Board Meeting - May 11, 2021

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY

TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2021

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

v Senior Footlighter Elizabeth Baginski will be performing “Somewhere That's Green” from Little Shop of Horrors. Elizabeth and the other Footlighters can be viewed performing the spring Metuchen High School Musical, Little Shop of Horrors on their website:

 www.mhsfootlighters.com

All performances will be streamed at 7 pm at a date TBD.

v This year Metuchen High School is proud to announce the following 24 seniors received the New Jersey State Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, and Hindi. 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. Congratulations to the following students:

Aanand Aggarwal – Spanish

Nozanin Bahridinova – Russian

Noah Bilgrav – Spanish

Jocelyn Chou – French and Chinese

Joshua Hyman – Spanish

Karim Khan – Spanish

Chase Klavon – Spanish

Maggie Kleiner – Spanish

Alyssa Laporte – French

Paige Larson – Spanish

Caroline Leon – Spanish

Erica Li – Spanish

Isabel Li – French

MaryKate McCunney – Spanish

Isabel Melendez – Spanish

David Mercado – Spanish

Simar Monga – French and Hindi

Sophie Palter – Spanish

Hruday Shah – Spanish

Allie Tay – French

Isabel Weiner – Spanish

Sela Wyetzner – Spanish

Yuan Tai Xie – Spanish and Chinese

Sammie Zhu – Spanish

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

7.   Presentations

8.   Reports

v President’s Report

v Superintendent’s Report

v Business Administrator/Board Secretary’s Report

v Committee Reports

9.   Old Business

10.    New Business

11.    Approval of Minutes of the Board of Education Meetings

Move to approve the minutes of the following 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.

A.   PERSONNEL

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1.   Appointment – Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Kelsey Comerford, Media Specialist in the Metuchen School District, for the 2021-2022 school year, at a salary of $54,075, Step 3A, contingent upon confirmation of Master’s Degree and pending receipt of NJ certification, effective September 1, 2021.

2.   Appointment – Substitute Teachers

Move to approve the following substitute teachers for the 2020-2021 school year, effective May 12, 2021, pending criminal clearance history:

3.   Appointment – 2020-2021 Observation

Move to approve the following 2020-2021 Observation in our schools:

4.   Reappointment – Non-Tenured Administrators

Move to approve the reappointment of the following non-tenured administrators for the 2021-2022 school year as shown on Attachment 1 (first page).

5.   Reappointment – Non-Tenured Teachers

Move to approve the reappointment of the following non-tenured teachers for the 2021-2022 school year as shown on Attachment 1 (second through fourth pages).

6.   Resignation – Supervisor

Move to accept the resignation of Brenda Gupta, Supervisor of Guidance & School Counseling, effective June 30, 2021.

7.   Salary Adjustments – Clubs & Co-Curricular Activities

Move to approve the salary adjustment for the following club stipend for the 2020-2021 school year (Agenda 09/22/20, section 13 A16):

8.   Teachers for Summer S.T.R.E.AM.

Move to approve the following teachers for the 2021 Summer S.T.R.E.A.M. program effective July 8, 2021 for prep work and July 12 through August 5, 2021 (four days/week) for a total of 17 days not to exceed 110 hours/teacher at the contractual rate of $47/hour from ESSER II funds:

9.   Counselors for S.T.R.E.A.M.

Move to approve the following counselors for the 2021 Summer S.T.R.E.A.M. program effective July 8, 2021 for prep work and July 12, 2021 through August 5, 2021 (four days/week) for a total of 17 days to be paid at their daily rate from ESSER II funds (Mental Health):

10.    Resignation – Certificated Staff

Move to accept the resignation of Kelly Wales, School Psychologist, effective August 30, 2021.

11.    Resignation – Certificated Staff

Move to accept the resignation of Isabelle Filiciello, Speech Language Pathologist, effective August 30, 2021.

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

B.     FINANCE

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1.   Transportation Jointures and Individual Routes 2021-2022

Move to approve the transportation jointures and individual routes for the 2021-2022 school year with the following districts and educational service commissions: Educational Services Commission of New Jersey, Somerset County Educational Services Commission, Monmouth / Ocean Educational Services Commission, South Plainfield School District, Edison School District, Piscataway School District, and Woodbridge School District.

2.   Transportation Providers 2021-2022

Move to approve South Plainfield School District, Durham School Services, Garas Transportation, Nelvi Transit Inc., D&L Bus Services, Mercy Transportation, Road to Success, and Stars Transport Inc. as transportation providers for the 2021-2022 school year.

3.   Resolution – NJSIG

The Metuchen Board of Education hereby approves the submission of a grant submission for the 2021 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 $16336.00 for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.

4.   Nonpublic Security Aid

Move to approve the following nonpublic security aid for the 2020-2021 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:

5.   Evaluations

Move to approve Drs. Jeffrey Kornitzer and Poorvi Patel, St. Joseph’s Heathcare, to complete neurological evaluations at a rate of $450 per evaluation, effective April 1, 2021.

6.   Effective School Solutions

Move to approve Effective School Solutions to provide therapeutic programs at Metuchen High School at a rate of $371,510 effective July 1 2021 through June 30, 2022.

7.   Professional Development

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

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C.     POLICY 

1.   District Calendar Change

Move to approve a district calendar change to make June 8, 2021 an all-remote early dismissal day.

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D.     CURRICULUM

Nothing at this time

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