The WW-P Board of Education approved its $192,358,164 budget by a 8-1 vote on April 28 at a meeting highlighted by the presence of more than two dozen students voicing support for High School North art teacher Nishan Patel, whose contract was not renewed.
As in years past, board member Scott Powell was the dissenting budget vote. The total combined tax levy will be $151.94 million, a 2.3 percent inrease from last year (The News, April 3, 2015).
The board also introduced several new policies as well as a new principal for High School North.
The board unanimously approved the appointment of Jonathan Dauber, right, to replace long-time principal Michael Zapicchi, who announced his retirement earlier this year. Dauber, who will officially start with the district on July 1, is currently the principal of Lawrence High School.
Dauber, a 1994 alumnus of the University of Connecticut, served as an investigator for the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department for four years before becoming a social studies teacher in Trenton and Ewing. He earned master’s degrees from Rider in 2001 and 2004 and a doctorate from Rutgers in 2013.
He joined the Lawrence district in 2005 as assistant principal at the high school and then served as principal of Lawrence Intermediate School before returning to the high school as principal in 2011.
Support for an outgoing faculty member extended the public commenting period to more than an hour, as dozens of students and a few parents urged the board to reconsider the superintendent’s non-renewal of Patel’s contract for next year. A nontenured teacher, the popular Patel has taught in the district since 2012.
“The students were very articulate and respectful,” says board president Tony Fleres. “A lot of students talked about how highly they thought of the teacher.”
According to Fleres, confidentiality laws prevented the board from publicly discussing the reasoning behind Patel’s non-renewal. Every year the superintendent presents a list of district staff whose contracts will be renewed, and next year’s renewed personnel will go before the board at the Tuesday, May 12, meeting.
While the board can object to contracts on the renewal list provided by the superintendent, the board cannot add names. However, in what is known as a Donaldson hearing, a teacher whose contract is not being renewed can request a hearing before the board, in public or closed session, to convince the board to offer reemployment.
Any action by the board in support of a teacher’s renewal requires five votes. A board member since 2006, Fleres says he can recall a few cases in the past when staff members have initiated hearings, though none ultimately received the required board support.
Also introduced at the meeting was a new policy on gifted and talented (G&T) students. The policy states, in part:
“For purposes of this policy, gifted and talented pupils will be defined as those exceptionally able pupils who possess or demonstrate high levels of abilities, creativity, and intrinsic motivation in one or more content areas, when compared to their chronological peers in the district and who require modification of their educational program if they are to achieve in accordance with their capabilities.
“The superintendent or designee will develop procedures, using multiple measures, for an ongoing identification process and appropriate educational challenges for gifted and talented pupils initiated in kindergarten and reviewed annually through grade 12. The identification methodology will be developmentally appropriate, non-discriminatory, and related to the programs and services offered by the district. These procedures will be reviewed annually.
“The educational program offered to gifted and talented pupils will encourage and challenge them in the specific areas of their abilities, but will not replace the basic instructional program of the various grades of this district. The program offered to a gifted and talented pupil may be infused into the pupils’ regular instructional program, and/or offered beyond the classroom.”
The criteria the district proposes using to identify G&T students include both objective and subjective measures, such as standardized test scores, records from prior districts, demonstrated creative or intellectual ability, and displays of self-motivation. Classroom teachers would be familiarized with the identification criteria, and student files would also be reviewed by G&T teacher resource specialists for grades K to eight, and by guidance counselors for high school students.
Each student in the G&T program would be assessed annually through interviews, feedback from parents, and reviews of work the previous year. Parents and students would also have the option to opt out of the program.
#b#Electronic communications.#/b# The board also reviewed a new policy on board member use of E-mail designed to ensure compliance with the Open Public Records Act. The policy states that unless specifically excluded from OPRA, E-mails to other board members or district staff are subject to public access and as such should not discuss confidential matters.
Additionally, written communication between board members “shall not replace deliberations that would prevent the public from witnessing in full detail all phases of the board’s deliberations, policy formulation, and decision-making process,” the policy states.
Finally, board members would be prohibited from using an internet chat program to discuss district business with more than one other board member at once, in order to prevent such discussions from potentially involving a quorum of the board.
#b#Pupil discipline.#/b# A final regulation concerns the pupil discipline/code of conduct, and includes expectations for student behavior, prohibited actions — divided into “minor” and “major” infractions — and disciplinary procedures. The code encompasses activities both on school grounds as well as on school buses.
In large part the rules and associated punishments are self-evident — ranging from, for example, the confiscation of cellphones used during school hours and detention for smoking on school property or use of foul or derogatory language, to suspensions for possession of drugs, alcohol, or weapons, threats made against students or staff, or falsifying school documents.
Of note is the provision regarding grading: a grade can only be lowered as “a direct penalty for misconduct” in cases in which a student has “cheated on a test or assignment, plagiarized material, falsified sources, refused to submit assignments, or otherwise indulged in academic dishonesty or negligence.”
Second readings for all three policies are scheduled for the Tuesday, May 12, board meeting.
After a second reading of the new lice policy, the board approved it unanimously.
#b#Personnel news.#/b# Caitlin Edore was appointed technology teacher at High School South, replacing Gregg Smith, who retired. She will earn $50,775. North gym teacher Cheryl Reca was changed from 100 percent to 120 percent time to fill in for Patricia Middlemiss, who is on leave. Her salary is $111,708.
Teachers taking leaves of absence under the Family Medical and Leave Act include Tracey Edwards, a reading teacher at Millstone River, through June 30; Diana Tolbert-Jensen, a math teacher at Community Middle School, from September 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016; and Santhra Thambidurai, a math teacher at North, through June 30.
A number of teachers have also tendered their resignations. Village School teacher Joanne Glover is retiring after 25 years in the district, and Dutch Neck teacher Linda Masure is retiring after 26 years.
Other resignations include Grace Buchanan, a learning disabilities consultant; Neha Gandhi, a special education teacher at Village; Dao Liu, a Chinese teacher at Grover Middle School and High School South; and Puja Mehta, a speech language specialist at Dutch Neck at Wicoff schools.
