Superintendent, District Improvements, Candidate Forum: A Look at Issues in the Moorestown School District

The 2015-16 school year is well underway, and it is hard to believe fall is here. For the month of September, there are multiple items to take note of, including the status of the district superintendent, strategic planning goal approval, and curriculum review, among other areas.

At the Board’s August meeting, Strategic Planning Consultant Judy Wilson presented three strategic goals, which were shared in last month’s column. The Board discussed these goals further and adopted them at the September meeting.

There was concern raised about the generic nature of the goals. However, the next step is to develop accompanying action steps and metrics to evaluate progress. As specifics are developed and approved, they will be shared.

The district is embarking on an initiative to review a key curricular area at each public meeting until all are covered. This will allow the public to review current curriculum, changes made or proposed, identify strengths/weaknesses in the area, and ask questions specific to the given area.

For instance, at the September meeting, the District’s Language Arts Supervisor Dr. Susan Tosti presented. Math will be covered in October, Science in November, World Language & History in December, and the remaining areas in 2016.

Mr. Rob Notley of New Road Construction also presented an overview on the Building Excellence Referendum Projects.

Significant progress was made over the summer, including completing new security vestibules at each school, installing one million feet of cable through the district for technology infrastructure, and flooring at select schools, along with many other projects.

The high school athletic turf field is expected to be completed by mid-October, but projects will continue through the summer of 2017.

As many know, Lynn Shugars, MTPS Business Administrator/Board Secretary, became Acting Superintendent on Sept. 1, after Tim Rehm’s resignation. The district is currently in the process of seeking both internal and external candidates to serve as an interim superintendent, who must be able to start no later than Jan. 1, 2016. The deadline for applicants is Friday, Oct. 9. After that, the Board as a whole will review applications and interview candidates.

There are multiple event dates to be aware of in October.

Autumn in Moorestown Day will take place on Saturday, Oct. 10. This will include a Student Art Exhibit coordinated by MoorArts.

The Home and School Association is hosting two events, including Restaurant Night on Oct. 15 at Jersey Mikes, and the Board of Education Candidates Forum on Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the William Allen Middle School.

Registration is now open for the Sean Fischel Connect 5k & Fun Run on Nov. 8 at Moorestown High School. This event has been created in honor of Sean Fischel, who lost his life after battling a rare disease called HLN. The organization provides donations to Moorestown Rec Center, Moorestown Library, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, among others. Click here for details.

The next monthly Moorestown Board of Education meeting will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015 at 7:30 pm, in the William Allen Middle School media center.

As always, do not hesitate to reach out to either the Board as a whole, or myself, if you have any questions or need anything. I would be delighted to hear from you, and I hope to see you at a future meeting.

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The views and content in this column do not necessarily represent those of the Moorestown Board of Education as a whole or any other individual member.

About this column: In this column, Moorestown Board of Education Member Brandon Pugh provides monthly updates on what’s going on in the school district and on the BOE.