The Regular Meeting of the Wayne Township Board of Education Was
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Regular Meeting Minutes August 28,2014 Page 1 of 373 BOARD OF EDUCATION . WAYNE TOWNSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS WAYNE, NEW JERSEY REGULAR BOARD MEETING August 28, 2014 The Regular Meeting of the Wayne Township Board of Education was held on Thursday, August 28, 2014, in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, 475 Valley Road, Wayne, New Jersey 07470. The Executive Session was held in the Administration Building Conference Room, 50 Nellis Drive, Wayne, New Jersey 07470. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. pursuant to the terms of the Sunshine Law. The meeting was called to order at 6:04 p.m. by Mrs. Laura Stinziano, Board President. Reading of "Sunshine Law" Statement Adequate notice of this Regular and Executive Meeting, setting forth time, date and location, has been provided in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act on February 7, 2014 by: Prominently posting a copy on the bulletin board in the lobby of the offices of the Board of Education, which is a public place reserved for such announcements, transmitting a copy of this notice to The Record, The Wayne Today, and the Municipal Clerk. Roll Call PRESENT: Laura Stinziano, Kim Essen, Eileen Albanese, Catherine Kazan, Michael Bubba, Donald Pavlak, Jr., and Robert Ceberio. LATE ARRIVAL: Allan Mordkoff@6:27 p.m. Mitch Badiner @ 7:30 p.m. ALSO PRESENT: Dr. Mark Toback, Superintendent, Michael Ben-David, Assistant Superintendent, Juanita A. Petty, School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, Christina Martinez, Board General Counsel. Regular Meeting Minutes August 28, 2014 Page 2 of 373 A motion was made to convene into Executive Session at 6:04 p.m. for the purpose of discussion of personnel, property, negotiations and legal matters. Motion: To Approve, Moved by Board Member MICHAEL BUBBA, Seconded by Board Member DONALD PAVLAK. Passed. 9-0-0. Board Members voting Aye: ALBANESE, BADINER, BUBBA, CEBERIO, ESSEN, KAZAN, MORDKOFF, PAVLAK, STINZIANO. Convene into Executive Session - RECOMMENDED ACTION: X-15-01 -Approved- WHEREAS, the Wayne Township Board of Education (hereinafter referred to as the "Board") from time to time must convene into Executive Session to discuss confidential matters including but not limited to personnel issues, legal matters, student issues and labor negotiations. WHEREAS, THE Board has on its agenda for the meeting being held on August 28, 2014 on issues relating to personnel, negotiations, and legal matters which must be discussed in a confidential closed session. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Board shall move into Executive Session to discuss the above referenced matter. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the minutes of the executive session will provide as much information as possible without violating any applicable privilege or confidentiality so that the public can understand what was discussed and when available what the Board decision was. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the minutes of the executive session will be released to the public in an appropriately redacted form within a reasonable period of time. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the redacted portionof the executive session minutes will not be released until such time as the privilege or confidentiality is no longer applicable. Motion: To Approve, Moved by Board Member MICHAEL BUBBA, Seconded by Board Member DONALD PAVLAK. Passed. 9-0-0. Board Members voting Aye: ALBANESE, BADINER, BUBBA, CEBERIO, ESSEN, KAZAN, MORDKOFF, PAVLAK, STINZIANO. Reconvene Regular Meeting Minutes August 28, 2014 Page 3 of 373 The Executive Session of the Wayne Board of Education Regular Meeting of August 28, 2014 was convened in the Conference Room of the Wayne Board of Education, 50 Nellis Drive, Wayne, NJ 07470. The Statement of Compliance setting forth time, date and location was read in accordance with the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act and the roll call was taken. The meeting was recessed and is now being reconvened. The Board reconvened at 7:30 p.m. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Laura Stinziano, Kim Essen, Eileen Albanese, Catherine Kazan, Michael Bubba, Donald Pavlak, Jr., Robert Ceberio, Allan Mordkoffand Mitch Badiner. ALSO PRESENT: Dr. Mark Toback, Superintendent, Michael Ben-David, Assistant Superintendent, Juanita A. Petty, School Business Administrator/Board Secretary, Christina Martinez, Board General Counsel, 4 Administrators, and approximately 12 members of the public. FLAG SALUTE MOMENT OF SILENCE Administrative Summary Report SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Good evening, I am very pleased to join you this evening for our first regular business meeting and I want to start by simply thanking the employees the community and the board for all of your help by making my transition smooth here to Wayne. I am very excited about the start of the school year. One of the most important activities for the administration is to identify excellent teachers, bring them to the district, and make every effort to retain them. Excellent teachers make for an excellent school system. I am very pleased to note that on our agenda, you will find a number of excellent new teachers. This group of teachers joined a group of previously hired teachers for three days of training this week in our orientation program. I would also like to thank Claudia Olivo, Naomi Conklin, Michael Ben-David, Diane Pandolfi and the building administrators for putting together an excellent program for our new teachers. What I found to be even more impressive during the course of the interviews with many of our new teachers, I learned that many of them are graduates of the Wayne Township Public Schools. Many of them went on the way to all different parts of the Country, but they noted Regular Meeting Minutes August 28, 2014 Page 4 01373 during the interview process that their dream, because they loved being in the school system so much, was to come back to the school district and work as teachers in the Wayne Township Public Schools. So, that says a lot about the school system, and they are all able to give different examples, (Le.: I remember this teacher or that teacher) and how they were inspired by many of the teachers in the school district. That was a very nice thing to hear. On the agenda, you also see that we are recommending a promotion for Lafayette School Principal to the Director of Secondary Education. Mrs. Liskowicz has a great background, and her diverse experience in the primary and secondary level, will make her an excellent addition to the central office team. I am sure that some of our parents are concerned about losing a Principal at the start of the school year, and so are we. Please be assured that the school year will start in an orderly fashion. No changes will take place, until it makes sense. We will have a good transition program in place for her replacement, should the Board of Ed approve her for this position. As always the priority is the opening of the school year, and the students. So, we will make sure that every effort is made to protect the start of the school year and that it is orderly and runs as usual. Establishing district goals is one of the things that can happen during the summer months. I am pleased to recommend to the Board of Education a number of excellent goals for the district that will address some very important issues, and make the district a better place. One of the goals is related to sustaining change, building and mastering our changes from the prior years. Another goal is post secondary partnerships. 21st century education involves building partnerships with colleges and universities. Creating opportunities for students to pursue advanced course work while still in high school. Another goal involves our math assessment. Assessing our math program and identifying the best possible instruction materials, text books, and teaching supplies to help our teachers deliver the curriculum. Least restrict the environment is a goal that will allow us to assess student placements in the district and identify how it can strengthen our district programs to better meet the needs of students. Another goal goes to Mr. Ben-David professional development institute and the scale of our district warrants the existence of our own professional development institute. Not only will it add to the value of the district in terms of helping our teachers become better for what they do, it is also very economically beneficial move for the school district. Another goal is mobile technology to address the needs of the 21st century work force. We are going to develop a human resources app, and then later in the following year, if we do well with the human resources app, a district app for parents and students. Our final goal is leadership development program. The idea that every great team needs a great bench. A great bull pen, however you want to think about it. But in our current environment it is very important to develop leaders from within and make sure that they are able to take positions in the district as they become available, reducing the stress on the district, on parents, on students, with transitions for people from outside. Some of you may be wondering why there is not a goal related to full day kindergarten. So please be assured that the district is very much aware of the concerns that exist regarding full day kindergarten. In order to get these processes moving, the district is already moving ahead with a study to determine our capacity to establish a full day kindergarten program. We have hired a company to do the study, and we should have the study by the end of December, which will allow us to consider this option in the future.