The first WW-P Board of Education meeting of 2015 drew a huge crowd, as family members and friends braved the cold and the snow on January 6 to support the swearing in of the newly elected board members: Yingchao (YZ) Zhang and Dana Krug, from West Windsor; and Rachel Juliana and Isaac Chang, who represent Plainsboro. Zhang and Chang are both newcomers to the board. Krug and Juliana were incumbents who won re-election.
Board member Michele Kaish then nominated current Board president Tony Fleres to continue in the position of president. No other board member was nominated, and Fleres was re-elected by a vote of 8 to 0. New member Zhang abstained.
Board member Dana Krug then nominated Michele Kaish for the position of vice president. She was also unopposed and was elected by a vote of 8 to 0 as well. Zhang once again abstained.
The newly installed Board then voted unanimously to place itself under the aegis of the New Jersey school board code of ethics.
Superintendent David Aderhold congratulated the new Board members, and noted that January is school board recognition month. “On behalf of the district,” he said, “the administration gave each Board member a copy of the book ‘Deep, Dark Down’ as a token of our appreciation. It is a great story about miners who were trapped for days, and how they learned to work together to survive. It provides insight on how to lead, how to work together, to be successful.”
West Windsor Council vice president Linda Geevers addressed the Board. “I would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year, and congratulations to those who have been elected and re-elected — keep up the good work. I also wanted to inform you that Bryan Maher will remain as council president, and I will remain as council vice president this year. The two of us want to meet with Dr. Aderhold to discuss population growth issues that we are all going to be facing.” In addition, Geevers advised that Council member Peter Mendonez would continue to serve as the liaison to the Board. Mendonez was not at the meeting.
The idea of videotaping the Board meetings was once again raised during public comment.
Said West Windsor resident Pete Weale, an early proponent of the idea, “I ask the Board to consider — not necessarily adopt — but consider the protocols that would need to be taken to videotape and re-broadcast Board meetings for those who cannot attend, or who do attend but cannot hear what is being said. I invite all of the board members to listen to the mellifluous sounds of the refrigeration in the back of this room, which makes it very difficult to hear, and means you are running the meetings not in compliance with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).”
“I also want to thank the audience — the people who came out to support the new elected Board members. It is good to see everyone here. I am a huge supporter of our district, and I ask that this Board embrace videotaping to be able to send their message to the entire community.”
Another West Windsor resident, Virginia Manzari, also spoke in support of the idea of videotaping school board meetings. Said Manzari: “Almost 60 percent of our tax dollars go to the school district so residents need to know what is going on. Many people work and cannot be here, or need to attend other district events, because often school events are double-booked. And the comments in the summaries of the school board meetings are not always complete or salient. So I wholeheartedly support the idea of broadcasting and rebroadcasting the board meetings.”
Finally, a third West Windsor resident, Fong Shu, who is married to new Board member YZ Zhang, noted, “I would ask that you introduce yourselves. Even though we are district parents, we don’t know who you are, and how this all works. You are pros and know how the procedures work, but for us, we are clueless. It would be helpful if you would give a little introduction on how the board works.”
President Fleres gave a brief overview of how a board meeting is run. “This is our annual reorganization meeting, so we had to start with that. Then we go follow the agenda. We have a discussion on some items, then once the discussion is completed, I ask for a board member to make a motion for us to vote on the item, and someone to second the motion, and then we vote on whether or not to pass it.”
“The Board is divided into three committees: finance, A&F (administration and facilities), and curriculum,” Fleres continued, “so then each committee gives its report, and then we vote on committee agenda items. We have another opportunity for public comment, and listen to any new business, and then we are done.”
The next Board meeting will be held Tuesday, January 27, at 7:30 p.m. at Community Middle School.
#b#WW-P Ranks 11th In ‘Niche’ Survey#/b#
According to a recent review of New Jersey school districts, conducted by Niche.com, the WW-P district ranked 11th in the state. Millburn topped the list, followed by Princeton at No. 2. Montgomery was ranked No. 9, South Brunswick was No. 20, Hopewell ranked No. 29, and Robbinsville came in at 39th in the state.
WW-P received a grade of A+ in the areas of academics and teachers; a grade of A in health and safety and student culture and diversity; and an A- for extracurriculars and activities. The district earned a B+ for resources and facilities, as well as sports and fitness. Finally, 36 parents and students participated in a survey and rated the district a 3.7 out of a total of 5 in the area of “overall experience in the district.”
Niche.com ranked 8,738 public school districts by considering dozens of statistics and opinions from 280,000 students and parents. WW-P was ranked the 92nd best public school district nationwide.
Niche.com was founded in 2002 by Carnegie Mellon students. It is designed to provide students, families, and professionals with information to help make “big life decisions,” such as where to live, and what school or college to attend.
