REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 20, 2014
NORTHVALE BOARD OF EDUCATION
NORTHVALE, NJ 07647
Minutes of the Regular Meeting held on Monday, October 20, 2014
I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Mr. Joseph McGuire called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M.
Present: Mr. Robert Bargna
Mrs. Gina Corrado
Mrs. Peg DeGennaro
Mr. Joseph McGuire
Absent: Mrs. Johanna Bargisen
Also present: Mr. Michael Pinajian, Superintendent
Mr. Steven Linzenbold, Principal
Ms. Deborah Trainor, Interim Business Administrator
Ms. Maria Yuelys, Rockleigh Board Member
Mrs. Kathleen O’Flynn, Staff Developer
Mrs. Jeanne Griffin, Guidance Counselor
Four members of public
II. FLAG SALUTE AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mr. Joseph McGuire led all those present in a salute to the flag.
III. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT BY BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR
Adequate notice of this meeting has been emailed to the municipal clerk and the Rockleigh School Business Administrator, and was also published in The Record on January 9, 2014.
IV. PRESENTATION
NJ ASK Test Results
Mr. Pinajian, Mr. Linzenbold and Mrs. Griffin presented NJASK results. Mrs. Griffin reviewed the percentage of advanced proficiency and proficient test scores in particular using the PowerPoint presentation. Mr. Linzenbold reviewed the district practices that helped the staff to continue improving instruction. Mrs. O’Flynn discussed the role of staff development in the district. Mr. Pinajian Thanked everyone for their efforts
V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
On a motion by Mrs. Corrado and seconded by Mrs. DeGennaro, the Northvale Board of Education approved the following Northvale Public School District minutes:
Regular Meeting September 22, 2014 [click]
IN FAVOR: Mrs. Corrado Mrs. DeGennaro and Mr. McGuire
ABSTAINED: Mr. Bargna
OPPOSED: None
VI. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC – AGENDA ITEMS ONLY
None
VII. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
Mr. Pinajian thanked Ms. Tarrant for her years of service and her dedication to the Northvale School District
Mrs. Corrado motioned and Mr. Bargna seconded the motion that Resolutions 1 through 19 be accepted as presented.
Mr. Bargna: Yes to all
Mrs. Corrado: Yes to all
Mrs. DeGennaro: Yes to all
Mr. McGuire: Yes to all
1. The District and Board Goals for the 2014-2015 school year. [click]
2. The Nursing Plan for the 2014-2105 school year. [click]
3. The Annual State Memorandum Agreement between the Northvale Police Department and the Northvale School District. [click]
4. Mrs. Lea Simone as the School Newspaper Advisor for the 2014-2015 school year. [stipend $1,636]
5. The following Music events:
a. November 11 – Veterans Day Ceremony – 3 students Performing at Borough Hall
b. December 4 – 7:00 pm Northvale Tree Lighting Ceremony – Flute Choir & Concert Chorus performing at Borough Hall
c. December 10 Senior Center Holiday Party (McGuire Senior Center) Flute Choir & Concert Chorus from 11:40 am – 12:30 pm.
6. Grades 7 & 8 trip to NVOT for the Holiday Concert performance on December 17.
7. National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony at 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 30, held in the gymnasium with rehearsals on Wednesday, October 29.
8. Mrs. Magnani’s class (7 students) learning trip to K-mart and Rudy’s in Closter.
9. First Grade trip to “World of Wings” in Teaneck in May.
10. SDL Programs:
a. BBB 7 & 8 SDL at Norwood in November
b. Dare to Fly 4 &5 SDL at NJ Aviation Hall of Fame at Teterboro Airport
c. BBB 7 & 8 SDL at Harrington Park in December
d. Invengineering Expo 5 & 6 SDL in December
11. Home instruction (up to 60 days) for a 4th grade student (comprised of 10 hours a week of instruction; 1.5 hours of Occupational Therapy; 1.5 hours of Speech; 1.5 hours of Physical Therapy).
12. Samantha Piehler, a St. Thomas Aquinas College student, for 30 hours of field observation, in Art classes, 2 days a week. [click]
13. Danielle Palmay, a William Paterson University student, for 5 hours of observation in Physical Education class. [click]
14. The following to be added to our 2014-2015 substitute list (pending completed paperwork.
a. Michele Breakfield (secretary)
b. Lois Guttzeit (secretary)
c. Tala Minoyan (teacher)
d. Andrea Sirianni (teacher)
15. Travel Requests as follows: [click]
NAME / CONFERENCE/SEMINAR / LOCATION / DATE / ESTIMATED COST
a. / Mrs. Joan Bohan / Bergen Cty. Dept of Health Seminar
School Nurse Seminar / Hackensack
Newark, NJ / 10-21-14
12-9-14 / $25, plus tolls & mileage
$235 plus tolls & mileage
b. / Mrs. Rebecca Endo / ELL Model Curr. Scaddolds & Units / Bergen Community College / 11/5/14, 12/15/14, 1/6/14 / Mileage
c. / Mrs. Jaime Capizzi / NJ State Bar Foundation Mock Trial Workshop / New Brunswich, NJ / 10/20/14 / Tolls & mileage
d. / Mr. Michael Pinajian / NJSBA Conference / Atlantic City, NJ / 10/28/14 to 10/30/14 / Hotel plus Tolls & Mileage
e. / Mr. Anthony Coppola / Asbestos Operations and Maintenance Refresher / Ocean, NJ / 11/3/14 / $135.00 plus tolls/mileage
16. To accept the resignation of Joan Tarrant, for the purpose of retirement, effective December 31, 2014.
17. The following policies for the First Reading.
Bylaws
B0141 Board Member Number and Term
B0143 Board Member Election and Appointment
Policies
P1581 Victim of Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave
P3125 Employment of Teaching Staff Members
P3224 Evaluation of Principals, Vice Principals and Assistant Principals
P3230 Outside Activities
P3233 Political Activities
P3240 Professional Development for Teachers and School Leaders
P5230 Late Arrival and Early Dismissal
P5240 Tardiness
P5440 Honoring Pupil Achievement
P5511 Direct Deposit
P8441 Care of Injured and Ill Persons
Regulations
R3223 Evaluation of Administrators, Excluding Principals,
Vice Principals and Assistant Principals
R3233 Political Activities
R5230 Late Arrival and Early Dismissal
R5240 Tardiness
18. The following Security Drills:
September 29, 2014 Non-Fire Evacuation 15 min.
October 7, 2014 Tabletop – Active Shooter 1 hour
Week of September 16-19 Bus Safety drills
ADDENDUM
19. Ms. Jennifer Lopez (instructional aide) to be appointed teacher as of October 20, 2014 through June 30, 2015 (starting MA/step1 $53,460 plus benefits. As of February 1, 2015 MA/step1 $56,340)
VIII BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
Mrs. Corrado motioned and Mr. Bargna seconded the motion that Resolutions 1 through 9 be accepted as presented.
Mr. Bargna: Yes to all
Mrs. Corrado: Yes to all
Mrs. DeGennaro: Yes to all
Mr. McGuire: Yes to all
1. General Fund warrants: September Bill List #2 $ 433.00 [click]
September Bill List #3 $ 1,096.96 [click]
September Bill List #4 $ 2,264.36 [click]
October Bill List $386,193.97 [click]
October Payroll $459,831.28
Milk Fund warrants: September Milk $ 811.12 [click]
2. Report of the Board Secretary [click] and Report of the Treasurer [click] for the month ending August 31, 2014; and
Further, that in compliance with NJAC 6A: 23-2.11(c) 4, the Northvale School District Board of Education certifies that no major account or fund has been over-expended and that sufficient funds are available to meet the district’s financial obligations for the remainder of the fiscal year.
3. Transfer of funds between budgetary line items for August 2014 in compliance with NJ S-1701 Regulations (10% cap) [click]
4. The tentative calendar for the development of the 2015-2016 budget [click]
5. The purchase and installation of security upgrades to windows not to exceed $14,000 and to the doors not to exceed $32,000
6. COMPREHENSIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN/FORM M-1
Whereas, the Department of Education requires New Jersey School Districts to submit three-year maintenance plans documenting “required” maintenance activities for each of its public school facilities, and
Whereas, the required maintenance activities as listed in the attached document for the various school facilities of the Northvale Public School District are consistent with these requirements, and
Whereas, all past and planned activities are reasonable to keep school facilities open and safe for use or in their original condition and to keep their system warranties valid,
Now Therefore Be It Resolved, that the Northvale Public School District hereby authorizes the school business administrator to submit the attached Comprehensive Maintenance Plan and Form M-1, Annual Maintenance Budget Worksheet per N.J.A.C. 6A:26A.
7. Securities and Exchange Commission Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative (MCDC)
RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE BOROUGH OF NORTHVALE IN THE COUNTY OF BERGEN, NEW JERSEY DIRECTING THE UNDERTAKING OF A CONTINUING DISCLOSURE REVIEW AND AUTHORIZING PARTICIPATION IN THE “MUNICIPALITIES CONTINUING DISCLOSURE COOPERATION” INITIATIVE OF THE DIVISION OF ENFORCEMENT OF THE U.S. SECURITIES EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WHEREAS, the Board of Education of the Borough of Northvale in the County of Bergen, New Jersey (the "Issuer") has previously issued one or more series of bonds and or notes, including in the past five (5) years pursuant to one or more preliminary and final official statements (collectively, the "Bonds"); and
WHEREAS, in connection with the issuance of such Bonds, the Issuer covenanted with Bondholders to provide certain secondary market information on an annual basis to the Nationally Recognized Municipal Securities Information Repositories (pre-2009) and to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's Electronic Municipal Market Access Data Port (2009 to present) ("EMMA"), including, but not limited to, audited financial statements, budgets, other financial and operating data and ratings changes; and
WHEREAS, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has recently focused attention on what it alleges is widespread failure of local government issuers across the nation to meet their continuing disclosure obligations and misrepresentation through material misstatements in an official statement (innocently, inadvertently or otherwise) of past compliance with continuing disclosure obligations; and
WHEREAS, in an effort to remedy these perceived issues, the SEC has implemented the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative (the "MCDC"), a limited-time program ending at 12:00 a.m. on December 1, 2014, that encourages issuers of municipal bonds, including the Issuer, to self-report possible material misstatements or omissions, made in the past five (5) years in an official statement regarding compliance with prior continuing disclosure obligations; and
WHEREAS, by participating in the MCDC, issuers agree to accept certain non-monetary penalties, in lieu of unknown, and, potentially significant monetary and non-monetary penalties the SEC has threatened on issuers that do not participate in the MCDC, should the SEC determine than an issuer has made material misstatements in an official statement regarding compliance with prior continuing disclosure obligations; and
WHEREAS, by participating in the MCDC, issuers agree to accept the following penalties, if imposed by the SEC (i) compliance with a cease and desist order in which the issuer neither admits nor denies the findings of the SEC, (ii) implementation of policies, procedures and training regarding continuing disclosure obligations, (iii) compliance with all existing continuing disclosure undertakings, (iv) cooperation with any further SEC investigation, (v) disclosure of settlement terms in any final official statement issued within five years of the date of institution of the proceedings, and (vi) production to the SEC of a compliance certificate regarding the applicable undertakings on the one year anniversary of the proceedings; and
WHEREAS, the Issuer desires to conduct a disclosure review which will (i) summarize the results of the Issuer's prior compliance with its secondary market disclosure obligations and (ii) compare those results to the statements made by the Issuer in its official statements regarding past compliance (the "Disclosure Review"); and
WHEREAS, the Issuer further desires to retain the services of disclosure specialist to conduct the Disclosure Review; and
WHEREAS, based on the results of the Disclosure Review, and weighing the known, non-monetary penalties that may come through the Issuer's participation in the MCDC versus the unknown, and, by all accounts, potentially significant monetary and non-monetary penalties the SEC has threatened on issuers that do not self-report, the Issuer further desires to delegate to the Chief Financial Officer, in consultation with the Issuer's general counsel, bond counsel, auditor and other finance professionals, the power to prepare and submit all documentation required to enter the Issuer's Bond issues into the MCDC, as necessary;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE ISSUER, AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The Issuer hereby authorizes completion of the Disclosure Review.
Section 2. The Issuer hereby authorizes the Chief Financial Officer to engage the services of a disclosure specialist to complete the Disclosure Review; provided that the award of any contract in connection therewith meets the requirements of Issuer’s applicable public contracting laws.
Section 3. In the event the Disclosure Review reveals that the Issuer may have made a material misstatement regarding the Issuer's compliance with prior continuing disclosure undertakings, the Issuer hereby authorizes and directs the Chief Financial Officer to prepare and submit all documentation necessary to enter the Issuer's applicable Bond issues into the MCDC.
Section 4. Any action taken by the Chief Financial Officer, or any other officer of the Issuer, with respect to the Disclosure Review, the engagement of a disclosure specialist and participation in the MCDC is hereby ratified and confirmed.
Section 5. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
8. Applications for Use of School Buildings submitted by the following organization:
- Girl Scouts Daisy Troop # 95974………………Mondays, 10/6/14 – 5/11/15
- Brownie meeting Troop # 96202……………..…Mondays, 11/3/14 – 6/8/15
- NVPAL Football Team Pictures……………………………Tuesday, 10/28/14
9. Post Travel Reports submitted pursuant to P.L. 2007, c.53 travel requirements N.J.S.A 18A: 12-33. [click]
IX NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Mr. Pinajian reported that there have been no new incident of HIB since last meeting
PTO members, Mrs. Venditti and Mrs. Sedano set up a well-designed display of fall decorations at the base of our school LED sign.
DATE TO REMEMBER.
November 17, 2014 – Regular Meeting..………………………………..…6:30 pm
X COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
None
XI AJOURNMENT
Motioned by Mrs. Corrado and seconded by Mr. Bargna, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. with all in favor.
______
Deborah Trainor
Interim Business Administrator/Board Secretary
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