Warren Township Schools: Minutes for December 16, 2024

Minutes for December 16, 2024 Archived Minutes

A regular business meeting of the Board of Education was held this day at the Warren Middle School, 100 Old Stirling Road. The public was welcome to attend in person or virtually through the online Zoom platform. The following is a record of that meeting.

I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Board President Patricia Zohn

Open Public Meeting Statement – Mrs. Zohn read the following statement:

Re: Chapter 231 P.L. 1975: “The adequate notice of this regular meeting as required by the Open Public Meetings Act was provided by the posting, mailing/delivery, and filing of this notice on January 11, 2024. This notice was on that date posted on the bulletin board in the Township Office, sent to the Courier News and TAPinto Warren, and filed with the Township Clerk of the Township of Warren, all in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act.”

II. Pledge of Allegiance – Mrs. Zohn led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. Roll Call

Present: Nicole Dalton, Mehul Desai, Laura Keller, Richard Molfetta, Stephen Toor, Todd Weinstein and Patricia Zohn

Absent: Scott Otto and Ryan Valentino

Also Present: Dr. Matthew Mingle, Superintendent, Christopher Heagele, School Business Administrator, and members of the public and press.

IV. Minutes

● Ms. Keller moved the following:

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the public and private minutes of the November 18, 2024 Board Meeting.

The motion was seconded by Mr. Weinstein and approved by a 6-0-1 roll-call vote. (Ms. Keller abstained.)

V. Correspondence and Information.

· HIB Information

Total # of Investigations:			Total # of Determined Bullying Incidents:
	0			0

· Suspension Report

In School:			Out of School:
	0			0

· Fire Drills

ALT	Central	Mt. Horeb	Woodland	Middle
November 18	November 18	November 14	November 18	November 19

· Security Drills

ALT	Central	Mt. Horeb	Woodland	Middle
November 11	November 6	November 25	November 6	November 11
Non Fire	Non Fire	Non Fire	Non Fire	Non Fire
Evacuation	Evacuation	Evacuation	Evacuation	Evacuation

VI. President's Remarks - Mrs. Patricia Zohn

● Mrs. Zohn greeted the public to tonight’s meeting and reported on the following:

○ Mrs. Zohn announced the district’s 2024-2025 Governor’s Educator of the Year (GEOY) Awards recipients as follows:

❏ Classroom Teacher Recipients

Angelo L. Tomaso - Marissa Marton-Sarao, Art Teacher

Central - Michele Wolkun, ASAP Math Teacher

Mt. Horeb - Linnea Middleton, Preschool Teacher

Woodland - Tiffany Serafin, Grade 5 Teacher

Middle - Joel Van Tine, Music Teacher

❏ Educational Services Professional Recipients

Angelo L. Tomaso - Kelly Blessing-Marie, School Counselor

Central - Marybeth Henry, Paraprofessional

Mt. Horeb - Nicole Runfola, Speech Language Pathologist

Woodland - Alison Reu, Speech Language Pathologist

Middle - Parsad Gandhi, School Psychologist

❏ NJDOE Exemplary Elementary Educator Recipients

Angelo L. Tomaso - Tara Lento, Special Education Teacher

Mt. Horeb - Deborah Yankowicz, Preschool Teacher

Woodland - John Tsihlas, Physical Education Teacher

○ Mrs. Zohn also recognized the school board member accomplishments this year, including outside agencies and internal board committee involvement. On behalf of the community, she thanked the 2024 board members for their hard work and dedication.

○ Mrs. Zohn lastly recognized the hard work of the school administration and staff during 2024.

VII. Superintendent’s Remarks - Dr. Matthew Mingle

● Dr. Mingle reported on the following:

○ Congratulations to the GEOY recipients for the 2024-25 school year.

○ Thanked Mrs. Zohn and Ms. Keller for their service this year as president and vice-president, respectively.

○ Informed the public about a strategic plan survey that will be launched later this week.

VIII. Presentation

● Recognition of Service - Mr. Mehul Desai

○ Mrs. Zohn presented a recognition of service to outgoing board member Mr. Mehul Desai.

IX. Discussion

None

X. Committee Reports

● Curriculum and Technology Committee - September 16 & November 18, 2024; 2024 Recap

○ Stephen Toor - Chair, Mehul Desai, Rich Molfetta, Laura Keller - Alternate

■ Mr. Toor reported that the committee met on September 16 and November 18.

● On September 16, they reviewed the NJSLA presentation and data

● On November 18, they reviewed math curriculum, K5 reading curriculum, iReady results, discussed class sizes, received an inservice update, and discussed an ASAP pilot.

Lastly, he discussed 2024 accomplishments, which included a thank you to members and highlighted (1) student achievement and (2) belonging. Accomplishments included (1) new curriculum purchase, (2) curriculum review and rewrite, (3) the ASAP PILOT, and (4) district progress on student achievement.

● Finance, Operations, and Security Committee - December 9, 2024; 2024 Recap

○ Patricia Zohn - Chair, Scott Otto - Vice Chair, Ryan Valentino, Rich Molfetta - Alternate

■ Mrs. Zohn reported that the committee met on December 9 to discuss:

● Facility needs are the district’s enrollment gross.

● The Spring 2025 referendum as a part of the district’s five year capital plan.

● Maintenance roof bids and recommends approval.

● Preschool tuition and recommends approval.

● Review of board attorney interviews. Committee recommends the status quo.

■ Mrs. Zohn thanked the members of the committee and administration, highlighting the following activities from 2024: Passed budget, PILOT Agreement with Township, Five year capital plan, New Referendum planning for March/April 2025, and Facility needs with district growth.

● Personnel, Negotiations, and Communication Committee - No meeting; 2024 Recap

○ Laura Keller - Chair, Nikki Dalton, Todd Weinstein, Stephen Toor - Alternate

■ Ms. Keller reported that the committee did not meet, but reported on 2024 committee accomplishments:

● Renegotiated a new collective bargaining agreement with the Warren Township Education Association.

● Job descriptions review, contracts review, and Dr. Mingle’s superintendent’s review.

● Communications work which includes the upcoming referendum and other board happenings.

● Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee - October 28 & November 26, 2024; 2024 Recap

○ Laura Keller, Stephen Toor, Patricia Zohn

■ Ms. Keller reported on the accomplishments of the strategic planning committee to include various meetings with staff, students, community members, and the district’s consultants. Ms. Keller thanked all participants for their hard work so far.

XI. Public Commentary (agenda items only)

Note on public input at BOE meetings: Board Policy #0167, adopted on June 18, 2018, provides for public participation in Board of Education meetings. Such participation is governed by the following rules:

A participant must be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments by an announcement of his/her name, address, and group affiliation, if applicable;
Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes’ duration. If necessary, the public comment portion of the meeting may be extended fifteen minutes with Board approval;
No participant may speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard;
All statements, questions, or inquiries shall be directed to the presiding officer and any questions or inquiries directed by a participant to another Board member shall be redirected to the presiding officer who shall determine if such statement, question, or inquiry shall be addressed by the presiding officer on behalf of the Board;
When the Board of Education is conducting its meetings either virtually or in a hybrid environment, members of the public may also submit comments no later than 9:00 AM the day of the board meeting via email to BA@warrentboe.org or hardcopy mail to the district office.

The portion of the meeting during which participation of the public is invited shall be limited to fifteen minutes (limit may be adjusted at the discretion of the presiding officer as circumstances dictate).

The Board of Education welcomes and encourages input from the public. Being mindful of privacy rights regarding students and board employees and to avoid any potential liability on the part of the speaker, the board discourages references to specific individuals. While directing your comments or questions to the board president, please understand that the public comment portions of the meeting are not structured as question and answer sessions but rather are offered as opportunities for you to share your thoughts with the board. The board president may need to refer an issue to the superintendent if the particular issue has not been handled through the appropriate chain of command with the school district. However, responses may be provided at the end of this session. There are times when comments and questions will require additional fact gathering before a response is provided.

● None

On motion by Mr. Weinstein to close public commentary, seconded by Mr. Toor, the motion was approved by a 7-0 voice vote.

XII. Items for Board Consideration/Action

On motion by Ms. Keller, seconded by Mrs. Dalton, the consent items A.1., through A.4., B.1., through B.4., and C.1., through C.12., were approved by a 7-0 roll-call vote.

The Superintendent recommends that it be:

A. Education

A.1. HIB Report

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education accepts the HIB Report submitted by the Superintendent for the period ending on November 18, 2024.

A.2. Fieldwork Site

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following supervised

clinical fieldwork at Warren Township BOE for the 2024-2025 School Year:

School	Clinical Field
Felician University	Learning Disability Teacher Consultant

A.3. Curriculum Guides - 2024-2025

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following revised curriculum guides:

● Grade 6 Pre-Algebra

● Geometry

A.4. Home Instruction

RESOLVED, the Board of Education approves bedside instruction as follows:

Student	School	Start Date	Amount
2952528856	ParentTrain	December 6, 2024	Not to exceed $6,360

B. Finance/Operations/Transportation

B.1. Payment of Bills

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the payment of bills for the period December 1, 2024 through December 16, 2024 in the amount of $4,915,250.43.

B.2. Partial Payment of Bills

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education authorizes the School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, pursuant to Policy 6470, to audit pending bills and claims, to pay qualifying bills and claims within approved budget line item amounts, from December 17, 2024 to December 31, 2024, and to submit those bills to the Board of Education for approval at its first meeting in January 2025.

B.3. Board Secretary's and Treasurer's Report

WHEREAS, the Board of Education has received the report of the secretary for the month of October 2024.

WHEREAS, this report shows the following balances on October 31, 2024

FUND	CASH BALANCE	APPROPRIATION BALANCE	FUND BALANCE
(10) General Current Expense Fund	$2,709,762.76		$1,906,544.35
(10) General Current Expense		$0.00
(11) Current Expense		$1,239,249.42
(12) Capital Outlay		$729,407.98
(13) Special Schools		$10,936.48
(20) Special Revenue Fund	($118,008.97)	$66,145.83	$0.00
(30) Capital Projects Fund	$15,734.68	($12,321.25)	$315,288.46
(40) Debt Service Fund	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
TOTAL GOVERNMENTAL FUNDS	$2,607,488.47	$2,033,418.46	$2,221,832.81
Wealth Mgmt - Capital Reserve	$4,900,000.00
Wealth Mgmt - Operating	$5,000,000.00
Wealth Mgmt - Capital Projects	$3,461,000.00
TOTAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT	$13,361,000.00
(62) Food Service Account	$150,064.03	($374,445.20)	$81,162.03

WHEREAS, in compliance with law and code the secretary has certified that, as of the date of the reports, no budgetary line item account has obligations and payments (contractual orders) which in total exceed the amount appropriated by the district board of education, now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, the Board of Education accepts the above reference reports and certifications and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, in compliance with law and code, the Board of Education certifies that, after review of the secretary's monthly financial report (appropriation section), to the best of its knowledge, no major account or fund has been over expended in violation of law and code and that sufficient funds are available to meet the district's financial obligations for the remainder of the year.

B.4. Budget Transfers for Month of October 2024

RESOLVED, the Board of Education ratifies the transfers between budget line items that have been approved by the Superintendent of Schools and that are now being reported to the Board pursuant to Policy 6422.

B.5. Travel Approval

Whereas, in accordance with State of New Jersey School District Accountability Act (A-5) and the Warren Township Schools’ Policy 6471-School District Travel, travel by school district employees and Board of Education members must be approved in advance.

Now Therefore Be It RESOLVED, the Warren Township Schools Board of Education approves the following expenses for faculty, staff, administrators, and board members for seminars, conferences and workshops. The expense includes travel costs, if applicable:

Name	School	Workshop/ Conference	Location	Month/Yr	Cost
Matthew Mingle	District	New Jersey Techspo 2025	Atlantic City	Jan 2025	$1,139
William Kimmick	District	New Jersey Techspo 2025	Atlantic City	Jan 2025	$1,141
Lance Riegler	District	New Jersey Techspo 2025	Atlantic City	Jan 2025	$843
Molly Lange	District	Council for Exceptional Children - Special Education Conference	Baltimore, MD	Mar 2025	$1,494
Melissa Smolenski	WMS	Council for Exceptional Children - Special Education Conference	Baltimore, MD	Mar 2025	$1,150

All of the above travel has been approved by the Superintendent. The School Business Administrator shall track and record these costs to ensure that the maximum amount is not exceeded.

B.6. Transportation - Out-of-District Student-SCESC - School Year

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the transportation contract with Somerset County ESC for 2024-2025 School Year for Out-of-District student as follows:

School	Student ID #	Transportation Cost
PG Chambers	3138342376	$560.68 per diem*
Angelo L. Tomaso	4376622801	$118.67 per diem**

(*This motion supersedes the previously approved motion from October 28, 2024.)

(**This motion supersedes the previously approved motion from November 18, 2024.)

B.7. High Impact Tutoring Grant Award Acceptance

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education accepts the adjusted New Jersey High Impact Tutoring Reissue Competitive Grant award to the amount of $124,344.00. (*This motion supersedes previous motion from July 22, 2024.)

B.8. 2025-2026 Preschool Tuition Rate

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves and sets the 2025-2026 preschool tuition rate at $9,850/year.

B.9. Approval of Maintenance Building Roof Bid Award

WHEREAS, a recommendation was made by the Superintendent of Schools to the Warren Township Board of Education (“Board") to seek a contract for construction services for the Roof Project at district’s maintenance building (hereinafter “Project”); and

WHEREAS, the Project was properly advertised to prospective bidders in accordance with N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-4; and

WHEREAS, on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, the Board received the following bids from potential bidders in accordance with N.J.S.A.18A:18A-1, et seq.;

Vendor	Total
Safeway Contracting	$423,800.00
Badger Roofing Company	$431,500.00
Mak Group LLC	$548,758.00
Billy Contracting & Restoration, Inc.	$524,000.00
Strober-Wright Roofing Inc.	$545,810.00
Northeast Roof Maintenance	$601,500.00

WHEREAS, Safeway Contracting’s bid has been reviewed by the design professionals and attorney and is the lowest and is responsive to the bid requirements for the Project,

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board hereby awards the Project to Safeway Contracting for four hundred twenty three thousand eight hundred dollars ($423,800.00). This contract and all of the project’s professional and ancillary fees are to be paid from the district’s general fund monies.

C. Personnel/Student Services

C.1. Employment for the 2024-2025 School Year

RESOLVED, upon recommendation from the Superintendent that the Board of Education approve the following Personnel items including the emergent employment of the following employees (indicated by *) conditional upon the final approval by the New Jersey Department of Education The Board further authorizes the submission of an application for emergency hiring pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:6-7.1, et. Seq., N.J.S.A. 18A:6.14.12, et. Seq., if applicable Staff members shall be paid in accordance with provisions in their collective bargaining agreement and/or in accordance with a schedule provided to all employees prior to the beginning of the contract or school year.

Name	Position/PCR	Location	Degree	Step	Salary	Stipend	Total Salary	Effective Date	Tenure	Discussion
Samantha Atkin	1:1 Paraprofessional (32.5 hours)	CS	N/A	1	$29,362	$2,000	$31,362	December 2, 2024 through June 30, 2025	No	Replacing Employee #3728
Latoya Edwards	School Nurse	MTH	MA	10	$80,124	$0	$80,124	On or about January 2, 2025 through June 30, 2025	Yes	Replacing Employee #1832
David O’Connor	Leave Replacement - Special Education Teacher	CS	BA	1	$62,465	$0	$62,465	February 18, 2025 through June 30, 2025	No	Replacing Employee #3534
Tyja Evans	Leave Replacement - Multi Duty Paraprofessional (30 hours per week)	ALT	N/A	4	$25,995	$0	$25,995	January 2, 2025, through June 30, 2025	No	Replacing Employee #3803
Katherine Murdock	Leave Replacement - Grade 3 Teacher	MTH	BA	1	$62,465	$0	$62,465	February 10, 2025 through June 30, 2025	No	Replacing Employee #3246

C.2. Substitutes

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following to be appointed as substitutes for the 2024-2025 school year.

Names
Heather Coon	Meghna Bobb	Justine Piro
Eva Agathis	Latoya Edwards (Nurse)	Rebecca Baitel

C.3. Approval to Abolish Position

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education hereby approves the abolishment of the following position for 2024-2025 school year:

Location	Position	Full-Time Equivalent
MTH	Classroom Paraprofessional	1.0
CS	1:1 Paraprofessional	1.0

C.4. Approval to Create Position

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education hereby approves the creation of the following position for 2024-2025 school year:

Location	Position	Full-Time Equivalent
MTH	1:1 Paraprofessional	1.0
Elementary	School Psychologist	1.0

C.5. Leave Request

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following leave requests:

Employee ID	Paid/Unpaid
#3223	Administrative Leave - May 31, 2024 through June 30, 2025 (Paid) (This motion supersedes the previous motion from November 18, 2024)
#3323	Intermittent FMLA - September 30, 2024 (Mondays Only) - through December 2, 2024 (Unpaid). (This motion supersedes the motion from September 16, 2024)
#1800	FMLA - December 9, 2024 through December 20, 2024 (Paid)
#0562	FMLA - October 15, 2024 through January 7, 2025 (Paid) Extended Leave - January 8, 2025 through January 13, 2025 (Paid) (This motion supersedes the previous motion from September 16, 2024)

C.6. Retirement/Resignation

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the retirement/resignations

of the following staff:

Name

Position

Location

Retirement/

Resignation

Dates of Service

Mary Glynos

Leave Replacement Social Worker

ALT

Resignation

August 27, 2024 through December 20, 2024

Edward Lee

School Psychologist

ALT/CS

Resignation

September 1, 2017 through June 30, 2025

C.7. Clubs/After School Activities

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following 2024-2025 after school clubs and instructors at the negotiated stipend rate.

Name	Club	School	Cost
Natalie Caterisano	Math Kangaroo	CS	$735
Ann Marie Christou	Crochet Club	MS	$735
Ann Marie Christou	What’s the Deal	MS	$735

C.8. Warren Academy Courses - Instructor Stipend 2024-2025

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following staff for reimbursement as an Instructor. Each instructor will be reimbursed at the WTEA contractual rate $50.00 per hour.

Staff Member	Course	Date	Prep Hours	Instructor Hours	Cost Total Not to Exceed
Katie Cameron	De-escalation Strategies in the Special Education Classroom- Practical Approaches to Managing Challenging Behaviors	January 14, 2025	2	40 Min.	$134
Katie Cameron Eliana Glassman	Paraprofessional Rethink Refresher	January 8, 22, and February 4, 2025	1.5	1.5	$150 each
Lyndsay Carroll	Math Running Records: Addition & Subtraction	January 22, 2025	3	1	$200
Samantha Dock	Creating on Canva: Lesson Materials	January 20, 2025	3	1	$200
Simone Miller	Game-Based Learning	January 7 and 23, 2025	4	2	$300
Jennifer Ronkiewicz	AI/Chat GPT: Teacher Edition	January 7, 2025	3	1	$200
Jennifer Ronkiewicz	The Culturally Responsive Teacher: Chat GPT Edition	February 4, 2025	3	1	$200
Jennifer Ronkiewicz	Using Answer Garden to Increase Student Voice	February 25, 2025	3	1	$200
Jennifer Ronkiewicz	Bite-Sized Brilliance: Mastering Lesson Pacing for Engagement and Retention	March 4, 2025	3	1	$200

C.9. Agency Staffing

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the contract agreement between Warren Township School District and Sunbelt Staffing for the 2024-2025 school year.

C.10. Summer Fun - 2025-2026

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following Summer Fun/ESY position for the 2025-2026 school year.

Name	Position	Salary
Sajel Kapadia	Summer Fun/ESY Secretary	$4,000

C.11. Supervisor Stipend

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following position for the 2024-2025 school year:

Club

Name

Amount

Basketball Supervisor

David Arnold

Scott Vaglio

$50 per hour (not to exceed 60 hours total)

C.12. Agreement with Employee #3223

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the Agreement with Employee #3223.

XIII. Unfinished Business

● None

XIV. New Business

● None

XV. Public Commentary (any topic)

A participant must be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments by an announcement of his/her name, address, and group affiliation, if applicable;
Each statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes’ duration. If necessary, the public comment portion of the meeting may be extended fifteen minutes with Board approval;
No participant may speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard;
All statements, questions, or inquiries shall be directed to the presiding officer and any questions or inquiries directed by a participant to another Board member shall be redirected to the presiding officer who shall determine if such statement, question, or inquiry shall be addressed by the presiding officer on behalf of the Board;

● Rachel Singleton, Deer Trail West - Wanted to thank Mr. Lee for his help with her children.

On motion by Mrs. Dalton to close public commentary, seconded by Mr. Weinstein, the motion was approved by a 7-0 voice vote.

XVI. Adjourn

On motion by Ms. Keller, seconded by Mr. Weinstein, the meeting was adjourned at 7:06 p.m.

Minutes submitted by,

Christopher Heagele

Board Secretary

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