Bloomfield BOE Transfers School Principals and Discusses Energy Savings

The Bloomfield school district will go through some administrative changes after the board of education approved a new restructuring plan late Tuesday night after meeting in executive session for nearly an hour and a half.

The board also discussed how to make the school district more energy efficient during the meeting.

During the restructuring discussion of the meeting, the board approved plans for three elementary schools to have new leaders with two principals transferring to different schools starting July 1.

Gina M. Rosamilia will move from Carteret Elementary School to Watsessing Elementary School and Mary DiTrani will move from Watsessing Elementary School to Oak View Elementary School. Current Oak View Elementary School Principal Julie R. Andriolo will be retiring.

The district will also be creating a new position: the coordinator of professional development and No Child Left Behind programs.

School Board President Mary Shaughnessy said the new job will be similar to the curriculum position that was eliminated by the prior school administration.

"That didn't quite pan out, so this is the creation of a new position to go along with a new vision from the superintendent (Jason Bing)," she said.

Shaughnessy said Bing "wants to do something differently and the board is giving him latitude to do that."  Shaughnessy added she is supporting the restructuring, which she called "the letting go of the old ways and trying new ways" to enhance education.  

Bing did not talk about restructuring during the meeting and he did not respond to phone calls and an e-mail seeking comment late Tuesday night.

The school district will soon be advertising for the No Child Left Behind/Professional Development Coordinator and principal job for Carteret Elementary School. Shaughnessy said the salary ranges have yet to be discussed, but she hopes the positions can be filled as soon as possible.

Energy Efficiency
 
The other important topic was a proposal to make the school district more energy efficient and save money on utility costs. School officials held off on voting on a proposal to hire Energy Education, a Dallas company, to implement an energy conservation education and training program. The contract would have lasted four years and cost about $168,000 a year.

Attorney Hope Blackburn, a colleague of school board attorney Nicholas Dotali, gave a short presentation on the various ways school districts implement and fund energy-efficiency programs and renewable energy projects. Her concerns with the proposed contract was the termination fees were too high and and she thought the person managing the energy program should receive a stipend, not a salary.

Barry Ersek, an Energy Education marketing consultant, said the company was willing to make small changes to the proposal. Ersek said his company worked with several other school districts throughout the state to help them save money on electricity costs. He highlighted the company's work in Montgomery Township school district in Somerset County, which saved $3.4 million in energy costs over four years.

Board member Emily Smith asked Ersek to provide data from a school district similar in size to Bloomfield to "help us better evaluate the cost." Shaughnessy requested to visit some of the school districts that use Energy Education to see how the energy-efficiency programs worked.

Two township residents spoke out about the topic during the public comment portion. Matt Yar, an engineer, questioned how Energy Education could guarantee the district would save money with energy-efficiency before visiting the schools.

Bing said the energy audit will use special software to evaluate the district and it will focus on making a "culture change," such as possibly implementing programs to use less lighting and heating.

"If we're perfect, they're going to walk away," Bing said.

Candy Straight, another township resident, said she supported the energy review and she thought the district should "investigate all options" to become more energy efficient. She said school officials should also request audited financial statements from Energy Education to make sure the company is "financially sound."

What you have may missed at Tuesday's BOE meeting:

1. School officials are still in mediation with unions representing teachers, secretaries, supervisors and principals. An agreement was reached with the custodians.