Before going over a routine agenda, the Board of Education received a little good news from the West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Foundation and its district financial auditor on Tuesday, November 13. District auditor Scott Clelland of Wiss and Company reported that the annual financial analysis showed the district was in a good financial position. It received a qualified clean opinion, which means all information was verifiable.
Clelland said there were three minor problems: a discrepancy in records between the federal government and the district regarding a grant report; deferred revenues in a community education program; and a community education program that allowed individuals to take the class before paying the fees, which is against board policy.
To correct the issues, he said, the grant report is being updated in the state records. They will ask the first community education program to do a monthly review so their revenues are appropriately analyzed. The other community education program will be asked to correct the board policy violation on a go-forward basis.
The report also displayed the district’s proactive efforts to refund debt when possible to save money in the long run on interest. At the year’s end, Clelland said ,the district had refunded some additional debt and generated a fund balance in excess of the state mandated 2 percent cap. It is up to the district and the board on how to use that extra money in the 2012-’13 budget.
This is the West Windsor-Plainsboro board’s fourth consecutive year receiving a certification of excellence in financial reporting by the Association of School Business Officials. Only 20 districts in the state received the award in 2011, and Clelland expects West Windsor-Plainsboro to earn it again next year.
He went on to commend the board for its AAA bond rating. “You are one of the few districts in the state based on your financial position that is able to maintain a triple A bond rating,” he added. “This is a very highly regarded district by Moody’s and S&P.”
Following the annual audit report, the West Windsor-Plainsboro Education Foundation showcased two of its ten grants that have been used to bring innovative technology to the classroom. The first is Art Talks, a third grade art project at Maurice Hawk Elementary School where students use an iPad to explain their influences and concepts that went into their masterpieces.
“I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful if artwork could talk and tell you everything that went into making it?” asked Tina Carr, the art teacher who created the project.
Students use the class iPad to photograph their artwork, where it is uploaded to its Sony White Board software and adjusted for clarity and composition. Then students record their voices while running their fingers over the screen to create colorful lines that emphasize different parts of their work.
“The exciting part for students is they could share their Art Talks presentations not only with their family at home, but with family anywhere in the world because it is posted on my webpage on the school website,” said Carr. (wwpk-3.sharpschool.com/hawk_teachers/special_area_subjects/art) The other project the foundation helped fund was a weather station at the Millstone River School.
The weather station has allowed Sven Strnad and Vicki Gurzau’s fifth grade class to become the school’s amateur meteorologists. Every day they collect and analyze local weather data such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and relative humidity as the station sends the data to the class computer. Equipped with the data, they then head to the office to give the morning weather report to let kids know what to expect during recess.
“My goal is to take what is on my class computer and it hook it up to a website so all classes would have access and would be able to check the weather any time they need to,” said Strnad.
All of the programs, including Art Talks and the weather station, are showcased in a YouTube video that can be accessed via the foundation’s website at wwpeducationfoundation.org. The video was created with the help of Director of Communications Gerri Hutner and district cable station manager Jamie Watson.
After the two presentations, the room quickly emptied and the board tackled the agenda, which was made up of mostly routine items and a discussion of replacing Ellen Walsh (see stories below).
