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A regular business meeting of the Board of Education was held this day at the Warren Township Middle School, 100 Old Stirling Road. The following is a record of that meeting.

I. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Board President Tia Allocco

Open Public Meeting Statement – Mrs. Allocco 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 5, 2016. This notice was on that date posted on the bulletin board in the Township Office, mailed to the Courier News and the Echoes Sentinel, and TAP into 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. Allocco led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. Roll Call

Present: Paige Albano, Celeste Campos, Len deMontagnac, Lisa DiMaggio,

Andrea Freijomil, Kathy Helewa, Jim Sena and Tia Allocco

Absent: Joan Schiller

Also Present: Dr. Elizabeth Nastus, Interim Superintendent, Patricia Leonhardt, Board Secretary,

and members of the public and press.

IV. Minutes

Ms. Campos moved the following:

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the public and private session minutes of the January 4, 2016 Board Meeting.

The motion was seconded by Mrs. Helewa and approved by 8-0 roll-call vote.

V.Correspondence and Information

· HIB Information

Total # of Investigations:

0

Total # of Determined Bullying Incidents:

0

VI. President's Remarks – Tia Allocco

Mrs. Allocco reported on her attendance at the PTO Presidents’ meeting, her receipt of the petition regarding the Wellness Policy, and thanked Dr. Nastus for new board member orientation. Mrs. Allocco and Ms. Campos will be supplementing with additional information.

Mrs. Allocco then welcomed Mr. Matthew Mingle, slated to become the district’s Superintendent on July 1st, 2016.

VII. Appointment of District Superintendent of Schools

Ms. Campos moved the following:

RESOLVED that the Board, upon the recommendation of the Board of Education, approves the contract of employment between the Warren Township Board of Education and Matthew Mingle for the position of Superintendent of Schools for the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019.

The motion was seconded by Mr. deMontagnac and was approved 8-0 roll-call vote.

VIII. Superintendent’s Remarks – Elizabeth Nastus

Dr. Nastus welcomed Mr. Mingle and assured her support, and that of the entire administrative team, during his transition.

IX. Committee Reports

STEEP Education

Mrs. DiMaggio reported on the work of the committee, as well as outlined future steps in the process, which will include a survey.

X. Discussion

STEEP - Expanded Scope

Ms. Campos reported on the inclusion of the Middle School, and the effect on the timeline. Also discussed was establishing a criteria (filters) whereby the models under review could be streamlined. It was hoped that 5-8 filters would be established.

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).

Susan Leonard, Woodland Staff, asked a question regarding STEEP documentation availability.

Darby Finkelstein, Trinity Place asked a question regarding survey distribution.

Heather Silver, Quail Run, asked a question regarding the protocol for bullying incident investigations.

There was additional conversation concerning the dissemination of STEEP documents and the scheduling of the NJSBA- led community meetings.

XII. Items for Board Consideration/Action

Mrs. Freijomil asked a question regarding motion C.2. In response, Dr. Nastus will distribute the curriculum review cycle.

Mr. deMontagnac asked a question regarding broadband width and cost (motion B.3.).

On motion by Ms. Campos seconded by Mrs. DiMaggio the consent items A.1. and A.2., B.1. through B.3., and C.1. through C.6., were approved by a 8-0 roll-call vote.

A. Education

A.1. HIB Report

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the HIB Report submitted by the Superintendent for the period ending on January 14, 2016.

A.2. HIB Summary Report

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the HIB Summary Report submitted by the Superintendent for the period of July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015.

B. Finance/Operations/Transportation

B.1. Payment of Bills

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the payment of bills for the month of January 2016 in the amount of $2,293,961.25.

B.2. 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:

Name	School	Workshop/ Conference	Location	Month/Yr	Cost
Lauren Valera	WS	Best Practice in Literacy Development	New Brunswick	Feb 2016	$156
Ashley Peterson	District	Power School Users Group	Atlantic City	Mar 2016	$332
Trish Morris	CS	Personality Disorders	Edison	Feb 2016	$200
Trish Morris	CS	ADHD in Children and Adolescents	Manalapan	Mar 2016	$200
John Seremula	MS	NJMEA Music Teachers’ Conference	East Brunswick	Feb 2016	$194

 

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.3. Contract for Voice and Internet Service

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves a contract with Optimum Lightpath for Voice and Bandwidth at a total cost of $15,594 per month (current cost for reduced bandwidth is $17,198). Three year contract to begin on or about May 1, 2016. Contract terms for Internet services through MRESC DRLAP WAN and Internet Cooperative Purchasing Initiative.

C. Personnel/Student Services

C.1. Employment for the 2015-2016 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 2015-2016 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.” (Updates are reflected in bold.)

1. Alexis Bracken, Leave Replacement Teacher, Woodland School, BS, Step 1 of the 2015-2016 salary guide, $56,670 (prorated), effective February 17, 2016 through on or about May 20, 2016. (Ms. Bracken will be LRT for Employee #2060.)
2. Jonathan Carrillo, Transportation Driver, District, increase to 7 hours per day at an annual salary of $22,680 (prorated), effective January 25, 2016 through June 30, 2016.
3. Claudia Falconieri, Leave Replacement Teacher, Angelo L. Tomaso School, BA, Step 1 of the 2015-2016 salary guide, $56,670 (prorated), effective January 20, 2016 through June 30, 2016. (Ms. Falconieri will be LRT for Employee #0718.)

C.2. Curriculum Writing

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following staff members for Curriculum Writing for Science and Mathematics, starting February through June, 2016, outside of school hours, at a cost of $40 per hour, at a total cost not to exceed $1,920:

• Kelly Brown
• Susan Cooper
• Simone Miller
• Dan Ticchio

C.3. Leave Request

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following:

a. Employee #1598 for leave (unpaid according to legal and contractual entitlement), under FMLA/NJFLA, from on or about January 22, 2016 through on or about February 12, 2016, with an anticipated return date of February 15, 2016.

C.4. Additional Hours

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the additional hours for Leslie Mupo to accompany Student #9590854088, to Culture Club for up to 20 sessions, starting January 20, 2016, at a cost not to exceed $575.

C.5. Additional Hours

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the additional hours for Kaitlyn Brown to accompany Student #9880687809, to Homework Club for up to 14 sessions, starting January 26, 2016, at a cost not to exceed $265.

C.6. Substitute Teachers

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education approves the following to be appointed as substitute teacher for the 2015-2016 school year:

a. Ruth Pulgarin

XIII. Old Business

• Local Wellness/Nutrition Policy and Regulation - Next steps

Mrs. Campos opened the discussion, and the board decided to have the Policy Committee review, including what other districts are doing and replacement activities. Also to be addressed are remaining open questions.

• Fundraising Policy

Mrs. Allocco opened the discussion, sharing the questions received at the PTO Presidents’ meeting. The BOE decided to exclude boxtops from the Pay to Play policy restrictions, and asked the Policy committee to ensure that policy language reflects this intent. It was also determined that the Finance Committee will review the ability to fund school assemblies.

• PARCC Results

Mrs. Freijomil discussed the district’s strong PARCC results and her hope that the district will communicate all of the positive aspects.

• Library Time

Mr. deMontagnac asked a question regarding the elementary school libraries. Mr. Kimmick is scheduled to present on this topic at a future board meeting.

XIV. New Business

• Committee Operations

Mrs. Allocco opened the discussion regarding the CY2016 Committee Structure.

After discussion, it was determined that the Personnel and Negotiations committees will be combined.

Also discussed was an attempt to schedule committee meetings on Mondays, alternating with BOE meetings, noting Mr. deMontagnac’s and Mr. Sena’s lack of availability on those evenings. Regarding committee minutes, it was decided that the committee chair will take the minutes, submit them to Dr. Nastus for approval, and they will be typed in the district office. It is hoped that each committee will establish its goals, which will be distributed to the board via the committee minutes. It was recommended that a tentative schedule through June be established by each committee.

• Make-up date for Woodland School

Dr. Nastus thanked the Woodland Staff and parents for their assistance during the power outage. Since there were not 4 hours of instruction, the day must be made up; it is recommended to be the day after the last day of school.

• Board Meetings Tapings

Mrs. Freijomil suggested audio taping the board’s meetings. The Communications Committee will review.

• NJSBA Legislative Meeting

Mrs. Helewa reported on the meeting’s discussions, which included ESSA, PARCC testing participation tied to state aid, and pending legislation.

XV. Public Commentary

Heather Silver, Quail Run, asked questions regarding Nutrition Policy changes and the role of the nurses and food days. Mrs. Silver also discussed allowing the PTOs to canvas the public regarding financial support of assemblies and nutrition input.

Susan Leonard, Woodland Staff, shared that non-food celebrations in her classroom were well-received by the students.

Myrna Sharma, Geiger Lane, thanked the board for its consideration of allowing a box top exception in the implementation of the Fundraising policy.

Brenda Liberti, Wychwood Way, reiterated thanks for consideration of a box top exemption to the policy and discussed the collaboration of multiple PTOs on programs.

XVI. Executive Session

At 8:59 p.m. Ms. Campos 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:

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

Action may be taken upon return to public session;

the length of the meeting is anticipated to be approximately 10 minutes; 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. deMontagnac and approved by unanimous voice vote.

On motion by Ms. Campos, seconded by Mrs. DiMaggio, the Board reconvened in open session at 9:30 p.m.

XVII. Increment Withhold

Ms. Campos moved the following:

WHEREAS, the Superintendent has recommended that the Warren Township Board of Education withhold the employment and adjustment increments of a Teacher whose name is on file in the Superintendent’s office (hereinafter referred to as the “Teacher”) for the 2016-2017 school year; and

WHEREAS, the Board has considered the Superintendent’s recommendation together with the entire record; and

WHEREAS, the Board has determined that the Superintendent’s recommendation to the Board that the Teacher’s employment and adjustment increments be withheld for the 2016-2017 school year is amply supported by the record as a whole; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board hereby adopts and affirms the Superintendent’s recommendation to withhold the Teacher’s employment and adjustment increments for the 2016-2017 school year for the reasons set forth in the Superintendent’s letter to the Teacher, dated January 13, 2016; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board hereby requests that the Board Secretary/Business Administrator provide the Teacher with written notice that her employment and adjustment increments for the 2016-2017 school year are being withheld, together with the reasons therefor, within 10 days of the date of this Resolution, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:29-14.

The motion was seconded by Mrs. DiMaggio and was approved 8-0 roll-call vote.

XVIII. Adjourn

On motion by Ms. Campos, seconded by Mrs. Helewa, the meeting adjourned at 9:32 p.m.

Minutes submitted by

Patricia Leonhardt

Board Secretary