The North Warren Regional School District board of education met on July 16 at 6 p.m. for a meeting in the cafeteria cooled by large fans while the media center is under construction.
There were no presentations for this meeting, so it started promptly with departmental reports.
President Taylor Casey thanked the board for handling her maternity leave.
“I really appreciate you giving me that time.”
Casey announced that those up for re-election were to apply to the county clerk by July 29 at 4 p.m.
Superintendent Dr. Jeanene Dutt presented the student safety data system (SSDS) bi-annual reports. The second recording period is January 1 through June 30. The SSDS was implemented for all public and charter schools in 2016 (replacing the EVVRS), collecting incidents of violence, vandalism, weapons, substances and harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIBs). Dutt reported: eight confirmed HIBs, 14 instances of substance abuse or possession, three fights and one restraint.
Superintendent Dutt also reported that the leadership team attended a workshop on strength identification, talents and how to work more efficiently as a team.
“It was probably the best retreat we have ever had,” Dutt said. “I just thought it would be great for the board to know, as we often talk about what our teachers are doing, sending them out for workshops, that leadership is also engaged in that level, to be better.”
Dutt’s ending report assertion was that the strategic leadership meeting is at the point where they have reviewed how they ended 2023-2024 and are developing the 2024-2025 school goals and a five-year plan. In August, Dutt will report this progress to the board.
In a summer school report made by Principal Carie Norcross-Murphy, she had the room laughing.
“I used to think summer was long until I became a school principal,” she said.
Norcross-Murphy reported on the number of students per subject for the summer session and concluded by saying they’d already begun to plan the August 20 open house and orientation for the new school year.
Norcross-Murphy introduced Richard Pilney as the first senior to ever “actually return” to a board meeting to report after graduation, which was followed by laughter and a round of applause.
The well-spoken graduate, a senior student representative, stated that a lot has gone on since he was last there. He is referring to prom on May 17, Student Council Annual Field Day in May, Finals Week, Senior Walk on June 10 and, later that day, a NYC boat cruise, followed by a senior picnic the next day and graduation on June 13.
“I thank you all for having me over the past few years,” Pilney said. “It meant a lot to me. This opportunity was very special to me.”
The board all agreed they’d like him to come back and train the new student representatives, which again was met with warm laughter and applause.
Committee reports and action items presented by Dr. Kevin Brennan, who began with things of note such as the upcoming audit, the budget and the unfortunate Title One cut, which he referred to as roughly $7,000 and the “unfortunate decision of the federal government.” This was followed by 23 brief motions.
During public comments, two women excitedly stood before the board with a passionate pitch for a school walk. Juliana Goncalves and Barbara Warnkin requested holding a walk on the school park grounds on September 21 to raise awareness and educate the community about suicide prevention. This date is the International Day of Peace and September is Suicide Prevention Month.
Aside from the walk, the event would offer break-out sessions of art therapy, yoga, music, a maze, face painting, food trucks, bracelets with a message, tee shirts, as well as breathing and jiu-jitsu activities. Also featured will be live music, social media hashtags, journaling activities with words of affirmation and affirmation word searches for younger kids.
“I think this is wonderfully amazing with a lot of logistics behind it,” Casey said in thanking Goncalves and asked about her expertise in the matter.
“I am a teacher at Blairstown and majored in psychology, so mental health has always been very important to me, and with the recent passing of my former student, I felt that our community really needs this help,” Goncalves replied.
“I don’t want you to leave disappointed. We’re not saying yes or no today,” Casey said. “There are obvious logistics and facilities questions. This is a very big event which leads to many questions, such as who covers this, who’s liable for this, who is paying for what, and the big question of insurance.”
“This is really nice that you guys came and told us what you want to do,” she continued. “I have a lot of respect for anyone who wants to volunteer for this and step up. I think it is a great idea.”
Dutt finished by explaining that they were aware of and had talked about the event that morning, and that leadership was there for the group to set up another meeting to discuss further.
The next North Warren Regional School District board of education meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on September 16. Meeting agenda and location can be found at: https://www.northwarren.org/board-of-education/.
Laura Ward is a gallerist at Infloressense in Belvidere, NJ, whose motto is "poetic synthesis of all the cultural arts." Born in West Orange, NJ, Ward had a unique childhood growing up in a three-story, three-generation, 1895 Victorian where she learned gardening with her great-grandfather, theater with her grandmother, and typing with her mom. Ward spent the last two decades in the architectural design industry, followed by her present pursuit into the entrepreneurial world of art and event planning. Ward lives in the esoteric Delaware Village Historic District and volunteers at Ramsaysburg Historic Homestead. Ward spent 11 years in Florida where she graduated with an English B.A. from FAU and later The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale with an art history minor.
- Laura Ward, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/laura-ward-contributing-writer/
- Laura Ward, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/laura-ward-contributing-writer/
- Laura Ward, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/laura-ward-contributing-writer/
- Laura Ward, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/laura-ward-contributing-writer/
