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Hillside board rebukes mayor’s spending claims, records abstentions and notes amendment to guard contract
Summary
At its meeting, the Hillside Public School District board publicly rejected a mayoral claim that the district had overspent, citing a recent public audit. The board also recorded several abstentions on agenda items and an amendment was stated to transfer a security guard contract from 'GTA' to 'AP Mars.'
The Hillside Public School District board publicly pushed back against remarks by the town’s mayor alleging the district had overspent, saying a recent audit shows no overexpenditure and that the claims were "false and misleading," according to a board speaker.
Speaker 1 (Unidentified Speaker) told attendees the board has not overextended itself, saying, "Proof of that can be found in the very public recent audit report that shows the exact opposite of the allegations." The speaker urged the community to focus on students as the board begins the new school year.
The comments followed routine business and the reading of an amendment to agenda item 58. The amendment was stated as transferring a security guard from "GTA" to "AP Mars." The transcript records the amendment text but does not record who moved or seconded it or the final vote outcome.
Several abstentions were announced on specific agenda items. Speaker 1 said they were "abstaining from 41." Speaker 3 announced abstentions described in the transcript as "35 e," "41," and "54." The meeting record as transcribed does not include complete roll-call vote tallies for those items.
Another board member, identified in the transcript as Speaker 2 (Unidentified Speaker), urged residents to be wary of misinformation circulating on television and social media, saying such rhetoric "is purposely meant to divide us as a people" and urging the public to "rely on facts." That speaker also praised recent additions to district programs and partnerships with universities and organizations and commended the superintendent for going "above and beyond."
The board repeatedly framed its work around student welfare. Speaker 1 said the board’s priorities are to keep "our children and their interests first" and expressed hope for a successful school year.
The transcript does not record formal outcomes for the amendment to item 58 or vote tallies for the abstentions beyond the oral declarations by board members. Where the transcript presents fragmented item numbers or abbreviated references (for example, "35 e"), the record in this article follows the wording used in the meeting transcript and marks the final vote details as not specified.
The meeting concluded after closing remarks urging unity and work on behalf of students.
