School Board Takes Care of Business in First Meeting of the Year
Students of the month and updates on school district news
The Hoboken Board of Education honored its district’s students of the month, and updated the community on the latest happenings of the district during Tuesday’s monthly board meeting.
Students of the Month included Johanna Sexton from Calabro School and Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks from Hoboken High School, who were on hand to receive their certificates.
During the Superintendent’s report, former Business Administrator Robert Davis was given the floor to update the board on the status of the upcoming School Budget for 2012-2013. At the present time a first draft is anticipated to be put before the board within the next three weeks. According to Davis, the budget is being worked to address district and Board of Education goals.
The first draft of the budget includes approved district and board goals, the 6-year capital projects plan, as well annual expenditures for existing programs, Davis said.
All the budget managers have submitted their requested appropriations for the upcoming school year, which the superintendent is currently reviewing. It's still unclear how much revenue the budget will see, as well as the amount of state and federal grants. It's still unclear if there'll be a change to the tax levy, which is capped at 2 percent per state mandate.
The district will learn the amount of state aid the will receive during the last week of February, Davis said. The superintendent, however, will present the first draft of the budget on or before the February board meeting.
Last year Hoboken received an extra $1.6 million in State Aid, which was used towards expenditures, and reserved a roughly $457,000 surplus for the next school budget.
“Last year’s state aid put us in a good position,” said Davis. “I think [aide] will be similar to last year.”
Superintendent of Schools Mark Toback announced that his documentation showed a decrease in bullying in December. He said last summer the board planned a program, with as its main goal educating students and parents about bullying.
“You have anti-bullying specialists [in each school], who are doing a phenomenal job, and our District Anti-bullying coordinator Dr. Cecilia D’Elia works with all the schools giving advice and talking about needs,” said Dr. Toback. “It’s an ongoing topic and the basis of the whole things is about educating people.”
Dr. Toback also announced that the high school’s renovated culinary classroom and café will be fully operational by next school year. The approved contract for the renovations went to Singer Equipment Company Inc. of Philadelphia in the amount of $106,035.
“The culinary program is a program that has existed,” said Dr. Toback. “[We] are converting an existing home-economics classroom into the culinary classroom with new equipment and into a small café.”
With the new room and equipment students in the culinary program can earn Pro-Start Certification, which certifies students to start careers in the culinary arts, and Service Aid Certification, which you need to work in a restaurant. The district is currently in a partnership with the culinary program at Hudson County Community College, where students can receive college credit, and are working on establishing partnerships with 4-year culinary schools.
Among the resolutions the board approved at the meeting was the termination of the Interim Business Administrator Michael Donow due to the completion of his contract as of Jan. 16. New incoming Business Administrator William Takacs will assume the position a day later. He is currently the County Business Administrator for the Department of Education.
The board also approved an emergency contract to T&M Contracting Company for an estimated $58,000 for emergency work due to structural issues with the façade of the Brandt School. This included emergency installation of a protective sidewalk bridge. An additional $5,000 was approved for district’s architect Mount Vernon Group, who will be working with T&M to determine the extent of the problem and specification of repairs.
In addition, the anticipated district newsletter was given out to the community before the holiday break and copies are still available.
Hobbs
9:33 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Hoboken BOE to $1,600,000.00 additional State aid plus $457,000.00 in surplus on top of a sound, realistic, stable budget is great positive news.
:-)
Reformerus_Gianticus
11:57 am on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Board to their credit was supportive of the Superintendent and passed his agenda 9-0. If it was the case that the Boards did not approve of the positive direction that the schools were moving in do you think that would be an opportunity for them to speak up and criticize what Toback was doing? Absolutely the answer would be and should be yes if thecomplaints had merit. I heard no such complaints last night. I think most people would like to see test scores go up and Toback has already acted on that by increasing the amount of remedial classes to 16.
Last night was a positive meeting and a cooperative one as well. Do you know that the HS is doing a musical "Footlose" in the Spring? Everyone wanted to write off the theater program due to the departure of one person. From my extensive years in the business world I can tell you first hand that everyone is replaceable even if they don't think so. Just good news overall. I even appreciated Maureen Sullivan's vote in supporting the initiatives for this year.
Karen O'Shea
12:50 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
This is great news all around.
gettheledout44
1:29 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
if 27 people went to the high school show on saturday and there were 15 kids in the show then my math says if kids got a parent and maybe a grandma to come along then there were NO unrelated people in the audience.
everyone is replaceable doesn't mean they should be replaced because look at what happened. not a theory anymore. kids first dumped a great director in ohaus and got one who can't even get the parents to fill uup the hall.
CuriousGal
1:02 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
"everyone is replaceable" is a catcall that the Kids First minions use to justify the lowering of standards in the hires that they have made. Teachers like Ohaus come along on a generational time span. Ohaus and her team won State competitions for her productions, got written up in the NY Times, was on Fox News AM show--- hundreds came out in support of her--and Kids First and their hand picked vendetta keeper refused to give her tenure. That the productions now contain just parents is no surprise.
File this under "dr toback is doing a great job" as well---
Grafix Avenger
12:18 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
You're disgusting.
Hoboken Answer
12:24 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Is Maureen going to show the timestamp info on her ineligibility being rescinded today?
Ohaus said at her tenure hearing she wanted to ONLY teach five classes and not do the theater program at all. She wanted the money (tenure) only. LOL
Lane Dastardly
12:44 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Unfortunately,CG, Ohaus made her contempt for authority and insurance exposures obvious and a pattern. She actually fired herself unless of course the school wanted to be left wide open for lawsuits and have a precedent of allowing uncontrollable maverick educators. Nice try though.
Here We Go!
12:42 pm on Friday, January 13, 2012
Not a fair assessment. The new director is doing a great job and is empowering the students in a way that was never done before. Instead of hiring people from out of district for 2,000 plus dollars. She made a student stage manager. Students have more responsibility and have a stake in the program, mor than ever! That is empowerment!
Caroline Schott
2:19 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
When is there going to be a show for all of the little kid?
pied piper
5:03 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
June
Grafix Avenger
3:41 pm on Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Congratulations to Johanna and Alexandra, students of the month!
ThisMeansWar
6:32 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Solid start. It's a shame the usual 2 bitter old hags couldn't be bothered to read the article itself. A shame but not a surprise. Also not surprising, they have nothing to say about the possibility of school board elections moving to November. No doubt for now the only reaction is fear - can Frank buy that many votes? And if he does, does that mean less sugar daddy goodies for Burns. Not to worry, there's nothing curiouskim can't spin. But since they don't want to talk about what's actually happening the schools perhaps they'd care to comment on why...
Lane Bajardi has NEVER appeared in an ELEC report for Beth Mason or Tim Occhipinti. He appears in this midnight video for Occhipinti's campaign leaders. http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2010/10/grist-for-mill-midnight-monday-meeting.html
Is he credited in Beth Mason's IRS filings? Does he credit her in his tax forms?
http://www.fbi.gov/news/videos/inside-the-fbis-internet-tip-line
CuriousGal
8:57 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
ThisMeansWar---you want to talk about what is happening today in the Hoboken public schools? Any regular reader of PATCH by now knows that after over 2 years of Kids First majority on the Board of Education: for the second year in a row, over 90% of Hoboken's public school children attend a school that has failed to make adequate yearly progress. Today, and for the second year in a row, 3 of 4 schools have failed to meet state and federal standards for adequate yearly progress. QSAC scores in Instruction and Program (that needed to be distributed by private citizens at a BOE meeting because Kids First didn't want the scores released) have plummeted over 20% in the past year. And, most telling, parents disgust is evident in the FACT that Hoboken Public School enrollment is down 19% in the last 2 years.
No wonder Kids First leader Theresa Minutillo is clapping like a trained seal at BoE meetings anytime there is even the slightest morsel of positive news.
Grafix Avenger
9:17 am on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Shame on you CuriousGal for dumping on a thread about 2 kids' academic achievement. You are a disgrace. Should your son someday win an academic honor, may political operatives like yourself not ruin it.
prosbus
1:31 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
Sorry honey--- the title of this article on Patch is "School Board Takes Care of Business in First Meeting of the Year"
That you want to make it seem like it was about the achievement of 2 children is evidence of your political operativeness. Don't be concerned, you still have the market cornered on disgraceful acts.
Lane Dastardly
1:40 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
For those just joining in here prosbus and curiousgal are out supporting whatever positive they can dream up to say about Real Results, while attacking all others. Get the picture on how vile they are? They'll be on here all day being ugly and confrontational. Get a good look at who they have doing the dialog for them.
ThisMeansWar
12:58 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
I get it now, curiouskim. You and Lane will be on the payroll for the anti-KF ticket. Clearly you are already on the clock and in 24/7 smear-mode. You're already writing flier copy.
Suit yourself. Suit your paymasters. The bottom line is you and Lane RUINED 411 with your toxic contempt for everyone. Don't take my word for it. Take a look. What once was a lively dialog is now just a handful of bitter cranks. Like you.
That's what you can promise your paymasters. Someone whose emotional ugliness will turn off everyone the anti-KF ticket hopes to attract. As has happened in the past you and Lane will be the not-so-secret weapon of your opponents. Thanks.
BTW will Lane be on the payroll for a change? Lane Bajardi has NEVER appeared in an ELEC report for Beth Mason or Tim Occhipinti. He appears in this midnight video for Occhipinti's campaign leaders. http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2010/10/grist-for-mill-midnight-monday-meeting.html
Is he credited in Beth Mason's IRS filings? Does he credit her in his tax forms?
http://www.fbi.gov/news/videos/inside-the-fbis-internet-tip-line
prosbus
1:33 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
It will be their own words that will bury them....
Journey
2:05 pm on Thursday, January 12, 2012
If was more then the empty echo chamber that it has become, Lane would not be posting over here, because what is the point of yelling in echo chamber?
gettheledout44
9:53 pm on Saturday, January 21, 2012
Here we go, it's not the job of the director to "empower" the students, whatever that means. (i guess it means that your kid got the job of being stage manager) it's the director's job to instruct kids in how to act, sing, perform. they're like 14, 15 years old so they need a teacher and not a new bff. and from what i hear the board hired all sorts of outsiders (including many unfingerprinted who toback said don't interact with the kids - yea right) to work on the next show.