Five Things to Know From the Ocean City School Board

At last week's Ocean City Board of Education meeting, the district recognized the achievements of top scholars, the student media program and the championship surf team. But here are five other things from the meeting that might be of interest:

• NJSIAA Dues: The board approved the payment of $2,150 in annual dues to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing body of high school sports in the state. But the resolution received two "nays" in a 10-2 vote (H. James Bauer and Lloyd Hayes). As Bauer put it, the NJSIAA cannot adequately explain exactly what it does with all that dues money.
• PSAT Funding: The board voted 11-1 (with Upper Township rep Kim Breckley dissenting) to pay for students' PSAT registration fees next year. Of the approximate $4,500 cost for the preliminary college admission test, the district would pay half (with the nonprofit Ocean City Education Foundation contributing the other half). "What we're trying to do here is make our report card look better," Breckley said. "The test doesn't count. It doesn't matter." PSAT participation rate is used as one criterium when the state grades school district performance in its annual school report cards. Superintendent Kathleen Taylor said the PSAT results can be used to help guide the curriculum, and board member Greg Donahue sided with her in his vote. But he said, "You can see how shallow it is" that the state considers the number of students who take the test but doesn't consider how well they do on it.
• Athletic Trainer: The board voted 11-1 (with Lloyd Hayes dissenting) to approve a $68,600 contract with the Rothman Institute to be the athletic trainer for the district from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. "It's a business to them, and we've always had personalized care," Hayes said.
• Support Staff Contract: Board member Joe Clark reported that the district still has not reached an agreement with the Ocean City Educational Support Staff Association, which has been working without a renewed contract since June 30, 2011. The mediation process continues.
• After-Prom: The board again thanked Alice Wolf (Ocean City Primary School nurse) for her work in helping to organize the after-prom activities on May 18-19, and board members remarked on the ease of monitoring the event because of the good behavior of students.