THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY

TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2023

 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

❖    Artwork Display

This evening we have the pleasure of having the Edgar Middle School Arts Festival Preview showcased. Every year each student who has Art and Industrial Arts, has a piece of artwork on display. Mrs. Gumbrecht, Ms. Banner and Mr. Jones transform the Edgar gymnasium into an amazing Art Gallery. As you see here, there is a sampling  of  5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade artists showcasing a variety of mediums including:

•    5th grade tempera paint and oil pastels

•    6th Grade drip drawings, sculpey clay, and Tim Burton inspired self portraits

•    7th grade ceramic food sculptures and neurographics

•    8h grade micrography, watercolors, and clay containers

Industrial Arts Projects produced by 8th grade woodworkers include:

•    Charcuterie boards

•    Chess boards

•    Poured resin 

•    Clocks

•    Pens

Thanks to the Metuchen Education Foundation, students are able to utilize the Glowforge, a 3-D laser engraver. They have the ability to monogram boards, cut custom designs, and laser cut intricate designs into jewelry. Please join us Thursday June 8th from 7-9pm in the Edgar Middle school Gymnasium to see the FULL Edgar Middle School Arts festival Experience!

❖    MHS Seal of Biliteracy 

Metuchen High School is proud to announce the following 46 students received the New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy in Chinese, French, Gujarati, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, and Vietnamese. The State Seal of Biliteracy was established to recognize high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, listening and writing in one or more world languages in addition to English. To earn the New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy students must meet English Language Arts graduation requirements and earn a proficiency level of Intermediate Mid or higher on a state approved, world language assessment. Students noted also earned their Global Seal of Biliteracy. Congratulations to the following students:

Seniors

Selin Altunyay - Spanish

Bryan Ayala -  Spanish

Samira Bahridinova -  Spanish & Russian

Brianna De La Fuente - Spanish

Irene Lin -  Chinese

Hiyori Suzuki -  Japanese

Juniors

Ann Carlos -  Spanish

Michael Cedeno Martinez -  Spanish

Nicole Dudek -  Polish

Leslie Flaherty -  Spanish

August Garner -  Spanish

Kristal Goytia -  Spanish

Arjun Gupta -  Spanish

Matthew Han -  Spanish & Korean

Erin Hart -  Spanish

Richard Ho -  Spanish & Vietnamese

Ximena Johnstone Asturias -  Spanish

Michelle Kiantony -  Spanish

Emily Lan -  Chinese

Cindy Li -  Chinese

Ivan Lin -  Chinese

Nicole Lin -  Chinese

Nene Murao -  French & Japanese

Zachary Musmanno -  Spanish

Dhiya Naresh -  Spanish & Tamil

Robert Nawn -  Spanish

Kevin Notch -  Spanish & Italian

Kevin O'Brien -  Spanish

Kayla O'Malley -  Spanish

Alex Patelski -  Polish

Shivalik Paul -  Spanish

Liliana Petro -  Hungarian

Mairead Rivera -  Spanish

Liana Rodriguez -  Spanish

Savanna Rodriguez -  Spanish

Alexander Serban -  Russian

Leila Shao -  Spanish

Penelope Shao -  Spanish

Chloe Shen -  Spanish

Vrinda Surati -  Gujarati

Julia Swykowski -  Spanish

Isaac Taegar -  Spanish

Alyssa Tay -  Spanish

Aidan Van Skyhawk -  Spanish

Michael Zetino -  Spanish

Anya Zhang -  Spanish

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

7. Presentations  

8. Reports

• President’s Report

• Superintendent's Report

• Committee Reports

• Student Board Member Report

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. Appointment - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Rebecca Klein, Library Media Specialist for Campbell School, for the 2023-2024 school year, at a salary of $57,225, Step 3B*, effective August 30, 2023 through June 30, 2024. (*salary may be adjusted upon the settlement of the new contract).

2.    Appointment - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Andrew Southern, Science Teacher at Edgar Middle School, for the 2023-2024 school year, at a salary of $67,200, Step 3H*, effective August 30, 2023 through June 30, 2024. (*salary may be adjusted upon the settlement of the new contract).

3.    Informal Mentors

    Move to approve the following staff to serve as an informal mentor for the 2022-2023 school year, effective August 30, 2022, to be paid at a rate of $48/hour, not to exceed six hours (Agenda 8/9/23, Section 13 A18):

4.    Formal Mentor

    Move to approve the following formal mentor teacher to work with the following mentee teacher for the 2022-2023 school year(Agenda 8/9/23, Section 13 A20): 

5.    Salary Adjustment – Certificated Staff

    Move to approve a change in base salary for Magy Naguib, Moss School Teacher, from Step 1I, $68,200/year, to Step 3I, $71,610/year, as a result of earning her Master’s Degree, effective June 1, 2023.

6.    Salary Adjustment – Certificated Staff

    Move to approve a change in base salary for Vincent Signorile, Campbell School Teacher, from Step 1C, $55,000/year, to Step 2C, $56,375/year, as a result of his 30 additional credits (BA+30), effective June 1, 2023.

7.    Appointment - Certificated Staff 

    Move to approve the appointment of Adrianna Reyes, ESL Teacher at Campbell School, for the 2023-2024 school year, at a salary of $63,210, Step 3G*, effective August 30, 2023 through June 30, 2024. (*salary may be adjusted upon the settlement of the new contract).

8.    2022-2023 Spring Coach Appointments –Metuchen High School

    Move to approve the following additional 2022-2023 Metuchen High School Coach Appointments (Agenda 6/28/2022, Section 13 A27):

*Represents Adjunct Coach

9.    Appointment of Substitute Paraprofessional

    Move to approve the appointment of the following additional substitute paraprofessional for the 2022-2023 school year, pending criminal history clearance (Agenda 8/23/2022 Section 13 A17):  

10.    Appointment - Certificated Staff 

    Move to approve the appointment of Julia Vaughn, Social Studies Teacher at Edgar School, for the 2023-2024 school year, at a salary of $54,000, Step 1A*, effective August 30, 2023 through June 30, 2024. (*salary may be adjusted upon the settlement of the new contract).

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

2. FINANCE

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1. Treasurer of School Monies and Board Secretary’s Reports

Move to approve the Treasurer of School Monies’ Report, and Board Secretary’s Report as of March 31, 2023.

2.   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 May 23, 2023 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.

3.   Budget Transfers

Move to approve budget transfers effective March 31, 2023.

4.    Resolution Food Service

    Be it resolved that the Metuchen Board of Education “SFA” accepts the Food Service Management proposal from The Pomptonian, Inc. “FSMC” for the food service operation for 2023-2024.  

1.    FSMC Fee:

The FSMC shall receive, in addition to the costs of operation, an administrative/management fee of $32,470.00 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 $3,247.00 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 $757,675.81.

5.    Professional Development

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

6.    RESOLUTION DETERMINING THE FORM AND OTHER DETAILS OF $82,236,000 SCHOOL BONDS OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE BOROUGH OF METUCHEN IN THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, NEW JERSEY AND PROVIDING FOR THEIR SALE. (see attachment)

7.    Therapeutic and Behavioral Services

Move approve the appointment of the following to provide counseling, therapeutic and behavioral services for the 2023-2024 school year:

• Effective School Solutions- to provide Therapeutic Mental Health Services for an annual contract of $299,800

• Rutgers UBHC-  to provide Therapeutic Mental Health Services for an annual contract of $299,800

• Wellspring Center for Prevention to provide counseling services for an annual rate of $96,000 (ESSER Grant Funded)

8.    Student Placement

    Move to approve placement of student 20341125 to attend Rutgers Day School, effective approximately June 5, 2023 for the rate of $7,681 per month. 

9.    Jets Foundation Grant

    Move to accept the Jets Foundation Grant, in the amount of $4,000, for a High School Girls Flag Football Program, for the 2022-2023 school year.

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

3. POLICY

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1. Representative to the ESCNJ Board of Directors

Pursuant to enacted legislation, P.L. 192-1989, Chapter 254, the Metuchen Board of Education elected Dr. Vincent Caputo to the Representative Assembly of The Educational Services Commission of New Jersey at their meeting held on May 23, 2023 from June 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024.

 ----------------------------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: 

----------------------------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