Westfield Board of Education Sept. 1 Meeting Synopsis

A synopsis of the Sept. 1 Westfield Board of Education meeting submitted by Superintendent Margaret Dolan:

ANTI-BULLYING BILL OF RIGHTS ACT – SCHOOL SELF-ASSESSMENT REPORT

As required by the New Jersey Department of Education, every public school must conduct self-assessments by the school safety team to demonstrate compliance to the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act. Anti-bullying specialists and other members of the safety teams in each of our schools performed self-assessments representing the period of July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015. The NJDOE developed 8 core elements of the assessment, the results of which I presented publicly. The 8 core elements include the assessment of:

• HIB Programs, Approaches or other Initiatives
• Training on the BOE approved HIB policy
• Other staff instruction and training programs
• Curriculum and instruction on HIB and related information and skills
• HIB personnel
• School-level HIB incident reporting procedure, which are very specific according to law
• HIB Investigation Procedure, also very specific according to law
• HIB Reporting

The rating categories for each of the elements range from 0 – 3. The majority of our ratings were a 3 (exceeds the requirements) and some 2’s (meets all requirements). We continue to look at ways to make improvements, and most importantly, to address incidents and emphasize respect within our school community.

The Board approved the submission of the School Self-Assessment reports to the NJDOE. The state will issue final grade reports later this year which will be posted on our website.

PERSONNEL

The Board accepted, with regret, the retirement of Michele Arocha – Human Resources, Executive Secretary – with her last day of employment scheduled for 12/23/15. We thank Michele for her more than 14 years of service to the Westfield Public Schools and wish her a wonderful retirement.

FACILITIES

Facilities Chair, Richard Mattessich, announced that at the September 29 Board of Education meeting, the Board will hold a discussion regarding the temporary lighting at Kehler Stadium that took place this spring.

POLICIES

The Board approved for second reading Policy 2432 – School Sponsored Publications in all Media.

CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION & PROGRAM

The Board approved for second reading the following Social Studies curricula:
5th Grade – Global Connections; 6th Grade – The Ancient World; 7th Grade – European Transformation & the New World; 8th Grade – United States History; 9th Grade – Global Perspectives; and 9th Grade – Exploring Global Studies.

The Board approved several field trips for the school year.

FINANCE

The Board gratefully accepted the following gifts from the Franklin PTO to Franklin School: $4,016.95 to purchase an EV3 Core and Expansion Set and Software 16 – student pack from Lego Education; $8,329 to purchase classroom materials and protective padding for the outdoor basketball posts; and $2,163.77 to purchase an interactive projector

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Two members of the public requested a change to one of the bus routes. Business Administrator, Dana Sullivan and Board President, Richard Mattessich, responded that the route is designed to take 35 minutes and is not out of line with other routes. Mrs. Sullivan stated that the route will be monitored the first couple of weeks of school.

ADJOURNMENT

The Board moved into a two-hour Private Session to join school administrators in legal training on Harassment, Bullying and Intimidation.