Superintendent David Aderhold announced the WW-P district’s first ever open registration night for kindergarten at the board of education’s April 14 meeting. The open house will take place Tuesday, April 28, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Town Center Elementary School.
Said Aderhold: “This is the first time that I can remember that we are holding an open registration night for kindergarten, but we are hoping that this will encourage parents to register their children sooner. This will give us a better idea regarding school enrollment for next year.”
This registration open house is for students who will be entering kindergarten in September, 2015. No appointment is needed. Children must be five years of age on or before October 1, 2015.
At the time of registration, parents will need to bring a completed registration packet; the child’s health and immunization records, as well as the child’s birth certificate or passport; and proof of residency. The 2015-’16 registration packet is available on the district website www.ww-p.org/parents/kindergarten_registration.
Another topic on the agenda was pediculosis, more commonly known as head lice. The board has recently revised its pediculosis policy and regulation as part of its responsibility to “maintain a healthful learning environment for all children in the school district.”
The updated policy comes on the heels of a letter printed in the March 20 issue of the News, in which West Windsor parent Jayasimha Raju argued that, based on updated state and Centers for the Disease Control guidelines, “the burden of unnecessary absenteeism to the students, families, and communities far outweighs the risks associated with head lice.”
If enacted, the policy makes it clear that “A student who is found to have active head lice will not be permitted to attend school until there are no active lice in the student’s hair and until all live head lice and nits are removed as confirmed by an examination by the school nurse. If the school nurse determines a student has active head lice, the parent shall be notified by the school nurse as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than the end of the school day. The school nurse will determine to send the child home or have the child remain at school for the remainder of the school day based on the comfort of the child, the degree of the infestation, and the likelihood of the spread of head lice to other students.”
Once a child is sent home for head lice, the student shall be re-admitted only upon the examination and approval of the school nurse. The examination for re-admittance to school by the school nurse should be in the presence of the student’s parent. The student will be re-admitted to school only when there is no evidence of active head lice and nit removal has taken place.”
A district “Management of Pediculosis Information Packet” will be published on the district’s website and will be provided to parents upon request. The information packet will include information about identifying, treating, and managing pediculosis. The parent of any affected student will be provided a copy of the information packet as well as a copy of the district policy.
A full copy of both the proposed policy and regulation can be found on the district website at www.west-windsor-plainsboro.k12.nj.us. A second reading of this policy will occur at the next Board meeting on Tuesday, April 28.
The board also awarded several contracts and agreements. The board voted 8 to 0 to approve two-year buildings and grounds maintenance contract with ARAMARK Management Services Limited Partnership, for an aggregate amount of $10,459,502. ARAMARK is the current buildings and grounds maintenance contract-holders, and was awarded the contract through the competitive bid process. Two additional bids were received; TEMCO Services Industries, which offered a bid of $11,021,136; and GCA Services Group, whose bid was $11,205,864. Board member Yingchao “YZ” Zhang was not at the meeting.
The board also unanimously approved an agreement with ECA Educational Services to provide science kit refurbishing services for the 2015-’16 school year at a cost of approximately $98,000.
Finally, the Board also approved an agreement with Edvocate to provide contract monitoring services of the district’s facilities contract in the amount of $25,956 for the 2015-’16 school year.
Board member Dana Krug also discussed an elementary school procedure change — the revision of the K-5 report cards. Said Krug, “The Curriculum Committee has reviewed a preliminary draft of the new elementary report cards, which was prepared by a group of K-5 teachers who have been working to write new indicators that are aligned to current curricula and the state standards.
“The K-5 teacher committee is recommending the following changes in an effort to promote consistency in the format of the report cards for K-5: Moving to a trimester reporting timeframe with report cards in December, March and June; having three performance levels for assessing academic content area indicators as well as assessing social and learning behaviors; and in language arts, indicating the child’s current reading level as well as the benchmarks for each trimester.
“Finally, letter grades will no longer be given to fourth and fifth graders in any subject.” Krug noted that the teachers will meet throughout the month of April to finalize the wording of the indicators in each content area.
In personnel matters, the board approved job descriptions for three new positions: technology manager, supervisor of technology, training, and media resources, and program administrator, community education.
The two new technology positions reflect the decision to realign responsibilities within the technology division will allow for the addition of these two positions at no additional increase to the budget, and the additional community education position also reflects a decision to realign portions of that department.
Several staff members have announced their retirement: Deborah Batchelor, supervisor of special services, retiring after 15 years with the district; special education teachers Cheryl Ciaranca and Elizabeth McCormick, who are retiring after 25 and 26 years with the district, respectively; and Lynn Grodnick, ESL teacher, who is retiring after 31 years with the district.
Also Vanessa Clax, Village elementary teacher, retiring after 26 years; Gail Dresher, learning disabilities teacher consultant, retiring after seven years; Gregg Smith, computer literacy teacher, retiring after 36 years; and Brenda Lee Wener, math teacher, retiring after 25 years with the district.
The next board meeting will be held Tuesday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Community Middle School. The board will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2015-’16 school budget at that time.
