qualified person after considering the recommendation of the superintendent. And the school ethics commission said as part of that due diligence, you're allowed to see the pool of candidates. You're allowed to look at the resumes. Now, you shouldn't just show up at the board office. You should
060make an appointment. It should be done in a secure location. You're not allowed to take the documents with you and that sort of thing. But the answer is true. Um, how about this one? A board member violated section D of the act, and that's prohibited acts. Um D referring to the fact that you shouldn't take any undertake any employment or service whether compensated or not which might reasonably be expected to prejudice his independent judgment in the exercise of official duty. So a board member true or false violated section D of the act when he continued to serve as a volunteer football coach after being appointed to the board until the football season ended which was approximately two months after he was seated as a board. So the question is is it a violation for a
061board of education member to serve as a volunteer football coach? What do you think? Uh, true violation or false, not a violation. I hear falses. Mike looks like he's kind of Mike thinks it's true. You think it's a violation? I'm going with Mr. Walsh on this one. It was true. And so the school ethics commission says that board members are allowed to volunteer in other capacities. You want to read to a class on Dr. Seuss day or participate in a car wash or kind of work backstage perhaps to set up the play. That's okay. The question becomes how much interaction is the board member having with staff direct interaction with staff and students. And if the answer is significant direct interaction with staff and students then it's a violation. In this particular case they found
062that being a a volunteer football coach involves significant interaction and that's why they found it was problematic for this person once he got on the board of education to serve as a volunteer coach. He's basically wearing two hats. How about this one? A board member violated sections B and G of the act dealing with conflicts and those various provisions of the code uh when she picked up a letter from the home of an employee who was a friend of hers regarding the employees disciplinary discussion which was going to take place in close session. She gave it to the business administrator asked him to make copies for the rest of the board said don't make copies for the superintendent and then during the exact session while they were discussing that particular employee began to interrogate the
063superintendent regarding the employees actions. Um, who thinks that that was a problem? True. Anybody think false? And the answer was true. It was absolutely true. Um, and here's what the school ethics commission said. They said that if the respondent, referring to the board member, believed that her friend needed assistance, she could have picked up the letter, delivered it to the superintendent as required, and then recused herself from the matter so that the board and superintendent could have discussed the issue without her influence following her direct involvement on a close friend's discipline matter. However, respondent instead advocated on behalf of her friend, questioned the superintendent's motives, and more importantly specifically requested that the superintendent not receive a copy of the letter. Um, respondent then went on to personally represent her friend's interest in the matter before
064the board and even further attempted to influence the proceedings by privately giving a letter to the board members and not to the superintendent who was responsible for making the personnel recommendation and then by disparaging the superintendent's recommendations. So, hugely problematic in this particular case. Um, how about this one? A board member violated section E of the code of ethics. Um, E referring to authority rest with the board and not making personal promises or taking private action that could compromise the board. Did a board member violate that when she texted a staff member and said, "Did you receive a Rice notice?" Which is a notice that an employee gets if they're going to be discussed by the board in close session. Did you get a Rice notice? Um um if not, I could accuse the board
065president or secretary or chief school administrator of malfeasants if you did not receive the notice and they want to discuss you in close session. Was that a is that a problem? Would you say I see Tara shaking her head? Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. They're undermining the the superintendent, undermining the board president, and basically saying, "Hey, if you didn't get a rice notice, that's a big no no, and we can accuse them all of malfeasants." Um how about this one? A board member violated section A and C of the code when he have voted against amending a board agenda to swear in a new member who the board had previously agreed was going to be uh filling a vacant seat. So what happens here is there's a vacancy seat down the board of education. The board conducts
066interviews and at the end of the meeting they decide at the next meeting they're going to appoint whoever it was to fill the vacant seat. and when it gets time to adding that person's name to the agenda, this particular board member um voted no and somebody filed uh an ethics complaint. Do you think it was a violation to vote no to add that person's name to the agenda when the board had previously agreed at a meeting before that the person's name was going to be added? What do you think? It's a little tricky this this this exam. So Megan says no. Board members have a right to change their mind, disagree, don't have to vote yes. and and you're spot on with that. It was not a violation. And there's lots of cases, by the
067way, where um complaints are filed against board members for the way they vote. And the school ethics commission universally holds that how board members vote on issues is not an ethics violation. Um that's up to you. That's your own personal opinion. And so I'll just read you briefly from the case. Um the school ethics commission said that board members are permitted to vote in accordance with their beliefs. And as such, it's within respondents prerogative to vote against amend amending a meeting agenda, including one regarding the swearing in of a board member who may not be eligible to serve that the the board member felt. Accordingly, by voting no, respondent did not take board action to effectuate policies and plans without consulting those affected or take action unrelated to their duties as a board member. So,
068it was perfectly acceptable to vote no. Um, how about this one? So, a board member owns a spiritware company. Um, and the question was, did he violate section C, which involves conflicts of interest, when he sent emails to the school principal asking him to send emails to students and families to promote the sale of the spiritware from his company, even though he donated the materials and did not profit for them. Do you still think that that was an issue? Um, do you think that's a violation? And the answer is it was a violation. True. Why do you think that is? He's he's donating the stuff. So, what difference does it make? What do you think? He's promoting his own. He's got an advantage, right? That probably nobody else has. He's promoting his business essentially, even
069though he may be donating these particular items. They found that that was problematic. All right, last question of the night. And I think you're like really doing well on these. Um, last one. A board member violated sections D and I of the code of ethics when he publicly stated at a board meeting dur during a discussion about a plan referendum project. I'm going to continue to repeat this loud and clear so the taxpayers can hear this. I encourage our community to vote no on this. I encourage them to come talk to other board members and tell them to back off. Do you think that was protected speech? Okay. Not okay. What do you think? Sorry, I didn't hear you. What do you What do you think? True or false? violation or false? You could just
070yell out. Yeah. What do you think? D is, let's go back to the uh the cheat sheet here. D is um responsibility not to administer the schools. Uh section E is recognizing your authority rest with the board and not making personal promises or taking private action. And then I is um supporting and protecting school personnel. And I guess the thought was that um this had been recommended by the superintendent this this referendum project. I guess you think it's not a violation. I hear a lot of falses and the answer is false. False false. Um school ethics commission said board members are allowed to express their opinions on issues at meetings. Uh it wasn't a violation. Um what it said was that respondents opinion during the public board meeting that the taxpayer should vote against the
071planned facilities referendum project was not a violation. His statements did not contain any personal promises nor is it action beyond the scope of his duties as a board member that had the potential to compromise the board at a public meeting. Uh and a board meeting is the appropriate place for board members to have discussions and essentially disagreements. So they found that this was was not problematic. Was it kind of poor form? Maybe. Was it a little crass? Probably. So, but ultimately it was not an ethics violation. Uh, does anybody have any questions, thoughts, concerns about anything I talked about this evening? Thank you, Mr. Zinnamer. Thanks. And board members, you now have been had your official training. It's required every year. So, last but not least, um we this is the time of the year
072we have been working um over months and months on the district budget. Tonight, uh Mr. Beginsky, the business administrator, will be presenting the tentative budget. It is a tentative budget. It's still being worked on, but he will be sharing the information of the progress that we've made thus far. So, Mr. And uh the good news is there will not be a test at the end of this presentation and calculators will not be allowed. So tonight I'm presenting the tenative budget um for the 2526 school year. Uh the typical budget process for us looks a little something like this. It starts in September and October where we engage a variety of stakeholders including school level and district level administrators to identify different instructional and operational needs. As we progress through the school year, the needs and
073initiatives are assigned costs and and prioritized based on the level of need and the fiscal impact. Uh you ultimately we end up with a line item by line item analysis where we determine what the actual need is and what the actual fiscal um line item will will result in. Uh however, this budget process is anything but typical when you throw into the mix the district's redistricting and restructuring plan, the closing of Rosenau, uh the decommissioning of the classroom trailers throughout the district. Um all these present a serious uh challenge to the school district and kind of mix it up this year. Um so where exactly are we this year? Uh we're moving forward and we're doing so in a fiscally responsible manner. Um, tonight's budget is a balanced budget, which means that we are planning
074our revenues to match our expenses. It is a state requirement and we're fulfilling that state requirement. The budget will continue to provide the resources to achieve established educational goals. It's going to provide uh continuence of the highest quality of instruction that we've come to expect here in Jackson. We must all continue to work together uh to maintain the history of excellence that this school district has had and protect and preserve the outstanding educational opportunities and exceptional teachers and knowledgeable and caring leaders and staff that we have. And for that, I I want to take an opportunity really just to say thank you to all the Jackson Township citizens for your continued support through through the redistricting restructuring plan and through what has been uh another very difficult budget season. So, a driving factor for all
075of the uh budgetary decisions is student enrollment. Uh on this table, you see a year-to-year comparison between our current year and what is projected for the 2526 school year. These enrollment figures are based on flat enrollment of student cohorts as they move up in grade levels. Um these uh these projections as they stand now indicate that we should expect about a 3.7% decrease in student enrollment for the 2025 2026 school year. When it comes to our projected expenses, they really get broken down into two categories. One is considered non-discretionary. Uh these items are either mandated or required in some way whether it be through state law, established facilities needs such as energy related expenses, uh educational programs that are determined by law such as special education uh or contractually obligated uh items such as salaries
076and health benefits. Uh on the right side are items that are directly within our control. These items include costs associated with substitutes, technology, supplies, equipment, athletics, and co-curricular costs. and some portions of of transportation, including courtesy busing and afterchool activities. The the spending plan for this school district includes $147 million worth of expenses uh that overall reflect less than a 1% increase from the 2425 school year. The two largest categories of expenses are related to salaries and health benefits, both of which have been impacted by the district's redistricting and restructuring plan. Uh in all the school mergers resulted in a savings of approximately $7 million uh with regard to these two uh categories. Salaries alone would have increased sign by a slightly more than 3% next year. So even though you're seeing um you know
077a decrease it would have had it just rolled over it would have been about a 3% increase. Uh and health benefits were projected to increase close to 17% uh for 2526. And because of the redistricting restructuring plan being implemented, uh we've been able to keep that at an 11% increase. Also related to the school mergers and the decision to close the Mclliff Middle School, uh the funds related to school budgets, facility supplies and services, and administrative and instructional support staff are reflected as very significant reductions which have netted savings around $2 million comparably to the school year. So that's really where the you captured the savings in those in those five categories uh from the redistricting and restructuring plan. Uh not all of the numbers are good and uh and and decreases or holding steady
078uh out of district tuition is projected for a very significant 21% increase. Uh in spite of the outstanding work of our special education department uh to continue to support the needs of our most disabled students within district programs. Some students needs must be met in a school setting outside of our district. And those schools have tuition increases that far exceed our own budgetary restraints and with some tuitions approaching $200,000 per year. For 2526, we are projecting to have 50 students attend an out of district placement school. The final two categories of expenses are related to transportation costs with the major cost driver being the rising costs for Aiden Lou for non-public students which is increasing by $1.7 million in 2526. As of March 5th uh this year uh the district is responsible for transportation for
0796,414 eligible non-public students. That surpasses the number of public school students that we are responsible to transport. uh this month um and next year we are projecting to be above 8,000 in terms of uh eligible non-public students for for 2526. Uh to summarize the major expense components of our general fund are are they're mostly personnel related. Um the large chunk of it is personnel related. Um where you see salaries and health for fringe benefits. Uh we are truly a peopledriven organization and our largest expenses are related to the staffing of our schools and that's what this chart uh illustrates. Um so how do Jackson's expenses compare to the state and what the state calculates what we should be spending uh to educate our students? Uh this is a slide that is not exactly uh something
080we should be proud of. Um it has been uh essentially out of our control due to the state aid cuts that we've experienced over the last eight years. But every three years the New Jersey Department of Education puts out and publishes what is called the educational adequacy report which updates the major data elements that make up the school funding formula. It publishes this report uh the the most recent report just got published last month. Uh it's labeled as a 2026 report. And so the state uses this to to see if uh for school districts to measure up to see if they're providing a thorough and efficient education with the spending that they're doing. Um so the comparison range from the uh what a district spends on transportation security, facility maintenance. So all of this is
081factored into it and the the cost that you spend on teachers and what you pay people. Uh and the state calculates each school district's adequacy spending and provides it with at our on our annual state aid notice. Every year we get a state aid notice and they put this number right on there if what the adequacy spending should be for your school district based on all the factors and where you fall. And you see in that table right there where we've fallen over the last four years. Most specifically on the most recent state that said we are spending $40.5 million below adequacy according to the state's own calculations. This is on the heels of three previous consecutive years of our district spending below adequacy with this past year, the current year we're in being $23.7
082million below adequacy. And you know, you think about this and yet we're limited in in how we could even reach that number u with tax levby caps and continued state aid cuts. um are why our are our the students in Jackson would be deemed not worthy of being spent adequately um is something that um that's hard to understand. Um certainly our students are worth every bit of the spending that they deserve and that they should be getting in terms of the adequacy uh calculations according to the state. Our district's revenue uh comes from a variety of of sources. Um four of them specifically, federal and state grants, which make up about 8.7% of our total revenue. Uh local revenue, which includes facility rentals, tuition fees, and property sales. Uh and the local tax levy, which
083now comprises over 66% of our of our revenue source. And state aid. And state aid is uh the something that has been the real bone of contention if you've been at any board meetings in the last two years or really the last seven years. And the drastic reduction in state aid over the last eight years continues to hold this school district back in terms of making large inroads to to bridging that deficit. And this year, the state uh produced an aid cut that was equal to $700,000 less than what it was this this past year. Uh they they rose our transportation aid and our special education aid and our security aid to a more normal range. And but what they did, they zeroed out the equalization aid. So no matter how you slice it, we
084lost $700,000 in categorical state aid. Um, also impacting this budget on the revenue revenue side and state aid, uh, is the the state infrastructure aid and the stabilization aid that we received this year. We received it this year for this school year. Great. It helped, but now as we roll into next year, it's looking as like a loss of revenue because that's a one hit. That's a oneshot uh revenue source for this year. So, all told, you're looking we're, you know, we're looking at and building a budget that is $5.2 2 million less in state aid for 2526. This is a familiar analysis, probably my favorite slide. Um, and you know, it illustrates the idea that this compounding effect of the aid cuts over the last eight years. And so I liken it to when
085you have a job where you have two incomes in your house and then somebody loses their job or their job gets cut cut. So every year when you cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut you're losing income. And so you're losing income on the income that you've lost already. And so over time that really adds up. And so you've heard they've heard people say that that's all related to the enrollment dropping. That's not related to the enrollment dropping. The aid during that time, the state aid, the categoral state aid was reduced by 54%. The enrollment dropped 20%. So don't don't sell us a bill of goods that this is this is all about enrollment dropping. Federal and state grants
086um we um we they are make up a a really important part of our budget. They serve a great role. These funds include the idea grants for special education students, the SEA grants, the title grants, um for economically disadvantaged students, also the state preschool grant, um and smaller grants like the Perkins grant for vocational education and also uh our state school based mental health grant. These grants, we receive this money so it shows up as a revenue and the revenue matches our expense. So what comes in every year goes out and that's how it works. and uh and and even this year at the federal level, not quite sure what we're going to receive, but we budget for 85% of what we re received previously as a precautionary measure. The local revenue, uh that includes
087our local tax levy, um which for this year is projected to be increasing by $4.5 million or 4.48%. Uh this levy increase that is proposed does exceed the 2% cap this year and it exceeds that cap because the district qualifies for a health benefit cap waiver. Um because of the steep rise in our health care benefits the state when you put this the budget in the budget software program it does a calculation and when your health benefits rise as much as they have this for the coming year um you can be eligible for uh the ability to exceed the cap. And when we did that, we have the ability to exceed the cap by that amount. Uh many school districts in the state of New Jersey are eligible for that because of the exorbitant and
088sharp increase in health care benefits costs this year. Um also on this you see the uh very significant increase in miscellaneous income as we plan to capitalize on the closing of the Mclliff School. uh and whether we do a property rental or a property sale um that hasn't been determined yet, but so that is accounted for in that miscellaneous income. Um so all told the the total budget is a is approximately $170 million. It's a reduction of $2 million from the current year or a 1.21% uh decrease. Uh it is a balanced budget as I mentioned. It does protect things like class sizes, instructional programs. Um, it it also fulfills the obligations for our contracts, uh, and our federal and state requirements, the special education, transportation. Um, it does all those things. And in my
089opinion, this is a budget that maybe we all wouldn't dream of for our school district, but this is a budget that I think is fiscally responsible and is putting us on a path forward, a path to sustainability, which um I know that this board and this community really wants for its school district. Thank you, Mr. Begin and the hard work of of many to balance the budget for this upcoming school year um is appreciated and it as you just said protects our programs for our students all of our programs and as we've said before in um some of the redistricting comments also will allow us you know to start to introduce some new and expanded things as well. Um I just want to make comment to this is the tenative budget. There's time for comment,
090there's time for input. We'll continue to work and refine the budget um and move forward to the April 30th board meeting where we'll present um a budget for the board to vote on. Uh, also want to make comment to things we're hearing um out there from county officials, from the Department of Education that the Department of Ed is perhaps looking at putting something out for school districts that qualify um who are below adequacy to exceed the 2% tax cap. We've not received any detailed information in writing about this, but did want to make the board aware that once again at the last minute, something might be coming down from the Department of Ed to allow for exceeding um the cap of the 2% that's been in place for seven years. Um, lots to say about
091that. We've had seven years, we've advocated for seven years to fix this. Yeah, I did. I haven't heard anything, Miss Binsky. I don't think you've heard anything about them extending the budget process timeline any longer, but um again, you know, look what happened next year. It could come down the pike last minute. Okay. Any I don't see any other questions. So, with that, I'm going to close my superintendent report, Miss Cass, and turn it back to you. And thank you, Mr. Beginsky, for the very thorough presentation. Thank you. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Beginsky. Uh that was very thorough and um and I think it's also easy to follow which is uh very helpful to the public. So thank you. I appreciate that. Um we're going to continue with standing committee reports. So we're going to
092start with um buildings and grounds. We have Mr. McCarron. Yes. Buildings and grounds committee met on March 10th. Uh in attendance was myself, Miss Permilly, Mr. Beginsky, Mr. Bruno, Mrs. Cass, and Miss Rivera. Uh we went over a timeline for the building moves for this summer. uh the need for and use of seasonal workers to assist this summer with the moves. uh facility needs related to redistricting uh gets as the 56 building needs chiller, HVAC, rooftop units, partial drop ceilings and hallways, floors in hallways, paint in the hallways, and uh we discussed the bus ramp, memorial 78 building, moving of the Prometheian panels, uh closing a McAuliffe and focusing on moving out this summer. Uh some capital improvement projects districtwide were Mclliff had a new gas valve and control board installed for the library unit.
093Gets uh had a H Ahu-2 HVAC installed. Uh new free statick portable 4 new upgraded electric panel installed by in-house electricians. generator had some preventative maintenance completed. Gets inspect and clean coils. JMHs Clayton installed new batteries and Crawford Rodriguez installed new battery and block heater. The JHS elevator installed new control board and capacitor. Elms installed new 50-gallon water heater and districtwide lead testing. The districtwide lead testing was uh has been completed by partners engineering and science. As soon as results are in, we'll make the necessary corrections and have it posted on our website. Thank you, Mr. McCarron. Um we have budget and finance, although Mr. Pinkinsky just gave a report, but Mrs. Gardella, do you have anything to report? Um I'll just say that we met on March 12th. Our next meeting is April 8th
094and we reviewed the tenative budget and asked some questions that were well clarified in this presentation. Thank you. Um we have uh transportation chairperson Mrs. Barack. Uh transportation met yesterday on March 18th. In attendance was myself, Miss Cass, Mr. Walsh, Miss Permilly, Mr. Begensky, Mr. Sto, and Miss Vulpi. Uh Mr. Sodto reviewed the route development plan for next year and shared the bus routes by tier with the uh new uh redistricting plan. Uh Mr. Beginsky reviewed the subscription late busing and the fees for next year. Mr. Sodto reviewed the summer transportation routing. Uh Mr. Beginsky reviewed the non-public transportation updates. Uh you know, we're in constant contact with the LSTA and uh what we're still working on what next year will look like. Um, we discussed our school b our school bus maintenance and replacement
095cycle. We continue to replace nine buses annually and this year's buses arrived last month. Mr. Begensky reviewed the history of the district's uh spotty uh bus radio transmissions and uh all buses um all the radio systems will be replaced with the digital Motorola systems and um installed. Let's see. Uh, and they're going to install a repeater on the cell tower by the Johnson School. And this $350,000 project is being paid with the infrastructure funds that we received last year during the governor's budget from June. Um, the capital improvements. Under capital improvements, um, the other half of the memorial transportation depot needs paving. So, it was recommended that this is added to the 2526 school year budget. And we also as a committee we asked about uh repaving Memorial's parking lot and also uh we looked
096at um we asked about the Johnson parking lot as well. And so this is still being discussed for the 2526 school budget. Thank you. Um ad hoc committees which meet as needed. Um we have the policy report. Um and I will be reading that. It's a little lengthy so bear with me. Um, we met on March 12th and in attendance was Dr. Godlitzky, myself, Mrs. Gardella, Mr. McCarron, and Mrs. Pilly. Policy 5512. Um, these were the discussions and things that happened. Policy 5512, harassment, intimidation or bullying. It's mandated and revised. Um, had to do with word changes of adding surrogate when parent was listed. procedural guidance when a school must pause a HIV investigation to allow law enforcement to conclude their investigations. Policy and regulation 5533 mandated revised addresses the school's responsibility to report the
097seizure of electronic smoking devices to law enforcement if reasonable suspicion of controlled substance or cannabis. Uh policy and regulation 7441 mandated revised allows for law enforcement to ask excess Assess and activate live stream video during emergency situations. Policy and regulation 9320 cooperation with law enforcement. This is also mandated and revised. The designation of law enforcement unit in the district and the handle with care program which requires law officials to notify the district when an enrolled student witnesses something traumatic outside of the school environment. Policy 5460, high school graduation mandated revise. student may be exempt from submitting FASA with a submitted district waiver available through guidance. Um, I'm actually very happy about this personally. I wish this was in effect last year. So, I advise anyone who doesn't want to fill out a FASA, please get
098the uh form from guidance uh policy and regulation 5516, electronic communication devices, policy revised regulation um and new when and where students may access communication devices and disciplinary action. No videotaping is allowed. Policy 5701, academic integrity revised. Recommended change in the name of the policy from plagiarism to academic integrity. Policy 5710, student grievance revised, recommended, more detail regarding the student grievous grievance process and its timelines. Policy 8500, food services mandated, revised, new terminology, expansion of income eligibility for free meals and additional parental notification. Policy 9163, spectator code of conduct. This is new and mandatory from the NJSIA. Requires every school to adopt a spect spectator code of conduct policy. Um we have decided immediate removal from the event and school for a first offense 365 days. The calendar starts with the suspension from any home
099event for the activity of the offense for a second event suspension from three home events for that activity and all other district held activities and events. A third offense will be a total ban from all district home events and activities. Regulation 7510 use of school facilities revisions. Um, JHLS grant hallway rental fees increase. Policy 5756, transgender students abolished. Policy review and discussions, fundraiser and booster policies to be reviewed and revised for the new school year. Future discussions policy 5111 eligibility and resident non-resident students and policy 2365 accept acceptable use of generative artificial intelligence and that concludes the policy report. Thank you. Next up is scholarship. Uh Mr. Walsh. Uh right now the scholarships for seniors are in the selection phase. The sponsors are going through the applications. Uh the students should know in early May
100whether they receiving a scholarship or not. That is all. State and county school boards representative report chairperson Mrs. Rivera. Next county meeting is April 30th at 6 p.m. at the Claren Hotel in Toms River. Advocacy Committee, Mrs. Gardella. Um yes, we had a virtual meeting um to discuss Assemblyman's bill A5041, which you can see as a resolution added on the agenda, the addendum agenda. It's number 18. Um should I read that now or when we go to finance? Miss, anybody? Um I think when we go to finance, you got it. Uh otherwise, we're drafting an email to send out to all Assembly and Senate budget and education committee members and we hope to be sending that out shortly. Thank you. And that concludes all of our committees. Um okay, I need a motion for approval
101of policy regulation. First reading. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron. Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroas? Yes. Mrs. Gardella? Yes. Mrs. Cass? Yes. I need a motion for I need a motion for approval of regulation revised adoption. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Barokus? Yes. Mrs. Gardella? Yes, Mrs. Cass. Yes. I need a motion for approval of policy abolished. Motion. Second. Discussion. Oh my. Roll call. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroas? Yes. Mrs. Gardella? Yes. Mrs. Cass? Yes. I need a motion for the approval of the minutes. Motion. Second. The closed session meeting February 25 uh February 5th, 2022 25. The special SRRP board meeting February 5th, 2025. The closed session meeting February 19th, 2025. And the
102official board meeting February 19th, 2025, business meeting. Discussion. Roll call. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron, yes. Mrs. Rivera, yes. Mrs. Baro, yes. Mrs. Gardella, yes. Mrs. Cass, yes. I need a motion for approval of the bill list. Motion. Second. Discussion. Um I actually am going to start the discussion. Um for finance, we just want to bring something to the public's attention. Our unpaid lunch balance for the district is just over $129,000. Yes, that is the correct number. Um I was a little shocked. So that is a significant balance and we do ask our families to please check their balances. We do understand that these are hard times. In the past, we have received donations toward our unpaid lunch balances and we always appreciate the generosity of the public. So, if anyone would like to donate
103to those less fortunate, please send your donations to the board of education building and notate your wishes on the check. Um, we will update this balance monthly for public involvement. So, thank you kindly. Um, and second, we have a um resolution that Mrs. Gardella is going to read. Thank you. I'm adding motion number 20. The board of education approves the following resolution for the sale of Sylvia Rosenour Elementary School. Whereas on December 11th, 2024, the board awarded a contract of sale for the Sylvia Rosenower Elementary School to Bias Yakov of Jackson in the amount of $13.1 million subject to various terms and conditions as set forth in the bidding bid specifications. and bias Yakov's bid in response there too was submitted and signed by its president Aaron Rottenberg and whereas the parties have been engaged
104in negotiations since the award for finalization of contract of sale which has yet to be completed and whereas the time period Are we good okay so I'm sorry whereas the time period for which a contract of sale was to be executed and for the sale to be completed has now expired Now therefore, be it resolved that the board authorizes the superintendent, business administrator, and board attorney to send a final contract of sale to the representative of representatives for Bias Yakov as prepared by the by board council, which shall be ex executed no later than the close of business on March 24th, 2025. And it be it further resolved that should the contract not be executed on March 24th, 2025 by the buyer and or should the buyer fail to comply with all included conditions and
105contingencies for the sale to the satisfaction of the board president, superintendent, business administrator and board counsel, the award shall be deemed rescended and be it further resolved that in such an event the board authorize authorizes its superintendent, business administrator and board counsel to take any and all necessary steps to effectuate the sale of the property, including but not limited to the rebid of the property, the sale of the property to other biders, or to explore alternate uses for the property with other interested stakeholders. All of which shall be subject to final board approval. And if anyone was looking for that, it's the blue copy on the back with um if anybody wanted to read that on their own. So, just um it is back there. Um did I do the motion? We did. Well, that
106was discussion, right? I did the motion. So, you just need the approval, right? So, I just need Okay, roll call. Unless anyone else has any other discussion for finance. Yep. Okay. Roll call. Yep. 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 treasurers and board secretaries reports. Motion. Second discussion. Roll call. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroas? Yes. Mrs. Gardella? Yes. Mrs. Cass? Yes. I need a motion to open 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 it and state your name and whether or not you are a
107Jackson resident. Each person is allowed a maximum of five minutes to speak. No person may speak more than once on a topic until all others have been heard. Hi, Christine McInley. Um, I noticed that uh Mr. Sodto will be having leave of absence. Um, and at the very end it says his return is to be discussed. I was just wondering um is there an interim person uh because I know myself as a parent the whole changes and everything and bus route routes and I would like to know if there's like test runs planned that was a little uh unsettling to see that our transportation person is going to be out um indefinitely. And then also I was wondering if there are any exit interviews conducted with all the driver bus driver turnover. Do we have
108um kind of any idea why the turnover is what it is? And knowing that we have a lot of changes ahead, are there any plans within the transportation department or those of you on the board who participate in the transportation realm of how we can um close that gap or get people to stay. I understand money is probably a big part of it, but um they're not staying very long. So I wonder if you know why. Um, and thank you again for all that you do. Thanks. Is there anyone else? Okay. Um, there's no uh seeing no one else come forward, I need a motion to close public forum. Motion second. Sure. Okay. All in favor? I. So, you just happen to be sitting in front of some of Jackson's finest right there in transportation
109department who are out in force tonight. so they can give you their own opinion later in the back of the room about about uh why how we need bus drivers. Uh Mr. Sodto, this is a planned leave of absence for him. He left us in goodstead. Uh the the TBD really is just in, you know, uh a matter of determining when he will be back, but he anticipates to be back uh in a timely manner. We're in good standing. We have uh Christine Vulpi and Sheila Aila, our two assistant transportation coordinators uh who are both both former Jackson bus drivers. they're going to be you're they're going to be in good hands. We also are in great place with regard to planning for next year. We just had a transportation committee meeting yesterday with the
110board. Uh we reviewed where we are with the route development for next year. Um so, you know, I feel like we're in a good place. Um returning our sites to extended school year and routing for that. Uh and then obviously with all the redistricting, we'll be ready to go. Um, as far as the recruitment of bus drivers, it's it's it's a obviously something that, um, we take seriously. We have postings. We've always had a posting up. Um, many of the bus drivers that I know that leave, they leave after they they get their training. We have a really robust training program here. And they, you know, we we'll take people and take them all the way through getting their their license. and sometimes they go through get their license and then they leave us and
111go on to somewhere else. Um so um and as far as uh the transportation department goes in general I I think that um the bus driver sitting behind you um we have one of the greatest transportation departments in the state of New Jersey certainly one of the biggest ones. Um, it's a tall order here. Um, and we have some of the best professionals in the business. Um, and sometimes that standard can be a little intimidating for people coming in and it's it's a tough job to drive a bus. Um, we do have a posting and an advertisement out to the community because sometimes people don't realize that they wanted to be a bus driver. So, if you know anybody or if anybody who's watching tonight knows anybody who's interested, please uh feel free to to
112apply and we'll we'll train you. Thank you. I need a motion to move finance. Motion second. Discussion. Yes. Hello. Am I on? Um, I had a question for Mr. Beginski on finance number 11. It says that we're declaring items with no monetary value. Say it again. I said I have a question on finance number 11. It says we're declaring some items with no monetary value. Two overhead projection projectors, 20 replacement bulbs, two microphones, a camcorder, two projection projection lenses, 30 outdated remotes, and assorted wiring wiring. I'm just wondering, is it possible to put it on gum deals? Is that a lot of work? So we we can't get rid of equipment until we we put it on board approval. Okay. Yeah. So no matter how old it is or how possibly obsolete it is um
113we put it on for a board agenda to be surplused uh and then we can dispose of it or try to resell it on gov deals if there's any value. So this is the first step. I'm sorry I didn't realize that. Yep. Um I also just wanted to make a comment on motion number 18. It was added to the addendum with the support of Alex Aiki's bill number A5041. The resolution publicly supports I'm sorry. We are approving a resolution tonight that publicly supports this bill A5041. It's sponsored by Assemblyman Alex Aiki who's a Jackson resident. Um this bill states has the state providing supplemental appropriation of 106.5 million from property tax relief fund to the department of education to provide emergency supplemental aid to certain school districts that qualify. So whereas um as a result
114of S2, the Jackson School District has experienced a loss of state aid, further further hindering the district's ability to meet adequacy budget as defined by the New Jersey Department of Education. And whereas the Jackson School District has experienced negative negative budgetary effects over the last seven years. Whereas Jackson School District has been forced to lay off hundreds of teachers and staff and reduce programming to balance budgets. And whereas the district believes that the loss of state aid at the 2% cap for seven years, the increase in inflation and non-public transportation has negatively affected the district budget and hindered our students to receive an educational the educational funding necessary to be thorough and efficient. And basically tonight will be, you know, uh, be it further resolved that the Jackson School District Board of Education in the
115CA County of Ocean State of New Jersey supports this bill A5041 sponsored by Assemblyman Zawiki for the state to provide supplemental appropriations to those districts that qualify, which we would be one of them. Um, I just want to thank um, Councilman Paul Mary for the generous donation of 115 school supply kits to the uh, Johnson Elementary School. Again, we're always very appreciative of all of our donations and our public uh, that help us out. Thank you. Um, anyone else? Roll call. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. M. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Baroas? Yes. Mrs. Gordella? Yes. Mrs. Cass. Yes. I need a motion to move facilities. Motion second. Discussion. I just wanted to mention that facilities number three. Um I was reading it and it looks like it's a shared service. The township is looking
116to use some of our buses and transportation services for Jackson Day. And I just thought that that was something that I'd like to point out for the municipality supporting the schools. Roll call. Mr. Walsh? Yes. Mr. McCarron? Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Barus? Yes. Mrs. Gardella? Yes. Mrs. Cass? Yes. I need a motion to move programs. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron. Yes. Mrs. Rivera? Yes. Mrs. Barcus? Yes. Mrs. Cordella? Yes. Mrs. Cass. Yes. I need a motion to move students. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron. Yes. Mrs. Rivera. Yes. Mrs. Baroas. Yes. Mrs. Gardella. Yes. Mrs. Cass. Yes. A motion to move personnel. Motion. Second. Discussion. Roll call. Mr. Walsh. Yes. Mr. McCarron, yes. Mrs. Rivera, yes. Mrs. Baroas, yes. Mrs. Gardella, Epstein from 15m, like
117Mary, yes to everything else. Mrs. Cass, yes. I need a motion to open public forum on any topics 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 five minutes to speak. No person may speak more than once on a topic until all others have been heard. Hello. Good evening. Uh, Andrea Frangella, uh, district mom and and work in the buildings. Just this really isn't a board of ed question per se, but I think it's something that needs to be discussed along with all the PTA presidents and I know that you usually have like a quarterly meeting with them. Um, now that the schools are changing, the fifth and sixth graders are going to
118one building and the seventh and eighth are going to another. I think the PTA from the elementary schools and maybe even the middle schools need to figure out how they're going to hopefully help fund the PTA of the fifth and sixth grade building because right now they're kind of displaced children. They're not elementary, they're not middle school. So, I just hope that that's a discussion of how we can at least give them something to start with um for the school year. Um just so they're not starting with zero. Just something I wanted to bring up. So, thank you. Anyone else? Seeing no one come forward, I need a motion to close public forum. Motion second. So, yes, that's exactly the plan. Thank you for the comment and for always thinking about our our our kiddos.
119Um, we have an upcoming president council meeting and we're going to invite some other folks to that meeting with us. I believe it's April 6th or 9th, right? April 9th. Uh, we were actually just talking about this today. Um, so we will make sure that that dialogue and conversation is happening at that meeting and will continue to happen. So, and thank you for advocating for our kids. Okay, thank you. Um, now we're going to have board comments. We will start down at the end with Mr. Walsh. Uh, it's a kind of a regretful thing that I see so many retirements of people I work with for many, many, many years. Okay, I don't want to mention anybody specific, okay? But you'll enjoy it. And uh I came to see Shrek here. Okay. And my wife
120was amazed at the talent that we have in this building. Absolutely amazed. Okay. We got some tough decisions to make in front of us and I think we'll be in the right direction. Thank you everybody for coming out tonight and watching at home and have a good night. Oh, I want to thank you all for coming out and viewing us meeting on live stream, your input, presentations and the comments and I want to thank you and best wishes to all on all retirements and everyone have a wonderful evening. Um, I had the opportunity to attend the uh Jackson Liberty musical of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and of course it was amazing. As always, I always say we should be charging more for those tickets because it's really you you're going to see these
121kids on Broadway one day. Um, between the actors and the lighting and the stage crew and the musicians, it's just wonderful. Um, and I'm looking forward to seeing uh the Lion King Jr. this Saturday uh for McCullof. So, I hope to see many of you there. And I also wanted to thank um Mr. Beginsky and everyone up above for working on the budget. I know that is, you know, definitely not a small task and we really really you are just you guys are doing an amazing job and we we back you up 100%. So, thank you for all you do and have a good night everyone. Um, I also wanted to wish well all the retirements. Um, thank you for your time here and best wishes on your next chapter. I too saw the plays
122and I mean incredible. I saw both high school plays. Each one of them were jaw-dropping and it's really a kudos to everybody, staff, parents, students, tremendous work. And I agree, Alison, we could see some of those players on Broadway. I want to also thank uh congratulate all our winter athletics that ended their state championship spots. And I'm really excited and I wanted to just say that again, I think it's great that Mr. Palumbo and the Jackson administration have put on a vocational career fair next week and I hope you guys get a great turnout. Have a great night. Um I just the same I want to wish all the retirements um the best of luck and thank you for your service. I'm sure you've impacted many students over your years and um so it's you
123know it's a wonderful thing. Um I did see the play as well. I saw Percy Jackson. Unfortunately I didn't get to see Shrek but again our talent just they it's amazing. I I can't can't get over all the um all the things that they do. So, it's just wonderful. And I need to put a shout out to DECA because it's near and dear to my heart. So, um and wish them good luck in the Nationals. That's coming up in Florida. And thank everyone else for coming. And with that, um we are going to go back into executive session for matters of um confidentiality and um student confidentiality. No further action will be taken when we come back out here just to adjourn. So, uh, matters of client privilege, right? Attorney client privilege. Um, couldn't read
124my own chicken scratch, but uh, so when we do come back out here, um, it we will really just be, uh, adjourning the final meeting, but we need to go back in for executive session. So, thank you again. Second. I need I need a motion. Motion. Second. Discussion. All in favor? All in favor? Hi. Hi. Any opposed? Good.