Moorestown Board of Education member, Brandon Pugh, discusses what the district has been up to in January.
By BRANDON PUGH, Moorestown Board of Education member
In this column, Moorestown Board of Education Member Brandon Pugh provides monthly updates on what’s going on in the school district and on the BOE.
The board was busy in January laying the foundation for 2018. This included swearing-in new board members, selecting board leadership and committee chairs, providing an update on the district goals and having a preliminary budget discussion.
The board held its reorganization meeting on Jan. 2. Four board members were sworn-in, including Jack Fairchild, Tinamarie Nicolo-Dorfner and Lauren Romano for three-year terms, and Mark Villanueva for a two-year term. At this meeting, Sandra Alberti was elected president in a 5–4 vote with myself as the challenger on the basis of improving communication and transparency. David Weinstein was elected as vice president.
The board also awarded professional contracts to Garrison Architects as Architect of Record; Holman and Frenia, P.C. as auditor; Comegno Law Group, P.C. as solicitor; Thomas J. Gosse as conflict counsel and AssuredPartners/AJM Insurance as Insurance Broker of Record.
Chairs of the board’s committees were announced including Dimitri Schneiberg for budget and finance; Mick Weeks for communications; David Weinstein for curriculum and student services; Mark Villanueva for operations and facilities and myself for policy and governance. A full listing of committee membership and liaisons can be found at www.mtps.com.
At the Jan. 16 meeting, the board began by recognizing four members of the staff who are retiring. I would like to thank Nora Anders, Pam Michael, Denise Morris and Terri Reamer for their years of service and dedication to the district.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction Carole Butler provided a “Mid-Year Update” on the District Goals. As a reminder, the three goals broadly are establishing a culture of innovation, targeted instruction and social mindfulness. Objectives and expected outcomes for each goal were presented, along with the many activities underway to accomplish the goals. Current activities include enrichment opportunities at all three elementary schools, participation in the Future Ready Schools — NJ initiative, staff training on reviewing data, using a variety of assessments to measure student progress and plan instruction, conducting a student self-awareness assessment in the areas or resilience and self-regulation and parent outreach programs, among others.
The board adopted a change to Policy 2330 — Homework. The policy previously stated that “assignments shall not be due the day after district observed extended vacations and/or religious holidays.” This revision now clarifies the length of vacation by adding that “extended vacations shall mean two or more consecutive school days.”
The board ended its meeting with a discussion on budget priorities for the 2018–2019 budget since budget season is here. The board has until March 2018 to submit a tentative budget to the executive county superintendent of schools. After that, there is an opportunity for public hearing and final approval. Additional information will be presented moving forward.
The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. in the William Allen Middle School Media Center. I encourage you to visit a future meeting and please do not hesitate to reach out at any time to the board or myself.
The views and content in this column do not necessarily represent those of the Moorestown Board of Education as a whole or any other individual member
