001The New Jersey open public meeting law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meeting of the public bodies in which any business affecting the interest is discussed or agreed upon. In accordance with the provision of this act, the Manowan Aberdine Regional School District Board of Education advertised this meeting on June 5th, 2024 in the Aspbury Park Press and Sir Ledger. This notice was sent to the municipal clerks of the Burrow of Madawan and the pledge of Aberine and the Madawan Aberdine public library. The notice was also placed on the district's website. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible and justice
002for all Mrs. here here Mr. McB here here Mr. here. Miss staff here. Mr. Brown here. M Martinez here. Here. Be it resolved that a closed session meeting for the purpose of discussing privacy, personnel, and legal matters. The subject matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides. Although the board cannot guarantee it, the length of the executive session is estimated to be 30 minutes after which the public meeting of the board shall reconvene and proceed with business. Action will take place. And I have a motion and a second to enter executive session. [Music] I pledge alce to the flag of the United States of America and to theublic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [Applause] Good evening, Superintendent Perez,
003Mr. Leeman, Miss Casease, and board of education members. As principal of Cambridge Park Elementary, I'd like to welcome you all this evening. We are thrilled to be hosting tonight's board of education meeting. Tonight, I am eager to share with you the remarkable achievements and ongoing initiatives taking place at our school. From innovative teaching methods to student achievements, I'm excited to showcase the incredible work done by our dedicated faculty and students. I forgot to put on my glasses. First off, I would like to congratulate our teacher of the year, Mrs. Audrey Wood. She's in the back. and our educational service professional, Mrs. Alexa Johnson, our school nurse. The Cambridge Park staff and faculty and students are so incredibly proud of you. We had a very busy start to our school year. We opened two additional regular
004education preschool classrooms and one additional preschool disabilities room this school year. We have 16 preschool classrooms, three PSD rooms, and two kind kindergarten classrooms at Cambridge Park. 28 students come to school. I'm sorry. 288 students come to school every day and 63 staff members work hard to provide the best education to our youngest learners. We started off the month of October with the week of respect and on Wednesdays we wore pink for our breast cancer awareness campaign. We held our big costume parade on October 31st. October 31st was a huge day at Cambridge Park. We celebrated Halloween and it was the first day on the job for our brand new crossing guard, Mr. Jim. Mr. Jim can be seen here posing for a picture with Belle and Jafar. Thank you, Mr. the gym for keeping
005us safe when crossing the street. In November, our kindergarten students honored our veterans with our annual Veterans Day parade. Our kindergarten students and their parents participated in our annual Indigenous People's Day event. We hosted our annual family game event in which 1880 parents attended. It was a very active and fun event in which preschool students and a family member learned about some of the fun educational games we learn and play in preschool. We held our fall Scholastic book fair and raised $3,857 and will use those funds to purchase additional books for each classroom. A special thank you to Mrs. Susan Ripple for organizing another successful book fair. Our next book fair is April 28th through the 30th. The holidays came very quickly and we had some very special visitors at Cambridge Park. Frosty the snowman
006helped us welcome in the winter months. And then we had a very exciting visitor who helped us welcome in the new year by singing and dancing to Let It Go. Elsa traveled all the way from Dubai to perform for us. We love Elsa at Cambridge Park. Before we knew it, it was the 101st day of school. Black and white student dalmatations were found in almost every classroom and on both the Cambridge and Park playgrounds. We learned how to count to 101, sorted and organized 101 items, and talked about 101 things that we have learned this school year. Also in February, we welcomed Officer Jack Clark, our Cambridge Park security guard. Thank you for keeping our school safe, Mr. Jack. Every month, we tried to invite family and friends to school to learn a little more
007about what we learn at Cambridge Park. In recognition of Black History Month, we invited family members in to help celebrate the beauty of diversity by reading books with their child. In March, the Cat in the Hat himself came to Cambridge Park and led our kindergarten students in their reading rainbow book parade. Our wonderful PTO surprised us with a great assembly to promote fitness and healthy habits. DJ got us fit, really had us moving and grooving. Tomorrow, March 28th, we are hosting another parent event. This event will kick off with a quick huddle informational session where parents will learn about how we teach math in the classroom and simple ways to support learning at home. Then it's game time. Parents and guardians will head to the classrooms where adults and our little mathematicians will practice early
008math skills together. We hope you can join us during the month of March. Our kindergarten students all joined a very important club, the shoe tying club. Did you know that shoe tying is a skill that children are developmentally ready to learn at age five? Learning to tie their own shoes helps kids become more independent and confident in trying new things. Currently, we have 25 kindergarten shoe tying experts. In addition to all of the wonderful events and activities we have going on at Cambridge Park, our kindergarten students have been learning the basics of music theory with our music teacher Amanda Munes. The song that they have prepared for you this evening displays their knowledge of the soulfetch system of incorporating hand signs to represent musical tones in a scale. You may recognize this beloved Rogers and
009Hammerstein tune from their well-known musical, The Sound of Music. Let's start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start. When you read, you begin with ABC. When you sing, you begin with Well, I'm going to let Mrs. Cordy and Miss Pereira's kindergarten students teach you all about it. Miss Amanda, take it away. [Music] A very good place to start. When you win, you begin with ABC. When you sing, you begin with the way. The way the way just happened to be the way. [Music] You know what? We'll make it easier for you. Listen. here. A drop of golden sun [Music] me. So I need a boyfriend. I love to follow. I take the Jer a female dear [Applause] pray I call [Music] [Applause] myself I know you See, I think the [Music]
010[Applause] [Music] gen once again. Mrs. Cordon, Mrs. Pereira, and Miss Amanda's kindergarten classes. Great job. They'll be signing autographs after this performance. You can meet them back at their kindergarten door. Thank you everybody. Thank you for coming. Have a great evening. Okay, we're gonna go ahead and continue and we will hear from Miss Schuber for the student representative reporting. To begin at the high school, the Civic Leadership Academy students are happy to report the success of their snack stand fundraiser, which raised money for the family of a local child and medical need. They will be donating gift cards for the family's various expenses. The Husky Hero volleyball tournament will take place Thursday, April 10th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the high school. Each grade will have a team competing as well as teams composed
011of the local police department, MRHS alumni, current faculty, and firefighters along with the EMS squad. Don't miss this fun event. Additionally, the the Thespian Society presents their annual spring musical, Pippen, the first weekend in April. Tickets can be purchased at the door or by emailing Miss Latifa Mackey at lmacky mcd.org. Show times are Thursday, April 3rd, Friday, April four, sorry, April 4th and Saturday, April 5th at 7 p.m. as well as a matinea performance Sunday, April 6th at 2 p.m. Come out to support all our MRHs students involved in the cast, crew, and orchestra. Next up, Strathmore celebrated Read Across America with a week of Dr. Seuss themed days, activities, and guest readers. Throughout the week, they welcomed family, friends, MRHS students, and local police officers into their classrooms to share their favorite books. All
012K to2 teachers also participated in meaningful professional development focused on enhancing literacy instruction. They are eager to implement these new strategies in their classrooms. This past month, Strathmore Elementary School also rallied in support as the teachers participated in a mix teachers night fundraiser on March 26th to help support the family of the former Strathmore student that is currently receiving medical treatment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Cliffwood is thrilled to announce the return of their one school, one book program. During the week of March 17th, students eagerly listened to daily clues trying to guess this year's book selection. The excitement built up to the kickoff assembly on Friday, March 21st, where Cliffwood staff put on a fantastic fun-filled skit culminating in the big book reveal of Adventure According to Humphrey. Adding to the excitement, they were
013honored to welcome author Daniel Jude Miller to Cliffwood school thanks to the generous support of Coutio. Students were captivated by his stories and gained valuable insight into the writing and publishing process. It was an an unforgettable month of literacy, creativity, and community at Clifwood. Ravine Drive is also having a festive month. They had many community helpers, including Council President Gun, Councilwoman Reynolds, Chief Falco, Patrolman Poland, and Fire Chief Lee that read with them during ReadAcross America Week. The following week, Mrs. Viola scheduled the school's author visit with Mike Pichello. Their students had a blast and were all reminded that they are authors thanks to all of the phenomenal writing they've already completed. Thank you to the PTO for sponsoring this event. Everyone came in on St. Patrick's Day with high hopes that they would finally
014catch the elusive leprechaun. While they made traps and searched high and low, the leprechaun got away again this year. Hopefully, next year the ravine students will be able to catch him. Finally, in the New Jersey Scholastic State Championship for Wrestling, Robert Shihadi placed third in the state of New Jersey in the top division. Christopher Labella came in first and is the state champion at 70 pounds. Lloyd Road Elementary School recently participated in a school flag design contest spearheaded by MRHS student artist Matthew Wong and coordinated by their art teacher, Mrs. Gertie. All the students who participated did an incredible job and each of the students who submitted a flag design received a certificate to recognize them for their participation and talent. The winning flag was selected by members of Ly Road school climate team and
015the selected flag winner was fifth grader Declan Cannon. Lloyd Road's new flag design has been digitized and they look forward to getting the flag ordered so it can be proudly displayed on the school flag pole. Lloyd Road is also gearing up for disability awareness week taking place April 7th to April 11th. Their school's theme for the week is designed to highlight, educate, and promote awareness of autism, physical disabilities, communication disorders, hearing impairments, and learning disabilities, including wearing tie-dye on Friday, April 11th to show that we are all different, yet we can all blend together. Floyd Road Elementary School is excited to announce several other upcoming events and activities for students and families. On April 9th, Floyd Road will hold its second annual STEM night, which will be a night of hands-on fund that will include
016experiments and engineering design challenges in which students and parents will work together. We are fortunate to have parent volunteers along with students from MRHS who will be supporting Lloyd Road School STEM night as they assist with the various interactive stations. Lloyd Road is also gearing up for family game night taking place on Wednesday, May 9th. They have a dynamic team in place who are planning a night of family fun and learning that will include Jeopardy pyramid seal bingo and a special escape room that is sure to be lots of fun for all who participate. Lloyd Road is also looking forward to the PTO color event taking place on April 29th at 5:00 p.m. Their school's donation goal is $1.50 per student. As students receive donations, they will earn great rewards. Finally, Lloyd Road is planning
017a movie night under the stars this May. Stay tuned for more information. Lastly, MAMS has a new official Instagram account. Follow at mamms spotlight to see some of the great things happening at the middle school. This past month, MAMS players presented Beetlejuice Jr. The cast, crew, and everyone involved with the show did a fantastic job. The students and adults work very hard to put on such a high quality production. Each year, the arts programs at MAMS do a fantastic job, and we cannot wait to see next year's show. Ma'am's National Junior Honor Society organized a puppy love fundraiser in which they collected dog and cat food, which will be donated to a local animal shelter. They collected over a thousand food items. The winning advisory class from each grade will get time to interact with
018service animals coming up. This concludes my report. Thank you and have a great evening. Thank you, Miss Juner. Um, could you please uh let us know what role you're playing in Pitman. I'm a dancer, so I kind of do a lot of things, but I'm a soldier at one point. I'm a pig. Um, I'm in the cult. We will look forward to it. Thank you. The productions are always great. Unfortunately, I think that weekend I am out of town. So, but I will be there in spirit. Thank you very much. Um, can I have a motion and a second to accept the minutes? Motion. Second. Can I have a motion and a second to accept the correspondence to the board? Okay. Thank you. Um, so just to get everybody up to speed a little bit
019on what we've been doing, as you probably know, we have been working on our 2526 school budget. Um, last week we voted to approve the tentative budget that had to be submitted to the committee. We're awaiting for feedback. Um, they usually find things that need to be adjusted or they often do. So, we'll work on that when that's returned back to us. Um, and then we have to have a public budget hearing by May 7th. So, as of right now, we're looking at April 24th for the budget um public budget hearing. Um, and there may be some um there's a board meeting on April 10th. And there's probably going to be another we haven't officially announced it yet, but a April 7th, we're looking to have a uh sort of like a forum to explain
020how the budgeting process works. Um, we are also, uh, just to give everybody some insight, the board is a certified board that comes from the New Jersey School Boards Association and it happens after we get certain training in things like school budget finance. So, we kind of learn how to look at the budget. Um, and to in order to keep that status, we can keep it for four years and then we can also go for a master board status. So, that includes ongoing training and professional development. So, For this meeting tonight, we actually had a training session that is led by our field service representative from New Jersey School Boards Association and it was the board's role in curriculum. So, we're learning what role the board plays in curriculum um and how that's implemented throughout
021the district. You know, obviously it comes up from the state and then it has to be implemented and then there's, you know, assessments to make sure that everybody is meeting um proficient standards and what they're required, the students are required. Um, I also have a few updates from some of our representatives. Um, Miss Pal is an advocate to the state for us, so we'll hear from her. And then also we have town liaison representatives that we'll hear from as well. All right. Hi there. Um so yes obviously the middle budget season and um ongoing activities that the um the administration is working on is is advocating for Keys Academy that's um the recovery high school that's run by Madawan and serves students from all over the state. Um the uh so some ongoing stuff that
022we may do to uh advocate in addition for more funding, more solid funding for DE, something that we can count on from year to year. It would be with the Assembly Budget Committee and the Senate Education Committee as well as our local legislators. Um in addition the moving forward we have a lot of activity in May um because my role is also to kind of keep the board organized and um uh making the most of our membership in the New Jersey School Board Association and Garden State Coalition of Schools. So we have May 6th is the annual meeting of the Mammoth County School Board Association and then uh May 10th is the New Jersey School Board Association Delegate Assembly which I'm a member of and then the uh May 24th is the Garden State Coalition
023of Schools annual meeting which we have members going to. So Mayber, right? I mean second busiest month of the year. Um anyway, thank you and I'll keep you all posted. I think the next meeting, if we have time, I'll go over a little bit of the um the New Jersey School Board Association policies that we might want to look at for the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. H. Um Mr. McGovern, can you give us an update on your liaison um conversation with the Councilman Marti? Sure. Spoken with Mr. Mortui, I brought up some of the concerns that were raised at the last meeting with regards to um the development at the zoning meeting and what was going on there with any possible new uh construction development. He said there's nothing currently planned that's going on. There's
024nothing new. Anything that's out there is already stuff that was spoken about and that the community was aware of prior. So, and he of course said that if there was any discussion on any type of new construction or new development that he would get us in the loop with it. Uh we also spoke about where we are in our budget process as opposed to where he is in his. Um we discussed the the tax levy incentive program just to get the middle, you know, it's just informationational right now, nothing like that. I wanted to loop and he also said that he was going to reach back out and let us know where they are in their budget process and with how their discussions are with the community. We also spoke to also informed about the
025public session. He asked them about the dates of that for the public forum. Um and they thanked us for the flyer information. They said their programs usually pack up quick. So that was great that we shared that information and we also have conversations about the other concern that was raised where their meeting dates conflict with some of our meetings. So he said nothing they can do with the current meetings that scheduled but we'll talk about proposed dates that are scheduled. Thank you Mr. McGoverley for Matan. Um, so I speak to my lesson on the Mavan Council, which is Miss Gun. Um, we speak probably about once a week at this point. Um, we have a pretty open um, relationship. We talk pretty frequently. Um, we talked primarily about budget because both of us, the council
026as well as board um, and admin is working on our budgets right now. I made her aware of her public hearing date of um April 24th tentative. Um I also made her aware just like Mr. McGovern in terms of the um tax levy incentive program in terms of um that we were chosen as one of the states districts to potentially participate um that we don't really have a lot of information at this point that we're waiting on the state for that. um also made her aware of the public forum um that may be coming up in the near future. Um and overall I just have to say I think u myself and I know even talking to Mr. McGovern, we've been very happy about the progress we're making um with both town councils um because
027we're having more open discussions. We're keeping them in the loop. Um they're keeping us in the loop. Um, and especially when it comes to budget, I think the honest conversations and open conversations we're having is a good thing because everything we do on both sides impacts um, every community member. Everybody's a taxpayer. Um, so I think that's really helpful because if we have a full picture, um, think, you know, we're really we're really thinking about our community members and putting them first. So, thank you. Thank you. Yes, I also appreciate that it's been going really well. we can continue. Um, Miss Perez for tenants. Good evening everyone. So, our student rep like spot like she said all of the great things that are happening in our school. Um, this is a time where we start
028planning for end of the year celebrations and a lot of things are happening in our building. I hope um community came out to get out there and um celebrate with us and um see our students shine some of the events that are planned in the upcoming months because next thing you know we're at graduation and we're playing through the following year. So um just an update in terms of um as our board members mentioned the tax levy incentive program. I shared um that we received information that we were eligible to apply for that tax incentive program. We've been working administrative team inclusive with the board in terms of um how to communicate that information out to our communities just as an education piece. Um you know we believe that the everyone in the community should
029be educated in terms of what's how a budget is created um for school budget but also um some of the legislative things that come out. Um I think it's it's important that the community is aware of that. Um we do not have any information as our board members have shared and um we do not anticipate to have any further information in terms of the tax levy and senate program not until the governor but the governor's budget is approved which will be approved in June. So any further information we anticipate that it'll be after that date and so we're looking at July. So we um we welcome the community um we want to continue um to discuss budget and transparency with our community members. We're going to host the community forum and we'll be sharing this
030letter out um probably early next week, but that'll be on April 7th. If you want to mark your calendars, it'll be 6:30 to 7:30. And then um in that presentation, we also um be sure to include a Q&A. Um the board of education meeting is another opportunity on April 10th um which will be here where we and which is a cow and also a RAM but it's also another opportunity for community members to um also ask questions as well. And then um on April 24th is the public budget hearing at Manong Regional High School. So we've been change um for president um in terms of moving that board meeting to to the high school. Um but we welcome the feedback and um we're excited about you know I want to say we didn't end this
031school year, but we are excited about what the the following year um brings forward for us in the community. Thank you. Um curriculum and instruction. Thank you. Good evening. Under curriculum instruction, there's one item listed in red. We are recommending to the board to approve partnership with Christine Douglas at literacy consulting services. Miss Douglas is a literacy consultant. She's been in the district. She works with our teachers in grades K1 and two. Heard some positive feedback. So we're encouraged by that. We're asking the board to approve the cost as listed. That concludes curriculum instruction. Can I have a motion and a second to approve the curriculum instruction? Any questions? Student services. Under student services, there's one item listed in the rest of this evening. We're asking the board to approve the recommendation for nursing services
032for the 2425 school year. Student information and cost as listed. That concludes student services. I have a motion and a second to accept the student services. I'll motion. A second. Any questions? Thank you. The board has a walking item that has action items that we're asking the board to take action on which include absences, appointments, and volunteers. On the regular action agenda, we are asking the board to take action on resignations as listed on page 109 absences that are listed from page one to two. We are also asking the board to take action on the appointments listed on page two including three which include extracurricular activities, hourly activities, curricular instruction, title one literacy family nights and summer credit recovery programs. And then on page four of nine, we're asking the board to take action on
033the summer 2025 summer theater workshop as listed. And we have various home instructions as listed on page four to nine. Item six. And that carries on to page five. Page six, which leads us to page seven to nine. We have college student observers that we're asking the board to take action on at various schools throughout the district. Students will observe teachers and some administrators as listed. And then we have volunteer action item for a volunteer baseball coach on page seven and nine. Uh the hip report from last month is listed. And we have high school graduation chaperones as well as middle school graduation chaperones and nurses for both middle school and high school graduation listed on page 89. And we have school count school calendar revision with the review last quart as listed. We have
034some administrative leads with pay and we have a settlement agreement for veterans pay and longevity uh as listed on page n. And in red we have some additional pay and substitute administrators listed and miscellaneous. We have our transportation system. That concludes personnel. Can I have a motion and a second to accept the personal motion? Any questions? I just have a couple comments. There we go. Um, I just want to say thank you to everybody for working on the summer theater program because um I know it's an awesome program. So, I appreciate you guys working on that so that we can actually make some money on that um and make it profitable as well as the amazing program. Um, and I'm very happy to see and that I I feel like this speaks a lot to
035the district that Mr. K is coming back to volunteer. Um, he was always such a um, great, you know, staff member and coach. So, I think that's great. We're lucky to have him come back um, volunteer. And then I just wanted to verify the forum on 47 is high school. Yes. Thank you. Just wanted to I also not really a question just kind of confirming that um just so everybody knows because I know that I I I think we all probably get a lot of questions that the middle school graduation is now going to be June 18th. The high school graduation is going to be June 19th. The last day of school for just about everybody is June 19th. Correct. And then for MAMS and Cliffwood, it's June 23rd. And there's no school on June
03620th. And I correct on all of that. Great. Thank you. Um I'm sorry. Thank you, Diana, because that just made me um I just wanted to clarify. There was a couple questions that I saw that um parents were asking why the kids that we owe a half day couldn't come on Friday versus coming back that following Monday. Just wanting to verify why that is June 20th. So thank you. In case anyone's wondering, we had a power outage that only affected those two schools. So, they have to make up an extra unfortunately. Um, finance. Good evening. We're looking to take action on the following items. There is nothing new in red, but I'll just go over the bills list for the month as well as appropriations transfers and all the reports we're approved now February. Uh,
037we're very happy accept three donations this month as listed. The fire evacuation drills for the month of February and then routine travel as listed. And that concludes Can I have a motion and a second to accept the motion? Any questions? Not a question, but um just want to say thank you for the donations that we received. Um and a really special thank you as well to whoever the anonymous person is that paid off some negative lunch balances for our kids because as we know um you know that is an issue we have not just in our district but a lot of districts across the country in terms of the negative lunch balances. So I think that's um wonderful. Agreed. Anybody else? Uh it's time for a public comment. The New Jersey open public meeting law
038was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Public comment. The board of education recognizes the value of public comment on matters of interest to the school community. Individuals wishing to speak must state their name and address. Comments are limited to three minutes duration, but an individual may speak a second time after all others who wish to speak on the topic have been heard. All statements should be directed to the board president, and no participant may address or question board members individually. All speakers are requested to express themselves in a civil manner with due respect for the dignity and privacy of others whose legal rights may be affected. Please note, while it is not the board's intention to stifle comment on matters of legitimate
039concern, the public should be aware that if their statements violate the rights of others under the law of defamation or invasion of privacy, they may face personal liability to the injured party. If speakers are uncertain of the legal ramifications of their comments, the board urges them to seek guidance beforehand from their own legal advisor. Seeing none, um do we have any unfinished business? I would I would actually like um Miss Perez, can you explain a little bit about the information that we have right now with that tax levy incentive program for people who may have missed um what that's about? So, as we were preparing for our budget um to submit um which was approved last week, we were informed that um our district was eligible for the New Jersey tax incentive program. This is
040the first time that they've done this and the first time that we have been deemed um under adequacy. Um so we are because we're deemed under adequacy we're able to we're eligible I should say um for this tax incentive program. Um this one time initiative provides an opportunity for districts to secure additional funding um to enhance their ability to deliver a thorough and efficient education. Um we're eligible for up to $5.8 million but it does not mean that the district has to go um the tax levy has to go out for that total amount. Um we can go under the amount. Um in addition to that that funding under the program, the state will contribute $50,000 for every million raised through the increase. The funding can help districts this year. Um but more importantly, um
041it can also help um the following and upcoming year for us to plan out as we anticipate some challenges um next year. Um without the support the districts may who are eliminated struggle to me um just providing a thorough and efficient education um because it's the unknown in terms of funding for the following year that's what makes it a little thing um this is something that the board um as it stands right now that we know that this is something that kind of here um would make that recommendation in terms of so there are 300. Just for context, there are 300 districts out of 600 in the state that are eligible to apply. So there was about um between 20 and 30 million that the governor has designated for this program. Um there's 20 in
042Mammoth County. Um most of our neighboring towns are eligible. So you'll hear the community about that hometown already. Um so as information is you know as budgets are being approved and planning is being in each of the districts. I'm sure that other districts will share some of the information that we shared with our board and also with the community. Um the last last week I said that it would be forthcoming. I think both case and I thought that we would have information this week. Um but that not happen. Um as I mentioned before, we anticipate that it's probably going to be later after actually our um budget hearing. If it happens, we get the information when we decide to um um admin um decides to move forward with this initiative in this incentive program um
043to apply, it would require us to then ask to amend the original budget that was submitted and we would amend it and then ask for a reapproval and that would happen once and this is the first time. So due to some factors in how they determine our enrollment, including moving away from a 10-year-old census data to a three-year average, especially when it comes to special education students, we are now categorized as under adequacy, which is the first time we've ever been designated that. So can you explain underacy? So the state determines that we have to have a thorough and efficient education. When they do that, they state how much money has to be spent. Uh so if we just take $100 and we say that we spend, you know, $90 and not 100, then they're
044saying that we are under adequacy by $10. If we are a district before this that we were spending $110, then we would have to explain to the state where that additional $10 went. Uh typically we explain that because we have great extracurricular activities, music programs, arts. So now they're letting us know that due to the fact that they utilize district income and property values that they are not looking at that 10-year census data. Instead, they're doing a three-year average. And so with that three-year average and that look, they're letting us know that we are under adequacy. And then that is where that $5.8 million came from. That's how they calculated the difference. So basically, they're saying we're not selling enough. Correct. And what they're saying with that is that we do not have a mechanism
045currently to go above the 2% cap. And so that is what this would be allowing into Miss Case. Can I just clarify we're not spending enough but we're also underfunded in the state. Correct. Yes. So I I I don't like under adequacy. I'm sorry. I don't um people don't understand it. And to me, in my opinion, we're not giving in adequate education. And that's far from the case. Inadequate, under adequacy is the fact that the state is not funding us correctly along with a lot of other districts in New Jersey or all over the country at this point. Um, and therefore, we're not spending enough because we are not funded enough in order to spend enough. Correct. Correct. And so the program that they are pretty much asking is that for every dollar you take
046in a tax levy, you would receive five cents from the state. So for the comparison, we're so for the full amount that our district is eligible to raise taxes by, which the nine of us have the wonderful honor of deciding, um if you know this goes forward, the state would give us about $293,000. So, um it puts us in a really difficult situation because as we've mentioned, um as things stand right now, we know for sure that we are going to be in trouble next year. Um we have a lot of facilities that need to be looked at, including all seven of our school buildings groups, and this doesn't it isn't even like a drop in the bucket. And and we can't really use this money on that. The money has to go towards what
047the state calls a thorough and efficient education. So it's things like curriculum and instruction um staff you know all along those lines and instruction instructional material nothing having to do with like fix and one more point because just all about honesty. So basically what the state is saying is that yes you're not getting enough money but we're not giving it to you. We're going to have the taxpayers take the brunt of it and we're going to give you a little tiny bonus if you do do that. So, it's really when they say incentive, it's an incentive to the state because they're not the ones funding us. So, there's just a lot of things about it. But, I just want people to understand like a regular house budget, they're they they understand we're not making enough
048money, but they're really not the ones that willing to put out the money. So, It's not it's it's really not a win-win situation. So, if anybody's paying attention to local news, it's being talked about legislatively. We have neighboring districts that are in the throws of all of this. So, um it's something we'll be hearing about and talking about for a while as school districts continue in the state to figure out how to to fund and and all of the what they call unfunded mandates that come from the state. those things they told us we have to do but they don't give us money to do we have to so um yeah we've all been doing a lot of thinking lately um what this would do and I think it's very unfair is this would put
049it back on the community members um and our taxes would go up and I know I'm not alone when I say our taxes are already very high um So as we talk with our counterparts on council as well, we're having honest conversations with them so that we understand what's the impact on the community member. So not just from our side, but then you know if the taxes are going up in the towns as well, you know, being a community member, then you add this on like really looking at the full picture because I mean frankly things are getting so expensive. I feel like we're are basically chasing people out of the state. Um, so just something to keep in mind. So we're we're going to do as we get more information, we'll talk about it
050more openly. Um, and you know, give as much information as we get, but right now we're kind of in a holding pattern because the state gave us a little information. Um, now it's silent. Um, so now we have to wait until basically the next fiscal, you know, until the next school year starts, which kind of puts us in a position. Um, I'm sure you've heard a lot of, you know, Middletown's been talking a lot about this. It's the exact same thing that they're not in terms of the issues they're having, but in terms of, um, the incentive. So, I was just going to ask to round out the conversation as far as this case. You brought up some interesting statistics before and I think if you in a previous meeting if you add into it
051in terms of how much our energy bills are going up and our health insurance percentages and how what we have will not keep up with that if we're at a crime rate. Sure. So since 2010 we've been locked at a 2% gap. Uh with that obviously we have seen consumer price indexes rising well past 2%. And um obviously the school is not alone but utilities last year uh went out to auction. So now for gas it's at 17% and electric it is at 22% that doesn't include healthcare costs that have been rising for the past couple years at double digits. So we just have a combination of things there. Uh the other thing for that the state determines as well is they tell us what our CPI renewal rates will be for transportation and those
052have come close to double digits over the last year. This is the first year that we're holding steady around the three and a half 4%. Um so again all things that we're locked in at 2% yet we have to make sure we have a balanced budget every single year. And so when you said the utilities so we all We've all heard how our utilities, our electric, our gas are going to go up by close to 20% or 20%. We have to deal with that as well times seven buildings. Um, so it's it's really going to impact us a lot. Um, so and I think people when you know you think about your own home, but then you know your kids come to school here and you know they need heat, you know, they need AC,
053they need they need lights. Um, All of that is really going to hit hard um when it hits. I think you're saying June, right? Yes. So, uh every July is when the auction happens for the kilowatts and what the percentage will be. So, uh last last July it was at $2 and something a cent per kilowatt. Last year it got approved at $269. And so then that will reflect in the bills of July. 200. Correct. So what happened is um there are power plants right and two closed and so the amount of power that is being utilized cannot handle it. So they actually have to reopen a power plant. So it is very easy to close a power plant. It is not very easy to is that there's no this is well outside the school
054brand. This is just in general as a whole that will hit all of us whether it's persons and utilities. So there's a cap on taxes but there's never a cap on utility. Correct. So this is just and and we still follow that our procurement laws through New Jersey that we go out and make sure that we're getting the best rate that we possibly can and we obviously fight for certain fixed locked rates as well as we can but we can't control when it goes from $2 to $270. So, as you can probably tell, we're all really frustrated about that, but it is what it is, I suppose. And um celebrations. Yes. Take pride in those kids. Yes. Yeah. We had a great we had a great um presentation from the preschool today. This this evening.
055Um any new business? I know it's going to sound like a ball, but I wanted to bring up how much fun I had at Across America there. I meant to say it at the last meeting and I'm old. It just didn't happen. So, um I got to go to Clickwood and and do a couple of the classes. The staff, the teachers were fantastic and welcoming me. Uh the kids were hilarious. um read books, got to know them, kind of open the floor and had that conversation to talk about what was the it wasn't just reading to them. It was getting what was the main idea of the book? What was the story behind it? And then for some reason they were very curious to ask me questions about me, which I'm s like I'm going
056to answer, you know, you never know what you're supposed to say, but uh it was it was fantastic. I just wanted to thank uh thank everybody involved for having us and what a great time it was. Um, Commissioner, I just want to pick you back on that because I forgot. Um, so when I was at Clipwood, the kids are, you know, they're hysterical. So they asked me, I said, "Well, my kids used to go to Cliffwood and whatever." And I and some little boy asked me how old my kids were. So I said, "Well, they're 23 and 26." And the little boy goes, "You're old." I was like, "I am." And the teacher's like, "Jason." And I'm like, "No, it's fine." I mean, it was hysterical, but they are just so cute. I can't So
057cute. I did want to ask for the board, but I want to um say that we're proud of the high school um they won the team arts festival for our chorus, drama and musical for piano um creative arts and visual arts and then moving on to state competition. So that was like the highlight of the [Applause] congratulations. Um Yeah, we're really proud of the stuff that goes on here. Um, okay. So, we are going to enter into secondary session. I'll be the vote. Okay. Um, Mrs. Yes. Miss B. Yes. Mr. Montgomery. Yes. Miss Pal. Yes. Mr. Mont. Yes. Miss Scott? Yes. Miss Brell? Yes. Miss Martinez? Yes. Miss Warick? Yes. Thank you. Okay. Um, be it resolved that a closed session be convened for the purpose of discussing privacy, personnel, and legal matters. The subject
058matter of these discussions will be disclosed to the public when the reason for confidentiality subsides. Although the board cannot guarantee it, the length of the executive session is estimated to be 30 minutes after which the public meeting will reconvene. It will be adjourned. Okay. Um, it's estimated to be 30 minutes and no action will take place. And I have a motion and a second to enter executive session.