Friday, February 24, 2012
At a recent meeting, the board approved a move to bring the elementary school library up to code.
The Summit Board of Education held a regular meeting on Thursday evening in the library of Franklin Elementary School to talk about: Balancing Enrollment at Franklin: The Board of Education approved an $8,500 study by Haber Associates to “balance enrollment in elementary schools”. One of the pieces of data among several that are being looked at includes sending students to other elementary schools to balance out the overcrowding, but the board emphasized that it was not seeking this as a solution, but brainstorming many options. “Our space issues at Franklin have to do with the fact the building wasn’t made for so many students,” said Franklin’s principal, Dr. Sheila Cole. Cole said that when she arrived at the school over 10 years ago …
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Superintendent says focus meetings are forum to discuss rejection of pilot program.
Schools Superintendent Nathan Parker says that full-day kindergarten is one strategy to narrow the achievement gap in schools. But, the City of Summit has never had a full-day kindergarten program. Plans for a proposed 2012 program were on the table and parents were surveyed to gauge interest earlier this year. This week Parker issued a letter about cancelled plans for a full-day, tuition-based kindergarten pilot program that was shot down by a special committee. The Nov. 29 email explained that the planned $7,500 to $9,000 program would have serviced only a limited number of students at a higher cost than was acceptable for the community. "People were concerned about the level of cost," said Parker regarding the finances necessary to …
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The second installment of the "Planning for the Future" series drew another crowd of about 50 people who brainstormed ways to improve the local school system.
About a half-dozen groups of teachers, educators and school board officials took turns discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the school system last night at Summit High School. It wasn't a Board of Education meeting, but something designed to solicit feedback from tax payers, more community centered. Parents and even several school children participated in the event, which examined ways to improve learning in Summit.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Lucaci, a 24-year Summit resident, hopes to continue working to eradicate the achievement gap.
Twenty four-year Summit resident George Lucaci will look to take the school district to the “next level” as the new vice president of the Board of Education. Lucaci, who was born and raised in Cleveland, has two children who recently graduated from Summit High School and another who is currently there. While he believes that Summit has an exceptional school system, he feels we should be comparing ourselves to everyone worldwide. “I don’t believe we should compare our schools only to Union County schools, or to New Jersey schools, or to national schools,” Lucaci said. “We should be comparing our own individual school district here to what is going on internationally. Whether it is Shanghai, whether it is Finland, or Germany, we should be …
Friday, March 18, 2011
Included is the bid for emergency generators at Summit High.
The Board of Education unanimously approved awarding bids for three Regular Operating District (ROD) III grant projects Thursday night, including one for emergency generators at Summit High School. The Board approved awarding a bid for partial window replacements at Franklin and Jefferson Elementary Schools and exterior painting at Jefferson because of lead paint abatement to RD Architectural Products, Inc. of Fair Lawn for $641,200. There were three bids on the project. The award for emergency generators at Summit High School and Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School was approved for Manor II Electric of Holmdel in the amount of $302,844, $300,000 less than estimated in October when the Board of School Estimate approved submitting the $4…
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Plan would eliminate no athletic teams, no course offerings and would not increase class sizes.
Preliminary news regarding the proposed 2011-2012 schools budget made its debut Tuesday night at the Franklin School during a Board of Education public meeting mostly devoted to recognizing student and teacher excellence. In his report to the board, President Jack Lyness announced that board members are in the process of reviewing a preliminary $60.9 million spending plan assembled by Superintendent Dr. Nathan Parker and School Business Administrator Louis Pepe. Financing the plan in the absence of any state assistance, the president said, will mean residents would face an increase in the school tax of less than one percent. "I encourage people to look at both our expenditures and how we finance them," Lyness said, launching into a …
Friday, April 23, 2010
Parents raised concerns about fourth and fifth grade sex education.
The fourth and fifth grade health and behavior curriculum came under fire at the Board of Education meeting Thursday night. The curriculum, which teaches what Superintendent Dr. Nathan Parker described as a basic sexual education on reproductive organs, came under fire when the elementary school nurses included materials supplied by Planned Parenthood after the state mandated an update to the curriculum. "You should not ask Planned Parenthood to help with sex education," said James Freeman, a Lincoln-Hubbard parent, saying it is "wholly inappropriate." Freeman, along with other parents, said that while some people think Planned Parenthood is a noble organization, their mission and activities are clearly political. "Just as you don't ask …
40.707042
-74.350667
Jefferson School
110 Ashwood Ave, Summit, NJ
/articles/health-and-behavior-curriculum-comes-under-fire-at-boe
7857
/locations/373777
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Bret Schundler discusses surplus freezes, possible reductions in state aid allocations.
Bret Schundler, newly sworn in as New Jersey's Commissioner of Education, defended the cuts in school aid already enacted by the Christie administration and warned educators Monday that more are on the way. Schundler spoke at the Garden State Coalition of Schools meeting at Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School Tuesday night. The topic of conversation was the current financial state of education in New Jersey. Many districts represented received notice recently they would not be getting the remainder of the state aid they were expecting. And most are also expecting state aid cuts for the 2010-2011 budget year. "We all know we're in trouble here–in the state, in the country, in the local districts," said Lynne Strickland, executive …
40.716064
-74.358853
Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School
272 Morris Ave, Summit, NJ
/articles/education-commissioner-speaks-at-garden-state-coalition-of-schools-meeting
8579
/locations/301140
Friday, February 19, 2010
Board president Tom O'Rourke said district expects "double-digit" cuts from Trenton.
Just one week after Gov. Chris Christie announced a mid-year state aid freeze, members of the Board of Education were optimistic about how the district would weather the news while in the midst of the budgeting process for 2010. District Business Administrator and Board Secretary Lou Pepe said that Christie’s cuts will mean an $87,500 freeze in expected state aid to the district this year. “We will be able to adjust for that,” he said. Board president Tom O’Rourke said in addition to these immediate freezes, the district is expecting a “double-digit” reduction in state aid this next year. Comments from Christie this week indicate that number could be as high as 15 percent or roughly $400,000. “In my heart I believe that Summit will …
Friday, January 22, 2010
Employee terminated for unknown reasons.
The Summit Board of Education came back from an executive session Thursday night and passed a resolution terminating an unknown employee for unknown reasons. The employee's termination is effective Jan. 21 and payment will continue through Feb. 20. The district will also pay out 10.5 unused vacation days totaling $1,855.91. Legally because this is a personel matter, the Board is not required to release any additional information about the termination.
40.721341
-74.360372
Lincoln-Hubbard School
52 Woodland Ave, Summit, NJ
/articles/board-terminated-unknown-employee-after-executive-session
8437
/locations/236340
Summit Res
5:16 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012
Why are we wasting $8,500 for consultants. There are two simple solutions. 1) Redistrict 2) Increase class size Neither will be popular given the "Summit Mindset" but it's time to face up to reality for once. Are the consultants being hired, so that when the inevitable conclusions 1) and 2) are reached, the BOE can point to the consultants and blame them? The "but the board emphasized that it was… more ›