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A regular business meeting of the Board of Education was held this day in the Woodland School, Stirling Road. The following is a record of that meeting.

I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by the Board Vice-President, Mrs. Spiller

OPEN PUBLIC MEETING STATEMENT - Mrs. Spiller read the following Statement:

In accordance with the provisions New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law, the Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be posted in the Board Office and in the Township Office, mailed to the Courier News and Echoes Sentinel, and filed with the Clerk of the Township of Warren.

II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Mrs. Spiller led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. ROLL CALL

Present: Tia Allocco, John De Bellis, Susan Burman, Donald Huber, Roberta Monahan, James Sena, and Mildred Spiller

Absent: Gregory Przybylski arrived at 7:06 p.m.

Patricia Toubin arrived at 7:08 p.m.

Also Present: Dr. Tami Crader, Superintendent, Patricia Leonhardt, School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, members of public, and press

IV. PRESENTATION

• Woodland School 4^th and 5^th Grade Students I&D Program
  Dr. Crader introduced Woodland School 4^th and 5^th Grade Students who presented the I & D Program.  

Dr. Przybylski arrived at this point in the meeting (7:06 p.m.)

Mrs. Toubin arrived at this point in the meeting (7:08 p.m.)

V. MINUTES

Mrs. Spiller moved the following:

RESOLVED, the Board of Education approves the minutes of the following meeting:

November 14, 2011 public and private session

The motion was seconded by Mr. Sena and approved by 7-0-2 roll call vote. (Mrs. Burman and Mr. DeBellis abstained.)

Mrs. Spiller moved the following:

RESOLVED, the Board of Education approves the minutes of the following meeting:

November 28, 2011 public and private session

The motion was seconded by Mrs. Toubin and approved by 6-0-3 roll call vote. (Mrs. Burman, Mrs. Monahan, and Mr. Sena abstained.)

V. CORRESPONDENCE AND INFORMATION

• HIB Information
  

  Dr. Crader reported on HIB information for the month of December 2011 as follows:

  Total # of Investigations:

  3

  Total # of Determined Bullying Incidents:

  2

The superintendent reported the following drills had been held:

• Fire Drills
  
  

  ALT	Central	Mt. Horeb	Woodland	Middle
  November 18	November 9	November 15	November 9	November 8

  
   Security Drills
  
  

  ALT	Central	Mt. Horeb	Woodland	Middle
  November 30, 2011 Bomb Threat	November 28 Bomb Threat	November 29 Bomb Threat	November 17 Bomb Threat	November 23 Bus Evacuation

VII. PRESIDENT'S REMARKS

Dr. Przybylski thanked the Watchung Warren Rotary Club for its donation of dictionaries, the Mt. Horeb PTO for its purchase of Smartboards, and the Watchung Hills Municipal Alliance for its anti-bullying and Character Education grants.

In addition Dr. Przybylski informed the public that the Fact Finding meeting was held last week and that the release of details would wait until the release of the Fact Finder's report.

VIII. SUPERINTENDENT'S REMARKS

Dr. Crader spoke of 21^st Century Fluencies, providing an overview of the program. In addition, Dr. Crader discussed the Emergency Closure Debriefing held recently. Lastly, she reported that a system is currently being developed to facilitate communication among administrators regarding HIB incidents.

IX. COMMITTEE REPORTS

None

X. DISCUSSION

None

XI. PUBLIC COMMENTARY (including opportunity to speak about items for Board Consideration/Action)

Note on public input at BOE meetings: Board Policy #9322, adopted on April 14, 2008, provides for and encourages public participation in Board of Education meetings. Such participation is governed by the following rules:

1. A participant must be recognized by the presiding officer and must preface comments by an announcement of his/her name and place of residence;

2. Each Statement made by a participant shall be limited to three minutes' duration (limit may be adjusted at the discretion of the presiding officer as circumstances dictate);

3. No participant may speak more than once on the same topic until all others who wish to speak on that topic have been heard; and

4. All Statements shall be directed to the presiding officer-no participant may address or question Board members individually.

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).

Andrea Freijomil discussed the HIB process, and some of the specifics regarding implementation.

XII. ITEMS FOR BOARD CONSIDERATION/ACTION

The board amended the job description related to item C.6, and corrected a typo in item C.3.

Mrs. Allocco asked about a review of district and board goals.

Mrs. Allocco asked about the status of the energy audit.

Mrs. Burman noted that January, February, and March meetings will be held on Tuesdays, with the exception of Valentine's Day.

Mr. Huber asked of the status of the land arrangement with the town.

On motion by Mrs. Spiller, seconded by Mrs. Burman, the consent agenda items B.1 through 10, C.1. & C.2., C.5., C.4., and C.3 & C.6 as amended, were approved by a 9-0 roll-call vote.

A. EDUCATION

B. FINANCE/OPERATIONS/TRANSPORTATION

B.1. Partial Payment of Bills - December 2011

RESOLVED, the Board of Education approves the partial payment of bills for December 2011 in the amount of $369,152.62

B.2. Partial Payment of Bills

RESOLVED, the Board of Education authorizes the school business administrator/board secretary, pursuant to policy 3326, to audit pending bills and claims, to pay qualifying bills and claims within approved budget line item amounts, from December 13, 2011 to December 31, 2011, and to submit those bills to the Board of Education for approval at its next regular meeting.

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

WHEREAS, the Board of Education has received the attached reports of the treasurer and secretary for the month of November 2011 and

WHEREAS, this report shows the following balances on November 30, 2011

FUND	CASH BALANCE	APPROPRIATION BALANCE	FUND BALANCE
(10) General Current Expense Fund	$6,989,702.68		$1,459,258.94
(11) Current Expense		$2,515,340.15
(12) Capital Outlay		$668,929.76
(13) Special Schools		$8,248.65
(20) Special Revenue Fund	($177,288.87)	$34,437.46	$0.00
(30) Capital Projects Fund	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
(40) Debt Service Fund	$618,996.65		$14,237.21
TOTAL	$7,431,410.46	$3,226,956.02	$1,473,496.15

WHEREAS, in compliance with N.J.A.C.6:20-2A.10(d) 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 referenced reports and certification, and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, in compliance with N.J.A.C.6:20-2A.10(e), 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 N.J.A.C.6:20-2A.10(a)(1), 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 November 2011

Approve the following Resolution:

RESOLVED, the Board of Education ratifies the following 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 3160:

TO:		FROM:
11-000-217-320-08-00	Extraordinary Services. - Purchased Professional Svcs.	11-213-100-101-00-00	RC Teachers - Salaries	$15,000
12-000-400-450-00-00	Construction Services	11-000-261-420-09-03	Maintenance Repairs - Central	$18,600
		Total Transfers		$33,600

B.5. Multiple Facilities Projects - Warren Township School District

RESOLVED, the Board of Education approves the submission of the documents to the Department of Education for review for the following Facilities Projects throughout the District:

a) Home Arts & Art Room Renovation at the Middle School (fire-damaged)

b) Playground at Woodland School

c) Multi-Purpose Room at Central School

The documents have been/will be prepared by USA Architects. If required, USA Architects is authorized to update the Long Range Facilities Plan for these projects.

B.6. Travel Approval

Whereas, in accordance with State of New Jersey School District Accountability Act (A-5) and the Warren Township Schools' policy number 4133 - Travel and Work Related Expense Reimbursement, 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:

March 2012

• Doris Zanchelli, MHS, New Jersey State School Nurse Conference $ 199

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

B.7. Watchung-Warren Rotary Club Donation

RESOLVED, the Board of Education accepts, with appreciation, the donation by the Watchung-Warren Rotary Club of dictionaries for all Warren third grade students in the approximate amount of $1,500.

B.8. Mt. Horeb School PTO Donation

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves, with appreciation, the donation of approximately $6,694 from the Mt. Horeb School PTO towards the purchase of two SMART Boards.

B.9. District Budget Calendar

RESOLVED, the Board of Education accepts the 2012-2013 District Budget Process calendar dated December 6, 2011.

B.10. Character Education Grant

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves, with appreciation, the acceptance of a Character Education grant in the amount of $1,800 from the Watchung Hills Municipal Alliance towards the purchase of anti-bullying and Character education training materials for the district.

C. PERSONNEL/STUDENT SERVICES

C.1. Employment for the 2011-2012 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, for the 2011-2012 school year and 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."

a) Jennifer Howell, Classroom Paraprofessional, Mt. Horeb School, Step 1-2 of the 2009-2010 salary guide (2011-2012 step will be determined once collective bargaining is concluded), effective December 13, 2011 through June 30, 2012.

b) Kristen Niedhammer, .5 Special Education Teacher, BA, Step 1-2 (maternity leave) and .5 Classroom Paraprofessional, Central School, effective December 16, 2011 through June 30, 2012. (Ms. Neidhammer is replacing Mrs. Graef on family leave.)

c) Jennifer SanAntonio, Maternity Leave Grade 5 teacher, Woodland School, BA+15, Step 1-2, effective January 17, 2012 through June 30, 2012. (Ms. SanAntonio is replacing Mrs. Panos on family leave.)

C.2. Change of Assignment

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the change of assignment for Carol Brown from .46 Substance Awareness Coordinator (SAC) to full time Social Worker, MA, Step 15, effective December 19, 2011 through June 30, 2012.

C.3. Family Leave Requests

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

a) Nicholas Bayachek, Adaptive PE Teacher, District, effective May 7, 2012 through June 30, 2012 (unpaid with benefits) returning September 1, 2012.

b) Marianne Larson, Literacy Coach, District, Intermittent family leave (unpaid with benefits) from May 21, 2012 through November 30, 2012 returning December 1, 2012.

c) Megan O'Donnell, Grade 5 Teacher, Central School, effective May 29, 2012 through October 30, 201(unpaid with benefits) returning October 31, 2012.

C.4. Substitute Teachers

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following Substitute Teachers for the 2011-2012 school year:

a) Aileen Carr

b) Mary Davis

c) Samantha Salvino

d) Michael Thompson

e) Jennifer Howell (Classroom Para)

C.5. After School Club - 2011-2012 School Year

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following after school club for the 2011-2012 school year and the instructors for each club at the negotiated stipend rate.

Middle School

a) Chess Club - advisor Susan Cooper at a stipend of $1,430.

C.6. Job Description

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the Substitute Teacher job description dated December 12, 2011.

XIII. OLD BUSINESS

None

XIV. NEW BUSINESS

Dr. Przybylski spoke of a letter received from Ms. Eva Nagy on behalf of Somerset County School Boards Association (SCSBA) requesting that Warren host an association meeting on Wednesday February 15^th. The meeting will be scheduled.

XV. PUBLIC COMMENTARY

Andrea Freijomil asked questions regarding the future steps in the negotiations process.

XVI. EXECUTIVE SESSION:

At 7:37 p.m. Mrs. Spiller moved the following:

WHEREAS, the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A.10:4-11, permits the Board of Education to meet in closed session to discuss certain matters, now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, the Board of Education adjourns to closed session to discuss

a collective bargaining agreement and/or negotiations related to it,

specific prospective or current employees unless all who could be adversely affected request an open session

and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, the minutes of this closed session be made public when the need for confidentiality no longer exists.

The motion was seconded by Mr. Sena and approved by unanimous voice vote.

On motion by Mrs. Spiller, seconded by Mrs. Toubin the board reconvened in open session at 8:44 p.m.

XVII. ADJOURNMENT: On motion by Mrs. Spiller seconded by Mrs. Toubin, the meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Minutes recorded by:

Patricia Leonhardt