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Agenda:LOPATCONG TOWNSHIP BOARD OF EDUCATION 321 Stonehenge Drive Phillipsburg, NJ 08865 NOTICE OF REGULAR MEETING: The Board of Education will meet on Tuesday, February 8, 2005 at 7:30pm at Lopatcong Township Middle School located at 321 Stonehenge Drive. The meeting will be held in the Cafetorium. To gain admittance, please use the entrance at Stonehenge Drive. The meeting will be open to the public at 7:30pm. AGENDA
R-109-05 Substitute Approval R-110-05 Tuition Contract with Warren County Special Services School District R-111-05 Set Polling Hours R-112-05 Set Public Hearing Date R-113-05 Transfer of Uncommitted Funds R-114-05 Maternity Leave Request R-115-05 Accept Retirement Letter R-116-05 Facility Use Request R-117-05 Field Trip Approval R-118-05 2005-2006 Professional Development Plan
An Executive Session will be called at the end of the regular session Public comments are invited on any educationally pertinent subject. All participants will be given five (5) minutes to state their issue. In addition, the subject matter may be discussed by the Board for an additional five (5) minutes. All audience participants must state their name and address before speaking. Thank you for understanding.
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Minutes:MINUTES OF LOPATCONG TOWNSHIP BOARD OF EDUCATION President Kish called the meeting to order at 7:31pm. Mrs. Barna read the following opening statement, “I would like to announce and have placed in the minutes that adequate notice of this regular meeting of the Lopatcong Township Board of Education has been provided in accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act by publication of the annual notice in the Express-Times. A copy of this notice has also been filed with the Township Clerk and posted at both school locations.” The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all present. ROLL CALL Present: Ernie Gallant, Terry Glennon, Frank Kish, Greg McGann, Tim McGuinness, Jesse Rozycki, Raisy Stammherr and Bill Taggart. Absent: Joe Kennedy Others Present: Albert V. Purdy, Superintendent; Teresa E. Barna, Business Administrator/Board Secretary; Rosemary Kowalchuk, Principal and seven members of the public. CORRESPONDENCE
MINUTES Motion by Taggart, second by Rozycki, that the minutes of January 11, 2005 and February 1, 2005 be approved and filed. Vote: 8 - Yes. Motion carried. BILL LIST Motion by Taggart, second by Gallant, that the bills submitted for the February 8, 2005 meeting be approved for payment. Vote: 8 - Yes. Motion carried. SECRETARY/TREASURER REPORTS Motion by Taggart, second by Rozycki, that the Secretary/Treasurer Reports submitted for the month ending December 31, 2004 which agree with each other and the bank be approved and filed. Roll call vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried. FINANCIAL REPORT CERTIFICATION Motion by McGuinness, second by Gallant, as follows: Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:23-2.11(c)3, the Board Secretary certifies that no line account has encumbrances and expenditures, which in total exceed the line item appropriation in violation of N.J.A.C. 6A:23-2.11(a) and; Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:23-2.11(c)4, we certify that as of December 31, 2004, after review of the monthly report (appropriation section) and upon consultation with the appropriate officials, to the best of our knowledge no major line account or fund has been over-expended in violation of N.J.A.C. 6A:23-2.11(b), and that sufficient funds are available to meet the district’s financial obligations for the entire fiscal year. Roll call vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried.
Motion by Gallant, second by McGuinness, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education, upon recommendation by the Superintendent, approve the emergent hiring of substitutes for the remainder of the 2004-2005 school year as presented and attached to these minutes. Roll call vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried.
Motion by McGuinness, second by Taggart, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education, upon recommendation by the Superintendent, approve the placement of one Lopatcong student at Warren County Special Services School District for the remainder of the 2004-2005 school year effective January 4, 2005 and to approve a tuition contract with Warren County Special Services School District for such placement in the amount of $18,713. Roll call vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried.
Motion by Taggart, second by Stammherr, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education set the polling hours for the Annual School Election on April 19, 2005 from 2:00pm to 9:00pm. Vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried.
Motion by McGann, second by McGuinness, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education set the date of the date for the public hearing on the 2005-2006 school year budget for Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 7:30 pm. Vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried.
Motion by Glennon, second by Taggart, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education, upon recommendation by the Superintendent, approve the following transfer of funds within the 2004-2005 school year budget as follows:
Roll call vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried.
Motion by Rozycki, second by Stammherr, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education, upon recommendation by the Superintendent, approve a maternity leave request for Teresa E. Barna effective April 25, 2005 through September 2, 2005 as requested. Roll call vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried.
Motion by Stammherr, second by Gallant, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education, upon recommendation by the Superintendent, accept with regrets the retirement of Barbara Emery effective July 1, 2005. Roll call vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried. The Board stated that Mrs. Emery has been a dedicated teacher for her many years of service to the district. The students learned well from her.
Motion by Gallant, second by Stammherr, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education, upon recommendation by the Superintendent, approve the following requests for use of the facilities:
Vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried.
Motion by McGuinness, second by Gallant, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education, upon recommendation by the Superintendent, approve the following field trips:
Vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried.
Motion by McGuinness, second by Taggart, that be it RESOLVED, that the Board of Education, upon recommendation by the Superintendent, approve the 2005-2006 Professional Development Plan as submitted and approved by the Warren County Department of Education. Vote: 8 – Yes. Motion carried. Mr. Purdy spoke about the Read Across America Day in conjunction with Dr. Seuss’s birthday on March 2, 2005 headed by Jenn Larsen and Theresa Duaime. The day will consist of Individual Classroom Readings from 9:00am to 11:00am. An assembly will take place at 1:00pm from the Phillipsburg High School Musical Seussical the Musical with “Cat in the Hat”. At 6:30pm students and their families are invited to participate in “Snuggle up with a Book” night. Mr. Purdy informed the Board that the district completed monitoring today. Monitoring is a complete evaluation of the district by the County Office that takes place every seven years. REPRESENTATIVE INFORMATION FROM PHILLIPSBURG Mr. Kish passed around the personnel changes from Phillipsburg. The Phillipsburg School Report Card is now available. Mr. Kish attended a Security Committee Meeting for Phillipsburg and was presented with information regarding building security software. This seems like something that the Phillipsburg School District will be interested in. Mr. Taggart indicated that New Jersey School Boards Association is asking board members to right to their legislators to support bill A3680 which would amend some of the requirement of S1701. Such amendments are as follows: budget adjustments would be added for courtesy bussing and utility costs, there would be an appeal process for exceeding administrative costs and an allowance for maximum fund balance at 3%. There is a matching bill currently introduced in the Senate S2329 which has been sent to the Education Committee for review. Mr. Kish stated that Acting Governor Cody has proposed to tax 401K funds and that the State is suing the federal government in order to hold US Savings Bonds held be NJ residents. Mrs. Buckley – Last year a student moved to Phillipsburg and continued to attend Lopatcong School District. What was the outcome of this situation? Were the parents required to pay tuition? Mrs. Kowalchuk responded that a report was submitted to her by the Phillipsburg School District which resulted in the parents not having to pay tuition to Lopatcong. Dennis Drake – Bill A3680, when referring to the 3% surplus, in that a maximum or a minimum? The 3% would be a maximum. This is a change from S1701 in that the surplus maximum for the 2005-2006 school year is 2%. Mrs. Buckley asked what dollar amount is 3%? This would be just over $300,000. A short discussion took place regarding S1701 and the implications of the bill and the limits that the bill imposes on school districts. Mr. Megaro indicated that he saw in the New Jersey School Report Card comparisons that Greenwich Township is state funded at a higher level than Lopatcong Township which has the same income levels. Why is that? The Board and Administration explained to Mr. Megaro that even though we are similar districts in size and economic status, there are differences between the districts that make Greenwich Township eligible for more aid. Mrs. Buckley inquired as to the expiration date of the teacher’s contract? The current negotiated agreement will expire June 30, 2006. Dennis Drake indicated that he read that there is an older population of teachers in the Lopatcong School District. Mr. Purdy confirmed that this is true and that since we have accepted 4 retirement notices just this year that the older teachers may be retiring over the next few years. Mrs. Barna made an announcement regarding health benefits. The district will be experiencing a 25% increase in premiums for the 2005-2006 school year due to a negative experience rating of 109%. This means that the insurance company is paying 9% more in claims than they are receiving in premiums. There will be a 10% increase in the prescription drug card premiums and about 6.5% in dental premiums. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by McGuinness, seconded by Taggart, WHEREAS, Section 7 of the Open Public Meetings Act, Chapter 231, P.L. 1975 (R.S. 10:4-13), permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting or portion of a meeting of this public body in certain circumstances; and WHEREAS, the Board of Education must consider matters involving personnel issues related to the Superintendent Search, the disclosure of which could constitute and unwarranted invasion of privacy; now THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Education adjourn to executive session at 8:31pm to discuss the above mentioned matter to the exclusion of all others. Matters discussed may or may not be made public this evening. Any resulting action will be taken after re-entry into regular session. Vote: 8 - Yes. Motion carried. Motion by McGuinness, second by Gallant, that the Board of Education return to regular session at 9:50pm. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. Hearing no further business, the Board adjourned at 9:50pm on a motion by Taggart, second by Gallant. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote: Respectfully submitted, Teresa E. Barna, RSBO Business Administrator/ Board Secretary
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Last Modified: Saturday, May 06, 2006 |
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