Regular Meeting s2

Regular Meeting

South Orange-Maplewood

Board of Education

April 20, 2009

A Regular Meeting of the Board of Education of South Orange-Maplewood was held in the District Meeting Room at the Administration Building, 525 Academy Street, Maplewood, New Jersey, on April 20, 2009.

Board President Mark Gleason called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.

Adequate written notice of this meeting of the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education was sent to the Township and Village Clerks, the Libraries, The Star Ledger, the News Record and all schools.

ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Bennett, Ms. Crawford, Mrs. Daugherty, Mr. Eastman, Mr. Gleason, Mr. Huemer, Mrs. Karriem, Dr. Payne-Parrish, Mrs. Wren-Hardin

Absent: Mr. Laine

8 REGULAR MEMBERS AND ONE STUDENT MEMBER PRESENT

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

BOARD RECOGNITION – Read by Ms. Crawford and Mr. Bennett

1. Four Columbia High School students have been selected as members of

The 2009 All North Jersey Area Symphonic Band. Included are

Michael Sender, a senior who plays trumpet; Matthew da Silva, a

junior who plays bassoon; Rob Latz, a sophomore who plays tuba; and

Kip Zenowich, a sophomore who plays baritone saxophone. These

students will rehearse and perform with over 100 of the top student

musicians in North Jersey in a gala concert to be held at Mount

Olive High School. Mr. Peter Bauer, CHS director of bands, is the

students’ music teacher.

2. The CHS Honors Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Mr. Peter

Bauer, has been invited to attend the New Jersey State Band Gala at

Bridgewater-Raritan High School on Sunday April 26th.This formally

recognizes the CHS Honors Wind Ensemble as one of the top high

school bands in the state of New Jersey.

3. Francois Sissoko, sophomore at Columbia High School, and

Cha’Nel Ellis, 7th grader at Maplewood Middle School, were selected

to receive music scholarships from the Donald Johnston Memorial

Fund, which provides private music lessons to talented students in

this community. Cha’Nel is taking private violin lessons from

Maplewood resident Deborah Buck, and Francois is taking private

viola lessons from Columbia music teacher Todd Van Beveren.

4. Columbia High School senior Marvin Pierresaint was awarded the

Foreign Language Educators of NJ Scholarship. He was recognized for

his accomplishments in French, including AP French Literature, and

received a $1,000 scholarship toward college. Marvin’s French

teacher is Ms. Cathi Politi.

5. Columbia High School seniors Sam Bernard and Alixcia Semexant won

first place in their conference in the 2009 Conqueror of the Hill

Student Competition, held at The College of New Jersey. It is an

annual applied engineering/technology/science competition for all

public and private high school students in the state. Each year the

competition focuses on designing and building a “robot” made from

common household items designed to complete a specific task on the

playing field of a plywood hill. This is a head-to-head competition

where two teams at a time compete against one another on the same

hill, incorporating both offensive and defensive strategies in the

design of their robot.Senior Midrash Evra also entered the

competition. All three students are in Mr. Michael Novemsky’s

Physics II class where they worked on this project.

6. Columbia High School seniors Laura David and Jasmine Teng received

the NJ High School 2009 Japanese Language Study Awards sponsored by

Seton Hall University. Each year, Seton Hall’s Japanese Program

honors high school students for their accomplishments and

achievements in Japanese studies. Laura and Jasmine were

recommended by their teacher, Ms. Loretta Graziano, to receive this

award.

7. Columbia High School seniors Dane West and Nick Brown won first

place in the NJ State Safety Council's Statewide Teen Driving

Safety Film Festival Contest.Under the direction of Television

Arts Teacher Anthony Campiglia, the students’ Public Service

Announcement won in the Alcohol/Underage Drinking category. One

statewide winner was chosen in each category and the winning

filmmakers, instructorand school administratorare invited to

attend the awards luncheon in Atlantic City on Wednesday, April

22nd, at Trump Plaza. The winning entries will also be shown

throughout the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Safety& Loss Control Expo in

Atlantic City on April 21-23.

Dane West also won first place in the Derek Freese High School Film

& Video Festival 2009 for an episode of"Senior Class Cougars" that

he created.

8. Bridget Sherman and Carolyne Leys, 5th graders at Jefferson School,

were first runners up in the Foreign Language Educators of NJ

Podcast competition. The theme of the podcast contest was “Having

Fun with World Languages.” Students were asked to create an

original podcast in the target language. Their Spanish teacher is

Ms. Laurence Seltzer and their classroom teacher is Ms. Suzanne

Ryan.

9. Two Columbia High School students garnered state championships in

fencing.

Columbia sophomore Brian Kaneshige won the NJSIAA Individual State

Foil Championship with an undefeated record of 57-0. He helped his

foil squad take 1st place at the Districts and finish 2nd in the

State Squad Tournament. Brian also won the District 3 Individual

Foil crown and led the foil squad to a 2nd place finish at the

Cetrulo Tournament. His experience extends to national and

international competitions where he is ranked 6th in Cadets, 8th in

Juniors, and 14th in Seniors in the United States. He recently

finished 2nd at the Junior Olympics. Brian has been named Fencer of

the Year by the Star-Ledger. Mr. Darryl White is the boys fencing

coach.

Columbia junior Faizah Muhammad won the NJSIAA Individual State

Sabre Championship and finished the season with an impressive 53-3

record. She lead her team to a 2nd place finish at the Santelli

Tournament, won the District 3 Individual Sabre title, and was

named to First Team Iron Hills Conference and First Team All-State

for the 2008-09 season. Faizah also competes on a national level,

ranking 13th in Juniors and finishing 2nd at the Junior Olympics.

Ms. Holly Buechel is the Girls Fencing Coach.

10. The Columbia High School Boys and Girls Track Teams won top awards

at The Nike Indoor Nationals in Boston, Massachusetts and qualified

for All-American Honors after finishing in the top six of their

specific events. Under the direction of Coach Lisa Morgan, the

teams met stiff qualifying standards in order to participate in the

Nike event, the highest national athletic honor that a student

track athlete can achieve.

The Columbia boys 4x400 meter relay team ran a time of 3:23.07,

setting a new school record and finishing 5th in the nation. This

is the second fastest time in NJ this year. The team members

include Kharique Bell, Stephen Wiggins, Terry Anderson, and DJ

Roberts.

Terry Anderson competed in the Pentathlon for the first time and

finished 7th overall and McNisky Jeantus competed on the Boys 4X200

meter relay team that finished 11th overall.

The Columbia girls team, including TyVonna Johnson, Kelsey Jackson,

Kayann Richards and Brittney Jackson, competed in both the Sprint

Medley Relay and the 4x400 meter relay, finishing 4th in the nation

in both events. The teams’ times of 4:07.50 and 3:53.99 make their

wins in both events the second fastest times in the state of NJ for

those events this year.

Other members of the girls team participating in events at the

Nationals include Melissa David and Jade Johnson in the 4x800 meter

relay, Jasmine Carter in the 60 meter dash and freshmen Ayaana

Smith and Brittany Padmore.

Prior to the Nationals, Coach Lisa Morgan was selected by her peers

as the Essex County Track Coach of the Year for both the boys and

girls teams. This wasa first time achievement for any Essex County

track coach.

11. Columbia High School junior Henry Scott and sophomore Priya Duvvuri

competed in the NJSIAA High School State Championships held in

Sewell, NJ for the fastest swimmers in the state.

Henry tied for 2nd place in the 100 Yard Butterfly in a time of

50.01 seconds, which not only smashed his previous school record,

but is an automatic qualifying time for High School All-American.

The winner in this event touched out Scott in just 9/100ths of a

second. Scott also got 6th place in the 200 Yard Freestyle in a

time of 1:43.40 which is a new CHS record. Both times are also

personal bests.

Priya placed 16th in the 100 Yard Butterfly which puts her in the

top 16 fastest in the state. Her fly time of 59.98 seconds broke

her previous CHS record in that event. She also competed in the

100 yard Backstroke in a time of 1:00.32 which is a new Columbia

High School record. Both times are personal bests.

BOARD ACKNOWLEDGEMENT – Read by Mr. Gleason

The Board of Education acknowledges and extends its thanks and appreciation to Rena Spangler, from Keller Williams of Maplewood and a

South Orange Middle School parent, who donated a small fish tank and four art supply carriers to South Orange Middle School. The items are valued at approximately $200.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Mr. Gleason declared the minutes of the Executive and Public Sessions of March 16, 2009, and the Special Meeting of April 13, 2009 approved as presented.

HEARING OF INDIVIDUALS AND DELEGATIONS

Name Topic

Sheila Belt Requested status of district task force on District Parent student placement.

Superintendent Osborne provided an update on the school day on Friday, April 17th that was a make up day for the extra snow day in March.

DISCUSSION

English Language Arts

Mr. Osborne introduced Rosetta Wilson, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction who provided an update on the progress being made in the English Language Arts department.

The recent audit focused on four key areas:

§  Policy

§  Curriculum development and implementation

§  Professional development

§  Assessment

Specific findings and recommendations were made to address curricular and instructional deficiencies. Goals for improvement in the key areas were detailed and include:

§  Develop clear curriculum objectives

§  Conduct frequent and common assessment

§  Expand professional development

The presentation was followed by discussion among the board members [powerpoint presentation is on file in Board Secretary’s office].

Community Engagement Outreach Committee

Ms. Karriem announced two workshops on District Goals on May 7th and 11th in the Columbia High School library. The public is invited to attend.

Policy Committee

Mr. Eastman introduced the second reading of the following policies and provided background, and the first reading of 5514.

Second Reading: 0142.1 – Nepotism

Second Reading: 0147 - Board Member Compensation and Expenses

Second Reading: 0165 – Voting

Second Reading: 1220 - Employment of Chief School Administrator

Second Reading: 1620 - Administrative Employment Contracts

Second Reading: 2460 - Special Education Services

Second Reading: 5120 - Assignment of Pupils

Second Reading: 6360 - Political Contributions

Second Reading: 6423 - Expenditures for Non-Employee Activities, Meals and Refreshments

Second Reading: 6470 - Payment of Claims

Second Reading: 6471 - School District Travel

Second Reading: 6510 - Payroll Authorization

Second Reading: 6830 - Audit and Comprehensive Annual Final Report

Second Reading: 6832 - Conditions of Receiving State Aid

Second Reading: 7410 - Maintenance and Repair

Second Reading: 7650 - School Vehicle Assignment, Use, Tracking, Maintenance, and Accounting

Second Reading: 9120 – Public Information Program

First Reading: 5514 – Pupil Use of Vehicles

Committee Structure

Mr. Gleason proposed the addition of committees to deal with measurement, curriculum and personnel. Discussion followed.

ITEMS FOR ACTION

MOTION made by Ms. Crawford, seconded by Mr. Bennett, that the Board of Education:

2487A. RETIREMENT – Read by Mr. Gleason

2487B. RESIGNATIONS

2487C. SUSPENSION

2487D. LEAVES OF ABSENCE

2487E. STIPENDS

2487F. SALARY ADJUSTMENTS

2487G. APPROVE JOB DESCRIPTIONS

REVISED: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

ELEMENTARY READING SPECIALIST

NEW: ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS SPECIALIST

READ 180 TEACHER

[Job descriptions on file in Board Secretary’s

office].

2488A. APPOINTMENT OF SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS FOR THE 2008-2009 SCHOOL YEAR

STATE CERTIFIED TEACHER

NAME

INSTITUTION

DATE

DEGREE

COLLEGE GRADUATE AND COUNTY SUBSTITUTE CERTIFICATE