The QSAC Results 2015/16 School District Budget All STEAMed Up

Greenwich Township Board of Education
Board Bits
April 2015
Page 1
A Monthly BOE Newsletter
The QSAC Results
The Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC) is the Department of Education’s monitoring and evaluation system for public
school districts. The system focuses on monitoring and evaluating school districts in five areas that, based on research, have been
identified to be key factors in effective school districts. GTSD scored as follows in those five areas:
Instruction and Program
92%
Fiscal Management
96%
Governance
100%
Operations
100%
Personnel
100%
The minimum acceptable score is 80%. GTSD scored well above that and we are grateful to the Superintendent, the administrative
team, teachers and staff for the outstanding work they do as that work is reflected in these scores.
2015/16 School District Budget
At our April 29, 2015 Board meeting, Superintendent Maria Eppolite presented the 2015/16 academic year budget to the public. We
are happy to share with you that all existing programs and staffing will be maintained for the upcoming academic year.
The tuition rate from PHS for the upcoming 15/16 academic year actually decreased from the current year rate. However, the district
received an after audit adjustment bill for the 13/14 academic year. The net impact for PHS tuition was an increase of approximately
$250,000 or about 4.5%. A 2% increase on the tax levy results in an increase of about $180,000 which is, once again, not enough to
cover the tuition increases from PHS.
The district budget for 15/16 includes a 2% increase on the property tax levy and because this falls within the state limitations, there is
no budget vote. Although there is an increase in the operating funds tax levy for 15/16, taxpaying residents will see a decrease in the
billed 15/16 tax levy rate related to the school portion of their property taxes. If you recall, the 14/15 tax levy rate included an
adjustment for a one time item related to a recording error, which has now been satisfied. Therefore, the new 15/16 tax levy rate will
be reduced by the amount being collected for this one time error. The impact of the 2% increase for 15/16 less the removal of the onetime item results in a net decrease in the school tax levy rate.
For more details, please refer to the budget presentation and user friendly budget which are available online at www.gtsd.net. If you
have any questions regarding the budget, please contact Tim Mantz, Business Administrator.
All STEAMed Up!
The first ever STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art Math) night was held at GES on April 21 under the direction of Erin
Whitehead and Shannon Foschetti with the able assistance of teachers from SMS and GES and NJHS volunteers. It was a great evening
filled with enjoyable, engaging, and educational activities for all of our young participants and their families. Thank you to Ms.
Whitehead and Ms. Foschetti and everyone involved for their efforts.
And the Academy Award Goes To ...
....the Greenwich Township PTO for an outstanding Family Fun Night 2015 and for being an overall fantastic group of volunteers. The
theme of the March 27 Family Fun Night was a “Night at the Movies.” It had a little bit of everything and a lot of fun activities and food
and participants. Once again, thank you to the PTO for sponsoring this lively evening of fun and fund-raising and for their generous and
steadfast support of the children of GTSD.
Greenwich Township School District, 101 Wyndham Farm Boulevard, Stewartsville, NJ 08886
Greenwich Township Board of Education
April 2015
Page 2
A Round of Applause
Our students continue to excel academically in high school. This year three of the top ten students at Phillipsburg High School are
from GTSD. Nineteen of the forty students on the High Honor Roll and 120 of the 316 on the Honor Roll are from our district.
Congratulations to all of those students and their families. Thank you to GTSD teachers and staff who helped them to lay foundations
for excellence.
Curriculum and Community Relations
The committee endorsed the tuition set for our Extended School Year Program. We will have some out of district students attending
which is a tribute to the quality of our program.
Superintendent Eppolite discussed our acquisition of Centris Group-IEP Direct as the Special Education Student Management System.
It will replace IEP Planner Plus which does not have the capacity to maintain all the required information. The new system is similar
to Genesis and will be easier for parents, teachers and administrators to use and will, therefore, benefit our students and their
families.
Policy, Personnel and Resolutions
The Board introduced the following policies for first reading on April 29, 2015 and will entertain public comment regarding the
following revised policies: 0134 Board Self Evaluation, 0152 Board Officers, 3212/4212 Attendance, 3218/4218, Substance Abuse,
8630 Bus Driver/Bus Aide Responsibility & Emergency School Bus Procedure.
The board approved ESY staffing, welcomed new custodian Beau Briggs, and congratulated Sue Cullen on her pending retirement,
effective June 2015.
Each year, above and beyond Superintendent Eppolite’s contracted responsibilities; she, in tandem with the BOE, develops Merit
Goals to be met within the current academic year. They are quantitative and qualitative goals measured and monitored by the Board
and the Executive County Superintendent. After review from the Board we conclude she has successfully completed the second of
three merit goals – the development of a comprehensive Personnel Manual including job descriptions, benefits, work hours and days
for all employees.
Student achievement is a primary objective of the BOE followed closely by financial advocacy. We tirelessly seek avenues to limit
taxpayer contribution while continuing to ensure student success today and into the future. Over the past 8 months we have made
substantial strides. Our resolution earned School Board Association (SBA) support at the Delegate Assembly. As a result, bills were
introduced in both the Assembly (A-4003) and Senate (S-2658) that would cap receiving schools tuition increases to 2% - more
consistent with the tax levy cap. The bills are a result of the GTSD BOE drafting and sponsoring the measure, gaining support from
districts across the state and developing compelling testimony before the Delegates. This is an unprecedented result and we are
working diligently to move this measure forward. We recently received a letter from Senator Sweeney’s office thanking us for our
contribution and letting us know he will keep us abreast of the progress. You can review the resolution/bill at www.gtsd.net.
Putting our House in Order—Reorganization
Every year the Board must reappoint certain professional positions such as Board Attorneys, Treasurer of School Monies, Bond
Counsel, Architect of Record and more. We must also reappoint district positions like the Attendance Officers and the Affirmative
Action Officer. All of those reappointments were made at this meeting.
The Board also approves the Official Depositories and Newspapers and adopts (really re-adopts) all curriculum, textbooks and
policies. Once, this is complete our affairs are in order for another year! The entire list of reappointments, reapprovals and
reauthorizations can be viewed on the website by going to the April 29 BOE Meeting Agenda and reviewing items K1 through K25
and L1 through L7.
Greenwich Township School District, 101 Wyndham Farm Boulevard, Stewartsville, NJ 08886
Greenwich Township Board of Education
April 2015
Page 3
Around the Board
Board President Diane Lein attended the Warren County SBA meeting on April 14. There was a brief legislative update and member
update followed by a presentation titled, “Beware: Looming Ethical Disasters for Board Members.” Ms. Lein has shared the
presentation materials with her fellow board members.
Ms. Lein also participated in an NJSBA Resolutions Subcommittee teleconference on April 4. A resolution seeking to move the
organization meetings for boards holding November elections from January to November following the certification of election
results failed to win the committee’s recommendation. Despite its failure to win the committee’s recommendation, our Board
discussed it and directed Ms. Lein, our Delegate Assembly representative, to cast our vote in favor of such a change. Committee
members discussed but did not vote on the Board of Directors recommendation that NJSBA officer elections be moved from the
November Delegate Assembly to the May Delegate Assembly. This will require a change to the Bylaws and will be voted on at the
May Delegate Assembly.
Aloha—Hello and Goodbye
Aloha is the appropriate greeting for both our incoming and outgoing Student Representatives. Our outgoing representatives are
Angelica DiGiovanni and Kush Gulati. They did an outstanding job on their oral presentations and written reports in Board Bits every
month. We thank them for their service and wish them continued success in their high school careers.
Our incoming Student Representatives are Delmy Cruz and Emma Mallory. The alternate is Kiara Tison. Their first report was very
good and we look forward to their continued contributions
We are also grateful to Kathy Fecanin and Nicole Hummer for preparing and assisting the student representatives in their board
duties. Ms. Fecanin works with the 7th graders and Ms. Hummer works with the 8th graders. The excellent job that these teachers
do is reflected in the fine performance of the representatives year in and year out.
A Word from Our Student Representatives
The Stewartsville Middle School has been fairly busy this week! Mrs. Dabour's sixth grade science classes have been discovering the
concept of continental drift and plate tectonics. Mrs. Corman's honors math class has been starting to learn about probability. Her
other classes are finishing up statistics and their graphing projects. Mrs. Bauer's social studies classes are entering the world of
Ancient Greece and finding the difference between the city states of Sparta and Athens. Mrs. Boyer's classes are continuing to work
on guided reading, including preparing for their expository benchmarks.
To mention, the seventh grade classes are also being pushed by the clock! Mrs. Barber's math honors classes are working on
exponents. Other students are now working on proportional relationships. Mrs. Foschetti, Mrs. Evanowski, and Mrs. Fulse's ELA
classes all participated in Read Across Stewartsville Middle School week since Read Across America took place during PARCC
assessments. Students are now participating in Read with Rita’s, decorating their lockers with their favorite book, and other fun
literacy activities. In addition, the students also are working on their Earth Day Essay for the Greenwich Township Environmental
Commission. Ms. Cancelliere's science classes are now preparing for a virtual frog dissection and in two weeks time, they will dissect
a frog. In Mrs. Fecanin's social studies classes are now unwrapping Muslim Contributions to the World.
To continue, the eighth graders are also working very hard! Not to mention, they will soon be moving on to the high school! The
students who are attending the high school for math are now moving on to statistics. Mrs. Rabar's math classes are finishing up
benchmarks. Mrs. Mulrooney's classes are finishing up writing benchmarks and going back to Springboard books. Mr. Weber's
science classes are working on balancing chemical equations and chemicals reactions. Mrs. Hummer's social studies classes just
finished their field trip to Philadelphia which included seeing historic landmarks and learning about our nation's history. To tie it all
together, they are working on brochures about Philadelphia.
Extracurricular activities in Stewartsville Middle School are very fun to be in. The SPAC club of performing arts are finalizing their
show, Bye Bye Birdie. The show is May 15-16 and tickets are available to the public. The National Junior Honors Society is electing
new board members to join them, and so is Student Council. The Interact Club is setting up the volleyball tournament and creating
the teams.
Greenwich Township School District, 101 Wyndham Farm Boulevard, Stewartsville, NJ 08886