S.B. BOE addresses goals for upcoming school year

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — The South Brunswick Board of Education revealed its goals and objectives for the 2010-11 school year at its Sept. 20 meeting.

“Some people think goals and objectives consume all the energy and efficiency of the year; that is not the case,” Superintendent of Schools Gary McCartney said. “We subsume the outcomes of goals into our operations, then go back and set new goals.”

Eight goals were given and explained by various members of the board as well as other school staff members.

“We hope that by making our goals public, we can reassure the community that we are striving to deliver the best education we can afford,” Board of Education Vice President Dr. Stephen Parker said.

“Our interest is in making sure our goals are compelling and that they serve the greatest need,” McCartney said.

Joanne Kerekes began the presentation by discussing supervision and evaluation. A reduced work force — eight supervisory staff members — is one of the issues the board needs to deal with, and they are ready to, she said. A redrafting of the K-12 supervision model is currently in the works in order to deal with the reduction in staff.

Standardized templates for nurse educators, librarians and social workers are also being developed.

The third part of the first goal, revising the system as per state mandates, has yet to be defined.

“We are ready to respond to the directives of the state,” Kerekes said.

Goal 2 concerns itself with curriculum, instruction and assessment. There will be a heavy emphasis this year on implementing 21st-century courses. These classes will aid students in combating real-life problems and lead to a better understanding of the world around them.

Next, Rick Chromey, director of program assessment and data management, spoke on the No Child Left Behind Act. It is important, he noted, that the school board aligns its goals with New Jersey’s Schools in Need of Improvement action plan

In order to do so, the school board plans to partner with district schools in the development of SMART (Standards Measurement and Resource for Teaching) goals for the coming year. Also, Chromey said, it would be necessary to reallocate resources to areas of the most need.

The development of educational technologies is the focus of the third goal. A three-year technology plan, including staff training, curriculum integration, technology distribution and budgetary concerns, will be implemented beginning this year, Kerekes said.

Included in this plan is the means to reorganize technological tasks among staff. The Technology Department staff was reduced by three employees this year, and in response to that, others will be called on to complete certain tasks, such as the district calendar.

Integration of technology into the classroom is also going to be stressed by the board this year. One idea, first practiced last year and which will return, allowed secondgraders to use the iChat web chat service to speak with counterparts across the district on a “Hopes and Dreams” project they had worked on.

“It was quite delightful because they saw friends they knew or made new friends,” Kerekes said.

Finally, technology upgrades are also being implemented in the security sector. The high school is looking to install both a video surveillance system and finish wiring a phone system that will connect the high school to the rest of the school system.

Bonnie Capes, director of Professional Development, then addressed professional development as the fourth goal of the board.

A new flex plan model for 2010-11 will be implemented, Capes said.

“Our goal is to support our staff by offering a flexible means to meet the evergrowing demands of curriculum standards, state and federal mandates, and the socialemotional needs of our children in the South Brunswick community.

“To meet this goal, a flex model has been created for staff to meet professional development requirements, and to strengthen essential job-embedded skills and knowledge for all staff in a differentiated manner,” Capes said.

Following Capes, Anthony Tonzini, board secretary, addressed the continuation of infrastructure maintenance as a fifth goal for the year.

First, the board will monitor the successful completion of any infrastructure maintenance issues, he said. They will ensure that any fixes needed would be “under budget and on time.”

The district will also continue to implement improvements in security measures, Tonzini said.

Tied to the previous goal, Tonzini then brought to light issues of cost effectiveness and cost containment that the school board would attempt to handle this coming year.

The energy budget currently costs $3.5 million to $4 million per year, and the school board is working to reduce that cost in any way possible. Any money saved, Tonzini said, would be recycled back into the curriculum budget, allowing for improvements to benefit the students.

The district is also looking into shared service opportunities within the county and even with other school districts in order to cut costs where possible.

Another possible money-saving solution would be the use of E-textbooks by students, as opposed to buying bound books, which costs an exorbitant amount of money every year. This idea is currently under investigation.

Most people present seemed to understand the necessity of these cost-cutting and cost-maintaining measures. The current economic climate and the cuts in educational funding weigh heavily on many actions that schools around the state make.

“In these times, we need to be mindful of [the economic concerns],” Brunswick Acres Principal Neel Desai said.

Director of Student Services Raphael Morales spoke about school safety, health and student support as the board’s seventh goal.

The district plans to review and update its plans, programs and procedures as they pertain to the health and safety of students and staff.

Included in this plan is the development of a resource for guidance and counseling programs, Morales said.

Training will also be given to teachers and administrators in emergency response procedures, threat assessment policies and procedures and, from the health standpoint, training on proper diabetes protocol and plans of action for handling any possible emergencies.

Nicole Pormilli, director of Instructional Support, followed Morales and spoke on the student support teams (SST). Pormilli said the board was working to revise SST guidelines as well as provide training for new members to the teams.

The board intends to train SST members in both the elementary and middle school systems this year, Pormilli said. In addition, research is being conducted this year on student performance, which will then lead to analysis that will help teachers and administrators plan lessons accordingly.

Finally, the school board plans to explore data warehousing of student information.

Data warehousing would allow for data retrieval systems in order to enhance student achievement. Being able to see how a student performed in third grade when they are in fifth would aid the teacher when it came to creating lessons.

McCartney stressed the need for teachers and students to be prepared.

“It is essential that they [make] informed decisions,” he said.

Data warehousing would provide that information to administration.

While the project may not in the end be an economically viable option, the avenues of opportunity as well as the costs will be explored this year.

The school board is hopeful about successfully accomplishing these goals in the coming year.

“Judging by past performance, we should be very successful. It is important to develop goals that are reachable,” Parker said.

At the end of the school year, there will be another meeting held to re-evaluate the success of the plan and to begin drafting improved goals for the following school year.

Contact Sam Slaughter at sslaughter@gmnews.com.