Synopsis Of Dec. 9 Westfield Board Of Education Meeting

A Synopsis of the Westfield Board of Education meeting on December 9, 2014 by Superintendent Margaret Dolan.

RETIRING BOARD MEMBERS HONORED

Ann Ormsby Cary and Rosanne Kurstedt, who attended their last meeting as Board of Education members, were honored by the Board. Rich Mattessich spoke of the innumerable contributions each has made to the school district and presented them with resolutions from the Board. Both he and Ginny Leiz presented them with flowers.

Mrs. Cary, who is retiring after 9 ½ years on the Board, chaired three committees and served as Vice President. I joined other Board members in recalling how Mrs. Cary always focused on the needs of the students and how she has been a strong advocate for our Fine Arts program.

Dr. Kurstedt, who is retiring after 3 ½ years on the Board, where she has been Vice President for the last two years, has chaired two committees. We thanked Dr. Kurstedt for the considerable work she has accomplished during her term, particularly in supporting curriculum and technology advances in the district.

Mrs. Cary and Dr. Kurstedt graciously acknowledged Board, administration and staff members for carrying out the tradition of excellence in Westfield. Incoming Board members Peggy Oster and Chris Langhart attended the meeting, and will be sworn in at the next meeting on January 6.

AUDIT REPORT

The Board accepted the annual audit of the 2013-2014 school year prepared by Hodulik and Morrison, P.A. Auditor Bob Morrison reported that the Westfield Public School District’s accounting practices are in full compliance and that our financial information is accurate and consistent in application according to rules of the State and accounting standards. The data was found reliable. His staff spent weeks in the district testing internal controls and procedures in addition to our compliance with federal grants. He confirmed that the district’s internal controls are operating effectively with no deficiencies and are designed appropriately. His firm issued a clean report, with no non-compliance issues. He complimented the Business Office saying there are no audit adjustments needed. He had no findings or recommendations, no need for corrective action, and thanked the Business Office staff for its cooperation. He gave the district an “A,” noting that he would expect such positive results from this administration and that the professionalism in the Business Office made the job easier. He also noted that the District’s high credit rating saves the District money when going out for bonds. Lastly, he commented on the restrictions on which public school districts are under in New Jersey with both a two percent limit on Fund Balance and a two percent cap on the annual budget.

WHS PARCC SCHEDULE CHANGE 2015

Assistant Principal of Westfield High School, Derrick Nelson, presented a proposed Westfield High School schedule for PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers). New Jersey is one of 13 states which will administer computer-based PARCC assessments during the 2014-2015 school year in Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA). Seniors will not be taking PARCC since they took HSPA as juniors.

Dr. Nelson emphasized the importance of scheduling the testing so that there would be a limited amount of interruption of instructional time. The proposed PARCC schedule will be March 2 - March 9, 2015, with school starting at 8:00 AMand ending at 3:00 PM for all WHS students. This same starting and ending time will also apply to the regular End of Year testing schedule from April 21 – 24, 2015. During both PARCC and End of Year testing, all students will have a common lunch from 11:00 AM – 11:55 AM. Regular classes will be 55 minutes in duration.

Dr. Nelson explained that PARCC will include two Math sessions and three ELA sessions. He anticipates that there will be two sessions of testing a day – 8:05 AM - 10:55 AM and 12:05 PM – 3:00 PM. He stated that WHS has enough devices to conduct the computer-based assessments to accommodate all the cohorts of students. Make-up assessments would be held after school March 10 - 12.

Dr. Nelson reminded the Board that in addition to PARCC and End-of-Year regular testing, AP testing also is scheduled in the Spring of 2015.

The Board thanked Dr. Nelson for all his work in accommodating the students and devising a schedule that limits interruption in the classroom. More information on this proposal will be communicated to students and parents in January when it is finalized.

LONG RANGE PLANNING

Long Range Planning Chair, Ginny Leiz, reported on the December 2 meeting at which the committee members reviewed questions from the 2009 Community Survey that can potentially be used for a survey slated for February – March 2015. Mrs. Leiz noted that this is the first step in preparation for a Strategic Plan.

POLICIES

The Board approved for first reading, the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 calendars. The second reading will be January 6. Policies Chair Gretchan Ohlig explained that in 2015, Labor Day will be late – on September 8. The Policies Committee discussed implications of getting 181 contracted days in the calendar and not ending school and graduation too late in June. Both calendars are scheduling school to begin after Labor Day and to hold Westfield High School graduation on a Friday at 3 PM (June 24, 2016 & June 23, 2017). This would enable school to close prior to the last week in June. It also provides an opportunity for families and other guests to have dinner together prior to the graduates leaving to attend the all-night Graduation Bash. The Board welcomes public input before the January 6 vote at wboe@westfieldnjk12.org.

The Board affirmed my decision on an HIB incident.

CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION & PROGRAM

The Board approved curriculum-aligned student field trips.

FINANCE

The Board accepted the annual audit as described above.

The Board gratefully accepted the following gifts: $20,069.68 from the Franklin School PTO for the purchase of gym equipment, two Epson projectors, reading subscriptions, document cameras and other classroom equipment; $1,750 from the Westfield Coalition for the Arts to Westfield High School’s Music Department, to purchase choir robes; and a student model Bundy flute and case from Mrs. Robin Ince, Franklin School nurse, to be used by the Franklin School Music Department.

TECHNOLOGY

Technology Committee Chair, Mitch Slater, summarized the Committee’s meeting of December 5. At the meeting, Master Technology teacher Jeanine Gottko reported that 67% of parent accounts have been activated and we are beginning to start the activation process for WHS student e-mail accounts. Following Mr. Friedman’s recommendation, Ms. Gottko has arranged for Google Analytics to provide us with activity data on Edline. She also noted that the elementary schools are focusing on Podcasting and Skyping with other schools and countries.

Master Technology teacher Adam Pizzi told the Committee that the internet was working very well at Westfield High School and that the infrastructure upgrades have made a huge impact. He is hopeful that the same upgrade is in the planning stages at the middle school level. Mr. Pizzi also reported on the Digital Learning Center (aka Genius Bar) at WHS, where five students work with teachers and students and communicate helpful tips through Twitter and videos produced with WHS-TV 36.

CIO Brian Auker reported the arrival of 420 newly purchased laptops which will be used in the PARCC rollout first, then for classroom use. Network Manager Arvin Vidal reported on the BYOD pilot projects at WHS which were expanded this year.

Mr. Slater stated that the overall goals of the Technology Committee going forward are: Continue rollout of infrastructure upgrades, functionality to ultimately support BYOD or 1:1 through virtualization, and review and update our strategic documents. He also thanked Rosanne Kurstedt for her input and hard work on the Technology Committee.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

TONIGHT

Today is International Human Rights Day, and to commemorate the occasion, our Roosevelt Intermediate School Girls Learn International Chapter will host a free community event in the RIS auditorium from 7:30 – 9:00 PM. It will feature keynote speaker Suraya Sadeed, author and founder of “Help the Afghan Children.” The event also will include inspirational speakers, poetry, music and presentations from the RIS & WHS Chapters of Girls Learn International.

KEY CLUB EVENT FOR CHILDREN

The Westfield High School Key Club invites families to attend Winter Wonderland, a magical adventure full of creative crafts, fun games and yummy treats on Saturday, December 13 from 10 AM to 2 PM in the cafeteria at Westfield High School. It is perfect for children 3 to 11. Proceeds from the sale of tickets – which can be purchased at the door -- will benefit the UNICEF Eliminate Project.

FINE ARTS

There are 23 winter concerts scheduled in our schools from December 2 – February 6. All evening concerts begin at7:00 PM unless otherwise specified on our website. There is a special daytime vocal concert performance to which Westfield senior citizens are invited to attend. It will be held on Wednesday, December 17, from 10:45 AM– 11:30 AMin the auditorium of Westfield High School, located at 550 Dorian Road. Access to the auditorium is on Dorian Road, where there also is a ramp for easy accessibility. There is no charge for admission for any of the concerts.

WESTFIELD HIGH SCHOOL

Congratulations to the Westfield High School Marching Band which capped off its 2014 season with a great showing at the US Bands Yamaha Cup in MetLife Stadium, where 66 bands competed. The Blue Devils achieved their best score of the season and took 6th place. Band Director Christopher Vitale said: It was by far their best performance of the season and that was justification for all of us that the 2014 season was truly a success.”

WHS ROBOTICS CLUB

Congratulations to the Westfield High School Robotics Club. On November 29th, Team 5968 took first place in the robot competition portion of the first ever Westfield Wrangle held at Westfield High School. Team 7102 racked up its own victory by bringing home the Connect Award. The Connect Award recognizes a team’s efforts in contacting specialists and professionals involved in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as well as conducting outreach to the community on robotics. In addition, both teams competed in the qualifying competition on Saturday, December 6 in Ambler, PA where they won an Inspire Award, the highest award of achievement in FTC (First Tech Challenge). This award has qualified them to compete in the Pennsylvania State Championships. In addition, they were nominated for the PTC Design Award, Rockwell Collins Innovate Award, and Connect Award. Both teams are coached by Westfield High School teachers, Valentino Scipioni and Susan Marie Terra.

Team 5968 members include: Saranya Turimella, Jack Mulvanerty, Alistair Kapadia, Spencer Fishman, Fiona Gillespie, Joe Detrano, Christine Rogers, Jordan Hindes, and Hank Sacco.

Team 7102 members include: Ashley Rosen, Rachael Hé,Thomas Han, Trisha Mukhopadhyay, Jennifer Rogers, Linzy Rosen, Eli Zidel, Vivek Sreenivasan, Anna Glueck, Neil Makhija, Zachary Kronheimer, Mike Carides, and Evan Binder.

SAT HIGH SCORERS

Congratulations to the following five students who have achieved perfect scores in October on the SAT standardized tests widely used for college admission criteria: Maya Moritz – Math; Jorge Ledesma – Reading, Math and Writing; Jason Liu – Physics; Michael Maguire – Math 2; and Aidan Hamilton – Reading.

ATHLETICS

• Congratulations to Westfield High School Senior Kate Edmonson who has been accepted to the University of Miami where she will join the Crew team. Kate has many achievements including winning a medal as she and her crew members placed 2nd out of 87 boats in one of the most prestigious regattas in the world held in Boston this fall.

• Congratulations are also in order for three of our Girl’s Lacrosse team leaders who have signed letters of intent. They include: Samantha Paoletti – Boston University, Mallory Weisse – Northwestern University, and Alyssa Cox –Virginia Tech.

• Congratulations to Chris Tafelski, who was named Boys Cross Country Coach of The Year by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.

• Also from the Athletics Department, Westfield High School Trainer Chris Flores was selected by Nike to lead one of the teams that competed in Nike’s Dec. 6th Challenge in New York City. Congratulations to Chris on this recognition and on leading his team to second place.

INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS

Students at Edison Intermediate School in Westfield participated in a full day event on November 21 – the national Mix It Up Day -- joining more than three million other students across the country to help break down social barriers. Mix It Up is a positive step that schools can take to help create inclusive school communities and learning environments. Guidance counselors Kerri Webster, Kimberly Lisnock and Lori Demuro advised the student-run event hosted by the school’s Student Government Association and TLRNC (Teens Learning Respect ‘N Compassion). The day included group discussions on why students should be motivated to get to know people “on the inside,” a viewing of a movie with an inspiring message, and lunch periods at which students moved out of their comfort zone and sat with someone new while TLRNC members led ice breaker activities.

NEXT BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING will be held Tuesday, January 6. It will be the reorganization meeting of the Board, and newly elected members Peggy Oster, Chris Langhart and Mark Friedman will take the oath of office prior to the business portion of the meeting. The agenda will include a second reading on the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school calendars. A complete agenda will be available for viewing on the district website on January 5.

WESTFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS WILL BE CLOSED from December 24 – January 4, and will reopen on Monday, January 5, 2015.

I wish our entire Westfield community a wonderful holiday season and a happy, healthy 2015.

Margaret Dolan, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Westfield Public Schools – A Tradition of Excellence