THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 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

Girls Cross Country Red Division Champions

Sara Lignell

Molly Malague

Caroline Schleif

Gianna Hernandez

Lilly Kupersmit

Charlotte Waring

Victoria Espinosa

Rachel Chen

Kaitlyn Hsueh

Ameyaa Desai

Aarohi Desai

Tiffany Choi 

Nelagh Matthews 

Zoey Brown 

Sarah Hausser

GMC Champion

Molly Malague

Central Jersey Group 2 Sectional Champion

Molly Malague

Girls Soccer Blue Division Champions

Merin Boucher

Erin Eustace

Caitlin Waldron

Jena Kaul

Nicole Trolaro

Lilia Ould-Hammou

Rachel Dobbs

Isabelle Villegas

Charlotte Breen

Alexandra Lipshutz

Brooke Fuccile

Kayla Berenfeld

Michaela Gwozdz

Cassidy Connors

Leah Wentnick

Katie Gray

Austen Rodey

Chloe Soden

Katelyn Connors

Sarah Hyman

EMS Boys Cross Country- Undefeated Season

Daniel Choi

Kai Englert

Praket Jha

Ian Jung

Cristian Lazar

Aeneas Ralph

Adam Sommo

Owen Breen

Martin Brennan

Aakash Cunchala

Ronan Gray

Asher Greenbaum

Azhar Hudda

Shinnosuke Murao

Siddhant Naik

Aarav Singh

Peter Szap

Eli Chaplin

EMS Boys Soccer - Undefeated Season

Cameron Hayes - Durina

Leighton Emslie

Lizandro Perez

Cole Leibfried

Colin Gawronski

Jackson Jantas

Peter Xarhoulakos

Ilio Krumins - Beens

Reid Kirin

Eashaan Bhattacharyya

John Bruns

Colton Clancy

Aiden Geary

Shane Guerra

Nicholas Masturzo

Kyle O’Brien

Sean Piperi

Marko Skoratko

Daniel Ruiz

Carter Stetz

James Casey

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

7. Presentations 

❖    Safe Return Plan - Dr. Caputo

❖    Open to Public for Comments on Safe Return Plan

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 Cindy Bagnoli, Math Intervention Teacher at Edgar Middle School, effective January 21, 2022, or earlier if a replacement is found.

2. Appointment - Leave Replacement Revision

Move to approve the following Leave Replacement Appointment Revision until approximately January 7, 2022: (Agenda 11/23/2021, Section 13 A10):

3. Appointment - Leave Replacement

Move to approve the appointment of Ben Hohmann, as Leave Replacement for EMS/MHS German Teacher, effective November 22, 2021 through approximately January 31, 2022, at the rate of $150/day.

4. Maternity Leave of Absence 

Move to approve the maternity leave of absence of Megan Shapiro, Campbell School Second Grade Teacher, effective approximately April 4, 2022 through approximately March 30, 2023.

5. Appointment - Spring 2022 Student Teachers

Move to approve the following 2022 Student Teachers in our schools:

6. Affiliation Agreement

Move to approve the affiliation agreement between Kean University School of Communications Disorders and Deafness and Metuchen School District to allow Sydney Giuso to complete a Speech Pathology Practicum/Externship at Moss School, effective January 3, 2022 through June 30, 2022.  

7. Resignation - Leave Replacement

Move to accept the resignation of Tiffani Joyce, Leave Replacement Social Worker for Metuchen Public Schools, effective January 21, 2022 (Agenda 8/10/21, Section 13 A12).

8. Rescind Appointment - Certificated Staff

Move to rescind the appointment of Tiffani Joyce, Social Worker for Metuchen Public Schools, for the 2021-2022 school year, effective February 2, 2022 through June 30, 2022, at a salary of $55,913/year, Step 3-C, prorated (Agenda 8/10/21, Section 13 A15).

9. Appointment - Leave Replacement

Move to approve the appointment of Kaitlyn Penna, Leave Replacement Social Worker for Metuchen Public Schools, effective January 18, 2022 (or when she is released from her current district) through January 31, 2022, at a salary of $324.94/day.

10. Appointment - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Kaitlyn Penna, Social Worker for Metuchen Public Schools, for the 2021-2022 school year, effective February 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022, at a salary of $60,113/year, Step 3-F, prorated.

11. Resignation - Certificated Staff

Move to accept the resignation of Edyta Oldakowska, .5 School Psychologist at Campbell School, effective December 31, 2021 (Agenda 10/26/21, Section 13 A12).

12. Appointment - Certificated Staff

Move to approve the appointment of Amrita Bindra, School Psychologist at Campbell School, for the 2021-2022 school year, effective January 3, 2022, at a salary of $59,394/year, Step 4-E, prorated.  

13. Appointment - Additional Substitute Secretary

     Move to approve the additional substitute secretary for the 2021-2022 school year, effective December 15, 2021, at a rate of $14.38/hour, pending completion of substitute paperwork and criminal background clearance (Agenda 8/24/2021, Section 13 A8):

14. Appointment - Substitutes

Move to approve the additional substitute teachers for the 2021-2022 school year, effective December 15, 2021, pending completion of substitute paperwork and criminal background clearance (Agenda 8/24/2021, Section 13 A5):

15. Appointment - Additional Zone Staff

Move to approve the additional Zone Staff for the 2021-2022 year (Agenda 08/24/2021, Section 13 A10):

16. Appointment - Website Content Manager

Move to approve Natalie Dougherty to serve as Website Content Manager through June 30, 2022, with a stipend of $5000.00. 

----------------------------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 October 31, 2021

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 December 14, 2021 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 October 31, 2021.

4.     School Security Grant

    Move to accept the NJDOE School Security Grant.

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:

6.    Joint Transportation Agreement Extended School Year 2021 

    Move to approve the Joint Transportation Agreement between Metuchen BOE and BCSSSD ESU. BCSSSD ESU to transport one Metuchen student to Yale School West II in Cherry Hill, NJ for ESY from 7/6/2021-8/16/2021 on Route S15 for the sum total of $3,024.00.

7.     Educational Services

Move to approve Educational Based Services: EBS Healthcare, through The Stepping Stones Group, to provide 1:1 nursing services at $60 per hour.

8.  Professional Development

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

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

3. POLICY

Motion/Second/Comments/Roll Call

1. Suspensions

The Board hereby acknowledges receipt of the suspension report summary for November 22, 2021 - December 10, 2021. 

 ----------------------------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. Retroactive Field Trip

Move to retroactively approve the following field trip 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.

1. Adjournment