001This meeting of the Malawa Board of Education is open to members of the public to be physically present. Members of the public that attend will be asked to follow the same procedures as all other visitors to our schools. Those procedures can be found on the agenda page of our website. Additionally, the board meeting will be livereamed for viewing purposes only. Anyone wishing to view the meeting may do so via Zoom. Webinar ID for this meeting is 840-37371549 and the required password is 441321. All right, I call this meeting to order. Uh, roll call please. Miss your >> Mr. D Silva. Mr. Kasmarski Mr. Cop >> here. >> Mr. Gallo >> here. Miss Daviniro >> here. >> Mr. Houston >> here. >> Mr. Hughes, Mrs. Ting Jansen, Dr. Morphy >> here. Adequate notice that the agenda
002for this meeting has been provided to the Ridgewood News and the record specifying that the Mala Board of Education will meet on January 21st, 2026 at Ramo Ridge Middle School, 150 Ridge Road, Mala, New Jersey. A copy was filed with the township clerk. Salute to the flag. Uh, Mr. Gallow, please. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay, we do require an executive session in the beginning today. So, I need a motion to reassess to exact. Uh, Mr. Coplin, second by Mr. Gallow. You should be back in. >> Oh, do the student report. >> Do you want Okay. >> All right. Student report. Okay. Let's table that motion. Um,
003our MA student representative report. We'll skip ahead a little and have that so you don't have to wait for us. >> You're welcome. >> Turn on. We got turn on. >> Yeah. >> Good. Thank you. Thank you very much for that. Um, >> good evening. Here's what's going on at the high school. >> So, we when I say VBSGA hosting a kindness campaign where students will be able to write kind letters to everybody where they want to at the school. There was intern there was international night last week and that went well. The night of global culture in the cafeteria included cultures from any family that signed up. Deca competed the Northwest District competition at Randle College. 19 students advanced to the state level in very good categories the state compet competitions were at city.
004Nine vocalists selected for North Jersey region chorus. Two students accepted into the New Jersey NJ SMA region 1 symphonic band. And the robotics team 1672 had to kick off on January 10. That's all. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you very much for your report. Now I will take that motion to recess to executive session. Mr. Copin, second by Mr. Gallow. You should be back in 10 minutes. >> Five minutes. Okay. Motion to reconvene to public action meeting. Mr. Coplin, second by Mr. Galla. Agenda questions. Please limit your questions at this time to resolutions under new business on this agenda. As a matter of fairness, you asked to limit your questions to no more than one and your remarks to no longer than three minutes. If you're here representing a group, please identify yourself, the
005group, and your position in the group. If you're here as an individual, please provide your name and address. This section of public participation will be limited to 15 minutes. Please specify the resolution you're referring to in your question. All right. I need a motion to open the meeting to the public. Mr. Gallow, second by Mr. Coplin. Um, we are officially open to the public. Seeing no one coming forth at this time, we are going to close. We I need a motion to close the meeting to the public. Mr. Coplan, second by Mr. Houston. Excellent. Thank you. All right. Uh we've had our MA student representative report. So let us move on to our superintendent report. Dr. Toro. >> Uh yes, thank you. So um in front of you, you see um an uh addendum. Um,
006as some of you may know and some of you may not know, uh, Janu January January New Jersey school recognize. Please allow me to keep this resolution in honor of New Jersey school board recognition. Whereas the New Jersey state board of education which adopts the administrative code to implement state education law has established rigorous standards through the common promugation of the New Jersey student standards which set the expectations of academic achievement nearly 1.4 4 million public school children. And whereas New Jerseyy's locally elected and appointed boards of education play a vital role in ensuring that their local school districts meet state standards and adhere to state and federal education statute and regulations with the goal of preparing all students for college and the workplace, thereby enabling them to to compete in the global economy. Whereas
007the New Jerseys 5,000 nonpartisan local board of education members in charge of trustees of public servants who dedicate their time providing a or benefit to the oversight of school district operations, sound financial practices, comprehensive policies, curriculum, staffing, morality, and academic achievement of all students in the district. And whereas the effort of local boards of education in conjunction with state education officials and local educators have built a foundational success that has led to New Jersey's status as a leader in student achievement as evidenced by the national assessment of educational progress scores. And whereas the National Springboards Association and New Jersey springboards association have declared January 2026 to be springboard recognition month now and therefore we have resolved that the New Jersey state board of education the acting commissioner of education recognizes the contributions of our state's
008global boards of education the academic success of its public school students and expresses a sincere appreciation to the local board of education members for their focus on the treatment of children throughout New Jersey. And he further hers off that New Jersey State Board of Education and the acting commissioner of education encourages qualified New Jersey citizens to consider serving as members of their local school boards. On behalf of the model administrative team, the staff and the students, we greatly appreciate all the time and effort that all of you put in to this uh phenomenal school district and wouldn't be where we are without all of you. So, thank you very much for the time you dedicate tonight. You'll see here on this slide we have a list of updated performing information sessions. Uh so we've been
009um having these sessions take place across the district and other community. Most recently the district connected with school parents, senior citizens and various community organizations. These sessions provide opportunities to work in dialogue and community behavior where people are having questions. We'll continue working the March 24th day. Additionally, an inerson town hall will be held on February 4th at 6:59 where we will have a panel discussion stakeholders regarding the potential impact. Also um materials related science show and also please start these meetings. Residents are provided with detailed information regarding what vote presentations outlining the scope and impact of question one addressing essential infrastructure needs and question two which focuses on potential engagements. Our time is also dedicated to addressing community. A special thanks to our students here. You can see uh some of our high school
010students uh in preparation for the referendum information sessions. Students have an extra management role. They've assisted with making cookies packaging stickers and reorganizing material. So we want to give a big shout out to our students. Just want to add that coaches massive seniors in um as were the bags in the so we proudly presented the package which was to us. Also, we want to thank the the orchestra students who assisted us at the senior citizens event. Um, they they were the same group that paid for the MA chamber of farmers and uh they were a really great help in you know just starting off the event that performing arts achievements. Congratulations to um Andre Lennox Alto Sax and Chambone and their acceptance into the NJ SMA region one symphonic band. Both students have qualified to
011audition for the healthy game. We also celebrate our students outstanding achievements in the Berkeley County Chorus and Berkeley County programs. On athletics, Mala School athletics continue to excel across multiple programs. Congratulations to Noah Ross and Van for their strong performance at the Burton County wrestling tournament and Mitro for receiving all state soccer honors at the New Jersey soccer coaches association bank. Additionally, our ice hockey team for nothing. The girls basketball team earned a home victory over Riverdale 62 to 52. And lastly, this evening's agenda. We have the summer school programs for summer 2026 listed and recommended for education. Uh camping night will be convention will continue to students. The district also safety towns summer up school year summer music and kindergarten programs as we've done in the past. information regarding the summer program. >> Great.
012Thank you, Dr. And thank you very much on behalf of the board of education members for your recognition of black New Jersey school board recognition that recognition. Um anyway, thank you very much. We do appreciate it and uh it's a honor to work with the administrative team in this district. >> All right. Um assistant superintendent. Was that a tag team report? Dr. Okay. Oh. >> Okay. This is now peanut butter and jelly now. Okay. Like a All right. >> Okay. Our uh board secretaries report Miss Hiramoto. >> Good evening. Um, I just want to take a moment to sincerely thank our maintenance and custodial staff along with our buildings and ground supervisor Greg Romero for the incredible work they did during last weekend's winter storm. They spend long hours cleaning parking lots, walkways, and buildings
013to make sure everything was safe and ready for students and staff when school reopened. So, a lot of that work happens behind the scenes and it truly makes a difference and, you know, we appreciate their dedication to the district. Lastly, I want to share the schedule for our upcoming budget presentation so everyone's aware of when we'll be having these important discussions. On March 4th, 2026, we will discuss revenue sources, tax impact, debt service, and special revenue. We will approve the preliminary budget during this board meeting. On March 25th, 2026, we'll discuss special education, employee benefits, and district operations. On April 8, 2026, we will discuss enrollment, personnel, capital outlay and capital projects. And on April 29th, 2026, we will go over the summary of the 2627 budget. And we will be approving the 2627 budget
014during that board meeting. So, we look forward to continuing these conversations and working together as we move through the budget process. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Miss Kamura. Um all right so president's report um I'm just going to share um about our um committee assignments. Uh I have appointed um members of the board to our committees. Just want to explain briefly that um boards of education in New Jersey operate either as a committee of the whole uh where um there are no specific committees or as separate committees. Our board of education operates with separate committees um and we share information um between committees and with board members through our minutes and so on. Um committees generally recommend action but for important and critical items it takes the majority of the board uh to
015approve them and that's done at board meetings. Um so we currently have seven um standing committees. um the executive committee we have um and that's uh generally myself and the first and second vice president. Um we have a negotiations u m committee which is uh in charge of all our contract negotiations etc. Uh we have instruction curriculum special ed committee which deals with curriculum issues and special services. Uh we have finance and facilities uh community relations which has been very active both of those committees uh thus far with our referendum process that's going on. So thank you for all the hard work they've been doing. Uh our policy committee which reviews our policies annually and our new standing committee transportation this year uh that had been an ad hoc committee uh and we've now made
016it a standing committee. Um and that's looking at all our uh bus routes and working with our transportation director. Um so each committee um has a chairperson um who reports back to the full board um shares committee meeting minutes and also reports at board meetings. Um this year our chairpeople are as follows. Um for negotiations committee and policy committee Miss Teen Jansen uh finance and facilities uh Mr. Gallow uh transportation and community relations Mr. Coplin and uh for instruction curriculum um myself and for the exact committee myself. Um so uh we also have established um uh relationships and connections with organizations in our larger communities. So we have liaison that work with the MA schools foundation uh with MAWA access for all and with the town council. Um and we also have representatives uh that
017attend the Bergen County School Board's meetings and our and the New Jersey school board's legislative meetings. Um so in any case, you could see um the list of our committees um on our agenda and um so those are the meeting the committee structure for 2026. Um secondly, I just wanted to um say the uh just comment on the referendum process and what's been going on. And I just really want to give a shout out to um Dr. Turo and Dr. Far um and the administrative team, but for all the uh work you've put into the presentations, uh going out to the community, to the school community, to the larger community, um answering a lot of, you know, good questions, hard questions at times. Um but again, thank you very much for um your dedication and
018perseverance. Um board members have also been uh attending these events as well, school and community events. And and again um we're just here to you know work together and support each other in this process. Um I thought today I would just highlight thought I would take a little just a minute to highlight the two questions that are going to be on um for March 10th. Again, March 10th is the vote. That's the special election. Um, question one um there's two questions for um that. And question one is dealing with critical infrastructure um upgrades to the buildings to maintain poor operation, security, [cough and clears throat] and efficiency. So, some of the things in question one are to upgrade roofing and inefficient HBAC systems that are more than 20 years old. Uh replace select windows and
019doors to enhance security. complete exterior brick work to preserve um our buildings, replace uh boilers in um you know the school certain schools. Um and then um a very interesting one, an important one is converting um a storage space into a designated space to build a life skills program for 18 to 21 year old students um with special needs. So let me just um explain a little bit about the numbers a little bit. So question one um comes to about $75.8 million in improvements. Um some portion of that approximately uh 34% comes back to us in state aid. So that is $25.1 million in state aid. This comes out to about $26 per month um for an assessed value house uh which is an average assessment in MA 481 something something approximate um for an
020assessed value. Now keep in mind assessed value is very different from your market value. Um and in MA in particular assessed value is much less than your market value in most cases. So, um, keep that in mind when you're looking at some of these numbers. Now, question two, um, question two is really looking at creating consistency among our elementary schools, improving both the T-Ird experience and the community experience. Um, so some of the things in question two are building a new designated gym at Betsy Ross and George Washington to ease crowding, create more space um, and additional space for community organizations. Also giving us more parody with Lape, which already has um, a gym that's a separate gym. um upgrading the fields at the high school Ramo Ridge with the turf and lighting uh to
021create reliable field spaces for again students but also community rec programming. Uh replacing the media center um currently housed in a trailer and adding a music room at Betsy Ross. Um, next is to build a new gym, a second gym that is at MA High School that um, you know, it seems like such a big thing to have bleachers on both sides versus just one. Now, this um, the layout um, in the current gym is from the 1950s. So, we're just trying to bring us into the 20th to the 2020s. Um and then renovating the high school auditorium entrance and lobby which again the seating in there is also from uh the 1950s. So um again a lot of upgrades uh some additions and that's what's in question two. Now question two is about $62.6
022million and improvements. Um that um is about $3 million that we get in stadium. So, a little lower than in question one, but um that would be an additional $31 per month again on the assessed value of about $481,000 uh for MAWA. Um now, the very important thing here to remember is that question two can only pass if question one also passes. So, um anyway, please get out on March 10th uh to vote. Um and uh if you have any more questions, want more information, please come to the variety of um you know, events that we're holding to um come and ask your questions and get more information. Um and lastly, please look at the website there. All of the information that is being shared at every community event, at every school event, at the
023forum is all going to be on the website. So if you have anything, please go look at the website. All right. Thank you very much. um board committee reports this evening. >> Mr. Coplin, >> thank you from uh community relations. Just wanted to thank everyone uh sorry that have come out for the presentations so far. Uh we have a bunch between now and the next board meeting on February 11th. So, please take a look for board members. Please take a look at the calendar. Um I've updated the outlook calendar for everyone. Uh please update your availability. I'll also be sending out emails to remind everyone who can attend being that we can only have four at all the um at all the different presentations. So, please keep track of that and let me know if
024you can or cannot make anything that may be coming up. Uh couple corrections on the upcoming events calendar on the back of our agenda. There is no MA High School HSA meeting on the 2nd of February. That's been moved to the 9th. So, I know I think Janine actually uses this as her calendar. So, uh you could update that. Um >> which one was that? So this >> February 2nd February 2nd is not in the 9th. >> Yeah, that was moved to February 9th. The February 9th meeting is on there. >> Okay. So, just wanted to give a heads up on that. >> Um our next three board meetings leading up to the um referendum on March 10th will be held at GW, Betsy Ross, and at the high school on February 11th will be
025at GW. Um I encourage the public to come out to these meetings and see these spaces. Uh, one common theme at our presentations is that most of the community have not seen all of the spaces that we're proposing to update. Uh, some may have seen GW but may not have seen Betsy. Some may have seen the high school but may not have seen GW and whatever. Um, so this is a great opportunity to come out to the meetings, see the spaces that we're proposing to update um, and really get a good hands-on and and in person look at to uh, what our current facilities look like. So, I'm encouraging everyone to come out and to our meeting. So, um that's all I got. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Coplin. Mr. Gallow. >> Uh yes,
026just quickly from finance facilities. We met last week on Wednesday. Um these are mostly follow-up items from our meeting in December. Um uh much appreciated. Thank you to the business office for getting our rod grant situation squared away so that we'll be eligible for reimbursement for the two projects that are currently underway in the district. Um, and as Katherine mentioned, the budget, the 2627 budget development is underway and we're going to have our first sort of uh highle look at the budget at our next committee meeting on February 4th. Um there was some question about um how much money the district has spent on preparing for the referendum and uh the business office was able to put that all together and if the numbers uh differ materially from where we are as of last week
027that'll obviously update the board. Um um we were also exploring an opportunity that uh became um apparent to the business office when they met with our bank back in November and we're following up with um TD Wealth to continue to improve our earnings on our cash balances. Um there was also an incident at George Washington School over the break um that resulted in some damage to some flooring. Um I'm not sure where we are exactly with that project yet, but um the contractor uh our janitorial contractor has taken responsibility for um rectifying that situation. So that's my report from finance facilities. >> Thank you, Mr. Gallup. All right. Um any I think that that's all for committee reports. Do you have any board member remarks this evening? Mr. Gallon. >> So, I've had the opportunity
028to attend some of these um referendum meetings. I'm extraordinarily proud of our district for um taking seriously our obligation to inform the public about um the expenditure of a significant amount of money on our schools. Um my sense is that if you don't know about the referendum after we're done, um somehow you don't have a pulse. Um, our district, our communications team, our administrators have done a remarkable job getting the word out. Um, yes, it's extraordinarily timeconuming, but everybody's invested in this process and the word, you know, is getting out. Um we hope again that people come to those sessions on the 4th on the 11th for the the Zoom version of the public uh the town hall meetings but again the local school meetings are also important and and just send questions. Go to
029the website send questions. Um we the the questions will help us strengthen our message and they will also help to strengthen our bond with the community when this thing gets passed. So, um, it's very important that everybody be involved. Um, uh, it's it's a remarkable thing. I think we're doing a fantastic job. I'm extraordinarily proud of the work that's been done. And I thank Greg for reminding me of when the meetings occur. So, uh, uh, just keep on doing what we're doing. You know, we have a I don't know how many days there are left, but we're like six, seven weeks away from the vote, right? So, uh, just got to knock on neighbors doors and, you know, do what we can. Again, our job is really just to inform. It's the public's responsibility to
030decide. So, the import most important thing is that the public gets well informed and that they um exercise their um citizen citizenship by voting. >> Thank you, Mr. It sounds like we need a a countdown clock, Mr. Galla. >> Thank you. I suspect there's one in Dr. Detroit's office. >> Perhaps >> To the minute. Um, thank you. Any other board member remarks this evening? >> Okay. Um, all right. Let's take uh old business now. Let's take 17 A and uh B. This is for the minutes from the January 7th meeting and then uh the um meeting uh minutes from the executive session on January 7. All right. I need a motion on the floor, Mr. Coplan, and second by Mr. Gallow. Roll call, please. Mr. >> Mr. Gallow. >> Yes. >> Miss Aaniro? >> Yes.
031>> Mr. Houston? >> Yes. Mr. Coplin. >> Yes. >> Dr. Morphy. >> Yes. All right. Now, let's take new business. Other 18A through K. I need a motion on the floor. Miss Daviniro. Thank you so much. And second by Mr. Houston. Excellent. All right. Roll call, please. Is your motion >> Mr. Gallow? >> Yes. Except on 18A, I'll be abstaining on three checks. Check number 122472, check number 122525, and check number 122424. >> Thank you, Miss Daviniro. >> Yes, >> Mr. Houston. >> Yes, >> Mr. Copelan. Yes, and thank you to our admin team for all their work on the 2627 school calendar. I encourage everyone to take a look at that. There's some exciting um changes that will be happening in the 2627 school year that I think a lot of families in town
032will be very happy with. >> Thank you. Oh, >> sorry. >> Oh, Dr. >> I think we're still voting. Uh, yes. Sorry. >> I feel like Mr. Cobble gave us a teaser. Maybe. >> Hey, you gotta go. Now you have to go look at it. >> Now you have to go. All right. Go go go look at our go look at it's on the website. >> All right. Um, let's now take new business personnel 19 through Q. Motion on the floor. Mr. Coplin, second by Mr. Gallow. Um, roll call, please. Mr. Emoto. >> Mr. Mr. Gallow. >> Yes. >> Miss Aaniro. >> Yes. >> Mr. Houston. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cofflin. >> Yes. And thank you to our volunteers. >> And Dr. Morphin. >> Yes. >> All right. Um, public questions or comment. Public participation
033at board meetings is in accordance with bylaw 0167. At this time, members of the public may ask questions or make a comment on educational issues or school matters of community interest. It's a matter of fairness. You ask teleer questions to no more than one and your remarks to no longer than 3 minutes. If you're here representing a group, please identify yourself, the group, and your position in the group. If you're here as an individual, please give us your name and address. I need a motion to open the meeting to the public. Miss Daviniro, and second by Mr. Houston. Excellent. All right, we are officially open to the public. >> Seeing no one come forth at this time. Motion to close the meeting to the public. Mr. Coplin, second by Mr. Gallow. Uh we do not
034require an executive session tonight at the end. So motion to adjourn. >> That's Miss Davier [laughter] second by Mr. Houston. Mrs. Like pickle ball. All right. Thank you very much.