BOE Opposes Opportunity Scholarship Act, Seeks Changes to TEACHNJ Act

New Jersey Senate Bill 2925 and Assembly Bill 4132 seek to give school principals—rather than a school district’s superintendent or school board—sole authority to hire and fire school staff and administration.

At Monday’s regular business meeting of the Fort Lee Board of Education, the board voted in favor of a resolution urging the New Jersey Legislature to amend that legislation “to ensure that personnel hiring and placement decisions remain under the authority of the district superintendent with the approval of the local board of education.”

The Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey—or TEACHNJ—Act, introduced in June, would give a school's principal, in consultation with a school improvement panel, the “sole authority to appoint or remove an employee in the position of teacher, assistant principal, or vice-principal.”

In addition, the BOE approved a resolution opposing Senate Bill 1972 and Assembly Bill 2810, or the Opportunity Scholarship Act, which provides tax credits to “entities contributing to scholarships for low-income children eligible to enroll in certain districts.”

The Fort Lee BOE resolution states in part that the board opposes “any government policy that would divert funds from the state’s revenue stream to private schools when sufficient revenue is not available for New Jersey’s public school finance law.”

Pointing out that the Opportunity Scholarship Act passed the state Senate Monday, 34-3, now Interim Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle said that "there are some strong concerns at the board level and amongst boards of education with regards to some serious issues surrounding that bill."

"We anticipate that’s going to cost about $800 million to taxpayers based on calculations from the New Jersey School Boards Association, and that’s a very strong concern for public education in New Jersey," Engravalle said.

Fort Lee resident and former state Assembly candidate Keith Jensen lauded the board for opposing the legislation and "for noting that there are holes in that."

"If you’re not one of the lucky chosen towns that’s in those districts, if you are … from one of the other districts, you will not get that district assistance," Jensen said. "So it is not fair to everybody, and I’m glad that you guys are taking a bold stand to go against it."

Engravalle also called attention to Senate Bill 3148, which he noted also passed the state Senate 34-3 Monday. The bill gives districts the option to move their school board elections to November and letting school boards skip voter approval of budgets if the tax increase does not exceed a 2 percent cap.

"I think it’s a great idea because, number one, it’s going to save some costs, and two, we know that the turnout is really abysmal for school board elections," said board president Arthur Levine. "We’re going to get more  people coming out and voting on the elections. We’re almost half the budget of the town."

Board member Charlie Luppino agreed with Levine, saying, "I think it can be a good thing if you keep the politics out of it."

"We have nothing to do with politicians," Luppino said. "We don’t get paid for our jobs; we’re here [as] volunteers."

He added, "But to me the most important aspect of it is most people are going to go out and vote, and if they’re walking into a voting booth, they want to be educated on what they’re voting on."

Senate Bill 3148 was not however on the board's regular business meeting agenda Monday.

Here’s a quick look at what was on the agenda and the items approved by the board:

Board

• 1B - Resolution Regarding School District Report of Incidents of Harassment/Intimidation/Bullying
• 2B – Seeking Amendment to Senate Bill 2925 (Ruiz)/Assembly Bill 4132 (Coutinho/Singleton) to Retain Local School Board and Superintendent Authority Over Personnel Decisions
• 3B – Resolution in Opposition to Senate Bill 1872 and Assembly Bill 2810 “Opportunity Scholarship Act”
• 4B – Approval of Usage of School Image for “Blue Ribbon Story” Book Cover

Building And Grounds

• 1B&G – Agreement with The Liberty Group to Move Central Office at a Cost Not to Exceed $4,500
• 2B&G – Authorizing Business Administrator to Solicit Bids for Document Management System

Curriculum And Instruction

• 1CUR – Approval of Class Trips
• 2CUR – CPR/First-Aid Training

Finance

• 1F - Approval of Current Bills List Totaling $4,424,812.37
• 2F - Approval of Line Item Transfers for November 2011
• 3F – Authorization to Establish Bank Account with TD Bank North for the Flexible Spending Account Program
• 4F – Lease Agreement with Pitney Bowes at $868 per Month
• 5F – Agreement with National Joint Powers Alliance

Health, Welfare And Safety

• 1HWS – Payment of Home Instruction Services
• 2HWS – Appointment of ABA Related Service Provider

Personnel

• 1P - Approval of Staff Trips and Conferences
• 2P – Retirement of Joyce Krieger as School Nurse at School No. 2
• 3P – Retirement of Phyllis Citrin as High School Science Teacher
• 4P – Resignation of Lucie Iuzzolino as Leave Replacement (Fort Foreign Language Teacher) at Fort Lee High School
• 5P – Resignation of Peter Wood as Part-Time Classroom Aide at Lewis F. Cole Middle School
• 6P – Resignation of Angela Rodriguez as Part-Time Preschool 1:1 Aide at Fort Lee Early Childhood Center
• 7P – Maternity Leave for Jenny McCann as Elementary Teacher at School No. 4
• 8P – Maternity Leave for Kathleen Weissman-Wei as Preschool Teacher at Fort Lee Early Childhood Center
• 9P – Appointment of Rachel Smith as Leave Replacement at School No. 4
• 10P – Appointment of ABA Home Instructors
• 11P – Appointment of Additional Co-Curricular Personnel for the 2011-2012 School Year
• 12P – Extra Compensation for District Assignment
• 13P – Volunteer at School No. 4
• 14P – Additional Substitutes for the 2011-2012 School Year
• 15P (Walk-in) - Approval of Interim Superintendent Contract

The ’s regular business meeting was Monday at  the library.

To download the complete agenda for the meeting, click here, or visit the school district’s website.