001statement read by Ms. Christina DeBarry, our 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 Secaucus Town Hall on the bulletin board located in the hallway of the Board of Education administrative building, as well as the district website. Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call. Ms. Deodata? Here. Ms. DeBarry? Present. Mr. DeObre? Present. Ms. Eckols? Here. Ms. Howard? Here. Mr. Lewis? Present. Mr. Lyons? Here. So, this evening in an effort not to duplicate information, I will be deferring to Dr. Toback, who will be giving a presentation this month. Approval of the regular meeting minutes of March 26, 2026. I make a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of March 26.
002Second. Okay, we have some presentations for this evening. First, I'd like to start off with >> Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I need to do a roll call. >> Oh, I'm sorry, Grace. I'm sorry. Um, Ms. Deodata? Yes. Ms. DeBarry? Yes. Mr. DeObre? Yes. Ms. Eckols? Yes. Ms. Howard? Yes. Mr. Lewis? Yes. Mr. Lyons? Yes. Okay. Now, moving on to the presentations. First, we'd like to start off, um, recognizing Sydney Miller Voy. We are extremely proud to welcome Sid here this evening. She performed on this season's The Voice. Sid has represented our town with tremendous class and talent. She captivated the judges and the audience with her incredible performances. Choosing the legendary John Legend as her coach, Sid embarked on an extraordinary journey, impressing viewers across the country week after week. Her talent and dedication
003carried her all the way to the top nine, an accomplishment that we are incredibly proud of. I know she's incredibly proud of and her family's incredibly proud of as well. On a personal note, we think that she is certainly a winner in our eyes. Every journey has its purpose and we are confident that this is only the beginning of a very successful musical career. On behalf of the board, we congratulate you Sydney on this remarkable achievement. Thank you for making us proud and for representing your hometown in the very best way. >> [applause] [applause] >> At this time, I'd like to welcome up our principal from Secaucus High School, Mr. Steve Viggiani, to present the award for Unsung Hero. Okay, so I was going to present the Unsung Hero award. So, what happens every year,
004Hudson County school boards asks one high school, every high school from the county to pick one student who's the Unsung Hero. This year, our high school picked Emma Maher. Emma emailed me about 2:00 3:00 today that she wasn't feeling well. She's not able to be here, so we're going to honor Emma in at the May board meeting. Okay. Sydney, by the way, I think you should have won. Okay, I think all of Secaucus thinks you should have won. Okay, but I do have the pleasure of recognizing the Secaucus High School Teacher of the Year, and that is Ms. Martha Rodriguez. Ms. I have more. I have a lot more, actually. Mrs. Rodriguez is a highly effective world language teacher whose dedication and impact impact extends far beyond the classroom. She teaches a range of rigorous,
005high-level courses, which include Spanish 3, Spanish 3 Honors, Spanish 4 Honors, and Spanish for native speakers, which she consistently challenges her students to reach high levels of academic and language proficiency. Mrs. Rodriguez has played a major role in increasing the number of students graduating with the New Jersey Seal of Biliteracy, opening doors to future academic and career opportunities for many of her students. I want to say this year we have 40 students graduating with the Seal of Biliteracy, which is more than doubled in the past few years. She's always willing to go the extra mile. She regularly regularly attends student events outside of the school day and she serves as a tremendous source of support for both students and colleagues. Her professionalism and genuine care for the school community make her a valued leader whose
006influence extends far beyond the classroom walls. It's my great pleasure that we recognize Mrs. Rodriguez as the Secaucus High School Teacher of the Year. >> [applause] [applause] >> I also have the pleasure of recognizing our educational services professional of the year, and that is our guidance counselor, Ms. Tara Tavares. >> [applause] >> Ms. Tavares is a dedicated school counselor whose commitment to student success, emotional well-being, and school climate is exceptional. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated compassion, professionalism, and expertise while guiding students through academic planning, college career readiness, and personal challenges. Whether helping a senior navigate the college application process or assisting a struggling student in finding renewed confidence, she approaches each interaction with genuine care. In addition to her counseling role, she serves as a school's harassment, intimidation, and bullying specialist. A position that
007requires sensitivity and strong leadership. She consistently goes above and beyond in her efforts to maintain a safe and respectful school environment for all students. It's with great pleasure that we recognize her as this year's educational services professional of the year. Congratulations, Tara. >> [applause] >> Good evening. I'm Dr. Danielle Garzone, principal of Secaucus Middle School. Tonight, Secaucus Middle School is proud to recognize Mrs. Debra De Moan as the 2025-2026 Educator of the Year. Each year, Secaucus Middle School has the privilege of honoring a staff member who goes above and beyond for the school community. Someone who not only teaches, but inspires, leads, and makes a lasting impact on students and colleagues. Ms. De Moan truly embodies what it means to be a Patriot, a proud Secaucus High School graduate and salutatorian of her class. She
008has come full circle by giving back to the community that has helped shape her. At Secaucus Middle School, she is known as a dedicated educator, respected leader, and trusted mentor who consistently supports and encourages both students and fellow staff members. In addition to her work in the classroom, Ms. De Moan serves as an advisor for the National Junior Honor Society and Alpha, where she helps guide students to develop leadership skills and become positive contributors within the school and community. Her positivity, commitment, and genuine care for others make a lasting difference every single day. When someone loves what they do, they will never work a day in their life. She puts her heart and soul into her work and it doesn't go unnoticed by her students, their families, colleagues, friends, and community members. She is an
009inspiration to us all and we are fortunate to have an amazing educator who is passionate about her students. Once again, it is with great admiration and pleasure to honor Mrs. Debra De Moan as the 2025-2026 Secaucus Middle School Educator of the Year. Congratulations and may your dedication continue to inspire us all. Good evening. I am truly proud to recognize Talia Badri as this year's educational services provider of the year for Clarendon School. Talia brings an incredible level of care, patience, and dedication to her work every single day. The way she supports our students who rely on American Sign Language with such intention, always making sure they feel included, supported, and fully part of the learning experience is something to be admired. She has a way of quietly removing barriers so her students can access everything
010they deserve while preserving their dignity and building their independence. What stands out most about Talia is the way she connects with students. She is kind, compassionate, and a fierce advocate for all learners, especially those she works with one-on-one. She meets students exactly where they are, builds their confidence, and ensures they feel seen, heard, and valued. Her presence alone creates a sense of comfort and trust, and that has a lasting impact on the students she supports. She is also an exceptional collaborator. She brings insight, flexibility, and a calm, steady energy to the classroom. She works seamlessly with her colleagues, contributes meaningfully to instruction, and helps create a learning environment where all students can thrive, not just the ones she works with. She's the kind of teammate every teacher hopes to have, reliable, thoughtful, and always focused
011on what's best for kids. Beyond her outstanding contributions to our school community, Talia's commitment to service extends even further. Last year, she took a leave to serve our country, and she continues that service as a public affairs specialist in the United States Army National Guard. Balancing her role as an educator with her dedication to the military speaks volumes about her character, her discipline, and her deep sense of responsibility to others. Talia, we are so incredibly fortunate to have you as part of our school community. Congratulations. What a privilege to stand here tonight and speak about my teacher of the year, Yolanda Harsh. People say never meet your heroes, but that doesn't apply to Yola. For most of my 25 years in the district, I didn't have the opportunity to work closely with her. I had
012the chance to observe her just once as a district supervisor, but I always knew of her. I'd like to think that game recognizes game even from one side of Paterson Plank Road to the other. It reminds me of how we talk about elite athletes. Even if they're playing for another team, you hear the stories, you know the highlights, you just know they're different. And every once in a while, if you're lucky, like I was, you end up on the same team. Now, I won't presume to decide which Yankee great I am and which one you are, but I am sure I sure am I am sure I am proud to finally play alongside of you. Sometimes you don't need years of collaboration to recognize greatness. Yola is every bit the extraordinary educator I'd heard about,
013one of the elite of Clarendon School. Her classroom is alive. Her unique blend of brilliance and humor keeps students completely engaged even in the most in even the most difficult math lessons, hooked on every word, every moment. She doesn't just teach, she captivates. And what a career she's built. For 20 years, Yola has been teaching in Secaucus, shaping generations of students. Beyond her math classroom, she co-advises the SGO and leads the school safety patrol, consistently supporting not just her students, but her colleagues, sharing her expertise and leadership to elevate the entire school. And even more than that, she is an equally remarkable human being. She's a force to be reckoned with, fearless, brave, authentic, and unwavering in who she is and what she believes. Those qualities don't just make her a great teacher, they make
014her an unforgettable one. It has truly been a pleasure and a bit of good fortune to finally get to work get to work alongside you. And I hope if we ever get traded, it's as a package deal. Congratulations, Yola. The honor is long overdue and so well deserved. Good evening. I'm Rob Valente, principal of Huber Street School and the Millridge School. Every year, the Governor's Educational Services Provider of the Year award allows us to shine a light on those who work behind the scenes to make our schools whole. This year, we're honoring someone who may be new to our building, but who has already left an indelible mark on our hearts. After a wonderful tenure at Clarendon School, Chrissy Shiffer became a Huber Street School Bear this year. And while transitions can sometimes take time,
015Chrissy didn't just join our team, she completed it. Before the transfer even took place, our director of special services, Tammy Hennessy, went out of her way multiple times to brag to me about Chrissy's talents. Now, Tammy has high standards, so I knew we were getting somebody good, but it didn't take long to realize that good was an understatement. Truthfully, it feels as though Chrissy has been a part of Huber Street family for years. She has a way of moving through our halls with a quiet confidence and a truly calming presence that you simply cannot teach. It is a gift, and she shares it with us daily. She won over the her students instantly for one very simple reason. It is abundantly clear that she loves them. Our faculty took notice, too. In Chrissy, we see
016a rare combination of superb professional dedication and a brand of compassion for her students that is quite simply beautiful. Chrissy, we are so glad you found your way to us. It is my true honor to introduce the Huber Street School New Jersey Governor's Educational Services Provider of the Year, Mrs. Chrissy Shiffer. >> [clears throat] >> It is often said that the heart of a school is found in its classrooms. But occasionally, you find a teacher who seems to be the heart of the entire building. Tonight, it is my privilege to recognize an educator who embodies everything we strive for at Huber Street School. The New Jersey Governor's Educator of the Year for Huber Street School is Mrs. Kelly O'Connor. In the world of education, we often talk about specialization, but Kelly O'Connor is a true
017jack-of-all-trades. Over the years, she has worn almost every imaginable hat. Whether she was serving as our media specialist or teaching across multiple different grade levels, Kelly has always stepped up wherever and whenever she was needed most. Today, she is at home in kindergarten, a place where her unique blend of patience and energy is on full display. But regardless of the grade level on her door, the quality of the person inside remains the same. Kelly is the ultimate teammate. She is a consummate professional who brings a how can I help attitude to every meeting and every challenge. It's why she's held in such high regard by everyone who crosses paths with her. The parents at Huber Street School know her as a compassionate guide for their children. Her students know her as a source of kindness
018and joy, and her colleagues, we know her as a person we can always turn to for support, wisdom, and a reminder of why we entered this profession to begin with. Kelly, your dedication to our school and your versatility as an educator make you an invaluable part of the Huber Street School family. It is a true honor to present you with this award. Now, anyone who knows Kelly knows that she hates the spotlight. So, I'm going to ask for applause as she comes up here, but she needs a special one. Please join me in congratulating the Huber Street School New Jersey Governor's Educator of the Year, Mrs. Kelly O'Connor. >> [music] [music] >> Congratulations on behalf of the board for your well-deserved recognitions. Um knowing most of you personally, I can say from experience that they
019are all well-deserved honors. So, congratulations once again. At this time, we're going to jump to our student representative report. Good evening. We're pleased to share several highlights and positive events taking place at Clarendon School, Huber Street School, and Secaucus Middle and High School. First, Huber. Huber Street School hosted our annual career day Thursday, April 2nd. Thank you to Huber Street guidance counselor, Ms. Jamie Vegiano. We had 25 volunteers show up to discuss their careers with our students. We had firefighters, police officers, doctors, accountants, financial analysts, and much more. It was a great way to spark the ambitions of our students. On March 30th, our pre-K students at the Millridge School had a very special celebration for One School, One Judge Day. We were honored to welcome Judge Kerry Eglonowitz from Hudson County as our guest
020of honor. During her visit, the judge spent time reading wonderful stories to the children and sharing simple, fun lessons about how our legal system works. Our students loved learning about her important job and how she helps our community stay fair and safe. Congratulations are in order for one of our very own fifth graders, Roger Sagolslim, for his incredible achievement at the annual Hudson County STEM Fair. Roger's hard work and curiosity truly shine at this year's competition, where he was awarded a gold medal for his outstanding science project. We are incredibly proud of Roger for representing Huber Street School so well. Way to go, Roger. Next, for Clarendon. One of the highlights was our recent science fair run by our science teacher, Ms. Charles, which showcased the curiosity, creativity, and hard work for our students. From
021hands-on experience to thoughtful presentations, it was inspiring to see students engage so deeply in scientific thinking and problem-solving. We'd like to thank our superintendent, Dr. Toback, and all of the super all of the supervisors, directors, and town members who volunteered to come and judge the projects. Our students loved seeing you there. We would also like to extend a sincere thank you to our wonderful PTA for treating the entire school to Mister Softee in celebration of the funds we raised through Boosterthon. Their continued support makes experience like this possible. We are equally grateful for their efforts in hosting our spring book fair, which was both a successful fundraiser and a fun event for our students. We are also looking forward to tomorrow's Arbor Day celebration at Huber Street School. This is always a meaningful event for
022our students and community. Our second graders are especially excited to perform, and we are proud of their preparation and enthusiasm. In addition, the winners of the town poster contest will be honored for their outstanding work, and our fifth grade students will be participating in a cleanup effort in the woods, reinforcing the importance of environmental stewardship. One final, but important, announcement, this year's fifth grade promotion ceremony will take place on Tuesday, June 16th at 2:00 p.m. at the Arthur [snorts] F. Couch Performing Arts Center. The ceremony will be for both Huber Street and Clarendon School fifth graders. Now, for middle school. This month at Secaucus Middle School has truly showcased the incredible work of our students. Our environmental club took learning beyond the classroom by building birdhouses for the Meadowlands Marsh right on our campus, creating
023a real environment impact by supporting tree swallows and helping maintain the natural ecosystem. We are also incredibly proud of our students who represented Secaucus at the 2026 Hudson County STEM Showcase at the Library Science Center. Among a talented group of participants, congratulations to Ranvir Batla for earning an award for the third consecutive year, an outstanding accomplishment that reflects dedication, curiosity, and excellence in STEM. In recognition of Autism Awareness Month, our students participated in a powerful student-led initiative centered on acceptance. Through the creation of a rainbow tree display in our cafeteria, students shared meaningful ways to show kindness and inclusion, leaving a lasting message for our entire school community. Our eighth grade students also participated in a Balance Adventures team-building trip, where they strengthened communication, trust, and collaboration skills while building lasting connections with their peers.
024Our gaming night was a standout event, bringing students together in a positive, engaging environment where they where they built connections, strengthened friendships, and enjoyed being part of the SMS community. As we look ahead, we are excited for our upcoming spring concert and art show on May 13th, as well as our middle school musical, Beetlejuice Jr., running May 8th through 10th. Tickets are now on sale, and we look forward to seeing our students shine on stage. Moments like these reflect the strength of our school community and the incredible experience we continue to create for our students each day. Finally, we would like to share some exciting events and highlights from Secaucus High School. As we move into the spring testing season, New Jersey student learning assessments will take place in May. Grade nine students will participate
025in ELA and math testing from May 14th through May 18th, and grade 11 students will take the science assessment from May 18th to May 19th. Students are reminded to arrive on time, bring a fully charged Chromebook, and be well rested well rested and prepared each day. We would also like to congratulate Shreya Immaneni, who has been selected to attend this year's Governor's School of Engineering and Technology at Rutgers University. This highly selective program provides students with the opportunity to engage in advanced academic work, collaborate on research projects, and connect with peers and professionals across the state. During voter registration week, Secaucus High School encouraged civic engagement by helping eligible 17- and 18-year-old students to register to vote ahead of the May 12th primary election deadline. We would like to congratulate Brooke Carson, who has been
026awarded a national gold medal in the prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Out of more than 340,000 entries nationwide, less than 1% received this honor. Brooke has been invited to attend a special ceremony this June at Carnegie Hall, where she will be recognized alongside other top young artists in the country. We also congratulate her teacher, Ms. Jimenez, who received a national gold medal educator award. We are incredibly proud of this achievement. We would also like to recognize students who recently participated in college signing events. Congratulations to Byron Mills, who will attend Caldwell University for track and field, Brandon Vega, who will continue his football career at Salisbury University, and Ada Monerano, who will wrestle at Utica University. We wish some continued success in their academic and athletic careers. The Secaucus girls volleyball program recently hosted
027its end-of-the-season banquet, commemorating a remarkable year marked by the team achieving its 20th state championship, the highest number of state championship victories in New Jersey. This achievement showcases the commitment and effort of the athletes, coaches, and the entire program. The science club has continued its annual birdhouse project, installing additional birdhouses throughout campus. With these additions, there are now 15 birdhouses on school grounds, all currently occupied. The club extends its appreciation to community members who supported this initiative. The Secaucus High School annual art show will take place on May 7th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the upper PAC. This event will feature artwork from over 200 student artists across a variety of mediums, including ceramics, painting, drawing, and digital graphics. Top artwork will be recognized, and one piece will advance to the best of the
028show. We encourage everyone to attend and support our talented student artists. Upcoming events include the Secaucus High School marching band car wash fundraiser on May 30th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Secaucus firehouse. All proceeds will support the marching band. Additionally, we would like to recognize the sale club for hosting a very successful senior citizen prom last evening. The event was filled with great food, dancing, and community spirit. During the event, seven seniors were awarded scholarships and a variety of superlatives were presented, making a memorable night for all who attended. Lastly, lawn signs are available for purchase to celebrate members of the class of 2026. This is a great way for the community to recognize and support graduating seniors. Thank you, ladies. Um as always, we'll offer you the opportunity to go if
029you so choose. I know you have studying to do. And also offer the audience before we move into our business portion of the meeting if you'd like to um leave. I know it's getting late and some of you have traveled from far to get here. So, thank you for coming and congratulations again. Okay, continuing with our presentation portion of the meeting. At this time, I would like to welcome up Mrs. Felicia Shatry to give the benchmark presentation for the district. I think Yeah, it's on wheels. I think this is still on. Hello, everybody. I'm Felicia Shatry. I'm the director of elementary education, curriculum, and instruction. I am here tonight to give a presentation on benchmark B assessment through our LinkIt platform. I recently gave a presentation earlier this school year on benchmark A. Um that
030is part of our initiative here and the district goal to give presentations on benchmark A, B, and C. Just like the last presentation, I did post this already on our district website if you do want to follow along at home or on another device. I'm going to be displaying a lot of charts and diagrams and graphs that might be difficult to see on this big screen. So, if you do want to follow along on your device, um it might be a little bit easier or clearer to see. You can also access this presentation as well as the previous presentation too at any time on our district website under board and then board presentation. So, I am going to go through parts of this pretty quickly tonight, but like I said, you're welcome to access this
031presentation at any time. So, the purpose of our LinkIt benchmarks that we've been doing this school year is to identify, address, and support our students. Like I just said, this is district goal number two is to inform the school community about the benchmarks three times uh throughout the school year. Now, just as a reminder, we take the benchmark A in September, B in January, C in April. In fact, our benchmark window for benchmark C closes tomorrow. Um there are categories very similar to NJSLA. The only difference um on our LinkIt benchmark is that bubble category. I included this again cuz I get a lot of questions about what that bubble category means. If your child does score in the bubble category, that does mean that they are in that meeting level um which correlates with
032the NJSLA. They're just at that bottom 10% of that meeting category, and those are our students, our teachers, our parents are really watching just to make sure they remain in that meeting category and they continue to increase into the meeting category throughout the school year. So, they're right on that cusp, so we want to just keep an eye on that. Um just our assessment framework, just as a reminder, form A was in September. That's the initial benchmark assessment. That's what I presented about in September. And you're going to find the presentations a little bit different because we utilize both these assessments in different ways. Form A establishes a baseline of student performance. That information is given to the teacher, and they use that to understand their students that they currently now have in their classroom
033in September, where they're at, where their needs are, and what they need to do to make sure that they show growth throughout the school year. It also aligns the standards and reflects grade level expectations. Now, form A, students are assessed on everything they're going to be learning throughout the school year. So, it's not expected that they're getting 100% at this time because they didn't learn any of that content yet. But we're hoping they can use some background knowledge and really develop that baseline area to determine where they're at in September. Now, form B is very similar to form A. They're still tested on all this information throughout the school that they're going to be learning throughout the school year. It's um still the same standards and skills in that grade level, just different questions as
034well to really monitor their growth from form A to form B. The goal is to monitor student progress over time, maintains um comparable level of rigor and structure to form A. And form B also identifies if students improved after targeted teaching, the standards student needs improvements in, and if any interventions that were given, if they're working, what else needs to be done. Now, form B is administered in January. That is what I'm going to be presenting to you tonight. So, just be mindful when you're looking at this data, it's not from right now at the end of the school year. This is from January. So, you will get another presentation, I believe, in June um just sharing the growth from form A to form B to form C. So, at this time when students took
035this in January, um we still have made huge strides since January to ensure that students are making that growth that they need to make throughout the school year. Um I'm also going to be sharing tonight a few reports. That's where all these graphs came. They're straight from our LinkIt platform. They really provide excellent data for our teachers. Um we use this for curriculum planning. It helps us facilitate collaboration, discussions about the standard skills and topics. Uh we use this for summarizing and comparing multiple data sets. And um all educators can build this report in the platform, which is a beautiful thing. Things that I'm sharing with the community now, our teachers are using on a daily basis within their instruction to really use this data to drive what they're doing on a daily basis. And
036like I said, the reports from A to B to C, just as another reminder, this is from January that I'm about to share. Each benchmark evaluates students on all grade level standards. So, you're going to find in January not all standards were touched upon yet. They will be by the end of the school year, but January, about 40% of the standards have been taught to our students. So, again, you may in certain areas, as you'll go through these graphs, you're going to see that maybe not every single standard is very high because they have not gotten to that yet. So, this is just a quick district summary for our summary for ELA from form A to form B. On the left is form A, on the right is form B. It breaks down to every
037category. Now, this is across the entire district. I'm going to then break this down for ELA and then for math as well. Um I'm about to break this down by every single grade level so we can really pinpoint grade levels that saw huge growth, grade levels that maybe only saw a little bit of growth. And in January, when we evaluated this and looked at this data, we were able to determine what grade levels do we need to target, what standards do we still need to target, were they in our pacing guide at this time or is it at a later time? Do we want to move that forward into the beginning of the school year for the future? These are all decisions we are using based off of the data results. So, the first one,
038I am going to go quickly through these slides right now, but again, you have access to them at home. This is just a quick one. I mean, all the slides are going to look like this. This is grade one from Claredon. You're going to see you have the left is form A, the right is form B. You're going to see that there was growth there in most of these categories, which is excellent. In some of the categories that might still be low, we're still working towards that throughout the school year because again, they only took this in January. But overall, you're seeing that consistent growth in every category. And it breaks it down for our teachers by standard skills, topics, so we can see the exact area where they're strong in, where they're still weak
039in. You might say, "Well, I spent a lot of time on this standard, so this makes sense. They should be high." Or maybe you're like, "Okay, we didn't get to this yet. We're working on this in February. That makes sense." Or other spots where you might have seen a dip in certain areas, you can also say, "Well, I need to go back. It's only January. I still have a lot of time. I can I need to go back and really make sure my students fully understand this concept before where what other content they need to make sure they hit on before they take the NJSLA in May. So, this helps with small group instruction, differentiation. They were able to view question proficiency, view student answers at the class levels, which is great, showing where you're
040high, low, medium, where our kids are going and where they're how they're doing. And this is what the class diagnostic looks like as a whole for a teacher. Again, this is just a sample, but you'll see the description. You'll see the class average. It's great quick information for each standard that a teacher can see for their individual students. They can even organize this by class, which is really a great resource to utilize. And then we also have the item analysis as well, which literally breaks it down for each question, each item that is there, how each student did, what they answered, how long how much time they spent on each question, if more kids answered B and the correct answer is D, what were those trends, why were they selecting that answer. So, it really
041provides some valuable information for our teachers. And the next steps. We're using this data right now. This growth data highlights how much a student has learned from one benchmark to the next. Even if they have not reached proficiency yet, we're still working towards that and it helps us to identify where the needs are. This is especially important for recognizing improvement in all learners. These growth reports provide clear meaningful data to share with teachers, administrators, and families, showing how instruction impacts student learning over time. Comparing benchmark A to benchmark B allows teachers to identify specific standards where students made gains or need additional support, helping to adjust instruction, re-teaching, or enrichment. So, at this time, this is everything from benchmark B, but I do look forward later this spring to sharing benchmark C. I hope you
042enjoyed seeing what our goals are as a district and where we were in January and I look forward to sharing where we will be towards the end of the school year. So, thank you very much. Does anybody have any questions? Okay, thank you everybody. I hope you have a great night. Thank you, Felicia. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Sorry. At this time, I'd like to welcome up Dr. Toback to give his interim superintendent report and also a presentation for this month. Okay. Thank you. Arrows? Yep, that's it. Okay, perfect. Thanks a lot. Okay, so board members, just um quick comment about Ms. Treat's presentation. So, so the idea with the goal that we have for doing these presentations is certainly the community has every right to know how the schools that are being funded by
043taxpayer dollars are performing. Parents have every right to know um how their children are doing in school and teachers have I think we have an obligation to provide our teachers with the best possible information to help them do their job. So, this particular goal does all those things. It's a foundation for the school district. As educators, I think every educator would probably agree with me that one of the most important things that you can do is meet students where they are, to create lessons, to come up with activities, to do the things that you need to do to help students to understand, to grow, and you're seeing a lot of that happening in the district. This is a foundation. We haven't had this for much more than what This is the second year. And so,
044we are in the middle of really a learning curve. We're learning how to use this information and we're learning how to use it in the classroom. So, every effort is being made to put this to full benefit for our students. Okay, um just a few other notes. Certainly, congratulations to all of our educators of the year. This is a once-in-a-lifetime award and each of those educators is certainly very deserving. Um our students did a wonderful job with reporting all the other things that are going on around the district. Um today was bring your child to work day and needless to say, our enrollment increased today dramatically with so many staff members bringing their children to work. It was very nice to see in the hallways. And I also have to report the HIB um cases
045for the past reporting period. There were four cases that were reported. Three of those are actual cases. The other thing that I'm going to do tonight is I'd like to give the board and the community an update about our pre-K program and to talk about our program for next year. And so, you know as a board that there was a goal that was established earlier this year. And so, I'd like to just make you aware of where we are and how things are progressing. Okay, so to start, um these are our enrollment trends for general education students. So, there's a difference in the pre-K. There is a program for students with disabilities and there is a program for students in general education. There's an effort to mainstream students in different ways and so, um but
046in terms of the general education program, you can see that enrollment has dropped quite a bit since 2020 and 2021. And so, you can see that um I think this is the wrong slide. Um but the actual drop is 71%. So, somehow this is mixed up with another slide. Rest of the numbers are okay. All right. Um the next part is our current pre-K program. Okay, so right now, you can see that there are four sections. There's a pre-K AM, a pre-K PM, and you can see the enrollment there, how that adds up to 24. And so, if you think about this from perspective of full-time enrollment, right? If you think about it that way, this would be the equivalent of 12 full-time students, right? Each is half-time. So, it's the equivalent of our staffing,
047which is two teachers, two teacher aides supporting 12 total students. That's the equivalent of what it would look like in a full-day program. And so, that is unsustainable, especially when you look at our prior enrollment numbers. So, our factors negatively influencing enrollment, it's simple. Our program did not meet the needs of many of our parents who would otherwise enroll their children in our pre-K program, except that it is not a full-day program. Many parents need the full-day program. There is no before care, there is no after care, and the reality is that with only 2 and 1/2 hours and when you have to ultimately have the students come in, um have them leave for the day, give them snack, do all the other things that you need to do in that very short period of
048time, it really does limit academic progress. And so, we talked earlier this year about how our program is built on play, but the making those connections and everything else that goes with that is very difficult to do in 2 and 1/2 hours. Okay, so in response to all that, the district established a goal, which is to build early childhood enrollment. And so, this happened in November of last year. And so, we have been working very hard to create a program that does what we needed to do to make the program valuable to the parents, to make the pro- program one of the best when it comes to the educational component of it, and to really have something that we can be proud of as a community. Okay? So, how are things lining up for next
049year? So, next year as it stands right now, it looks like we will be able to move ahead with one pre-K 3 class, one pre-K um I'm sorry, and two pre-K 4 classes. So, that is based on the following information. Okay, so you can see there are 17 parents who completed applications for their children for pre-K 3. At this point, we have nine tuition contracts signed. We have two special education students that will be part of the inclusion model, which adds up to 11. And we set a maximum class size of 15. So, there are four seats left, although we are likely to have to set aside one or two for additional inclusion students. So, that really means that we probably have about one or two seats available for other placements. Um if you look
050at the pre-K 4 program, right? We have 29 completed applications. You can read that. There are 16 contracts that are signed. There are special education students numbering six. And so, if you split that into two classes, you have basically four seats available per each class, except that we probably should hold on to one or two more for inclusion. So, all said none, we have maybe six or seven total seats available and we still have the rest of the spring and the summer where people will inquire and we still have a number of people that have completed their applications, but just have not signed tuition contracts. So, we're well on our way to being fully subscribed. Um but wait, there's more. And so, the other thing I wanted to add is that there's some exciting things
051happening with the pre-K program. So, currently, the program is housed at Millridge School. For a variety of reasons, it is important to move the program out of Millridge and to open a pre-K program at the Clarendon School. And so, that does a number of things that are really important for our students and for our teachers. First of all, it advances our inclusion model. So, right now um our inclusion model is, in my opinion, not where it needs to be. So, there are some things that we could do to really advance that model to make it better, and we could do that in a full school like we have at Clarendon. Um there's really a lot more opportunity for earlier intervention because there are staff members, there's access to services that are seamless. There's a diversity
052of classes, which means for just simple things like, for example, the fact that there's a gym. Just something like that changes the program. Um the fact that the students are part of a school community, they're part of the hustle and bustle every day. That makes a lot, and the operational benefits are something that helps us in terms of our budget, right? Our budget um benefits as well. So, um I guess that's that's it for now. That's the status of our program. I think that the whole thing is moving in a great direction. I think that we really um we've had a good response, and obviously you know, when when it comes to the feedback from parents, the parents I think have um previously they spoke very loudly about our earlier program in that um they
053stopped sending their kids to the program, right? That's the reality of it. So, they let us know very clearly that the program was not meeting what they were hoping for in a pre-K program. That's an incredibly important thing for children to participate in these pre-K programs. The other thing I think that is perhaps a little bit of a misunderstanding is the idea that any of this would be able to go on. So, in other words, um the idea of continuing with a program with such low enrollment is not responsible fiscally responsible for the district to continue something like that. It's not educationally uh advantageous, and it just doesn't make sense to continue that. So, um I I I think unless there are some really major significant changes, I don't think the program would survive as
054it is next year. It just wouldn't make sense to do it. So, um I think that's like I said, that the option of going back to this is not really an option. It hasn't been an option. When we get down to, you know, where we lose that many students in enrollment um obviously you have to do something different. And what we're doing is different, and it seems to be fairly well received by many in the community. Thank you, Dr. Toback. At this time, our business administrator will read her business administrator board secretary report, and also read our correspondence for the month. Okay, I did receive correspondence this month. It was to the Secaucus Board of Education, Dr. Toback, and myself and the board members. It was from Mr. Anthony Grenier, and he requested that this
055email dated April the 1st, 2026 be included as correspondence and read at the April 2026 board meeting. To promote transparency and public confidence in the process, I urge the urge the district to publicly release the proposed budget for the '26-'27 school year before the April 26th board meeting. I also implore the district to schedule a special meeting for public comment on the proposed budget well before any planned adoption date, which is currently scheduled to be held by Thursday, May 7th, 2026. While not expressly stated, the language used by both the board president and our superintendent during the March 2026 board meeting implies our district faces a critical financial a critical fiscal situation and possibly a deficit in funding. Comments such as the budgeting process is complex and demanding, that our district faces a challenging financial
056landscape, and that our district experienced significant increases in health care costs are all cause for concern. However, no additional details were provided. Moreover, the stated first-time use of a zero-based budget, an accounting method often utilized for aggressive cost reduction with the goal of producing a budget where income minus expenses equals zero, also implies that the district is looking for ways to cut cost of some programs to offset a potential deficit. Our community should be made aware of these proposed cuts, reductions, and have the opportunity to comment well before the board votes on adoption. To reiterate what was stated at last month's board meeting, our district faces significant increases in health care costs for the upcoming school year. While I am confident you are already aware, please note that the New Jersey statute section 18A {colon}
0577F-38D permits a district to go beyond the constraints of the 2% tax levy cap to cover increases in authorized health care and pension costs. I bring this to your attention in hopes that the district takes advantage of the relief authorized by New Jersey 18A {colon} 17F-38D. I also ask that the board and/or administration comment as to what actions have been taken to utilize the statutorily permitted adjustments to cover the increases in health care costs so as not to reduce funding for instruction and support services that our children desperately need as part of their public education. Finally, given the challenging financial landscape our district faces, revisiting last year's approval of an RFP for a grant writer would likely improve our financial health. Please let us know when our school district may expect to have a grant
058writer on staff to secure much-needed funding to offset our increased costs. I hope you will reply directly to me with responses to these comments and questions within the next few days, as well as provide the answers publicly to our community at the April 2026 board meeting. Many thanks, and be well. Anthony Grenier. Sorry. Secaucus resident and parent of a school-aged child. Uh I I have no other report for this meeting. Thank you. Thank you, Grace. Welcome. Public forum agenda items. Good evening. I'm Steven Fogerdy. Is your mic on, Steve? It is now. Thank you, Madam President. I'm Steven Fogerdy, I'm the attorney for the Secaucus School District. This meeting is open to the public for the purpose of addressing items listed for approval on this agenda only. Residents wishing to speak on such items must
059sign the register provided for this purpose, and are required to state their names, addresses, and subject matter. Comments are limited to 3 minutes per person. The board may or may not respond to issues raised by members of the public at the 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 and will not be responsible for those comments. Members of the public who choose to speak during this public session should carefully consider their comments since they could be held personally
060liable for any statements they make. Finally, please note that in accordance with district policy number 1100, the board will not officially comment or respond to any matter mentioned unless it can can confirm that the matter has been first brought to the attention of the appropriate school personnel in an attempt to resolve the issue informally. Your cooperation is appreciated. Thank you. We have agenda items, or this is just the general? General. Okay. So, public forum general. Mr. Grenier. Do you have to read another disclaimer? Ditto those comments on the general agenda, please. Good evening, everyone. Anthony Grenier, uh Secaucus resident and parent of a school-aged child. Um I'm disappointed in everybody here that there was no response given to the email that I sent over 3 weeks ago. Either to myself personally, as I requested, or
061once it was read to the community at large. Um I don't write these emails for fun. I write these emails to get answers because the community deserves answers. And we still don't have any answers, and hopefully we can get some soon. Um as I'm sure you're aware, the 2025 school Turn Turning point. I'm sure you're aware the 2025 New Jersey Student Learning Assessments were recently released. And Secaucus School District reported the following proficiency rate numbers. Grade 4 English, 51.8% proficient. Grade 4 Math, 50.3% proficient. Grade 5 Science, 38.8% proficient. Grade 8 English, 70.2% .2% proficient. Grade 8 Math, 36.3% proficient. Grade 8 Science, 12.3% proficient. Grade 11 Science, 25.5% proficient. Also looking at the benchmark numbers that were recently presented tonight. Um I went through those numbers myself. Uh it appears that from Form A
062to Form B, our district ELA scores have actually dropped from 49% proficient down to 46% proficient. And our math percentages proficiencies, although increased, are currently at 37.5% proficiencies. When I saw these numbers, it shook me and I hope that it shook you, too. Dr. Toback, I appreciate the comments that you made earlier um about our district using this data to hopefully improve. However, factually and statistically, currently, our district is not in good shape. In every reported category except 8th grade English, approximately 50% of our children, if not more, are failing. Looking at the positive, many of our scores did improve from the period before. However, our our community should be concerned whether this trend will continue given what I anticipate to be the current state of our budget. Although the board has not announced any
063specifics despite that the county superintendent having approved our district's budget proposal earlier this week, by Friday, or excuse me, by Monday, I anticipate that extreme cost-cutting will be implemented throughout our budget as a result of rising health care costs and likely some ill-conceived spending in the past. But given our current proficiency numbers, our district cannot Again, as it stands right now, approximately half, if not more, of all of our students in every tested grade for English, math, and science are failing. Those aren't my numbers. Those are the numbers reported by Secaucus to the New Jersey Board of the New Jersey Department of Education and then reported by them. I desperately hope that this board and our administration has a plan to address these deficiencies and ensure our budget is not cut but instead is increased
064to provide more instruction and more services to our children. I also hope that as the wards charged with overseeing our district, a majority of you will commit to meaningfully improve our system that is currently failing half of our students. Please do something for them. Please give us some answers. Thank you, Mr. Granieri. Bruce Bass. Welcome. Bruce Bass. I have a little spiel prepared right here. Sorry, guys. It's okay. So, good evening. Um I'm here as a parent of a child who registered for the pre-K program um back some weeks or a month or so ago. I don't have the exact date. Um you know, um it feels like uh time has went very slowly uh since she was born and we kept saying, "Okay, next year she'll be in the pre-K. Next year she'll be
065in the pre-K." Finally, it's coming up. So, we signed her up and I don't know if it was a week or 2 weeks after that, we got some kind of notice that uh there was going to be a full-time program of whatever it is, $950 per month. And we said, "Okay, you know, that's good for families that have, you know, maybe two part working parents and they want another option in Secaucus or in Hudson County or in the Rutherford's, Lyndhurst, whatever, uh who need it, that's great. Why not? And um you know, we found out like a week after that that the current program that we've had for years was getting canceled and discontinued. And um I don't know, I could just speak for I don't know how many parents were left to come in
066for this year, but I know a lot of people are disappointed about it. And um yeah, that's why I came in today to discuss that with you guys. And um Yeah. And I was going to say that uh you know, a lot of families prepared for uh you know, sending their kids to school this uh September. And uh I don't know. I just um I feel like it would be reasonable and possible um that there would be the option to do the full-time if you guys felt like that was a benefit. I feel like that would be a benefit to a lot of people who uh are working parents, of course, like both of them. But I just feel like the price is very uh very expensive for a public school. It's not a like
067a private like uh you know, uh daycare kind of program or babysitting program. So, for a public school, it doesn't really make sense that it would uh be that much. But um yeah. And I'd just like to ask you guys to please consider uh at least for this year because it's such short notice. If you gave people more warning, it'd be a little bit more reasonable to uh uh maybe um phase it out or something like that. But under this short circumstance, it'd be nice if you could include both um being that you have uh only 16 people that have signed up yet for the 4K program. Um that and also I just wanted to speak. I don't know exactly, I don't follow this too closely, but I know we were supposed to get a
068grant or something like that a couple years ago. And I said, "Wow, that would be amazing if that happened." You know, there's so much time and then we we heard it didn't happen and we said, "Okay, hopefully in a couple years it'll happen." And I just feel like Secaucus as a township, I don't know how many of you guys live here, I live here. I feel like we took a step back. Um we no longer have a public pre-K program, at least it's not, you know, a very expensive one. So, in a sense, we've downgraded from the point we were in a lot of perspectives. So, uh thank you guys. Hopefully just uh asking for consideration. And uh thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Bass. Angela Amato. Hello. My name's Angela Amato. Um
069I'm also a resident of Secaucus. My husband's a lifelong resident. Um I also wanted to touch on the pre-K program. Uh my daughter's four. She's currently involved in the library program twice a week for an hour and a half. We love it. Our library teachers are amazing. Um my biggest concern for my family personally is that transition to the full day. So, right now she's only 2 days a week, hour and a half. Switching to a full day plus full week is definitely our concern. Um as Bruce mentioned, I think if there's any way at all possible to give the option for the half day. In speaking with a lot of parents that are in the program, I do know there are a lot that are interested in the half day and not happy now
070switching to a full day. Um I think it's a mix. Some parents have concerns about price or transition or this and that. So, I don't know if there's any option to do sort of a a separate meeting, a town hall, something. I think a lot of us were caught off guard. We had no idea that this was happening. Um so, like recently, like he mentioned, we didn't have time to really prepare for it. But yeah, if there's any way to do a meeting or something to just really get a proper survey of the parents in town and really understand what the needs are for pre-K. Um I think what you presented also has been new information. The change to Claritin, like that's new. I had no clue about that. So, I think we need to
071somehow find a way to definitely connect with the community better and really figure out the proper program for our town. It's pretty much it. Thank you, Ms. Amato. Thank you all. I just want to thank you um for respectfully giving your opinions here this evening and the board will discuss all of them. So, thank you. Moving into governance personnel. Good evening. The governance committee met on Wednesday, April 15th. Uh we had several personnel uh items that we reviewed and approved approved. One was the approval extending Dr. Toback to the as interim superintendent uh for the next uh school year, July 1st, 2026 through June. Uh we also approved uh Joe Priest as a presenter for the April 22nd C Pack meeting. Uh there uh was a approval for the depository individuals for covering the middle
072school special education until uh the position is filled. The computer The committee also reviewed and approved uh the revision of the student assistant counselor job description. Several per diem employees were also approved approved and uh maternity bonding and medical leave and we also approved the retirement of Roxanne Hackle, uh Huber Street teacher. Uh under policy and regulation, uh the committee revised uh approved the revisions of two uh policies, one the use of facilities and the other for the employment of chief school administrator. Thank you, Alex. This month for education, um our Tatiana Geller um had some unfortunate circumstances. She's unable to attend the meeting this evening, so Mr. Lyons will be giving the education committee report on her behalf. Education curriculum. Thank you. You're welcome. Amplify CKLA and reveal presentation. Can you hear me? Yeah.
073Was presented by Felicia Chetrit. Uh discussed the foundation and core ideas of the program, teacher guides and supporting materials were included. Uh and the program has an all-in-one digital platform. Reveal mathematics sees math as a dynamic set of problem-solving instead of application of memorized algorithm of computerized procedures. The program has a special education special education component and both programs are aligned to the state standards. There were some questions from the committee including how do teachers feel about the programs. Ms. Chetrit stated that teachers love the ELA program, feel comfortable using the program. Although the survey according to the survey, 89% of teachers like to continue using it. Uh for the mathematics program, Ms. Chetrit reported that the teachers feel the same about the way that program works. Uh business discussed. Uh gifted and talented presented
074by Ms. Chetrit. AP exams begin the week of May the 4th. During the education committee meeting of 3/5/25, the committee asked for gifted and talented student numbers. Ms. Chetrit said shared at at elementary gifted and talented enrollment, third grade six students at Clarendon and 11 at Huber, fourth grade 13 students at Clarendon and nine at Huber, fifth grade 15 students at Clarendon and 18 at Huber. No information on gifted and talented numbers for our middle and high school. Uh discussion on the 2026 Secaucus High School Summer Academy proposal. A discussion on the post for high school summer academy teachers. Our students participate in the following enrichment opportunities. Uh students from human human anatomy and physiology, zoology and the science club visited the Liberty Science Center for unique live from performance. They watched a live kidney
075transplant performed by Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center. And the poetry jam on April the 14th. I think I'd rather go to the poetry jam than watch the kidney transplant, but Special education presented by Ms. Hennessey. The district raised approximately $3,000 for Spectrum Works during the autism uh acceptance fundraiser. Post for ESY teachers, teacher assistants and classroom aides. C Pack art therapy presentation on April 22nd, 2026. If I could mention that that was done uh last evening, it was an incredible success uh thanks to Anthony and Dina for uh bringing everyone together. They had a lot of parents in there and students and police officers and uh some incredible stuff came out of it. It was wonderful including and I've been educated for 39 years. I didn't know we had this program, but I'd mentioned the cops
076had showed tonight which is the uh blue envelope for parents of uh children and the children themselves who are on the spectrum. If they have this in their car, if they're pulled over by the police and they hand it to the police, it has information in it and it lets the the police know that that child is on the spectrum and there might be some special issues that they want to help them with. So, it's a I think it's a great program. I just found out about it last night, but I thought it was done very well. Um and also the woman that I'm going to mention the woman that ran the program, so the committee asked how many students and we're participating for ESY. Ms. Hennessey stated that they do not know yet. A
077little blurb about the program last night if I can. My phone to work. Hang on a second, sorry folks. The meeting last night was run by C Pack which is the uh Secaucus Secaucus Special Education Parent Advisory Group and it was well attended. It began with Officer Sal Menetti and Jude Mascillo who shared valuable information about the Secaucus Police Department's autism registry which is another great program. If you have a child on the spectrum, you might want to register them because it gives all kinds of information in case there's a crisis. It has photographs, it has information about the child. It's really I think a very good resource. Uh the Jill Priest, if I'm saying her name correctly, she's a student assistance counselor, art therapist and psychoanalyst at Secaucus High School. She led parents through
078a demonstration, got us all to draw our favorite animals and explain what those animals meant to us. Uh there was a lot of great stuff there including they the the Dina and uh Anthony provided some refreshments and the group got a time to bond together over their artwork and some snacks. And it was a great night and it was a really good reflect the heart of autism awareness month and the strength of our Secaucus community. Multilingual learners presented by Ms. Chetrit. Amplify CKLA language studio. Elementary and high school platform. Reveal mathematics resource in Spanish and English. Uh some district updates. April 16th, PSAT is offered for eighth and ninth grade students. Bayonne's vocational program offering certain programs to interest students in Hudson County. Logistics of getting our students to Bayonne were discussed. Benchmark presentation will
079be given at the April BOB meeting which was done. The NJSLAA parent letter went out. The on the following postings, there's a post for high impact tutors for summer 2026 pending high impact tutor grant approval. I think Felicia had discussed that in the past also at meetings we had, so I'm sure she'll be updating on that in the future. Post for fiber arts curriculum rewrite. Discussion of the following sub following approvals. Approval for high school ELA teacher coverage schedule. Approval for the middle school special education teacher coverage schedule. Approval for April field trips. Approval to submit focus grant for $4,936 $36 due on April 30th. The funding for comprehensive universal screeners or focus grant aims to continue support uh ELAs to adopt and implement high quality universal literacy screeners that align with the universal literacy
080screening criteria as outlined in the guidance provided by the department to meet the screening requirements in kindergarten through grade three uh K through three according to state law. And then we had a general discussion on expanding our high school programs to offer more opportunities to our students and the recommendation was to contact person for additional information. Uh that's all these minutes were done through Tatiana and I apologize Tatiana I didn't do as good a job as you would have and I hope everything's all right. You did. Thank you, Jerry. Operations committee finance. So, we had our meeting earlier this month on the 15th. Uh we had our discussion uh took place. We had discussion on School Dude reports. 375 uh tickets were completed. 46 are still in progress. At Huber Street School, we're still waiting
081for uh the generator placement. At the high school, um due to co-op uncertainty, the district is seeking a new vendor to complete the press box renovation. Uh moving forward as we are moving forward as planned with resurfacing of the tennis courts. Uh the district will have to go out for bid for the uh for HVAC due to cost and complexity of the job. Uh while performing valve changes on the hot water heater at the high school, uh they began to smell gas. Um PSE&G was called and discovered five um five different gas leaks. PSE uh PSE&G did fix and repair um the gas leaks at no cost to the district. We also had discussion on financials and we were also updated uh on the budget. That's all I got for finance. Okay. Thank you, Joe.
082Safety, security, and grounds. It was included. Any emergent items, Grace? No emergent items. No emergent items. Okay. I'd like to make a motion to adopt the recommendations R 1.01 through R 4.08. Second. Discussion? Call the roll. Ms. De Iudicibus? Yes. Mr. Barry? Yes. Mr. Diombre? >> Yes. Ms. Eckols? >> Yes. Ms. Howard? Um yes, but I have to recuse from R 1.01 and 1.04. Mr. Lewis? Yes. Mr. Lyons? Yes. Okay, for ad hoc committees, um shared services, we'll be having a town hall meeting on April 30th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. at the PAC Center. There was no meeting for legislation, athletics, um Tatiana's not here this evening, but I will speak with her about arranging a um end of the year meeting for athletics. I know technology and communications, we were trying to get a
083date. Do we We don't have one yet, right? No, not yet. We are in the process. >> We're in the process of getting a date for that. Okay, there is no meeting yet scheduled for Visions, but there will be hopefully by the end of the school year. Uh negotiations, uh we will be negotiating with the SEA um on April 29th. And we will be scheduling before the end of the school year a uh policy special committee meeting. At this time, I'd like to turn it back over to Dr. Toback to address some of the public comment questions. So, um first regarding the budget, so Mr. Granieri's questions, um the one thing I'd like to just mention is that the district is following the typical process that it has followed for many many years regarding the
084development of the process, the presentation of information about the budget. And so, um but the board is also considering um basically looking at our budget development process and how the information about the budget will be presented in the future and considering that is part of the work it does during the summer and perhaps rolling out a new process with specific milestones to be met at different times of the year. So, that's um something that the board will be considering in the coming months. Um of course, with the goal of creating additional transparency. Now, um the other thing I have to say and and maybe this will be somewhat alarming um to some of you, but Mr. Granieri, I I believe that um you actually agree with the board. Okay? That you will agree with the
085board. Right? And likewise, board members, um perhaps you agree with Mr. Granieri in some of the things that he said. And so, what I what I mean is that during the budget development process, that's something that's initially developed by the administration, but the board had very specific and so, um ideas and focus about what we can do in a very difficult budget year, okay? So, the first and foremost thing the board insisted that we not reduce educational opportunities for students, programs, things like that, protecting the core of what we do as a district. Education was very important to the board and that is a message that came through over and over again as we developed the budget. Um also, the idea that obviously our instructional staff is part of that and so another part was
086um thoughtful reductions in areas that will hopefully not be felt by students or staff members, okay? And so, I think that the budget that you will see does all of those things. Um the other thing is if there are reductions in staff, perhaps you could do things as a district, um well, as as an administration, for example, are there ways to not replace people who retire? Are there ways to not replace individuals who leave? And the answer is there are ways to do those things. So, um these are the types of reductions that don't necessarily harm anyone during their career. So, I think that when the budget does come out and you get to see all the different things that have been done to protect the core of what we're doing, um I think that
087you might actually be pleasantly surprised, okay? Um You This is the You're talking about the the town hall meeting. That is a joint meeting to discuss different ways, as far as I know. Um we have a planning meeting on Monday, so I can't really answer the question as well as I would then, but the idea of sharing additional information regarding budgets of both entities, the township and school district. Yes. April 30th, yeah. Okay. At 7:00 p.m. Yep. Okay. Um Let's see. And oh, and the other thing related to the budget is um actually under the circumstances, we were also able to make a significant investment in education, resources, materials for the staff, so and students. Right? As far as the questions from Mr. Bass, it looks like he's left now, so I'll but also answer
088um his questions and also Mr. Motto. It's kind of a combo response. Um the one thing that the district has been interested in doing, we've had a lot of discussion regarding the best model for pre-K. And so, as I mentioned before, it seems very clear to me and I think it's very clear to the board that the parents have spoken regarding the interest that they have in continuing with a program that doesn't have a full day component and does not have before care and after care. So, while I understand there might be some parents out there that are looking for something like that, um the fact is we are a small district and there are also there are other options that exist within the community that we know about that might be able to offer
089that. Our goal is not to just have an okay program or maybe a little better program. As a public school system, we should be able to offer the best early childhood program available in the community anywhere nearby. That's the goal. We have two excellent long long time teachers that do an outstanding job and they look forward to doing their outstanding outstanding job full time all day long, right? With a with a class of students. So, the idea is that we want to have an exceptional early childhood program. That is hard to do in such a short period of time. And so, the goal, like I said, is to have a model program for the community, something the community can be very proud of. We also being that there's been a lot of shifting due to
090the budget and some other things that have happened in terms of planning, we will plan an open house for our early childhood program. We do have to get some things together to do that, but we're more than happy to have an open house to meet with parents, to go over the program that we do have and to hopefully convince you that without doubt, we have the best opportunity that's out there for your children. Thank you, Dr. Toback. Board member comments? I would like to say something, Kelly. Um I think we've repeatedly heard about test scores in the district over and over again and I think I'm going to speak for myself as a parent of a child that is still going through the Secaucus public schools. Um I too become very concerned about some of
091the test scores that we see. Um I know we've had a lot of talks internally about making these test scores better, which makes me feel a little bit more comfortable in the direction that we're going. Renewing Dr. Toback for an additional year and using his knowledge and his and his expertise in the subject, I think is going to help us. I don't think it's one thing to blame. I think there's many things here to blame. I just think we're doing a disservice to our children if we don't start making it better. So, I agree we have really to look at that and for the next couple months or next year, two years, whatever it is, make sure that we improve this for for our community and our kids. Thank you. Well said, Melissa. Thank you.
092Anyone else? No? Okay. Oh, Jerry? Okay. Didn't see you. Yeah, I didn't see you. You better get your eyes checked. I'm I'm really glad to see how much more awareness there is for autism now. Uh in my 39th year in education, back in the day, we didn't really acknowledge it so much, you know, it was there was different names for it and now we have parents coming together and art therapists and there's groups of people coming out and supporting this and giving people information and like the what the what the officers showed us what they're doing for that. So, being April's Autism Awareness Month, Felicia, thank you for allowing me to get involved with your fundraiser. I'm glad to see our district's doing this in the cafe and a lot of very positive things for
093a population that can can use all the support. On a separate note, Kathy Wolfe, I went again this year to judge at the library her group, which is the hygiene project, and she had 36 different teams and individuals, all kids from Secaucus, almost all of them from our school district, who do community service projects and then they present them, they have poster boards and they they show their information and how they presented it and and they give information on how much stuff they collected and who they gave it out to in different shelters and and they put together hygiene products to give out and collected food and they were talking about nutrition and a bunch of the kids that were vegetarian were saying how you can use, you know, give shelters stuff that were incomplete
094proteins like rice and and beans to work the same as uh as a steak. And as an old cooking teacher, I know that that was, you know, some very valuable and factual information. So, I'd like to thank Kathy Wolfe and her group and for the students that came out, our Secaucus students, 36 different students and groups that are doing things to help out people in need in our community. I thought it was a very well done job. Thank you. Thank you, Jerry. Anyone? Okay. Motion to adjourn? Motion. Second. Okay, have a good night, everybody. Thanks for coming out. >> Yes, get home safely. >> Mhm.