08/10/2023 BOE Agenda: Laura’s Notes

What’s Important to Know About the Agenda for the 08/10/2023 Berkeley Heights BOE Meeting…

To save you the trouble of reading through 25 total pages of agenda items in addition to 154 pages of attachments, here is what I believe you need to know to be prepared for the August 10 Board meeting:

SUPERINTENDENTS REPORT

Dr. Varley will present a report on NJGPA, the New Jersey Graduation Proficiency Assessment given to only rising seniors. Residents should keep in mind that this represents a very small data set compared to the proficiency data we have been reporting on. It does not constitute a report on district-wide proficiency.

ADOPTION OF POLICIES, CURRICULUM GUIDES, AND TEXTBOOKS

Resolution B: On the list of courses to approve is Italian 4 (regular). As previously reported this class was eliminated forcing all GL students set on course for Italian 4 to take Italian 4 Honors instead. Let’s see how this pans out…

Resolution C: Curriculum Guide approval for new courses in Retail and Hospitality geared toward students in the community based instruction program. The level of detail provided to the public (see attachments) is a wonderful example of information sharing.

ADMINISTRATION

I. ACCEPT AND APPROVE SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT OF VIOLENCE, VANDALISM, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, HARASSMENT, INTIMIDATION, AND BULLYING. There were 12 confirmed HIB cases at CMS.

K. APPROVE ADMINISTRATIVE MENTOR for the Director of STEAM/STEM for $2,100. We aren’t sure why this is needed and how, specifically, it will benefit our students.

E. APPROVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAYS/TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT for Melissa Varley to attend the AASA annual conference “Here for the Kids” in February 2024. Guess she plans on sticking around? Worth mentioning is the cost of this professional development. While the range is $0-250 for the vast majority of staff days, this trip is ten times that amount.

PERSONNEL

A. APPROVE APPOINTMENT OF ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT Employment contract for Dr. Giordano at an annual salary of $170,000.

C. APPROVE APPOINTMENT OF MARY KAY MCMILLIN EARLY CHILDHOOD James Finley is an internal candidate coming to MKM from GL where he served as Assistant Principal. Prior to his role at GL Finley was the Director of Science for the District.

F. CREATE INTERIM ASSISTANT BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR POSITION I hope someone questions why this is needed, in addition to the full time Assistant Business Administrator currently employed by BHPS.

G. APPROVE EMPLOYMENT OF INTERIM ADMINISTRATORS Not one, but TWO Interim Business Administrator positions are being voted on. (Presumably to replace Julie Kot). Both are on the agenda for approval with a salary rate of $100/hour each. This begs the question, why do we continue to hire more central office administrators?

R. APPROVE RETIREMENT OF STAFF As previously reported, the Board will approve the retirement of Michele Gardner, Director of Special Services. The agenda reads this as resolution to approve the resignation of Gardner for the purpose of retirement. As per her resignation letter, she is not retiring but has taken another position. Details actually matter, for most of us anyway. Also resigning from the Special Services department is the transition coordinator.

BUSINESS

APPROVE ANTI-BULLYING SOFTWARE HIBSTER anti-bullying software for the 2023-2024 school year in the amount of $4,000.00. Not sure how useful this is as we have never received an update or report on this program, who has access and how effective and efficient the program has been or can be.

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