Who we are and what we do

They are public education agencies Created under Title 18A Education Law 18A:6-51 et seq. Governed by the member school

districts that created them Operated within the guidelines of the

NJDOE

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The mission of the Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission is to provide excellence to students in partnership with New Jersey school districts, and coordinate cost efficient purchasing opportunities for educational institutions and government agencies to limit the tax burden on New Jersey residents.

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Started in 1977 to serve Middlesex County School Districts

Quickly expanded into the central region of the State for the provision special education programs

Name changed to Middlesex Regional ESC with State Board approval in 2005

Became a Statewide entity with the expansion of the cooperative pricing system

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To Provide Nonpublic Services What services do we provide?

Chapter 192/193 (1977) Nonpublic Textbook (1987) Nonpublic Nursing (1991) Nonpublic Technology 1994) Title One (1989) Title III (1989) IDEA-B (1990)

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The MRESC operates seven special education schools for students with Multiple

Disabilities, Pre-School Disabled students, Students with Autism, Student with

Behavioral Disabilities, Students with Psychiatric Issues and “At Risk” students.

Raritan Valley Academy – Opened 1982Piscataway Regional Day School – Opened 1984Middlesex County Academy – Opened 1994Academy Learning Center – Opened 1996Bright Beginnings Learning Center – Opened 1998NuView Academy – Opened 2000Center for Lifelong Learning – Opened 2009

Approximately 800 students are enrolled within these programs.

These programs realized tuition savings of over 20 million dollars in FY 2014.

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We currently transport over 14,000 students per day, mainly in the central region of the State

We transport to over 273 schools We operate over 1100 routes per day We work with over 67 districts in 12 Counties We work with over 80 bus companies Estimated Transportation Savings:

$2,500,000 annually

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Over 880 members in all 21 NJ Counties Over 80 different contracts Over 200 different vendors Saving millions of taxpayer dollars every year

CDW-G Technology, Supplies & Services• FY 14 & 15 savings to date $18,614,000

Electric Aggregation• Savings since 2009 $12.5 Million

Natural Gas Aggregation• Savings since 2012 $5.1 MillionEstablished in 1994

The Co-op Initiative was implemented Statewide in 2009

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Five types of cooperative purchasing systems exist under the law: Cooperative Pricing Systems Joint Purchasing Systems Commodity Resale County Purchasing Systems Regional Cooperative Pricing Systems

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Cooperative purchasing systems are created under N.J.S.A. 40A-11-11

They are controlled by N.J.A.C. 5:34-7 et seq. Educational Services Commissions are

specifically authorized to establish cooperative purchasing programs N.J.A.C. 5:34-7.1

Public Schools Contract Law is controlling when an ESC is lead agency N.J.A.C. 5:34-7.1

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Cooperative purchasing systems are formed by application to the Department of Community Affairs, Division of Local Government Services

All members must be submitted and approved by LGS

All purchasing categories must be submitted and approved by LGS

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Fiscal Year 2014 - $90,000,000 Fiscal Year 2015 Current Budget -

$93,000,000 MRESC is funded on a fee for service basis No Federal, State or Local revenues are

received We have long-term contracts with

participating districts for educational services With regard to non-educational services, our

end users who are unhappy with our services may choose to seek another services provider

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Annual budgets are submitted to NJDOE for review and approval

Annual CAFR is prepared and submitted to NJDOE

We operate under the same reporting rules as any school district does

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The MRESC budget is made up of 16 cost centers

Each cost center generates revenue to support the services provided Nonpublic revenue supports nonpublic

services Special education tuition supports the

program generating the revenue Transportation revenue supports

transportation services

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Revenues generated by non-educational services

Revenues are used to offset administrative costs

Revenues are used to offset business operations costs

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Revenues are used in support of educational programs Purchase of new technology equipment Purchase of vans for the Community Based

Instruction program Purchase of student management software Purchase of Hybrid Learning program Offset other expenses to reduce tuition

increases

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All public agencies can benefit from cooperative purchasing

Volume drives down prices A large member base creates a sense

of opportunity for vendors Shrinking budgets make the time

savings important Public agencies should work together to

save taxpayers dollars

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Continued expansion of our Nonpublic Programs, Transportation Program, Special Education Programs, and our Deaf/Itinerant Education Program

Expansion of technology based programs

Continued expansion of cloud based educational services

Continue to respond to the needs of our member and non-member agencies

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Implementation and Expansion of our Hybrid Learning Initiative

Provision of educational services across the Statewide WAN being developed as part of the DRLAP program

Continue to expand non-educational business services as requested by other public agencies

Continue our partnership with NJDOE to expand modern educational opportunities

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Mark J. Finkelstein, Superintendent - MRESC mfinkelstein@mresc.k12.nj.us

Patrick M. Moran, Business Administrator - MRESCpmoran@mresc.k12.nj.us

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