“There’s definitely more room for us to put more good information out there,” said Board Vice President Brandon Pugh.
Board of Education President Sandra Alberti said, looking ahead to 2018, the board’s goal is to forge a better connection with the community. She said in the new year, the board is hoping to increase the community’s confidence in the decisions it is making.
The board is taking a look at its communication policies and bylaws. Alberti said the board wants to be clearer about why it is making decisions and show evidence supporting them. She said the board doesn’t share much of the process, and members are discussing ways to disseminate information to the public.
“There’s definitely more room for us to put more good information out there,” Board Vice President Brandon Pugh said. “There are other areas where we can try to be more open and transparent with the community.”
Pugh said he’d personally like to see board meetings recorded, so those unable to attend are kept in the loop.
Since the beginning of the school year, the district has been engaged in an evaluation process to try to earn a designation as “Future Ready School.” To earn the designation, the district must demonstrate it is using technology and digital tools to help support students’ learning. Alberti said the year-long self-evaluation process has had the district taking a look at not only having technology in place but what they’re doing with it.
Pugh said, for instance, in terms of technology, the district is taking a look at its one-to-one laptop program. Through the initiative, every student in sixth through 12th grade is assigned a laptop for school use they can also take home with them each day. Pugh said the district is taking a look at moving to a bring-your-own-device model where students can bring their own technology from home in lieu of using the school’s device, and students who can’t afford a laptop would still be provided with one. He said the district is examining how this model would look from a financial perspective.
Potential changes to curriculum are also up for discussion, according to Alberti. Each year, the curriculum committee takes a closer look at certain subjects, and in 2018, the emphasis will be on world languages.
Alberti said there has been much discussion among the board about piloting American Sign Language next year, and it has been taking a look at what bringing the program into the schools would entail. Pugh said the board has also tossed around the idea of getting world language programs started in lower grades.
In terms of changes to the buildings, the majority of the work was completed over the summer, Alberti said. Pugh said previous work on the buildings included repairs and updates to roofs, boilers and parking lots. Moving forward, the emphasis will be on maintaining the buildings and doing site work as needed, Alberti said.
“We’re really thankful that we’re on the other end of a lot of construction that we’ve been doing for the last couple of summers,” Alberti said.
In terms of the upcoming budget, the board has not yet started discussing what to expect. Alberti said the board’s goal is to leave conversations about the budget with “a sense of priorities.” She said every year, there are items the district has to spend money on — salaries, benefits, the cost of running the buildings, etc. — and by the time those items are factored into the budget, there is little flexibility left.
She said the board’s goal is to start thinking further ahead than this year when creating the budget to determine how to bring to life initiatives and programs it maybe can’t finance in full this year but may be able to with proper planning in the future.
“How do these budget lists get away from list of ‘asks’ to focusing on the vision and direction of the schools?” Alberti asked.
Class size will be of particular note during the budget discussion, Alberti said. Since a late August enrollment influx had several grade levels at or exceeding the district’s caps, the board has had monthly discussions about how to tackle the issue of class size.
“It really does just take an investment in dollars to make sure we have the right staff,” Alberti said of handling rising class sizes. “That is definitely part of the budget discussion.”
Pugh said he’s eager to see the upcoming budget as well. He said with Phil Murphy stepping into the role of governor in 2018, districts such as Moorestown could see a potential increase in state funding.
The Board of Education will hold its reorganization meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. in the William Allen Middle School media center. The board will choose its president and vice president, and newcomers to the board Jack Fairchild, Tinamarie Nicolo-Dorfner and Lauren Romano will be sworn in.
