MIDDLE SCHOOL DAY TO BE EXTENDED, HOME SCHOOLERS ALLOWED ON CHS TEAMS

Middle school students will likely have a longer school day next year under plans put forth by Maplewood Middle School principal Jerrill Adams and South Orange Middle School principal Joseph Uglialoro.

During Monday night's school board meeting both men proposed the plan that would extend dismissal time from 2:45 p.m. to 3:05 p.m. and a new "enrichment and intervention period" will be added for sixth and seventh graders.

This means that each class will be the same length, 50 minutes, rather than varying times for some subjects.
  
The board also approved a resolution allowing home-schooled students to participate in Columbia High School sports teams.

"We talk about sports, but where else will it go from here? What will be the next thing we add to it?" said Board Member Maureen Jones "They are going to be wearing Columbia High School jerseys, but they are not Columbia High School students."

Board Member Beth Daugherty noted that home-schooled students are allowed to participate in the ultimate Frisbee team, which is a club sport, not an interscholastic sport.

"It is on pragmatic grounds that we are letting homeschoolers play sports now," said Board Member Jeffrey Bennett. 

Daugherty suggested delaying approval another month for more review, but Bennett disagreed: "This is an issue that's going to affect a handful of kids ... it's too minor of a thing." The board later voted to approve the home school policy, 9-0.

The board also approved an agreement to hire new superintendent John Ramos, who will start in August. The five-year deal includes a salary of $175,000 per year. That vote was 8-0, with Board Member Johanna Wright abstaining.

NJPAC IN MAPLEWOOD TONIGHT?

BIG TRAIN DELAYS, RE-ROUTING

From NJ Transit this morning:

Apr 29, 2015  07:56:35 AM MidTown Direct trains are diverted to Hoboken Terminal due to a disabled train in the Hudson River Tunnel.

Apr 29, 2015  07:54:01 AM Path Cross-honoring at Newark and Hoboken stations due to a disabled train in the Hudson River Tunnel.

Apr 29, 2015  07:50:08 AM Trains in/out of PSNY are subject up to 60 minute delays due to a disabled train in the Hudson River Tunnel.

SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES $123 MILLION BUDGET, KEEPS SOME ELEMENTARY LANGUAGE CLASSES

The Board of Education on Monday night approved a $123.5 million budget, but not without disagreement over some elements of it, specifically the decision to keep world languages for some elementary school students.

The board voted, 7-2, for the budget, with board members Donna Smith and Johanna Wright opposing the spending plan. 

The budget will raise taxes for Maplewood residents an average of $177 per year. It is also an increase over the current year's $121 million budget.

The original version had sought to eliminate the weekly language classes for elementary school students in grades three, four and five. But the latest version keeps the language classes for fourth and fifth graders. 

Business Administrator Cheryl Schneider said the board had previously approved an additional $100,500 for the budget at the March meeting and a portion of that along with other changes freed up the world language funds.

"I was excited to see fourth and fifth-grade (language) retained," said Board Member Beth Daugherty. Board President Wayne Eastman agreed, stating, "If push comes to shove, I fully support the efforts of the administration to supply some kind of world language."

But Smith spoke out against its inclusion: "The once a week teaching is not really providing" language instruction.

During discussions, several residents spoke out about the need for more funding at Seth Boyden School, while several board members also urged that other areas be funded more, citing everything from class size to employee health plans.

"We have to be very careful," said Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad. "As we look for those efficiencies, let's also look at the high school (class size)."

Board Member Johanna Wright cited a recent health care plan review, claiming, "we didn't do our due diligence in checking things out." 

The budget now goes to the governing bodies in South Orange and Maplewood for approval before the county must sign off on the tax rate.

AFTER SPENDING NEARLY $200,000, DISTRICT READY TO DROP IB PROGRAM

The troubled International Baccalaureate program for the middle schools, which was launched three years ago with great fanfare, appears to be on the way out as the district administration informed school board members on Monday they plan to discontinue it after this year.

"Mr. Memoli and I are recommending we discontinue the IB middle school years program after this year," said Susan Grierson, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. "I want you all to know this decision was not made lightly."

The International Baccalaureate system, or IB as it is known, is a program instituted in 2012 at both middle schools with the aim of improving achievement and advancement for those grades. 

An informational notice sent to parents at the time stated that IB is:   

a non-profit organization which serves more than 1 million students each year in its global network of 3,483 schools in 144 countries. IB has performance criteria designed to prepare students for full participation in an increasingly globalized world. It includes courses in all of the traditional subject matters, but taught in a way that guides students to a deeper, more student-driven, trans-disciplinary exploration into issues, questions and problems of global importance.

It later added the IB program: 

was recommended by the superintendent and middle school principals, and approved by the Board of Education, in order to ensure that SOMSD middle schools are providing the highest level of rigor for our students. IB MYP is a well-known program which “encourages students to embrace and understand the connections between traditional subjects and the real world, and become critical and reflective thinkers. 

But several weeks ago, a number of middle school teachers pleaded with the board to remove the program, saying it's adding extra demands and not providing the results it should.

An IB update issued in 2014 found that the district had spent $196,000 on the program so far and would have to spend another $48,376 to keep it going through the 2015-2016 school year.

Grierson told the board on Monday that trying to implement the program along with other mandates such as the PARCC standardized tests and more Common Core requirements was too much. 

"After three years of implementation, I think everyone believes that the program has not taken root as we envisioned," Grierson said.

Board members were mixed in their reaction. 

"I find it very disappointing," said Board Member Beth Daugherty. "But I understand it is a combination of all of these external forces on the staff."

Board Member Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad added, "we heard from teachers that IB has failed for them."

But others, such as Board Member Elizabeth Baker, disagreed, urging that more be done to measure its impact: "I'm not ready to accept the recommendation at this point because I don't really feel that sufficient evidence has been shared with the community."

The board took no action on the program, but Board President Wayne Eastman said a
resolution to end the program will likely be reviewed at the board's May monthly meeting.

ECO FILM FEST CONTINUES TODAY WITH TRASHED

 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Main Library

KURT KILEY NOT RUNNING FOR TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE AGAIN

UPDATE: Kiley explains his decision below

Past Township Committee candidate Kurt Kiley, who ran last year as an independent and garnered a respectable 10.9% of the vote, and ran as well in 2013, will not run again this year.

Kiley told Maplewoodian.com in an email that he was not going to be on the ballot this fall or in the primary.

He sent this statement via email Tuesday:

 

I lot of thought went into my decision.

 

I’m pragmatic, I just don’t have the resources to run against Fred Profeta, David Huemer as well as Gerry Ryan, Vic Deluca and Nancy Adams. Very formidable politicians.

 

Fred is prepared to throw as many resources as necessary into Greg’s campaign. I have a truly grass roots campaign and wouldn’t even be able to come close to any of the establishment candidates, Gerry, Nancy or Greg.

 

So I will take a step back and try to move forward with the platform issues from my campaign. I believe I can still be a positive influence in Maplewood.

 

And Carol and I are planning to get married in the fall, this is the most important issue in my life right now!

 
Currently, three candidates -- incumbent Jerry Ryan and challengers Nancy Adams and Greg Lembrich -- are running in the Democratic primary, while Republican Phyllis F. Scalera is the lone GOP primary candidate. Incumbent Kathy Leventhal is not running for re-election.

The primary is June 2, which is also the deadline for independents to file in the November general election.

SCHOOL BOARD HONORS PERFECT SATS, OTHER GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The Board of Education on Monday offered recognition as it does each month to students and teachers who made major accomplishments.

Among those this month are the 12 Columbia High School students who scored a perfect 800 on the SAT.

See some of the great work below:

THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF SOUTH ORANGE & MAPLEWOOD

BOARD RECOGNITION

PUBLIC BOARD MEETING

April 27, 2015

SOMSD was named one of the "Best Communities in Music Education" by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). The BCME program singles out districts for outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders to make music education accessible to all students. This year, just 388 out of the 13,588 school districts throughout the nation received the BCME distinction.  

Twelve Columbia High School students received a score of 800 on their SATs (the highest possible score) for tests reported up to March 2015 in the following categories: 

William Chang – Physics	Eleanor Engelhard – Writing
Michael Ferranti – Math	Emelia Gertner – Writing
Sarah Kleppe – Math	Nina Knight – Literature
Brigid Lynch – Math	Luke McPhillips – Math
Rocheny Noziere – French	Julia Oppenheim – Writing
Hannah Ratner – Reading	Rory Yarter – Reading