001I'd like to welcome everyone here this evening. Can you hear me? Yeah. Okay. We'd like to begin open public meeting act statement. Miss Christina Debar, vice president. In accordance with the provision of the open public meetings act, the board secretary has forwarded notice of this meeting for advertising by having the date, time, and place thereof posted in the caucus town hall on the bulletin board located in the hallway of the board of education administrative building as well as the district website. >> Flag salute. Mr. Barry >> present. >> Mr. Deombre >> present. >> Miss Eckles >> here. >> Miss Skellar >> here. >> Miss Howard >> here. >> Mr. Lewis >> present. >> Mr. Lions >> here. The board would like to welcome everyone here this evening. We have a full agenda including recognitions we
002are very proud to present. Tonight we are recognizing our unsung hero, our validictorian and saludiatoran and finally our students who have earned the honor of graduating with the seal of biiteracy. This evening's agenda also includes our budget presentation. We would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our interim superintendent Dr. Mark Tobach along with business administrator Grace Yo, assistant business administrator Pat Kakuchi and their staff who dedicated countless hours to this process. The board truly appreciates your commitment and the effort that went into ensuring that we have a balanced budget. The past several months have been challenging as we work to determine what is best for our district's continued success. As we all know, every district in the state is facing similar challenges. Despite the budget constraints we encountered, we want the public
003to know that every effort was made to preserve staff programs and most importantly the best interest of our students. Shortly, you will hear from our administration regarding the proposed budget for the 2026 2027 school year. We are aware of some attention on social media regarding certain items surrounding the budget and we believe this presentation will address most of those concerns. particularly in the FAQ section of the slides that you will soon be viewing. Finally, I would like to clarify some misinformation regarding our town hall meeting held on April 30th. During that meeting, a community member suggested creating a memorial wall to honor CC Caucus High School graduates. At that time, Lance Bartletta, who was the chair of the athletics committee at the time, responded that this was already underway. It has since been incorrectly stated
004that the board approved the purchase of a memorial wall during that meeting in the midst of a budget crisis. I would like to correct that inaccuracy. The board voted on this project at a subsequent board meeting and we are in fact moving forward with the creation of a memorial wall on the high school property near the concession stand. This project will be funded by the town and it was discussed and approved during a shared services meeting with the mayor and town council. Once the project is complete, we will hold an unveiling ceremony and details will be shared with the community. I hope this helps clarify that matter. In closing, on behalf of the board of education, we extend our deepest gratitude to our incredible teachers during teacher appreciation week. Every day, you inspire curiosity, encourage
005growth, and make a lasting difference in the lives of our students. Your dedication goes far beyond the classroom. You serve as mentors, role models, advocates, and sources of encouragement for so many children and families in our community. Thank you for your passion, patience, creativity, and care you bring to your work each day. The impact you make cannot always be measured, but it is felt in every student you support and every future you help shape. We are proud to recognize and celebrate all that you do. Our schools are stronger because of you, and our community is better because of your commitment to education. Happy teacher appreciation week to all of our staff and thank you for all that you do. At this time, I'd like to turn it over to our student representatives for their school
006reports. Good evening everyone. At Clarin School, students have been participating in many exciting education educational and community events throughout late April and May. They celebrated Arbor Day and recognized student poster contest winners. Tonight, the dance club will also present its annual showcase. And tomorrow, kindergarten students will visit the Turtleback Zoo for a science and literacy field trip. Next week, second graders will travel to Buck Miller Park and Coast Guard representatives will provide a safety presentation for students. Fifth graders are also preparing for several milestone events, including their lead graduation fifth grade family dinner and class trip to Dave and Busters later this month. Fourth graders will also visit town hall as part of their civics learning experience. Clarin School is also looking forward to its annual art show on May 26th at 6 o'clock p.m.
007and drama club performances of Finding Nemo on May 27th and 28th at 6:30 p.m. in the pack. Milro School PreK students recently celebrated Caucus Day in PreK where students welcome representatives from the Caucus Police and Fire departments, the town library, Hudson Regional Hospital, and Mayor Ganelli's office. Thank you to Mrs. Anna Lepin for organizing the special event at Huber Street School. Mrs. Curry's fourth grade poetry cafe gave students the opportunity to proudly share original poetry filled with creativity, imagery, simileies, and metaphors. Huber Street fourth and fifth graders also enjoyed the annual SGO social on May 5th. Thank you to Mrs. Alexis Lein and Mrs. Carrie Stam for organizing this fun event. Lastly, please note that the fifth grade promotion ceremony has been moved to Monday, June 15th at 2 o'clock p.m. in the pack. At
008Caucus Middle School, TSA students earned an impressive 12 awards at the NJTSA state conference. Thank you to TSA adviser Miss Gerard for her leadership and dedication to students. Congratulations as well to Miss Deone for being recognized at the as the 2025 2026 educator of the year. Students in Miss Maloney science classes recently connected classroom learning to real world experiences through discussions with local resident Sid Mvoy from The Voice. Students created good luck cards and Sid later visited SMS to answer questions and share her experiences. The drama club's production of Beetlejuice Jr. this weekend and the spring concert and art show on May 13th at 700 p.m. in the pack at Caucus High School. This week's marks teacher appreciation week. The National Honor Society helps celebrate by writing heartfelt cards for teachers, thanking them for their
009dedication, encouragement, and lasting impact on students every day. We are so grateful for our teachers and will continue to appreciate them always. Without them, we would not be the students we are today. On May 1st, seniors celebrated National College Decision Day by proudly wearing apparel representing the colleges and programs they will attend this next fall. We are so proud of our seniors. Congratulations to Daniel Pascal for winning the SPD Chief for a Day contest. He spent the day at town hall alongside school resource officer Masulo learning about leadership and public service. Congratulations as well to poetry contest winners Ganna Busenik, Ariana Romano, and Giana Harris whose work will appear in this year's Metamorphosis poetry magazine. The Liberty Board of Realtors pop-up formware shopping event is also on May 9th from 12:00 to 400 p.m. The
010annual letter carriers food drive takes place the second Saturday in May and you can place non-p perishable donations in a bag near your mailbox. Torch run permission slips are also due on May 11th and the event will take place on June 5th. AP testing will continue through May 15th, while NJSLA testing for grades 9 and 11 will take place May 14th through 18th. 11th grade will also be testing May 18th through 19th. Finally, the SHS marching band will host a $10 car wash fundraiser on May 30th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Caucus Firehouse Engine Tune Rescue One on Patterson Plank Road. Thank you. And that is all we have for tonight. >> Thank you, ladies. >> [applause] >> At this time, I'd like to invite up Mr. Vigani to present some award
011awards for unsung hero, valadictorian, and saludiatoran. >> Good evening, everyone. Um, it's very busy time of year, so I appreciate everybody coming out. Our students uh were telling me that, uh, a lot of them have APs this week, right? And so we I promised you that we'll move this along. Um we have an exceptional group of seniors graduating this year. It's even extra special um because they are the 50th graduating class of Caucus High School. Um tonight I have the privilege of honoring a few of those students and we're going to start with our unsung hero Emma Maher. See, each year, uh, Hudson County School Boards Association asks each high school throughout the county to pick one inspirational student who meets the following criteria. I'll list them. Student demonstrating quiet strength through significant personal or
012academic obstacles, inspiring others through action, and consistently showing exceptional character and dedication behind the scenes without seeking recognition. and Emma exceeds that criteria. Emma is a remarkable individual. She has challenged herself academically by enrolling in six advanced placement courses, nine honors level classes, and has excelled in each and every one of them. She has earned an impressive GPA of 4.411, and is currently ranked within the top of her class. Beyond her academic success, Emma is actively involved in clubs and organizations and is a consistent source of encouragement to her peers. She's kind, she's thoughtful, generous, and always supporting um her students through their success. Her character and leadership have made her a true inspiration to our school community. What makes Emma's achievement achievements even more remarkable as she has accomplished all of this while persevering
013through a visual impairment. Emma exemplifies what it means to overcome obstacles, to pursue goals with purpose, and to uplift those around her. Our school community has learned a lot from her strength, and we are incredibly proud of everything that she has achieved. Emma will be attending Rutgers University in the fall to pursue a degree in psychology, and we wish her the very best. This is teacher appreciation. We can we hear a lot about how teachers inspire students. Emma inspires all of us. Congratulations, Emma. [applause] [applause] >> [applause] >> Okay. I also have the privilege of recognizing the 2026 Saludiatoran and validictorian. We'll start with Isaiah Patel, our saludiatoran. Isha has an outstanding GPA of 4.862 862 and she's uh a member of our rigorous STEM academy where she has excelled in a demanding schedule of
014honors and advanced placement courses. Isha will be graduating with 33 college credits. Her academics uh record reflects exceptional achievement with interdisciplinary thinking and this is exemplified by her gold medal winning STEMfair project in which she developed a Python program exploring the use of nanotechnology to address diseases caused by protein synthesis errors. Beyond her academic accomplishments, Isha is a dedicated leader in her co-curricular organizations. She's actively involved in robotics club, the science club, band, varsity tennis. She is the president of ATHS, the American Technology Honor Society. She's the vice president of the National Honor Society. She's a member of six honor societies. Um, she has developed a program where during lunch she volunteered her time to teach eth and nth grade students how to code. Um, and Issha plans on attending Rutgers University Honors College in
015the fall to study computer science. Congratulations, Isa. [applause] >> [applause] >> Okay. And congratulations to our valadictorian, Simron Botla. Simron is an exceptional student known for her academic excellence, leadership, and commitment to service. Simron has the highest GPA by a hundth of a point. Right behind right in front of Isha. GPA is 4.87 4.874 to be exact. She carries a rigor a rigorous course load spanning advanced mathematics, physics, and the humanities. Simron will also be graduating with 33 college credits. Her passion for engineering is evident through her advanced coursework and realworld research, including a competitive summer program where she completed and published a NASA funded project focused on innovative air quality technology. Beyond her academics, Issha is a varsity tennis player. Right. This year you guys won the division. Sim uh five honor societies. She's
016a president of the National Honor Society. Simron exemplifies the qualities of validictorian by being a role model and is poised to make a lasting impression on all of her future endeavors. Simron will be attending Georgia Tech University in the fall to study biomed engineering. Congratulations, Simron. [applause] >> [applause] >> So the students when they go off to college and tell them to prepare brag sheets. Um, and that was just a little snippet of their brag sheet and we would be here all night if I were to include everything um within their pages and pages of accomplishments. Congratulations. Uh, we have one final group to recognize. Um, it's our seal of biiteracy students. Just give you a little background on that. at the New Jersey CL of biiteracy as a recognition awarded to graduating students who
017have de demonstrated proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing at an advanced level in English and one additional language. This honor reflects not only strong academic achievement but also a commitment to cultural awareness and communication. And this year we are proud to recognize 41 graduating students who have earned the seal. It's an impressive number. Um when we started um offering the seal of literacy, we were in the single digits and now we have 41. That is in large thanks to our amazing world language teachers who are with us tonight. They will be assisting in handing out the certificates and calling out the names. Miss Rodriguez, Miss Beltran, Miss uh D Janeiro. Thank you for being here and everything that you do. Also want to recognize um our supervisor, Miss Wesser. Um, students, we're going to
018call your names. As you we call your names, please come up here, receive your certificate. I'm going to ask you to stand off to the side. That way, we can take a uh a group picture at the end. Okay. >> Okay. Isa Patel, Italian. [applause] Joseph Hernandez, Spanish Italian. [applause] Giana Busenik, Italian. [applause] Sal Czecho, Spanish. [applause] Stephanie Garcia, Spanish. Meyn Javier, Spanish. [applause] Valentina Duran Sarmento, Spanish. [applause] Anthony Mondesi Camro, Spanish. Christian Montes, Spanish. Alejandro Penna Toledo, Spanish. Oh, Mahek Patel, Hindi. [applause] Daniel Corell Patchas, Spanish. [applause] Michael Perez, Spanish. Mariel Samarante. [applause] Congratulations, Siman Batla. [applause] Dominic Brussia, Ector Castelliano, Sophia Guzman, Riley Ernnandez, [applause] Justin Menddees, This Chan sorry Chanel Basquez Merchan Juan Betang [applause] Leah Duran Adam Gatas, [applause] Miche Gonzalez, >> [applause] >> Natalie Sanchez. [applause] >> Jaden Teribio, Spanish.
019Liza Marie Torres, Spanish. Dominic Vargas, Spanish. Michelle Valansa, Spanish. Santiago Agira Baygo, Spanish. Elaine Shang, Mandarin Simplified. [applause] >> Angelene May, Spanish. Maya Maggala, Spanish. Isabella Rosero, Spanish. Olivia McKenzie Nativid, Spanish. Rahad El Faha, German. Daniel Zoo, Mandarin. Rahov Al Fa, Arabic and German. [applause] Audrey Morabel Guzman, Spanish. And last but not least, Josh Shanderani, Spanish. [applause] Thank you. >> [applause] >> Yeah, it was very nice. Yeah. Congratulations once again. Let's give them another round of applause for all of the accolades [applause] this evening. The district is so very proud of you. [applause] At this time, we're going to move into our business portion of the meeting. So, you're welcome to leave if you'd like. Enjoy the rest of your night. Girls, if you want to go, you're welcome to do so. Thank you all
020for coming. Congratulations once again. Get home safe. [applause] How are you? because our district is very different and working I missed the school finance so I had to take next year but I'm assistant But I want I want to know how they're running because I never know that everything like you know. >> Okay. Ready? >> At this time, I'd like to welcome up our business administrator, Miss Gracio, to start our budget presentation. >> Good evening. Welcome to the public hearing for the Caucus Public School District's proposed budget for the 2627 school year. Tonight we will walk you through the careful planning, structural changes, and strategic investments that have shaped this year's fin fiscal plan as we continue our dedication to the CC Caucus Patriots community. Before we begin, I would like to recognize the leadership
021team behind this budget. Our interim superintendent of schools, Dr. Mark Tobach, our assistant business administrator Pat Kikuchi, and myself, business administrator Grace Show. We also extend our gratitude to board president, Miss Kelly Diodeta, vice president, Miss Christina Darry, and our dedicated board of trustees for their guidance and oversight throughout this process. Every dollar allocated in this budget is anchored by our district mission. We are strictly committed to maintaining a safe, nurturing environment that holds a tradition of engaging instruction, innovative curricular, challenging academics, and expansive co-curricular programs. Our ultimate goal is to provide a comprehensive education that prepares our students to bravely face the challenges of the future. Tonight's agenda will cover five key areas. First, a review of how this budget was developed. Second, our core objectives and priorities. Third, the fiscal constraints and enrollment
022trends we are navigating. Fourth, our projected revenue sources and taxpayer impacts. And finally, explicit budget highlights that directly benefit our students. This budget was not built overnight. It is the result of a rigorous six-month collaborative process. From November through January, our administration met to flag anticipated increases in utility and health care costs. In February, we finalized health benefit adjustments compelled by the federal consolidated appropriations act. March bought the official release of state aid allowing us to submit a preliminary budget to the county. In April, following county approval, we met jointly with the mayor and town council to thoroughly evaluate the local tax impact. This brings us to tonight, May 7th, for our public hearing and final budget adoption. Our spending priorities are sharply focused across five operational pillars, instruction and learning. We are optimizing staffing
023to ensure continuous effective instruction while keeping class sizes in strict accordance with our policy 2312. Fiscal stewardship. We actively strive to balance student needs with the financial impact on our local taxpayers. Strategic planning. We are securing the long-term stability of our programs and reinvesting in our community's facilities programs. We are fully maintaining our robust academic, athletic and extracurricular offerings, facilities and operations. We are operate we are prioritizing the upkeep of our grounds to guarantee safe supportive learning environments. We must be transparent about the steep economic hurdles facing the district this year in personnel c costs alongside contractual salary increases. We are experiencing an extraordinary surge in health care costs. specifically a 31% increase in medical insurance and a 32% increase in prescription benefits under operations. Inflation is driving up the cost of electricity, gas, instructional
024supplies, and technology compounded by the maintenance demand of an aging infrastructure. Lastly, our student services are facing rising cost for outofd district tuition, specialized special education services like OT and PT, mandatory transportation are all occurring alongside unpredictable fluctuations in state and federal aid. Now, we take a look at our enrollment landscape. As you can see from our historical October data, enrollment experienced a mild gradual decline over the last few years, landing at 256 students this past school year. However, for the upcoming 2627 school year, we are projecting a noticeable increase of students. We want to clarify that this spike is being driven by our expanded prek prek full day enrollment and prek early intervention special education services. It also takes into account an increase in our kindergarten enrollment from our surrounding pre preK programs. At
025this time, I would like to turn the presentation over to Mr. Kikuchi. Thank you. Thank you, Grace. Okay. Uh this part of the presentation, we'd like to explain essentially a couple of things as terms of how we came about these numbers. Uh so what you're going to see here pretty much is where our district resources are being allocated, how the budget is being funded, what investments are being made for the students in the facilities, and then finally the impact on our taxpayers. Most importantly, a common theme you're going to find throughout this budget was that it was developed with a focus on maintaining strong educational programming while continuing to manage the district's finances responsibly. Now, this slide that's presented here is how our district's operating budget is allocated across some major categories. The total proposed
026operating budget for the 2627 school year is approximately $57 million. The largest portion of the budget, about a third, goes directly towards classroom instruction and student programs. This includes teacher salaries, classroom supplies, curriculum materials, and instructional resources. Second largest category is employee benefits. This includes health insurance, pensions, and other contractual benefits for our staff. We also to continue to invest in operations and maintenance, student support services, transportation, technology, athletics and activities, and finally capital improvements to our facilities. One important note to to pay attention to throughout as a highlight is that the majority of the district spending is tied directly to supporting students, maintaining programming, and operating our schools safely and efficiently. Now what this slide demonstrates is some supplements to our revenue in terms of how we got to our number uh for the
0272627 school year. All necessary means in terms of adding to our revenue line was incorporated into this particular budget. This includes an excess surplus, a withdrawal of capital reserve money, maintenance reserve money, use of something called remaining bank cap, which was essentially carried over from a previous budget and would be ex uh expired if we did not use it at the end of this year. And finally, a healthc care waiver adjustment which uh is given as a state approved allowance if our state increased more than the average in the state of New Jersey. Combined, this gives an additional revenue of seven million over $7 million to our our bottom line in terms of our revenue. Now, this slide breaks down some additional components to this particular revenue. The largest source of funding is the local
028tax levy. Additional revenue comes from state aid, federal funding, interest in rental income, our debt service aid, reserve withdrawals, and as I mentioned, surplus funding. It is important to understand that school districts have limited revenue sources. While expenses, particularly in this case, our health insurance increased. In addition to that, transportation increase, utilities, special education cost, all continue to rise year over year. This budget, as I mentioned, reflects a balance between highquality programming for students while carefully managing a available revenue. Now, as I mentioned last week and a continuation of that, uh it does come to a cost in terms of the taxpayer. So, the proposed tax lever for the 2627 school year represents an increase of approximately 7.2 uh%. That increase includes the district's standard allowable 2% tax levy increase, the use of our remaining
029bank cap, as I mentioned, and our approved healthcare cost waiver adjustment. For the average assessed home in Caucus, which is approximately 180,000, the estimated increase would be approximately $170 annually or $14 per month. Now, we understand that any tax increase impacts our community, and that's something that uh collectively we do not take lightly. Throughout the budget development process, the district carefully reviewed expenditures and worked tirelessly to preserve programs and services that directly benefit students while still trying to remain as fiscally responsible as possible. So, this particular portion of the the presentation is really what it comes down to in terms of uh shifting the focus and and and really what we're spending our money on in terms of our students and our schools on a day-to-day basis. A major priority this year was maintaining strong
030instructional programs while also providing additional support where students need it the most. One important investment is the renewal of our core English language arts and mathematics programs amplify CKLA CK CKLA and reveal math respectively. These resource resources provide students and teachers with both print and digital materials that support instruction. Additionally, the renewal of these programs will help create consistency in the classroom as familiar programs are used year-over-year for our students. We are also continuing targeting targeted intervention programs for students who may need additional academic support particularly in preparation for state assessments and graduation requirements. In addition, another important initiative is our expansion of our full day prek program, which we hope helps strengthen our early learning opportunities, articulates our students, and formulates a strong starting point for their education. The district is also investing in
031professional development, specialized training for staff, particularly in literacy instruction and intervention strategies so teachers have the tools and training needed to support their growth, the student growth. Overall, these investments are designed to strengthen instruction, provide targeted support, and help all students continue to succeed academically. In addition to core instructional programs, this budget budget also includes investments that support the overall student experience. This includes additional classroom technology resources, AP materials that are updated, expanded opportunities for career and work-based learning, particularly uh our very successful Patriot Perk at the initiative at the high school. We are also continuing to invest in resources resources that support diverse student needs, including hearing assistance systems, sensory materials for younger learners, and staff training focused on student support and safety. These investments reflect the district's continued commitment to meeting the academic,
032social, and emotional needs of all of our learners. Finally, one of the last things I'd like to uh point emphasis on is in terms of our facilities and operations and some things that we're investing in. This particular budget includes updating some of our uh things at the high school, particularly the the press box at the middle school high school campus, resurfacing our tennis courts, replacing some HVAC units at the high school and middle school, and the purchase of 254 passenger school buses. Now, many of these improvements that are seen here are being supported through reserve funding that are specifically set up for long-term capital and maintenance needs. At this time, I'd like to turn the presentation over to Dr. Tobach to discuss the district's plans moving forward. So in the previous week we had an
033extensive discussion and presentation regarding the fiscal condition of the district and the need to stabilize educational funding. So um in the end I'd mentioned that ultimately um the district had stuck within the 2% cap for many many years. Um and the unfortunate part of it is that lots of other things just about every other expense far exceeded the 2% cap. And so that adds up over time and that creates a lot of pressure on every other aspect of the budget when it comes to each line item. Um so one of the things that the district is looking to do is um essentially expand our business operations. Okay. So um one thing we have available to us is within our transportation department we do have a number of buses and so the whole goal is to
034ultimately utilize those buses to maximum effect for the district. That means that in cases where we contract routes out in many cases for special education, we would like to deal with those transportation requirements ourselves. In addition, the co-op model would allow us to ultimately provide transportation for other districts. So, working with other districts, finding routes that we can run jointly saves money for everyone. So, but it also offsets our costs for transportation in district um the prek tuition um or other tuition. Um so, for example, if we're able to build programs for students here and we can attract students here, then we can charge tuition for that. Um the other thing is the expanded use of something we have that's a tremendous community asset is the performing arts center. So, renting that space to outside
035organizations when possible when it makes sense, we definitely should do that. And um there's some other things that we can consider like for example advertising at our athletic events and some things that can help us in terms of offsetting costs for athletics by putting up signs. Um maybe do some things with our scoreboard, put some signs up around the track. Those sorts of things can help us at some level with with our athletic program. Um So, now we're going to get on to uh frequently asked questions. So, in the community, there have been some questions about the budget. And so, what we thought would be helpful was to hear what those questions were and then put those answers in writing. So, the first question is what staffing reductions were made with this budget and how
036will that affect class sizes. So, the school district as it says there cannot discuss personnel matters. However, there is a policy that the board of education has regarding class size. And so the principles assign students to classes within the following maximums and minimums. Actually, it's to the right. And you can see that for like the elementary all through high school, the minimum class size is 14. The maximum is 25. So the bottom line for us is that we will be operating within the boards of ed board of eds policy for class sizes. Question two, are there any programs being eliminated? The answer is we do not have any programs that are being eliminated with this budget. That's not recommended. Um hasn't been discussed really. It's just something that we I know the board has felt
037very strongly about all along as they guided the development of the budget and stated their priorities as board members. Um how is it possible that the district is increasing funding for athletics while decreasing funding for instruction? Okay. So, um, and that makes sense. When the user friendly budget was released, there are some astute people in the community who called that to other people's attention. Um, but the reality is this, budgets do have a lot of moving parts. In this case, um, the funding for athletic supplies decreased slightly. Uh, purchase services are also decreased. But at the same time, there was a prior acting superintendent and he returned to his position as athletic director. his salary is in the $160,000 range. So that led to an increase in the athletic budget because that is where that
038salary is accounted for. Likewise, the district is also funding a flag football program. So that's another thing that went to the athletic budget because previously there was a grant paid for by the New York Jets that ultimately offset the cost of the flag football program. So that's another $20,000 added to the budget. And finally, there's an additional $4,000 for coaching salaries that is um included as well in the athletic budget. So that accounts for the the increase um that people were concerned about. Next slide. So another question, why is there a reduction in transportation aid for the 2627 school year? Okay, so there is. In the fall of November 2025, the district submitted a report that we submit every year to the Department of Education. That report is used calculate the state aid that we'll
039receive for transportation in the subsequent school year. The data reported by the district was accurate but was recorded incorrectly on the report which resulted in the number of transported students being understated. Uh the district became aware of this error when it received the state aid allocation for transportation on or about March 12th. The district immediately notified the county office of the mistake, submitted a revised report to the county office. The county office contacted the state of New Jersey on behalf of the board to request it to accept the revised report and recalculate the district state aid entitlement for transportation and the district um I believe at our next meeting we'll be formally appealing this determination. So um the state has denied our request to amend the report and it's sticking to its guns at this
040point and they cited that all available funds had already been allocated to eligible school districts. So um we are certainly going to try to rectify that situation. Um question five, were there any other reductions in aid? The answer is yes. The proposed 2627 budget accounts for a 25% reduction in federal aid as per New Jersey Department of Education guidelines. And um I guess the important thing to know is that is that accounts that adds up I guess. Um so many me many years have gone by where we have received reduced federal funding. So 15% 15% 20% now 25% reduction in federal aid. So that is something that has also hit the district in terms of all these little things that add up. Um whether it's a reduction in state aid, reduction in transportation aid, reduction
041in federal aid, all these other types of um sources of revenue for the district are simply drying up. Okay, question six. Is the district deferring necessary maintenance that will only increase future costs? Okay, so there is a reduction in the facilities budget, but as you saw in the earlier slide, the district is supplementing this with maintenance and capital reserve funds to sustain its investment in our community assets, our school buildings. Question seven, why is the district cutting health services? The district did not reduce health supplies. However, the need for a nurse at Milidge School, as we talked about before, Milidge School um classrooms are going to Claren. Um but then we do not need a nurse there and so that results in an overall decrease in this lineup. Okay. So, I think that concludes our
042Q&A section and that also includes the rest, right? Pat or Grace, do you have anything else to add? Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you Dr. Tobac, Grace, and Pat for that very informative presentation. Wait for everybody to get seated. All right, we're ready. Correspondence. No correspondence. Okay. Interim superintendent report. So, good evening everybody. We're only 30 days away from the end of the school year, which seems like a lot of days, but there are so many events as you heard from our students and activities that are packed into those days. Um, every day is very busy. There's a tremendous amount of excitement though as we move through the month of May. Students across the school district will be participating in state and local standardized assessments. As you heard, these assessments are important part of
043measuring student progress and something we take very seriously. The testing schedules vary by grade level in school. I'd like to commend our administrators, teachers, support staff, students, and families for their continued cooperation and support throughout the testing process, administrating assessments at this scale requires requires a tremendous amount of planning and coordination and our staff members have worked diligently to create structured, supportive, and positive testing environments for students. I'd also like to extend congratulations to the members of the graduating class of 2026. Um, many have been recently recognized for a variety of outstanding accomplishment accomplishments. On behalf of the district, congratulations to our valictorian and solidictorian for achieving their distinguished academic honors through their years of dedication, perseverance, and commitment to excellence. Their commitments reflect not only individual achievement but also the support of the families,
044their teachers, their counselors, and the entire school community. In addition, we're proud to recognize this year's unsung hero recipient. This recognition reminds us that leadership, character, kindness, and resilience often occur quietly behind the scenes and deserve to be celebrated just as much as other types of achievements. We commend the student for making a meaningful and positive impact within our school community. Also congratulations to the many students who earned the prestigious seal of bi literacy. As we enter the final stretch of the school year, there is so much to celebrate across the district and encourage our students to continue working hard, remain focused, finish the year strong. Thank you to our staff, families, and community members for their continued support of the public schools. Last but not least, this month also provides an opportunity to celebrate
045teachers during teacher appreciation week. On behalf of the district, I'd like to express my sincere gratitude for the outstanding teachers in our schools. Their dedication, professionalism, compassion, and commitment to our students each and every day is a shining example, and it's what the what makes the Sukakus public schools a great place to learn. Teacher teaching is a profession that extends far beyond the classroom. Our education, our educators continuously invest their time, energy, and care into helping students grow academically, socially, and emotionally. Um, my other report that I have to give is the HIV report. There are no HIV reports for this reporting period. >> I make a motion to accept the harassment and tempation bullying findings as reported by the interim superintendent and they are available at the administrative offices for review. >> Second >>
046discussion. Call the roll. >> Mr. Bartletta? >> Yes. >> Miss Deetta? >> Yes. >> Mr. Barry? >> Yes. >> Mr. Ombre. >> Yes. >> Miss Eckles. >> Yes. >> Miss Geller. >> Yes. >> Miss Howard? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lewis? >> Yes. >> Mr. Delions? >> Yes. >> Business administrator board secretary report? >> No report at this time. >> Thank you. Public forum regarding agenda items. Okay. Uh so the meeting is open to the public. purpose of addressing items listed for approval on this agenda only. Residents wishing to speak on such items must sign the register provided for this purpose and are required to state their names, addresses, and subject matter. Comments are limited to three minutes per person. The board may or may not respond to issues raised by members of the public at
047the time they are raised, but will provide a response if and when appropriate. The board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking. Please note that the board will not respond to comments regarding students or board employees in light of the privacy rights held by those individuals. Moreover, the board discourages comments about such individuals will not be responsible for those comments. Members of the public who choose to speak during public session should carefully consider their comments since they could be held personally liable for any statements they make. Finally, please note that in accordance with district policy 1100, the board will not officially comment or respond to any matter mentioned unless it can confirm that the matter has first been brought to the attention of the
048appropriate school personnel in an attempt to resolve the issue. >> Thank you, Mr. Grineer. Good morning everyone. Afternoon, evening. Anthony Granary, Caucus resident. Um, a difficult budget begets difficult budget questions and I have a few. Uh, the employee benefits are projected to increase by $2.7 million as compared to last year. And the district [clears throat] is opposing a local tax levy increase of 2.9 million. In essence, almost the entire local tax levy increase will be used to cover the increased employee benefit cost. So my question is, could the district have proposed a higher local tax levy increase pursuant to statutory exceptions provided in New Jersey statute 18A 7F38D to cover the increase in healthcare and pension costs which would have freed up the money to use elsewhere? In other words, are we leaving unsought tax
049money on the table because the district is not taking full advantage of the statuto exception? Next, the district's total enrollment is projected to increase by approximately 88 students or about 4% as compared to last year. However, the district is proposing a $644,000 reduction in funds to regular programs and instruction or down about 5% as compared to last year. So, what specific programs or costs associate associated with regular instruction such as teacher salaries and compensations, aids, other instructional staff, classroom speakers, classroom recruitment, etc. will actually be cut or reduced next year. and what benefit or harm do you anticipate our children experiencing as a result of these cuts? Next, the district is proposing a $123,000 reduction in health services or down about 28% as compared to last year. As I'm sure you're aware, for at least
050the last two years, our schools are experiencing a nursing shortage and we don't even have a full-time nurse in each and every one of our schools. So, what specific health services or costs associated with these health services such as nursing services, health screenings, psychological screenings, counseling, etc., etc., will actually be cut or reduced next year? And also, will each and every one of our schools next year have a full-time nurse solely stationed at that school? And what is the plan if a nurse has to call out absent? Will we have a full-time floater nurse to fill in when that foreseeable event happens? Also, the last 10 pages of the 19 page district user-friendly budget list information and salaries of seven contracted employees of the district. It appears that all these positions are on a year-to-year
051contract. The combined base salary amount of these seven positions equals over a million dollars. And it appears that some of these positions are being compensated well above the state average. How are these positions and their salaries taken into consideration when determining next year's proposed budget? Finally, looking at page seven of the userfriendly budget, you could see that year-over-year, we have now actually decreased um the amount of money that we're spending on total classroom instruction. Next year uh the increase will only be $64 as compared to the year before that it was 100 $1,337 and the year before that it was $647. Also, our special education instruction per pupil is going to be decreasing by $799 next year. How do you anticipate the district improving its proficiency, college readiness, and disability inclusion scores when we are
052only adding $64 per pupil to total classroom instruction and actually decreasing uh the per pupil for special education students by $799. Um, I do have copies of my questions if you would like them. Um hopefully the board and the district takes time to answer these questions not just to myself but to the community at large. >> Can I have a copy? Thank you. Yeah. >> Thank you so much. We will get back to you on those. Thank you, Mr. Ber. Next speaker, Kathy Sansina. Sans. No, I think it's left. Okay. Okay. Dina Jerbasio. >> Hello. Good evening. Um Dana Jerbzio 11:07 Stonewall. Um now I my questions are similar to last week. I'm going to ask again. Um, I don't want to know anything in terms of personnel names. So, I'm hoping you can answer
053the number of teachers being cut. Is that I I don't need to know specifics. I don't need to know names. Um, but are you able to share how many teachers are being cut? >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. >> You want to keep talking and then >> Sure. Um, I also want to say to Anony's point, um, I know this presentation is supposed to be about the children and the education and improving our district, but I'm going to be completely honest, it doesn't feel like that to me when we're cutting teachers. Um, I I know it's probably the easiest thing to just cut non-tenure teachers. Let's make classroom sizes larger. Um but it it doesn't get us where we want to go, which is better quality scores, better proficiency in math and reading for our students. Um
054that kind of seems we're going in the opposite direction that way. Um also increasing things like coaches salaries when we're cutting teachers is a little bit disheartening as well. Not that I think that the coaches don't deserve it, but you know, our teachers are the heart of the schools there. And some of the best teachers, I mean, I can say it, my kids have had some of the greatest teachers. And if anyone of them got cut, I would be at every board meeting speaking for them. And I hope that other parents do the same when there are teacher cuts because I've definitely seen it save teachers livelihoods and careers. So, um I hope when that happens, parents will actually speak up because we need more we we need more for our teachers and we need
055more teachers and um they're they're the heart of our schools. So, um yeah, that's really what I wanted to say. >> Yep. >> So, there are two teachers that are being reduced in force due to um reduced enrollment. Um, are there administrative cuts? >> There are no administrative cuts. >> So, just two teachers are being cut >> due to reduced enrollment. Yes. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Public forum general. >> No. Okay. Governance. to know. >> Thank you. >> The governance committee met on Tuesday, April 28th. Uh we had a presentation by two of Dr. Tolbach's students from Monontlair, uh Megan Frank and Nicole Goolan from um Enclair University who are in the process of obtaining their superintendent certification. Uh they presented a project that they're working on that uh will benefit
056the district if we move forward with their uh their uh presentation where they have created a comprehensive employee handbook with all of our most important policies and direct links to uh the actual policies. Uh it was a very impressive presentation. Um the building principles uh came to the meeting to discuss uh their reports for projected staffing actions in the upcoming school year. They reviewed their intended actions and provided their reasoning and supporting documentation for the decision- making. The committee also reviewed several personnel approvals. The appointment of a certif uh certified teacher staff uh certificated teaching staff members uh teacher assistant staff members, non-certified staff members, including part-time and full-time secretarial custodial staff. Uh and the approval of the and to revise the supervisor of elementary education job description. the approval to abolish the director of
057elementary education curriculum and instruction position. Uh the approval to uh for several perm employees for the 2025 2026 school year, several maternity and bonding leaves and regretfully we have two resignations, Travis Medina and Rosanne Cabarino. We also discussed several summer positions including the summer custodians, summer IT, residency officer and security specialist for policy and regulation. Uh the committee uh approved the second reading of P7510 use of facilities revised and P1220 employment of chief school administrator revised. We also discussed the district's nepotism policy in relation to the school district having employees not being supervised by family members. And we also had further information on the student use of internet enabled devices. There's inconsistency between the state legislation and the NJ DOE guidance. It concerns the length of time where such devices should be accessible. This will
058hopefully be cleared by the state to the school districts in the near future. Thank you. >> Thank you, Alex. Education Committee curriculum. >> Okay. Good evening all and thank you for being here. The education committee also met on April 28th. It's the testing season in our district and all over New Jersey. NJSLA testing has started and will continue for a couple of weeks. Um our AP exam started on May 4th and will continue until the middle of May. Uh good luck to all of our students. Uh a very big portion of the committee meeting was focused on discussing the benchmark B data analysis presentation and the committee focus on discussing intervention strategies, resources and supports available for our students. Our special education department is getting ready for extended school year with 112 students invited to
059our extended school year programs. Uh I also have a few mark your calendar announcements to make. Um Harmon stair climb to benefit the Special Olympics will take place on May 16th. Sikakus High School annual art show is taking place as we speak. Sikakus Middle School Beetlejuice performance will take place on uh May 8th through May 10th. Uh we hope to see you there. We have one item to vote on today. Today we have a new list of field trips for May, June. Also, I just would like to add something. This is teacher appreciation week. I want to thank our talented, resilient, dedicated and caring teachers. There is one week in a year to celebrate you, but we appreciate your commitment to our students daily. You change lives and you make miracles every day. Thank you.
060>> Thank you, Tatiana. operations committee, finance. >> Uh we also met on uh the 28th. It was a light agenda this month. Uh as far as districtwide, we had 226 uh school due school due tickets uh completed. 65 are still in progress at Huba Street. We're still waiting uh for the generator placement. Um we're waiting for land to um uh waiting for land for the generator placement at Huber Street. Uh the press box at the high school um is uh we're seeking a new vendor to complete the press box at the high school due to uh co-op uncertainty. Uh we are moving forward with the resurfacing of the tennis courts and the district will have to go out to bid for the HRA due to cost and complexity of the job. We were also updated
061on finances and financials for the district and we were updated on or we had a final update on the budget. That's all I got. >> Thank you, Joe. Anything for safety, security, buildings, and grounds or you mention to accept the recommendation of the business administrator, board secretary to approve and adopt resolutions R 1.01 through R4.09. >> Second. Discussion >> call the roll. >> Mr. Bartletta. >> Yes. Recuse myself from R 1.05. >> Miss Dadetta. >> Yes. >> Mr. Barry. >> Yes. >> Mr. Deombre. >> Yes. >> Miss Eckles. >> I'd like to abstain from R 1.01 to R 1.04 and yes to everything else. >> Miss Geller. >> Yes. Miss Howard, >> I have to recuse from R 1.01, R 1.03, R 1.04, and R 1.05. >> Yes. Everything else, >> Mr. Lewis? >> Yes.
062>> Mr. Delions? >> Yes. Ad hoc shared services had a town hall meeting held on April 30th, 2026. Um legislation there has not been a meeting for that. Um athletics committee has a tentative date for May 12th to meet. Technology communications um had a meeting on May 5th. >> Good evening. During our technology IT communications meeting, we continued to speak about modernizing our district's website and communication systems, including exploring a potential change in website hosting providers. The new system offers greater ease uh use for families and staff, a mobile app, and better continuity between the district website, newsletters, and notifications, which are currently housed in separate systems. The board would like to continue discussions about these systems and will provide future update once it's reviewed by appropriate committees during the June meetings. Uh the committee
063also briefly discussed the phone number used for notification blast. Some parents have reported that the calls regarding student absences are appearing as potential spam on the caller ID. Um it will speak to real time to see if the number can be registered to help prevent this from happening. In the meantime, please note that all calls coming from 5512308250 are school notifications. Saving this number in your contacts may also help prevent it from appearing as spam. That's all I have. >> Thank you, Melissa. Visions, no meeting. Christina, did you have >> Okay. um negotiations held a meeting uh the first meeting with the SEA on April 29th and we are meeting again on May 13th with the SEA to continue with our negotiations process. The policy special committee had a meeting on May 5th. Um the
064subcommittee reviewed 29 option policies and made several recommendations for the standing uh governance policy committee. I sent you an email, Alex, with those listings of the policies. Um, so the regular governance policy committee will review those at our I think end of this month's meeting for committees. Just one response to the question about coaching. So, there's an increase in coaching, $4,000. That's to basically um that aligns with the SEA contract with flag football becoming a varsity sport. So, that's what that's about. >> You're welcome. I just wanted you to understand um you know the sea just to go a little deeper on what Dr. Dr. Tobac said the SEA last year flag football was a club sport. So they coaches receive stipens under the club sport guidelines of the SEA contract. Now it is a
065varsity sport come spring. So the coaches must receive stipens based on the contract from the SEA which is why the increase. >> No, it Yeah. >> No. Okay. All right. You're welcome. You're welcome. Okay, board member comments. >> I just want to say happy teacher appreciation month to all of our teachers. I mean week. Well, it should be a month, but it's a week. Um, without them, our kids wouldn't get educated. Many of us that sit up here today wouldn't be here because without a teacher, you don't get educated. So, I just want to thank them for all their hard work. It's not an easy task. So >> to the chair >> many conversation been had by the trustees about the priority of the importance of instruction and that to minimize any effect of instruction
066by the budget that's been said over and over and over again and that's important that we're doing that and I think that we need to start looking at other ways we can generate funds. I don't know if we've ever considered doing a foundation. We have many years behind us of incredibly talented graduates that have gone on to become successful. And I think we might want to explore having a foundation where we have these people involved to say how can we give back to our school. So caucus is an extremely tight-knit community and maybe now we could start working on people that have either resources or have connections or one way or another be able to help us and start up a foundation that we can have to going forward that can help us to possibly
067minimize some of the the financial effects. I think that we've discussed superficially exploring enrollment options and I think that if we were start to look more into what other possibilities are there of getting students more students students into our district from the area that might be another way of generating funds. Uh I hope that in our budget as of January 1st of 2027 we've incorporated the potential increase again which is out of our control. we can't control, but we should at least be aware that they're threatening that as of January 1, 2027, we're going to have another huge increase in the cost of insurance, both policies and medication. So, we we think it's coming. There's no guarantee, but it seems like that's down the road. Finally, if we have any positions that are being opened
068up, the average cost for insurance now for a full-time employee is possibly 60 $65,000 a year if they're married and have a family. So I think we really need to consider anytime a position opens up that position should be brought in as a part-time or pdeium uh consultant something like that as opposed to a full-time person because the salary might not even match what the health benefit package is. So I think that we really need to look at anyone that's coming into the district if we're bringing them in what will be the overall cost. If we have a $60,000 employee coming in as a support person and we have another60 $665,000 coming in as their insurance packet, you're talking about $125,000 for that person. I think we need to evaluate if we can do that
069and if not possibly bringing in one or two consultants or part- timerrs to fill in the need for that position. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jerry. >> I got >> Okay, >> I I apologize. Uh Grace, I need to recuse myself from 1.01 and 1.02. Anyone else? Any other comments? Just want to say good night to everyone. Um, I just want to wish Lance, uh, Vic, and Pat a happy birthday. It's their birthday month. Um, and say good night to everyone and get home safe and make a motion to go back into executive session with no action being taken and we will not come back out into the public. So, we'll say good night to you. Motion to close. >> Second. >> All in favor? Hi, >> good evening.