BOE Meeting Around Monmouth Beach

By Teja Anderson
The January Monmouth Beach Board of Education meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m. and began with a special presentation to honor outgoing BOE President and member Dr. Brian McAndrew.

Outgoing Board President and member Dr. Brian McAndrew is presented with a plaque for his years of service by current BEO President Kirk Ruoff.

(l-r) Superintendent Michael Ettore and Assistant Principal Peter Bruccoleri give a Power Point presentation on the district’s PARCC results from 2015.

Superintendent Michael Ettore thanked Dr. McAndrew on behalf of the entire board and school district for his years of service and insight, and Board President Kirk Ruoff presented him with a plaque. Dr. McAndrew accepted the plaque and allowed that he “had spent 50 years in education,” and as long as the MB School remained “a community school” it would continue to thrive and benefit the community.

Next the Board auditor gave his comprehensive annual financial report for June 30, 2015 which had been held up waiting for information, but he assured the room that the school was “financially sound and in good shape.”

Next, Mr. Ettore and Mr. Bruccoleri gave a Power Point presentation on the district’s PARCC results from 2015. Among the findings were that the MB School had performed significantly above the state average, doing slightly better in Language Arts than in Math; that there are now five levels of achievement; and this is truly going to be a standardized test once it is underway.

They both felt that the success of the PARCC testing had been a collaborative effort between the staff and administrators, students and parents.
The presentation and test results are available on the schools website.

Then PTO President Caroline Quattrochi invited the BOE members to attend the Eighth Grade Pasta Dinner and announced that the tryouts were underway for the school play, “Aladdin.” She said the PTO Run was gearing up, as was a student-run school newspaper.

The financial reports of the Secretary to the Board of Education and the Report of the Treasurer of School Monies dated December 31, were accepted and submitted and the bills list for the month of January in the amount of $151,829.46 were approved for payment as were various staff workshops.

They accepted, with regret, the resignation of Deborahlee Wehner, part time Instruction Aide, effective December 18, 2015 and approved Kim Kallok of Monmouth University as a volunteer for the school play under the supervision of Meghan Vaccarelli and Emily Steeber. They also approved Brianna Musco, a MU student, for ten hours of field observation in February and March with Emily Steeber, music teacher; Kim Collier, a MU student, for field placement from February through April with Donna O’Neill, third grade teacher; and Caitlin Norek from Middlesex County College for field observation in Nancy Pietz’s second grade classroom.

BOE President Kirk Ruoff announced that the multipurpose room had finally been approved by the state and expected to break ground in April and finish in December of this year, using capital funds only. It was also noted that the flood barriers would be put in place for the expected flooding with the oncoming blizzard that weekend.

The meeting adjourned at 8:49 and the next Public Meeting will be on February 18, 7:30 PM.