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The Bellmawr Board of Education (BOE) will be participating in the Sustainable Jersey for Schools Certification Program. The Resolution that was approved at the September 28 meeting will allow the district to focus attention and efforts on sustainability.
Sustainable Jersey spans across many areas, including public safety, curriculum, purchasing, and school lunches. The district will also create a “Green Team,” School Superintendent, Annette Castiglione, explained during the workshop session.
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Certain activities have points attached to them and the district will be able to apply for grants. Examples of activities include “Walk to School Day,” which took place on October 5 and a bike rodeo, which will be planned for the Spring.
Additionally, the district will continue with other activities, such as working on the garden, recycling, integrated pest management, and purchasing “green” cleaning items.
Change in Cut-Off Date For Three Year Old Pre-K Registration
Another topic that was discussed in workshop was changing the cut-off date for three-year old students who register for pre-school. Currently, the cut-off date is September 30.
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Many of the students in the three-year-old program are young for their age and there are more issues this year as opposed to last year, the superintendent said.
The Supervisor of Early Childhood, Roseanne Yezzo, said that the district doesn’t have a potty-training protocol in the program and that it is appropriate for three-year old students to still have accidents. However, four-year old students are expected to be potty-trained.
The Board discussed changing the date for pre-school eligibility from September 30 to May 31 for three-year old students. The matter will be discussed again at the October meeting.
After the BOE discussed the matter, a parent came to workshop to ask for consideration of her situation. The parent said it was “unfair” that her child was asked to leave the program so soon. She felt that her child was not given enough time to adjust to the program. Her child needs the daily routine, socialization, and discipline of school, she said.
The superintendent responded by saying that by now, students are following routines and if they aren’t following the routines, then they can’t be productive at school.
Roseanne Yezzo, added that while she understands the parent’s desire to have her child in the program, other children are adjusting at this point. She suggested that maybe the child needs a part-time program that is more of a daycare model for her child to ease into.
Bellmawr Park Parking Lot Update
In other matters, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Dottie Specht gave an update about the new pick-up and drop-off procedures at Bellmawr Park. She said that things are being “tweaked as we go.” Additionally, after consulting with the Bellmawr Police and the Highway Department, a new entrance will created so that traffic will only be able to go in one way and out the other. This entrance will be almost directly across from the driveway at Bellmawr Park Mutual Housing, she said.
Agenda Items Approved
On the business side, the BOE voted to okay all items on its agenda during the regular meeting, including a three year contract for the district’s administrators.
The BOE also approved:
- September 28, 2016 Bill List
- A change in the hours for all Mission One paraprofessionals to 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at a per diem rate of $98 and a bill rate of $135.24, effective September 12, 2016.
- Family Support Teachers, Melissa Montes-Pagan and Manuela LaRagione, for the 2016-17 school year at a rate of $42.95 per hour.
- Port-of-Entry tutoring for the 2016-17 school year for two hours per week at E.M. Burke School and two hours a week at Bell Oaks at a rate of $42.95 per hour. This position will be funded through Title III.
The superintendent provided further clarification on the tutoring: “This is part of a grant, just four hours a week, for our ELL teacher to work individually with students who have little language or who have never been educated in their homeland.”
Lastly, the superintendent stated that the district is moving ahead with one district-wide PTO. She also said that elections had recently taken place and that the next steps are to work on bylaws and membership.
The next BOE meting will be on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. for its workshop and the regular meeting will follow at 6:00 p.m. Meetings are held in the Bell Oaks Media Center.