Board Meeting - April 8, 2025 | Metuchen School District

Dates:

Friday, April 4, 2025 - 4:15pm

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY

TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2025

MEETING AGENDA

of the Metuchen Board of Education

Metuchen High School

400 Grove Avenue

Metuchen, NJ 08840

Call to Order

Flag Salute

Notice of Meeting

I hereby make this statement to indicate compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act known as Chapter 231 of the Public Laws of New Jersey, 1975, which became effective 90 days after enactment, January 19, 1976.

Notice of this meeting was given by providing the location, time and date of this meeting, and posting of the same on the front door of the Board of Education offices, by delivering copies to the Borough Hall and the Metuchen Public Library, The Home News and Tribune, and by filing a copy with the Borough Clerk as prescribed by this law.

Roll Call

Mr. Bhatt		Ms. Killean
Ms. Cheatham		Mr. Lifton
Mr. Derflinger		Ms. Shrestha
Mr. Glassberg		Dr. Spigner
Dr. Johnson-Marcus		Mr. Suss

Showcase of Success

❖ Edgar Middle School Science Fair 1st Place Winners

5th grade - Lincoln Holmes and Sonam Vyas - Fantastic Plastic

6th grade - Charles Weiss - Plant Growth: Salt, Sugar and Water

7th grade - Vidushi Singh and Lillian Keith - Where, Water, Why?

8th grade - Emma Gilliland-Duarte and Ayushi Kamath - Defying Gravity

Meeting Open to the Public (for any topic)

Presentations

Reports

President’s Report
Superintendent's Report
Committee Reports
Student Board Member Report

Old Business

New Business

Approval of Minutes of the Board of Education Meetings

March 25, 2025	Special Business Meeting (1)
March 25, 2025	Special Business Meeting (2)
March 25, 2025	Board Meeting

Meeting Open to the Public (for any topic)

Recommendations of the Superintendent of Schools

(at this time the Board will take formal action on the following items – see attachments)

Oftentimes it may appear to members of our audience that the Board of Education takes action with very little comment and in many cases a unanimous vote. Before a matter is placed on the agenda at a public meeting, the administration has thoroughly reviewed the matter with the Superintendent of Schools. If the Superintendent is satisfied that the matter is ready to be presented to the Board of Education, it is then referred to the appropriate board committee. The members of the board committee work with administration and the Superintendent to assure that the members fully understand the matter. When the committee is satisfied with the matter, it is presented to the Board of Education for discussion before any final action is taken. Only then, is it placed on the agenda for action at a public meeting.

PERSONNEL

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1. Appointment - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Willow Brown, Teacher at Campbell School, for the 2025-2026 school year, at a salary of $64,050/year, Step 3A, effective August 27, 2025 through June 30, 2026.

2. Metuchen High School Spring Coaches

Move to rescind and approve the appointments of the following coaches for the Spring 2024-2025 school sports season at Metuchen High School (Agenda 5/28/2024, Section 13, A5):

Name

Assignment

Stipend

Rescind:

Ryan Corrigan

Joseph Corrigan

Jordan Leitner

Beth Abbott

Assistant Baseball Coach 0.5 (Step 2)

Spring Flag Football Coach

$3,426

$2,341

Approve:

Joseph Corrigan

Assistant Baseball Coach (Step 2)

$6,852

3. Leave Replacement - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Kristy Marietta, Leave Replacement for Samantha Palermo, Student Assistance Counselor for the Metuchen School District, effective approximately April 24, 2025 through approximately June 11, 2025, at a per diem rate of $311.76/day.

4. Leave Replacement - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Kristy Marietta, Leave Replacement for Samantha Palermo, Student Assistance Counselor for the Metuchen School District, effective August 25, 2025 through approximately December 5, 2025, at a per diem rate of $329.73/day.

5. Instruction Training

Move to approve the following staff members to participate in Sheltered English Instruction training at an hourly rate of $50 an hour, not to exceed 15 hours and completed by June 30, 2025.

Name	School
Scott Delaney	Campbell
Kara Wong	Campbell
Melissa Harley	Edgar

6. Appointment of Substitutes

Move to approve the appointment of substitutes for the 2024-2025 school year as listed on the chart below, effective April 9, 2025, pending completion of substitute training and criminal history clearance:

2024-2025 Substitutes for Board Approval 4/8/25
Pay Rates - $105/day - Substitute with 30+ college credits
$110/day - Substitute with bachelor's degree (no teacher cert)
$115/day - NJ Teacher Certification
$16/hour - Paraprofessional Substitute
$16/hour - Secretary Substitute
$200/day - Nurse Substitute
Sub Name	Certification/Sub Category
Tony Hogrebe	Substitute teacher with certification
Ken Graf	Substitute teacher with certification
Willow Brown	Substitute teacher with college credits
Jayalakshmi Sundaravaradhan	Substitute teacher with college degree
Robert Spigner	substitute paraprofessional

7. Appointment - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Emily Vanderhoff, Teacher at Campbell School, for the 2025-2026 school year, at a salary of $62,000/year, Step 3D, effective August 27, 2025 through June 30, 2026.

8. Leave Replacement - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Majorie Rosenberg, Leave Replacement for Christina Risitano, Teacher at Edgar School, effective approximately April 23, 2025 through approximately June 11, 2025, at a per diem rate of $311.76/day.

9. Appointment - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Danielle Wright, School Counselor at Moss School, for the 2025-2026 school year, at a salary of $65,100/year, Step 3D, effective August 27, 2025 through June 30, 2026.

----------------------------end of personnel section--------------------------

FINANCE

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1. Professional Development

Move to approve the following professional development activities as shown on the following chart:

Start Date	End Date	Activity Title	Name	Building	Approved	Payment	FFPI Proposal #
4/25/ 2025	4/25/ 2025	New Jersey Association for Behavior Analysis Conference	McLaughlin, Beth	Edgar	$275	FFPI	25-138
4/29/ 2025	4/30/ 2025	Capturing Kids Hearts	Crawford, Courtney	Edgar	$0	No cost
4/29/ 2025	4/30/ 2025	Capturing Kids Hearts	Divanno, Rachel	Edgar	$40.80	FFPI	25-140
4/29/ 2025	4/30/ 2025	Capturing Kids Hearts	Vaughn, Julia	Edgar	$0	No cost
4/29/ 2025	4/30/ 2025	Capturing Kids Hearts	Azevedo, Suzy	Central Office	$0	No cost
4/29/ 2025	4/30/ 2025	Capturing Kids Hearts	Herzog, Tania	Central Office	$0	No cost
5/9/ 2025	5/9/ 2025	Sustainability Summit	Omark, Lindsey	Central Office	$90	Other
5/16/ 2025	5/16/ 2025	Multi-Tiered Systems of Support: 4rd Annual Effective Practices Statewide Summit	Herzog, Tania	Central Office	$150	Other
5/22/ 2025	5/22/ 2025	Biotechnology Workshop	Green, Samantha	MHS	$0	No cost
5/22/ 2025	5/22/ 2025	Community of Practice	Valovcin, Dawn	MHS	$28	FFPI
5/26/ 2025	6/30/ 2025	Space, Time and Motion	Robbins, Melissa	Edgar	$599	FFPI	25-139

2. Resolution - Food Service

Be it resolved that the Metuchen Board of Education “SFA” approves the renewal of the Food Service Management contract with The Pomptonian, Inc. “FSMC” for the food service operation for 2025-2026.

1. FSMC Fee:

The FSMC shall receive, in addition to the costs of operation, an administrative/management fee of $33,768.00 to compensate the FSMC for administrative and management costs. This fee shall be included as a cost of operation and billed in 10 monthly installments of $3,376.80 per month. The SFA guarantees the payment of such costs and fee to the FSMC.

2. There is no guaranteed financial performance

3. Total Estimated Cost of Contract:

Total estimated expenses (cost) include food, labor, supplies, other expenses, and FSMC management fee.

The Total Estimated Cost of Contract is $871,971.38

3. Nonpublic Security Aid

Move to approve the following nonpublic security aid for the 2024-2025 school year. These expenditures are required for the district to fulfill certain legal obligations under state legislation to administer federal or state funds provided to nonpublic schools within our jurisdiction:

School	Vendor	QTY	Item #	Description	Price	Total
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	1	7849016	1-Pro Panasonic 8mp outdoor multi-direct	$1147.01	$1147.01
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	5	6705163	Panasonic I-pro network surveillance camera dome	$433.52	$2167.60
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	1	6758384	I-Pro WV Network Surveillance Camera Dome	$606.94	$606.94
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	2	7270201	HPE Networking Instant on Switch	$563.98	$1127.96
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	1	7939610	Samsung Business Pro T.V. 55”	$443.90	$443.90
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	1	6236082	Tripp lite TV wall mount full motion swivel tv arm	$98.17	$98.17
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	1	7289798	Brivo ACS 6100 Regular Panel	$2240.77	$2240.77
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	1	5581099	Brivo Onair AC300 IP WIFI door C TRL	$950.77	$950.77
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	2	7058570	Brivo SGL GANG TRI Technology Readers	$348.79	$697.58
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	4	8035685	LTW Installation Materials Per CAM	$202.63	$810.52
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	2	MISC	Single Door ACS Hardware Kit	$925.00	$1850.00
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	8	MISC	Brivo Access Standard Edition	$14.50	$116.00
Metuchen Christian Academy	CDW-G	1	MISC	Installation Services	$15042.78	$1502.78
				Shipping		$153.87
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	24	1	Electrician Tasks not included in task catalogue	$121.96	$2,777.47
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	2	2	½ to ¾ Ton Pickup Truck and Driver	$1,106.31	$2,099.56
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	3	Transfer delivered material between stairs	$20.82	$118.54
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	4	Transfer demolition debris between floors	$20.82	$118.54
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	5	Transfer demolition debris greater than 125'	$8.45	$48.11
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	1	6	30 CY Dumpster	$809.99	$768.60
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	102	7	Grout door frames	$6.38	$617.51
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	102	8	1 ¼" Poly Backer Rod	$4.92	$476.20
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	2	9	¾" x 1" joint sealant and caulking	$1,114.98	$2,116.01
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	10	For >8 to 10 SF Factory installed 20-gauge steel frame	$455.21	$2,591.69
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	11	3' x.7'2" through 9' high 5- ¾" deep 16-gauge knock down	$787.37	$4,482.81
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	124	12	4- ¾" 16-gauge frame steel transom Demolition	$96.60 $16.08	$13,258.33
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	13	3' x 7' x 1 ¾" 18 gauge insulated poly core Demolition	$1,348.17 $68.92	$8,068.06
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	42	14	Full surface aluminum continuous hinge	$66.17	$2,637.13
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	42	15	MOD heavy duty add	$12.77	$508.93
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	16	8" x 24" 0.050" thick satin aluminum finish	$79.51	$452.68
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	17	Surface mounted heavy-duty door closer	$596.71	$3,397.31
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	18	For stainless steel finish, add	$145.00	$825.54
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	6	19	Classroom FOS mortise lockset	$958.78	$5,458.72
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	18	20	¾" thick, tempered clear float field installed glass	$89.35	$1,526.12
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	324	21	1 coat paint, brush/roller work	$1.69	$519.58
St. Joseph High School	Ascend Construction Management, Inc.	12	22	1 coat primer, brush/roller work	$120.85	$1,376.09
Apple Montessori School of Metuchen	CDW-G	4	Installation	4 Camera Installs-Metuchen	$656.25	$2625.00

4. Nonpublic Technology Aid

Move to approve the following nonpublic technology aid for the 2024-2025 school year. These expenditures are required for the district to fulfill certain legal obligations under state legislation to administer federal or state funds provided to nonpublic schools within our jurisdiction:

School	Vendor	QTY	Item #	Description	Price	Total
Friends of the Family dba CalliCORP	CDW-G	1	MFCL9570CDW	Brother MFC-L9570CDW Multi Functional Printer	$886.49	$886.49

5. Transportation Provider

Move to approve Coach America as an additional Transportation provider for the 2024 - 2025 school year.

6. Payment of Bills

a) Board Secretary’s Certification

Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6:20-2A.10(d), the Board Secretary has certified that as of March 25, 2025 no budgetary line item accounts have obligations and payments which exceed the amount appropriated by the Board of Education.

________________________________________ _______________

Michael A. Harvier, Board Secretary Date

b) Approve the Following Items Submitted by the Board Secretary

Payment of bills and claims, as shown on the attached list(s) that have been certified by the Board of Education and filed in the Business Office.

7. Change Order M&M Construction and Epic Management

Move to approve the change order as listed below:

EPIC:

Change Order #	Description	Amount
8	MOSS: Provide Material and Labor for Pump Station	$34, 385.26
9	Moss: Provide Material and Labor for sewer repairs Moss: Boiler flue	$88,164.53
11	Moss: Courtyard Changes Edgar Cafeteria Windows	$234,650.65

M&M:

Change Order #

Description

Amount

10

MHS: Complete Cafeteria

MHS: Complete Field House

CES: Complete Cafeteria

$40,000.00

12

MHS: Removal of Site Light Pole at Cafeteria

MHS & CES added FEC Cabinets

MHS: T & M added existing foundation demolition

CES: RFI Response – Basketball Court

MHS – EUC Connect Unknown Clay Pipe

MHS- Submittal #44 Change

$60,000.00

----------------------------end of finance section--------------------------

POLICY

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

Suspensions

The Board hereby acknowledges receipt of the suspension report summary for March 24, 2025 - April 4, 2025.

2. Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying

Move to affirm the findings of the previously reported case.

EMS02242025001
EMS031125001

3. Policies and Regulations for 2nd Reading

Move to approve the second readings of the following policies and regulations:

❖ P&R 7441 Electronic Surveillance In School Buildings and On School Grounds (M)

❖ P 5111 Eligibility of Resident/Nonresident Students (M)

❖ P 8500 Food Services (M)

----------------------------end of policy section--------------------------

CURRICULUM

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1. Field Trips

Move to approve the following field trips for students in the Metuchen School District as shown:

School	Destination	Class/Group/ Purpose	Teachers/ Advisors	Date(s)	No. Of Students	Board Cost- Transportation	Number of Subs Needed
Moss	Kentnor Park	Grade K; Students will be engage in community based instruction to Kentnor Playground to generalize social emotional/behavioral skills, communication goals, motor and play skills outside of the classroom and practice them within a community setting.	Shannon MacMenamie, Lori-Anne DiSerio, Karen Calantoni, Dana Donatelli, Kaitlyn Kodersha, Emily Peluso, Caroline Mandel, Vanessa Beibide, Sandy Iacona, Laura Hermans, Lauren Corrigan, Neha Jansari, Farhana Khan, Katie Upshaw	4/25/ 2025	13	$30	no subs needed
MHS	Jostens Cover Workshop	Grades 11-12; Students will plan cover for next year's yearbook	Adam Levy	5/1/ 2025	12	$120	1 sub needed
Moss	Rutgers Farm	Grade K; K Standards: ELA.EE.SL.K.1 Participate in conversations with others. ELA.EE.SL.K.6 With guidance and support, communicate thoughts, feelings, and ideas. ELA.EE.L.K.1.d With guidance and support, identify answers to simple questions (e.g., who, what) from an array of choices. Students will engage in community based instruction to the Rutgers Farm. Students will be able to use prior knowledge to understand this new experience, develop an expanding expressive vocabulary and engage in conversations about what they seen with peers and teachers.	Shannon MacMenamie, Lori-Anne DiSerio, Karen Calantoni, Dana Donatelli, Kaitlyn Kodersha, Emily Peluso, Caroline Mandel, Vanessa Beibide, Sandy Iacona, Laura Hermans, Lauren Corrigan, Neha Jansari, Farhana Khan, Katie Upshaw	5/5/25 (Rain date)	12	$100	no subs needed
Moss	What's the Scoop	Grade K; Students will engage in community based instruction to What's The Scoop to generalize social emotional/behavioral goals, engaging socially with peers, awareness in the community, and communication goals.	Shannon MacMenamie, Lori-Anne DiSerio, Karen Calantoni, Dana Donatelli, Kaitlyn Kodersha, Emily Peluso, Caroline Mandel, Vanessa Beibide, Sandy Iacona, Laura Hermans, Lauren Corrigan, Neha Jansari, Farhana Khan, Katie Upshaw	6/3/ 2025	12	$40	no subs needed

----------------------------end of curriculum section--------------------------

Meeting Open to Public (for any topic)

Announcements

Motion to Go Into Executive Session (when applicable)

Resolution to Close Meeting

BE IT RESOLVED, pursuant to the Sunshine Act, N.J.S. 10:4-12 and 13, that the Board of Education will now meet in executive session to discuss _____________________________________ and that matters discussed will be disclosed to the public as soon as the reason for confidentiality no longer exist.