Moorestown Board of Education member, Brandon Pugh, discusses what the district has been up to in February.
By BRANDON PUGH, Moorestown Board of Education member
In this column, Moorestown Board of Education Member Brandon Pugh provides monthly updates on what’s going on in the school district and on the BOE.
Multiple actions were taken in February by the Board of Education and district. Highlights included the approval of the 2018–2019 school calendar, the approval of a shared services agreement and a curriculum presentation.
At the Feb. 20 monthly meeting, Superintendent Scott McCartney began by addressing the recent tragedy in Parkland, Fla. and the steps Moorestown is taking. For security reasons, he could not address specifics, but he assured the audience that Moorestown is continuing drills and exercises, having professional development, reviewing practices and plans across all schools, and meeting with law enforcement officials, among other actions. Also, many security upgrades were previously made during the referendum projects, including technology and infrastructure improvements.
The board approved the 2018–2019 school calendar after lengthy debate. There were multiple concerns raised, but most of the conversation surrounded the number of days disrupted in November due to the teacher’s convention, parent-teacher conferences and other breaks scheduled. It was expressed that the administration is examining the schedule of parent-teacher conferences and will keep the board updated. However, those days are not reflected on this calendar because this is the district version, as compared to individual school calendars that administration approves. A vote to table approval to a future meeting failed 4–5, but ultimately the calendar passed in a 3–6 vote.
Also, the board approved the spring 2018 athletic schedule for the High School and Middle School. The schedules can be found on Exhibits #18–204 and #18–205 of the February board agenda.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction Carole Butler gave a presentation called “MTPS and the World Class Learner” on behalf of the District Innovation Committee. This group traveled to California recently to meet with representatives of Apple and other technology companies to learn how to better infuse technology into the classroom and move our education forward. The “World Class Learner” model incorporates three elements including: “defined success” to prepare students to make lifelong personal and professional choices; “global leadership” to prepare students to take an active role, contribute to, and lead in developing solutions in their community and “universal scholarship” to prepare students to apply the foundational knowledge within meaningful experiences. Examples of how curriculum is being adjusted to infuse technology and the steps planned to work toward these elements were shared.
The board is in the middle of the 2018–2019 budget season and will present more information moving forward. However, creative ways to share services and save money are always sought. One way approved at the February meeting was to share IT services with the Delanco Township Board of Education, which will result in Delanco making monthly payments of $10,416.67 to Moorestown or $125,000 per year.
The views and content in this column do not necessarily represent those of the Moorestown Board of Education as a whole or any other individual member
