THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY

TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2022

MEETING AGENDA

of the Metuchen Board of Education

Metuchen High School

400 Grove Avenue

Metuchen, NJ  08840

1. Call to Order

2. Flag Salute

3. 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, The Criterion Sentinel, The Star Ledger, and by filing a copy with the Borough Clerk as prescribed by this law.

4. Roll Call

5. Showcase of Success

❖    2021-2022 Student Advisory Board

Carly Pichalski, Senior

Cecilia Zuniga, Senior

Raghav Potdar, Junior

Keira Dowd, Junior

Kyle Rutter, Sophomore

Danny Galligan, Freshman

Keira Caccavano, 8th Grade

Eashaan Bhattacharyya, 7th Grade

Sama Samim, 6th Grade

Drew Chonka, 5th Grade

Ayomi Cole, 4th Grade

Alex Hermans, 3rd Grade 

❖    Seal of Biliteracy

Seniors

Juniors

❖    Perfect SAT and ACT scores

Perfect SAT Score 

Jared Wyetzner - 11th Grade

Perfect ACT Score

Noah Strathman - 12th Grade

❖    Sports Champions

Girls Spring Track and Field Team

GMC White Division Champions, Central Jersey Group 2 Champions, Group 2 State Champions 

Marina Armour

Zoey Brown

Kaitlyn Connors

Sophia De La Cruz

Kaya Gredzinski

Sarah Hausser

Gianna Hernandez

Sarah Hyman

Johanna Indyk

Carol Johnson-Fish

Lilly Kupersmit

Sara Lignell

Molly Malague

Nelagh Matthews

Lilia Ould-Hammou

Ella Polakowski

Maggie Rivera

Caroline Schleif

4x800 Relay GMC Champions, Central Jersey Group 2 Sectional Champions

Gianna Hernandez

Sara Lignell

Molly Malague

Caroline Schleif

3200 Meter GMC Champion, Central Jersey Group 2 Sectional Champion

Molly Malague

800 Meter GMC Champion, Central Jersey Group 2 Sectional Champion

Caroline Schleif

1600 Meter GMC Champion, Central Jersey Group 2 Sectional Champion

Molly Malague

Boys Spring Track and Field

4x800 Relay Group 2 State Champions

Nico Hidalgo

Alex Patelski

Eric Schleif

Brandon Sinclair

800 Meter Group 2 State Champion

Brandon Sinclair

Boys Spring Tennis Team

GMC White Division Champions

Abhishek Bansal

Heshaam Basha

Ethan Byrne

Matt Byrne

Ricard Halvorson

Matthew Han      

Grayson Kahng

Michael McNamara 

Josh Puerzer

Nate Schilowitz 

Aravind Sriram

Noah Strathman

Ashvin Trehan

Spring Softball Team

GMC White Division Champions

Ava Barasch 

Brianna De La Fuente

Kylie Flaherty

Leslie Flaherty

Deanna Kochy

Abby Kozo

Mary McGrath

Hannah Mindler

Skyler Pearsall

Carly Pichalski 

Eva Szap 

Mia Szap

Boys Spring Golf Team

GMC Golf Champions, State Group 1 Champions, Red Division Champions, Central Jersey Group 1 Champions

Shawn Ahn

Jacob Blom

Joshua Blom

Kyle Blom

Matthew DeCerbo

Jakob Krombholz

Luke Krombholz

Group 1 State Champion First Place

Kyle Blom

Group 1 Central Jersey First Place

Jakob Krombholz

Edgar Spring GMC Track Team 

Undefeated Season

Tariq Alisammond

Julia Armour

Kadijata Bah

Katie Chen

John Cummings

Alanna Edwards

Christopher Edwards

Sophie Ferrara

Ian Jung

Angelica Kiesche

Arturs Krumins

Sarah Martin

Erica Merzlyakov

Neela Myers

Tyler Nicholson

Lucy Ongteco

Lola Petro

Sammie Powers

Nate Villanueva

Taylor Zaneto

Allen Zheng

6. Meeting Open to the Public (for any topic)

7. Presentations 

8. Reports

• President’s Report

• Superintendent's Report

• Committee Reports

9. Old Business

10. New Business

11. Approval of Minutes of the Board of Education Meetings

12. Meeting Open to the Public (for any topic)

13. Recommendations of the Superintendent of Schools

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

Often times 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.

1. PERSONNEL

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1. Resignation - Certificated Staff

Move to accept the resignation of Mark Stack, English Teacher at Metuchen High School, effective June 30, 2022.

2.    Medical Leave of Absence - Certificated Staff

    Move to approve a medical leave of absence of Virginia Wetzel, Science Teacher at Edgar Middle School, through June 21, 2022.

3.    Appointment – Leave Replacement

    Move to approve the appointment of Ashlyn Jarius, Leave Replacement for Virginia Wetzel, Science Teacher at Edgar Middle School, effective May 19, 2022 through June 21, 2022, at a rate of $150/day. 

4.    Resignation - Certificated Staff 

    Move to accept the resignation of Laura Camargo, Spanish Teacher at Edgar Middle School, effective June 30, 2022.

5.    Medical Leave of Absence - Administrator

    Move to approve the medical leave of absence of Neyda Evans, Assistant Principal at Edgar Middle School, from May 18, 2022 through June 16, 2022.

6.    Appointment Extension - Interim Assistant Principal

    Move to extend the appointment of Mike Knoth, Interim Assistant Principal at Edgar Middle School, through June 16, 2022 (Agenda 5/24/22, Section 13 A8).

7.    Medical Leave of Absence - Administrator

    Move to approve the medical leave of absence of Brooke Kirschner, Assistant Principal at Campbell Elementary School, from June 7, 2022 through approximately July 1, 2022.

8.    Appointment - Interim Assistant Principal

    Move to approve the appointment of Kathy Glutz, as Interim Assistant Principal at Campbell Elementary School, effective June 6, 2022 through approximately June 21, 2022.

9.    Resignation - Paraprofessional

    Move to accept the resignation of Rene Flynn, Paraprofessional at Edgar Middle School, effective June 3, 2022.

10.    Family Medical Leave of Absence - Custodian

    Move to approve the family medical leave of absence of Chad Lesniak, Custodian at Campbell School, effective July 5, 2022 through August 26, 2022.

11.    Appointment – Substitutes

    Move to approve the additional substitute teachers for the 2021-2022 school year, effective May 26, 2022, (Agenda 8/24/2021, Section 13 A5):

12.    Substitutes Rate Increase for 2022-2023

    Move to approve a rate increase for substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, secretaries and nurses, as follows, effective July 1, 2022:

13.    Medical Leave of Absence - Custodian

    Move to approve the medical leave of absence of Paula Butler, Custodian at Metuchen High School, from May 4, 2022 through approximately June 30, 2022.

14.    Reappointment - Tenured Teachers 

    Move to approve the reappointment of the following as tenured teachers for the 2022-2023 school year, as shown on the attachment. 

15.    Reappointment - Tenured Principals/Assistant Principals

    Move to approve the reappointment of the following tenured Principals/Assistant  Principals for the 2022-2023 school year, effective July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 at the annual salaries as follows:

16.    Reappointment – Tenured Supervisors 

    Move to approve the reappointment of the following tenured supervisors for the 2022-2023 school year, effective July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 at the annual salaries as follows: 

17.    MHS Weight Room Supervisors 

    Move to approve the following as weight room supervisors for the 2022-2023  school year, effective July 1, 2022, at the rate of $25/hour, as needed: 

*adjunct coach (not a member of district staff) 

18.    Appointment - Certificated Staff

    Move to approve the appointment of Ariana Heinsdorf, Library Media Specialist for Metuchen Schools District, for the 2022-2023 school year, at a salary of $56,700, Step 3A, effective August 31, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

19.    Transfer - Certificated Staff

    Move to approve the transfer of Janelle Fisher, current Campbell School Teacher, to tenure track Teacher of RtI/ESL at Moss School, for the 2022-2023 school year, effective August 31, 2022.

20.    Turn-Key Trainers for the 2022 – 2023 School Year

    Move to approve the following teachers to serve as turn-key trainers for all K-5 staff on how to embed coping skills for the 2022-2023 school year at the hourly rate of $48 per hour. Not to exceed 9 hours each. To be paid by the ESSER III grant. 

21.    Student Observers/Interns

    Approve the following Observers and Interns in the Metuchen Public Schools district for the 2022-2023 school Year: 

22.    School Transfer - Certificated Staff

    Move to approve the school transfer of Raquel Williams, Spanish Teacher at Campbell School, to Spanish Teacher at Edgar Middle School, for the 2022-2023 school year, effective August 31, 2022. 

23.    Resignation - Bus Driver

    Move to accept the resignation of Ivon Macayza, Bus Driver for Metuchen Public Schools, effective June 27, 2022.

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

2. FINANCE

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1.    Resolution – NJSIG

    The Metuchen Board of Education hereby approves the submission of a grant submission for the 2022 Safety Grant Program through the New Jersey Schools Insurance Group’s ERIC NORTH Subfund for the purposes described in the application in the amount of $14,286.00 for the period of July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

2.    Nonpublic Technology Aid

    Move to approve the following nonpublic technology aid for the 2021-2022 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.

3.     Professional Development

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

4.    Interlocal Services Agreement

    Move to approve the interlocal service agreement between the Metuchen Public Library and the Metuchen Board of Education to share the cost of certain library databases.

5.    Nonpublic Security Aid

    Move to approve the following nonpublic security aid for the 2021-2022 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.

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

3. POLICY

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1.    District Calendar Change

    Move to approve a district calendar change to make new teacher orientation August 29, 2022, August 30, 2022 and September 2, 2022 with Inservice days August 31, 2022 and September 1, 2022. 

2.    Suspensions

    The Board hereby acknowledges receipt of the suspension report summary for May 23- June 10, 2022.

3.    Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying

    Move to affirm the findings of the previously reported case:

• METHS050322001

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

4. 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:

2.    2022 Curriculum Summer Writing

    Move to approve the following curriculum writing documents, writers and amounts for Summer 2022: 

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

14. Meeting Open to Public (for any topic)

15. Announcements

16. 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.

17. Adjournment