MINUTES
OF
KEY COMMUNICATORS MEETING
MONDAY, December 18, 2006
Present: Joe Luongo,
Josephine Ciocia,Connie Doheny, Lisa Hodulik,Kathy Iapelli, Donna
Wipper, Linda Condal, Cathy Meseck, Marrie Messeri, Lizz
Nuzzo, Ana Mastropietro, Francine Salerno
Joe Luongo opened the meeting at 7:32 PM.
District:
Depken Field Project –At the last borough council
meeting, the council voted anonymously to allocate the $1.7 million
for Depken Field. The council is now putting the project
out to bid. Mr. Luongo stayed for the closed work session
meeting following the council meeting to answer any questions
that they may have had for the board of Education. The
council did ask Mr. Luongo if the bids came in too high what
are the BOE priorities. The engineer attended the work
session to answer any questions.
Middle School:
Social Studies – Grade
6 - The teacher
who is presently teaching this subject is leaving on Friday, December
22nd. Mr. Warren will be taking over this class. Mr.
Luongo sent a letter to Ms. Cassidy, the department head, instructing
her to evaluate the mid term exam and study guides. She may
use the previous teachers’ mid term exam or compose another
exam depending if all areas on the exam were taught. Proper
study guides will be given to the students.
NJ ASK Grades 6 & 7 Test Prep– These classes
are being offered to the students at a cost. A parent questioned
why we are charging for test preparation when the teachers should
have taught this information. Also, we are not getting
a true reading of what our children and teachers have accomplished. This
preparation test was compared to SAT prep classes by some parents. However,
it was explained that classes are composed of a mixture of academic
level students and the teachers must teach to the middle group. Therefore,
those that may fall a little below the average may need the extra
help and they may obtain it, if they so chose, at the NJ ASK
test preparations classes.
Mid Terms - Mid terms begin January 18th and
a parent asked if the teachers could give out study guides prior
to this holiday break. Mr. Luongo informed us that teachers
do not have to give out study guides, even though most of them
do prepare study guides for the students. Mr. Luongo stated
that he will send a notice to the teachers stating that study
guides should be sent out as soon as possible.
Elementary:
Class Size
for 2007 -08– At present there is no recommendation
for class size for the upcoming school year. All teachers
are put into the budget and if the final budget falls under cap
there is no problem. If the final budget is over cap, than
adjustments have to be made. All areas at that time will
be reviewed and if personnel need to be reduced to fall under cap
it will not be known until that point.
Other:
The Board of
Education is introducing Junior Science final exemptions. The
policy states “Exemptions from final examinations in science
courses will be granted for 11th grade students who score “Advance
Proficient” on the Science section of the HSPA.
- If the scores are not received from the State of New Jersey
before the final exam period, all students will take the final.
- When scores
arrive from the State, all students who scored “Advanced
Proficient” on the State exam will receive an “A” as
their 11th grade final science exam grade.
The policy
for student random alcohol and drug testing has been changed. The
only change is the following:
“For policy compliance verification, after each random testing dates,
the Superintendent will be sent a report indicating how many students were
tested, activity they participated in and results of each test. The names
and/or other personal identifiable information of the participant will remain
confidential and will not be included in the report.”
Next meeting
is scheduled for Monday, January 22, 2007 at 7:30 PM.
Meeting adjourned at 8:29 PM.
Minutes submitted
by Donna Wipper.