BOARD OF EDUCATION
Newton, NJ
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF NOVEMBER 9, 2010
Mr. Caffrey, Board President, called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM in the Board Office at 57 OPENING
Trinity Street, Newton, NJ, noting in the opening statement that the notice of this meeting was
sent to the New Jersey Herald, the Star Ledger, and the Town Clerk of Newton on May 8, 2010
and appropriately posted. The notice requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act have been
satisfied.
Members Present: Mr. Caffrey, Ms. Cooke, Ms. Egner, Ms. Gianni, Mr. Heckman, ROLL CALL
Mr. Jackson, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Mistry, Mr. Morris, Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. VanAuken and Dr. Greene.
Members absent: None
The board adjourned to Executive Session at 6:00 and reconvened in Regular Session at 7:00 PM.
Mr. Flaherty spoke about Business agenda item D, $6,500 grant application from NASA to PUBLIC COMMENTS
the Robotics team. He thanked Mr. Tasker, Mr. Waldron and Dr. Greene for their assistance.
Dr. Greene informed the board that Mr. Flaherty and other parents put time into the application.
Mr. Caffrey reported that the negotiations meeting with the secretaries was cancelled and we COMMITTEE RPTS.
will be meeting with them next week. Meetings have been scheduled with the other 3associations.
Mrs. Thomas stated Saturday, November 20, 2010 will be the NJSBA Legislative Delegates
Assembly. Dr. Greene stated that at the last meeting a motion on legislation was tabled and
that he had contacted Senator Oroho’s office with questions. The legislators will be hosting a
meeting to answer questions.
Ms. Gianni thanked Mr. Tasker and Ms. Mazur for their presentation at the last meeting. SENDING DISTRICT
She also thanked Sodexo for providing samples and explaining their program. REPORT
Ms. Cooke said Green received their ethics training at the last meeting, set their goal setting date
and appointed their negotiations team.
Dr. Greene gave an online course presentation and a preschool presentation. SUPT.’S REPORT/
ED. HIGHLIGHTS
The student council representative reported there is a Student Council meeting tomorrow.
The food drive, lock in, and semi formal will be discussed.
Mr. Tasker introduced Dana Koch from VHS (Virtual High School) who explained how the
system works. The annual fee is based on the number of seats the district wants to provide.
Dr. Greene introduced Jennifer Pasquali and explained that the Tri-District Consortium set a goal
to explore the establishment of a preschool to meet state and federal requirements for preschool
disabled students. Ms. Pasquali presented the reasons to establish a preschool disabled
class, a timeline and a financial estimate.
Ms. Snyder explained that she, Dave Hughen, Chet Wisniewski, and Dr. Greene walked the SBA/BS REPORT
buildings with representatives of EI Associates today as part of a long range facility and budget
planning project. During last year’s budget the board briefly discussed facilities maximization and it needs to be explored more deeply.
Mr. Wozny and Joe Donnelly of EI Associates explained that they had worked with the board
to pare down the $30 million in projects in the Long Range Facility Plan to a $13 million
referendum. Mr. Donnelly explained that he has met with some of the district educational
leaders to identify what they might need to best use our existing facilities.
Ms. Snyder reviewed the ESCO process and introduced Joe Coscia and his team to review the
Energy Savings Plan.
Ms. Snyder gave a report on the Affirmative Action Audit. It was a full day audit by a state
employee reviewing money spent with a particular vendor in excess of QPA’s bid threshold to
ensure we are meeting all the mandatory language and procedural requirements of the law.
Ms. Snyder thanked Janet Mosner and Carrie Docherty for their assistance with this audit.
Motion made by Mr. Jackson, seconded by Mrs. VanAuken the 11 member board approve BOARD BUSINESS
the following:
A. Approve the minutes of the following meeting:
Regular Meeting of October 26, 2010
Executive Session of October 26, 2010
Carried unanimously by a roll call vote of the 11 member board.
Motion made by Mrs. Thomas, seconded by Ms. Egner that the 9 member board approve PROGRAM
the following:
A. Approve the receipt of the following homeless students to attend
Merriam Avenue School. The State of New Jersey will be billed for
their tuition:
Student ID# S3122 Grade 1
Student ID# S3121 Grade 5
Carried unanimously by a roll call vote of the 9 member board.
Motion made by Ms. Gianni, seconded by Ms. Cooke that the 11 member board approve
the following:
B. Approve the following field trips for Newton High School:
Class/Club Purpose Location
Life Skills Curriculum Sparta Lanes
French Student Activities Summit High School
C. Approve the placement of the following students on homebound instruction, in
accordance with N.J.A.C.6:14:
Student ID# S1887 Grade 9 11/02/2010
Carried unanimously by a roll call vote of the 11 member board.
**ADDITIONAL PROGRAM MOTION AT END OF AGENDA**
Motion made by Mr. Jackson, seconded by Mr. Heckman that the 9 member board approve PERSONNEL
the following:
Based upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools, the following
personnel resolutions are presented for approval:
A. Accept the resignation of Rosalie Lafurge, part-time teacher assistant at Merriam
Avenue School, effective November 1, 2010.
B. Approve the following part-time teacher assistants at Merriam Avenue School,
effective November 10, 2010, Step 1, $14.87 per hour:
Melissa Hardick
Sean Mulligan
Carried unanimously by a roll call vote of the 9 member board.
Motion made by Ms. Egner, seconded by Mrs. VanAuken that the 11 member board approve BUSINESS
the following:
A. Approve district travel expenses as per Attachment A.
B. Approve the purchase of goods and services entered into on behalf of the State
by the Division of Purchase and Property utilizing NJ State Contract Vendor,
Ricoh Americas Corporation, Contract # 67306.
C. WHEREAS, the NEWTON BOARD OF EDUCATION (“the BOARD”) has been requested to recognize the NEWTON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (the “EDUCATION ASSOCIATION”) as the exclusive representative of certain BOARD employees; and
WHEREAS, the BOARD, has satisfied itself, that it has documentation of an appropriate showing of interest in support of this request; and
WHEREAS, the BOARD deems its to be in the best interest of its operations to resolve the question of unit recognition as to these certain BOARD employees without the intervention of the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that notice be conspicuously posted on bulletin boards in the BOARD offices where notices are normally posted for a period of at least ten (10) consecutive days, advising all persons that this BOARD intends to grant exclusive recognition without an election to the EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, for a negotiating unit to include, in additional to the current titles, contracted regularly employed custodial personnel currently represented by the Newton Custodial Association, and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, in connection with the foregoing that the requirements of N.J.A.C. 19:11-3.1 of the New Jersey Public Relations Commission shall be complied with; and
WHEREAS, no other employee organization has claimed, by a written communication within the year preceding, to represent any of the employees in the proposed titles involved; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that should no other employee organization within the ten (10) day posting period notify this BOARD of a claim to represent the above listed titles and should no Petition for Certification of public employee representative be filed by any other organization with the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission, that pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 34:13A-1 et seq., and N.J.A.C. 19:11-1.1 et seq., the BOARD OF EDUCATION hereby recognizes the EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, as the majority representative and thereby as the exclusive and sole representative for collective negotiations concerning the terms and conditions of employment as permitted by law of the hereinabove included titles employed by the BOARD; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this voluntary recognition is contingent upon the NEWTON EDUCATION ASSOCIATION acknowledging that such recognition is limited to representation of these titles for purposes of negotiating a successor Agreement to the 2009-2011 Agreement between the BOARD and Newton Custodial Association. All current terms & conditions of employment for such custodial personnel will remain status quo until changes, if any, are agreed to by the parties, effective the 2011-12 school year and thereafter.
D. Approve the submission of a $6,500 grant from NASA for the Robotics Team.
Mr. Kelly asked about approving Ricoh and Ms. Snyder gave a brief statement about utilizing State Contract
vendors.
Carried unanimously by a roll call vote of the 11 member board with the following exceptions:
Ms. Cooke voted No on Item C;
Mr. Heckman abstained on Item C.
Mr. Mistry asked about the Energy Plan and what it would cost to have the independent energy OLD BD. BUSINESS
audit. Ms. Snyder explained that the preliminary audit was done 6 months ago and that EI Associates
was proposing an hourly fee to review.
Mrs. Thomas stated the Acapella Club was approved at the last board meeting. NEW BD. BUSINESS
Mr. Kelly congratulated Coach Bechtel on her successful Field Hockey season and stated
Cross Country also did well.
Mr. Morris asked if it would be possible for some of our technology students to shadow the
energy program.
Mr. Mistry expressed sympathy to the Widgren family.
President’s Statement PUBLIC COMMENTS
This public session is designed for members of the public to speak on issues for Board
consideration. By law, the Board of Education is under no obligation to respond to
public comment. If the Board of Education chooses to respond, it does not waive
it’s right thereafter not to respond. Please identify yourself and spell your last name.
Mrs. Galonski asked how long preschool programs would be. Dr. Greene responded
they would be 2 ½ hours per day.
Mrs. Galonski also stated online classes are great and she asked for enrichment classes
at the high school.
Committee of the Whole
This public committee meeting is designed for the board of education to discuss issues that may
appear on future board agendas. Please consider that an individual employee’s terms and conditions
of employment cannot be discussed prior to that employee being given proper notice.
Buildings and Grounds
The board discussed the following items:
Long Range Facilities Plan
Energy Savings Plan
Shared Services with Town
Dr. Greene asked if anyone had questions on the shared services.
Curriculum
Board members discussed the online course presentation, including who bears the cost,
limiting class sizes, etc.
The board discussed the pre-school presentation. Ms. Cooke asked if there was adequate
space for the program; Dr. Greene explained that since we already have three sections of preschool
disabled, that takes two classrooms.
Policy
The board discussed policies for 0000 Series.
Program (Continued)
Motion made by Mr. Heckman, seconded by Mrs. VanAuken that the 11 member board approve
the following:
B. Approve Policy Section 0000-Bylaws for 1st reading.
C. Approve EI Associates to perform a 3rd party review of the Energy
Conservation Plan at a cost not to exceed $3,000.
Carried unanimously by a roll call vote of the 11 member board.
Board President, Mr. Caffrey, stated that the meeting would adjourn to executive session at ADJOURN
9:12 PM to discuss negotiations, not to reconvene. Said discussion may be disclosed to the
public when appropriate.
There was no opposition.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Snyder
School Business Administrator/ Board Secretary