JACKSON – Board of Education members checked off prior goals and set some new ones during a recent Board meeting.
Superintendent Nicole Pormilli said many of those goals involved aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic such as “student quarantine instruction and getting our students back into the academic program, making connections with students to make sure they felt they were learning and engaged with their schools, applying for pre-school grant and adapting it once that award was received.
“We expanded social-emotional approaches for students and all of that was in occurrence with our curriculum cycle,” she added.
Pormilli said all of these actions “were a collection of multiple step efforts. This was not just one person but the entire district in setting goals and I feel everyone involved helped make a difference in our students’ education.”
She also spoke about the district’s continued struggle with the S-2 state aid funding formula which has cost the district and others throughout the state millions of dollars. She said efforts were made through contact with legislators, attending legislative hearings and communicating with the news media to advocate to change S-2 and to restore some of the lost state aid funds which she said has negatively impacted the school district.
State legislators changed school funding a few years ago, taking from some districts (like Jackson) that had declining enrollment or were considered by the state “overfunded.” The money was redistributed to other districts that had increasing enrollment or were considered by the state “underfunded.” Many districts who lost out on this state aid have been fighting this decision.
Assistant Superintendent Daniel Baginski said the Board’s July 20 meeting would include a number of presentations including the six-month HIB (Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying) report, six-month vandalism/violence incident report and test score results from this past school year.
Contracts, Grants, & Policies
A number of contracts were awarded later in the evening. One was with Edwards Engineering Group for the removal and replacement of a fueling system at the Memorial Transportation facility, at a cost of $72,145.
A professional services contract was also awarded to Educational Data Services, Midland Park, for bidding services for the Jackson School District for the 2022-2023 school year at a cost of $17,200.
The Board appointed Phoenix Advisors, LLC, Bordentown, as Independent Registered Municipal Advisor of record for continuing disclosure agent services for the period of July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
They also awarded a professional services contract to School Bus Transportation Consultant, MMD LLC at a cost not to exceed $44,000. That contract became effective on July 1.
Based on the recommendation of the Board Secretary, the Board awarded the lease purchase financing for school vehicles to JP Morgan Chase which had the lowest bid per specifications, 3.13% for five years, principal at $975,000.
The Board also voted to accept the Perkins Secondary Education 2022-2023 grant for Career and Technical Education which began on July 1 of this year and will go through June 30, 2023, in the amount of $84,687.
Also accepted was the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights (ABR) 2020-2021 District and School HIB (Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying) Grade Official Report as released by the New Jersey Department of Education.
Board members voted to approve Orton Gillingham Educators Training to conduct virtual training for 39 elementary special education teachers. The cost will not exceed $33,712 and will be paid from district funds.
Also approved was the Regional Professional Development Academy to conduct the Wilson Reading and Language Systems Seminar, Level I Certification Practicum training for three middle and elementary special education teachers, to be held August 22-25 at a total cost of $14,964.
A contract with the Wilson Language Training Corporation was also approved for that firm to conduct virtual certification training for elementary and middle school special education teachers at a cost of $51,244.
