Board of Education Meeting Recap

The first business meeting of the new school board was short and sweet. Here's what you missed:

• Interim Superintendent Peter Carter announced the district will form a wellness committee for the 2010/2011 school year. The lack of this committee—which is supposed to focus on school lunch and nutrition—was brought to light by local mom Peta Moran, who started eating school lunches with her 4-year-old and didn't like what she saw. 

Carter defended himself by saying: "Just in passing, we have had no calls from 98 percent of the students' parents or their pediatricians who eat the school lunch daily."

• The Hoboken School District said goodbye to many employees who are retiring. The board members thanked them for their service. Most of the retirees currently work in the business administrator's and the superintendent's office. 

"To Mr. Carter and Mr. Davis: Good luck," said Board President Rose Marie Markle. Shrugging in response to the laughter from the public she added, "it's their whole office."

• More congratulations were in order to participants in the Penn Relays. The coach of the Hoboken High School track team presented a $1,700 check to Interim Superintendent Peter Carter and the board—a result of the team members' fundraising. Carter got up and presented a cardboard symbolic check to Board Member Maureen Sullivan, who had expressed concerns about the costs of sending the students to Pennsylvania for multiple days during a previous School Board meeting. 

• The Board had a short discussion about the International Baccelaureatte Programme and the AP program. In conclusion: the IB Programme will be phased out. The rising juniors who are currently partaking in the program will finish it, and graduate in June, 2011. AP classes will be phased in during the 2010-2011 school year, said Carter. 

• After the public part of the meeting, which lasted about an hour, the board went into closed session. During that session, they decided to run an ad this weekend requesting proposals from search firms to conduct the search for the new superintendent, according to one board member.