The meeting of NJSBA’s Board of Directors took place on Friday, Nov. 20, at the NJSBA headquarters in Trenton. The agenda included the following:
- Recognized the following new board of director members and alternates: Pete Calvo, member, representing Gloucester County and Nick Hladick, alternate, representing Somerset County.
- Approved open session minutes of the Sept. 25, 2015 meeting;
- Approved the NJSBA Legislative Committee appointments;
- Received an update on activities from NJSBA officers:
- President – co-presented a program and panel discussion on mutual collaboration and shared services at the NJSBA Workshop 2015 and League of Municipalities Annual Conference; participated in an iSteam Study Group meeting at NJSBA with representatives of NJDOE, higher education, local school districts, and state legislative staff on professional development in iSteam; participated in the first annual Sustainable Jersey for Schools awards program during NJSBA Workshop 2015.
- VP for County Activities – County meeting attendance is up approximately 39 percent over the same period last year; county meeting programs included effective use of the PARCC Assessment, the study of state curriculum standards, a question-and-answer session with State Commissioner of Education David Hespe, and declining enrollment.
- VP for Finance – As of Nov. 13, dues revenue is on target; and revenue from Workshop 2015 has exceeded the budget estimate.
- VP for Legislation/Resolution – The NJ Senate Education Committee held a hearing on early childhood education, during which NJSBA provided testimony based on its existing policy; the Joint Committee on the Public Schools heard testimony on mental health in public schools, during which NJSBA presented the recommendations included in the final reports of its Special Education and School Security Task Forces; NJSBA continues to roll out the “Phone-to-Advocacy” tool at county association meetings; the Senate and Assembly Education committees met to consider a range of bills, which were largely permissive and/or contained amendments sought by NJSBA; the Senate State Government Committee met to consider legislation that requires government records to be made available on the Internet, which contains amendments sought by NJSBA, and is only conditionally supported by NJSBA due to no accompanying appropriation in it to cover costs to local districts.
- Immediate Past President – participating on the N.J. Standards Review Committee which is working on, among other issues, clarification for parents on what the standards and assessments means to students.
- Received an update on the NJSBA 2015-2017 Strategic Plan from the executive director. The plan includes 17 objectives in four goal areas: student achievement; advocacy; training/direct services, and finances. A major activity, the reconstruction of NJSBA’s website, facilitates objectives in all areas. The new website is scheduled for completion in early 2016.
- Received an advocacy update and participated in a Workshop 2015 debriefing.
- Discussed how school districts are communicating the PARCC results to parents and the community.
Information items included 2015-2016 dues update; Association financials, Delegate Assembly update; legal case summary, revised governance calendar, draft 2016-1017 legislative advocacy agenda, update on strategic plan activities.