Tr[/4~Hvj4r..;T-Lfli.'-N___.:.____ (REVISED MINUTES- PG
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(Revised January 22, 2019) MINUTES OF THE REORGANIZATION & REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING OF THE TENAFLY BOARD OF EDUCATION MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 7, 2019 HELD AT THE HEGELEIN BUILDING, 500 TENAFLY RD .. TENAFLY. NJ DATE _______I_~~J __ J __ 0~'J ____ _ APPROVED --t;tmlcfY'-~--tr[/4~HVJ4r..;t-lfli.'-n___.:.____ (REVISED MINUTES- PG. 32) MINUTES OF THE REORGANIZATION & REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING OF THE TENAFLY BOARD OF EDUCATION MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019 HELD AT THE HEGELEIN BUILDING. 500 TENAFLY RD .. TENAFLY. NJ The meeting was called to order at 6:34 p.m. by Mr. Yas Usami, Business Administrator/Board Secretary. Mr. Usami read the following statement: "The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Law was enacted to insure the right to the public to have advance notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed or acted upon." In accordance with provisions of this act, the Tenafly Board of Education has caused notice of this meeting to be publicized by having the date, time and place thereof posted at the Borough office, Tenafly Public Library, administrative building, in the local press and on the district's web site. Mr. Vas Usami opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Mr. Usami read the November 2018 official election results into the record for the three open seats on the Board. The official results are attached to the Minutes. ADMINISTERING OF OATH TO BOARD MEMBERS Mr. Usami administered the oath to Board incumbents Ms. Natalie Barbanel and Ms. Jane Juhng, and to newly elected Board member Ms. lnbal Israeli Miller, all elected for 3-year terms. After the oath, Ms. Barbanel, Ms. Juhng and Ms. Israeli Miller took their seats at the Board table. Before the nominations and election of Board President and Vice President took place, Mr. Usami referred to a request he received from Ms. Horan to open the floor for a conversation about board leadership roles. Ms. Horan addressed the Board and referred to her email they received about having an open discussion regarding Board leadership. Mr. Aronson said he agreed with Ms. Horan on having a discussion, and commented on the present system of president and vice president terms, and explained that he hasn't served in these capacities due to time and availability demands of the positions. He also discussed the present process of Board and administration communication, and referred to making some changes to the format of the meeting. Ms. Barbanel commented on the present system of rotation of board officers, and made some suggestions to effect better time management and leadership at meetings to help encourage interest in serving on the Board. BERGEN COUNTY Statement of Vote BER_20181106_E TENAFLY LOCAL BOARD OF EDUCATION .... 0 Q a:: a:: < w 0 w... ... Ill z ... ... < ~ < Ill u a:: ::; u• 0 (!) w 0 7;; < .c =0 ... z Ill < !! > :z: a:: u ~ u"' :; ... ::::1 w !!! -;;; ll .... .., ::J 1: 0 w ... 0 ~., ..!:! c <z z ~ < -;;; :; w < < Ill ~ a::"' Ill 1- 1- .., z ~ g."' Tenafty 1 - Election Day ng 434 5571 186 1112 148 1 Tenafty 2-ElectJon Day 609 317 52.05 130 109 111 0 Tenafty 3 - Election Day 585 304 51.88 121 125 97 0 Tenany 4- Election Day 831 484 58.24 196 186 160 3 Ter>afty 5. Elecllon Day 72E 367 50 55 181 160 142 5 Tenany 6- Election Day 615 315 51.22 12~ 126 111 1 Tenafly 1- Elocllon Day 706 Joa 438 11J 97 83 c Teoafty a • Elocllon Day 851 446 5241 174 ~ 140 2 Tenally 9 • ElectiOn Day 850 482 56 71 196 206 165 1 Teoally 10 • Election Day 718 400 55 71 156 180 147 I TeNJfty 11 • Elec1lon Oay 851 43C 5053 157 182 163 c Tenafty 12 • Election Day 939 49 52 40 166 213 155 c Tenally Mali-In BaiiOI· MaM·In Bel c 721 0.00 322 365 299 13 Tenafty Provisional· ProvisiOnal 0 121 0.00 48 47 36 c Election Day Totals 9061 4779 S2.74 1907 1955 1596 14 Mail-In Ballot Tola'i 0 721 0.00 322 365 299 1 Pro•isional Totals 0 121 0.00 48 47 36 0 Ooslricl Totals ·Absentee Dlllricl Grand Totals Tenafty 9061 5821 62.04 2277 2367 1931 27 Grand Totals 9061 5621 62.04 22n 2367 1931 27 December07, 2018 11 ;58 am Page 190 of 219 Mr. Bruno agreed with having an open discussion, and referred to the Board leadership roles and expressed his opinion about the layers of implied authority through the years that he finds unacceptable, and that he would like Board officers to be impartial during meetings. Ms. Flynn referred to the 2-year practice of Board leadership, and the Board members discussed past terms of members. Ms. Flynn commented that she feels Ms. Horan has had a lot of Board experience in serving one year as Vice President. Ms. Schwarz suggested having Work Sessions (Committee of the Whole), as informal discussions at those sessions may help the Board to be better equipped and deal with some concerns before the more formal Board meetings. She pointed out that some closer relationships are normally forged between Board leaders and the administration due to the amount of time spent together. Also, being impartial is important, but sometimes the atmosphere becomes emotional due to the nature of particular topics. Ms. Juhng referred to the 2-year rotation, and said in her opinion 4 years for a person to be in a Board officer role seems like a long time, and she said she thinks there's an opportunity for trustees to move through the officer roles by reducing the present length of time for the positions. The Board members discussed the length of the terms for leadership roles, and the time commitments/obligations needed, and the possibility of involving more people in the roles. Ms. DeMarco discussed some practices of other districts' boards, and discussed Board and administration email communication. She said the administration serves the Board, and some practices can be looked at and changed if the Board wishes. Ms. Israeli Miller expressed that she would like the communication to be positive for the whole board, and leadership is based on trust. She suggested keeping a 2-year term for Board President, and having 2 Vice Presidents for a one-year term each. Mr. Sa Iaski referred to his term as Vice President for one year and said in his own experience in the leadership roles he said he feels there is value in serving for 2 years before a trustee takes on the difficult roles and responsibilities as Board President, and that he doesn't feel the relationships that are forged between the Board officers and the superintendent are an inappropriate concentration of power. He said efficiency of communication is important. Before the nominations and elections of officers, Mr. Usami took the roll call. On roll call, the following Board members answered present: Mark Aronson lnballsraeli Miller Natalie Barbanel Jane Juhng Sam A Bruno Edward J. Salaski Patricia Flynn Jocelyn Schwarz Janet I. Horan Minutes ofthe Reorganization & Regular Public Meeting of January 7, 2019 Page 2 The following staff members were present: Ms. Shauna DeMarco, Superintendent Dr. Evelyn Mamman, Asst. Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Mr. Yas Usami, Business Administrator/Board Secretary ELECTION OF BOARD PRESIDENT Mr. Usami asked for nominations from the floor for President of the Tenafly Board of Education. Ms. Schwarz nominated Ms. Horan for Board President. Mr. Usami asked the Board if they had any other nominations. There were no other nominations. A motion was made by Mr. Salaski and seconded by Ms. Flynn to close the nominations for Board President. The vote for closing the nominations and electing Ms. Horan for Board President was as follows: Yes- 9 Mark Aronson No - o Natalie Barbanel Sam A. Bruno Abstain - 0 Patricia Flynn Janet I. Horan Absent - 0 lnballsraeli Miller Jane Juhng Edward J. Sa Iaski Jocelyn Schwarz Mr. Usami asked the Board if they wished to have a discussion. There was no further discussion. By a unanimous vote, Mr. Usami declared Ms. Horan Board President and turned the meeting over to her. President Horan took her seat at the Board table. ELECTION OF BOARD VICE PRESIDENT Board President-Elect Ms. Horan asked for nominations from the floor for Vice President of the Tenafly Board of Education. Mr. Aronson nominated Ms. Juhng for Vice President of the Board of Education. Minutes of the Reorganization & Regular Public Meeting of January 7, 2019 Page 3 Ms. Juhng stated that until the time commitment is addressed for the position, she doesn't feeling she can fulfill all the duties, as much as she would like to serve in this capacity. She withdrew her nomination. Ms. Horan asked the Board if they had any other nominations. Ms. Barbanel nominated Mr. Aronson. Mr. Aronson responded that he has the same concern with the time commitment, and asked if the nomination could be tabled. Mr. Aronson withdrew his nomination. The decision to move forward is dictated by the statute that officers have to be elected at the Reorganization meeting or the county executive will appoint someone. Mr. Salaski nominated Ms. Schwarz. Ms. Horan asked if there were any other nominations. There were no other nominations. Mr. Usami asked the Board if they wished to have a discussion. There was no further discussion. A motion was made by Ms. Flynn and seconded by Mr. Salaski to close the nominations for Board Vice President. The vote for closing the nominations and electing Ms.