Executive Director

Thank you to everyone who attended the congregational security drill last week. If you were not able to attend but would like to learn about our procedures during an emergency, please reach out to me to schedule a time to review. More on that, membership renewal, and other topics can be found in excerpts of my report below to the Board of Directors at our Board meeting last night.  

• Membership renewal for the 2023/2024-5784 year was rolled out last Tuesday, and you should have received an email with information regarding the membership renewal process, including a link that will allow you to submit your membership renewal electronically. If you did not receive the membership renewal email, please reach out to me or Susan Aaronson. The membership renewals are flowing in and we have received well over one hundred renewals so far in just the first week. I will continue to provide membership renewal updates in the months to come.  
• Last Tuesday we also conducted a congregational security drill that focused on situational awareness and responding to an active shooter event. We had more than 120 congregants attend the training, and as I mentioned to all attendees that night, it is very important to have a plan in place for worst case scenarios, and to conduct drills to practice those plans. The training was very similar to the Run/Hide/Fight active shooter drills that we conducted with faculty, staff, and clergy several months ago. The training was held in the main sanctuary, and after some discussion we broke out into groups and walked through different areas of the building and all the various exit routes. This was a very important aspect of the training as most of the attendees were unfamiliar with all the available exit routes to leave the building. The drills were conducted by members of the JFED Security team and the plan is to conduct these drills on a more regular basis. If you weren’t able to attend last Tue evening and would like to learn more about exit routes through the building and the Run/Hide/Fight methodology, please reach out to me and we can schedule a time for me to review the procedures with you. I have done this with several congregants already.   
• I am sure that all of you have noticed the condition of the parking lot, and how it has deteriorated quite a bit, with numerous potholes, of various sizes, throughout the parking lot. We have met with, and received proposals from, several vendors. We have retained one of them to begin these repairs the week of June 12.  
• After a hiatus of more than 3 years, we have resumed babysitting on Shabbat mornings from 10am to 12pm. Two members of our ECEC faculty will be alternating in this role each week. This is being messaged in the weekly emails and Shabbat announcements.  
• Our work towards applying for the Employee Retention Credit from the IRS continues, as we are still supplying information to the firm who is assisting us in this process.  
• We are making some enhancements to our accounting procedures including the implementation of a new and improved electronic payroll system, the installation of a time clock system to replace timesheets for hourly employees, and an electronic accounts payable system which will streamline the invoice approval process and all but eliminate the need for manual checks. We have been exploring the possibility of utilizing a new CPA firm for our annual review in an effort to save money, and we are close to signing a letter of engagement with one in particular that is approximately 10k less than what we are currently paying. 

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom, and I look forward to seeing you in shul! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can always reach out to me at rons@tbsonline.org or (856) 751-6663 x218. 

B’Shalom, 
Ron Safier 
Executive Director