Residents Question School Board over Health Science Academy Policy and the Condition of Athletic Facilities

In addition to Robert “Bob” Brackett’s resignation from the school board being announced, several other important news items were reported and discussions held during the monthly Lawrence Township Board of Education meeting held on Monday, March 14.

During the meeting’s first opportunity for public comment, Mary Rosano, a resident of Eagles Chase Drive, spoke to the board about the Health Science Academy and the ongoing issue of access to extra-curricular activities for students from Lawrence Township who attend the academy, which holds classes at the Mercer County Technical Schools’ Assunpink Center in Hamilton Township.

“At the last board meeting a group of parents whose children attend the Health Science Academy requested that a formal policy be adopted or addressed by the board regarding after-school activities, co-curricular activities, sports and clubs. And we asked that you compile this and let us know within 30 days. Today’s 30 days and nothing hit the mailbox. So I’m here to ask?”

“I wish we moved that fast. We don’t. For a policy to be written, it takes a lot of different steps, it goes through a lot of different levels, like our attorney and the central office and through committee,” school board President Laura Waters answered. “So while we received your request and are aware of it, we don’t have anything for you tonight. It did come up in committee. We did discuss the issue a little bit. But it’s not ready to be formalized.”

It was noted that a written agreement regarding Health Science Academy students from Lawrence participating in spring sports at Lawrence High School had been signed by the respective principals of HAS and LHS, but that agreement lasts only through June and does not address access to non-athletic activities.

David Orent, a Glenn Avenue resident with a child attending the Health Science Academy, said he appreciates “the healthy dialogue” the school board has had regarding the issue and said he is supportive of the new career academies that will launch at Lawrence High School in September. But he noted that the curriculum of Health Science Academy has been “well thought out.”

“I believe, as most of our parents do, that both programs can coexist very peacefully, and really complement each. Obviously, Health Science Academy is very specific to students who want to get into that field. With the LHS career academies, it’s a much broader focus – the three academies go into so many different areas. I just impress upon the board that both programs can coexist peacefully. And really the students in Lawrence, whether they’re rising ninth-graders or otherwise, can look at both programs and make a very informed decision.”

Also during the public comment period, Dan Toto of Royal Oak Road expressed concerns about the quality of coaching in some of the school district’s athletic programs and the state of some of the sports fields in the district. “The facilities, unfortunately, are subpar for a community as wealthy as ours. You look at it, and our varsity baseball field, officially or unofficially, was one of the worst in the county last year. That’s unacceptable. That should not be allowed. Hopefully we will not have that problem again this year.”

In response to Toto’s concerns about athletic facilities, Thomas Eldridge, business administrator for the school district, noted that the district recently invested about $125,000 in a new floor for the high school gym where basketball is played, rehabilitated the tennis courts, and installed new sod on the football field. He also noted that the school board, likely at its next meeting, will sign a contract worth about $300,000 for the resurfacing of the track at the high school.

“We have a 50-acre campus for a middle school and a high school. It’s woefully inadequate. The fields almost never get any rest. We have essentially a middle school where there should only be a high school. We have very limited field space,” Eldridge said. “With respect to the baseball field, my understanding from both the athletic director and the coach is that they’re thrilled with the baseball field. We had to let it rest for a year and bus the students away, so that we could bring back the field. The problem is it’s also used by phys ed. So it never gets a chance to rest. Unfortunately we are landlocked. With respect to doing what we can, we do…

“We do not let our facilities suffer. The problem is our facilities are overused. In addition to the middle school students, we have the [township] recreation department. And now there is such an interest in lacrosse. It is just dominating spring sports now. It is very, very destructive on our fields, far more than football. So now we have a sport that is the most popular sport in the spring and at the same time it is far more destructive than any other sport on our fields,” he said.  

After Superintendent Philip Meara advised that the school district does a formal evaluation of every athletic coach after each season, Toto said, “It’s great to have an evaluation system. If the evaluation system is stagnant or quiet, on its premise, then why even have it…We can all have evaluation systems. But who has access to them and what happens thereafter.”  

Also at Monday’s school board meeting:

• Board President Waters reported that the board was in the process of drafting a letter to Democratic state Sen. Teresa Ruiz to voice the Lawrence Township Board of Education’s support for Bill S426, which would require nonpublic secondary schools and independent higher education institutions to reimburse school districts for the educational costs of students living in tax-exempt housing. Ruiz, who represents the 29th Legislative District (covering parts of Union and Essex counties), is chair of the state senate’s education committee.
• Business Administrator Eldridge reported that on March 11 – exactly one year from the date of the district’s first such sale – the district held its latest auction of Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) generated by the solar panels that had been installed on roofs of various school buildings. “Over the course of a year, we have passed the revenue of $1 million, which means our SRECs have brought in roughly two pennies on the tax rate for us in one year. Obviously we have a cost as well on the mortgage, but the revenue exceeds the cost in excess of $400,000,” Eldridge said. The school board plans to formally acknowledge the achievement at the start of the special school budget hearing that will be held at 7 p.m. at Lawrence High School on March 29.
• Board Vice President Leon Kaplan spoke about resolutions put forth by the boards of education of Oradell and South Plainfield calling on the state government to take the necessary legislative steps to allow school boards to suspend without pay – for the duration of the tenure proceedings – any tenured employee against whom tenure charges have been brought. Failing that, the Oradell and South Plainfield boards are asking the state to require tenured employees found guilty of tenure charges to reimburse the respective school board for their salary paid during the tenure proceeding, which currently can take up to 120 days (or more if any extension is approved). Lawrence Township school board members agreed to hold a formal discussion at their next regular meeting on April 11 and vote whether or not to support the resolutions of the Oradell and South Plainfield boards.   
• School board member Debbie Endo, , was honored for her service to the district by her fellow board members and by the Lawrence Township Education Foundation. Endo was first elected to the school board in 2005 and reelected in 2008.
• The board accepted the retirements of the following faculty members: Joyce Lino, kindergarten teacher at Eldridge Park Elementary School; Roseann Bozzone, first-grade teacher at Eldridge Park Elementary School; Michele Cacciabaudo, special education teacher at Lawrence Intermediate School; Kathleen Smith, academic support instruction teacher at Lawrence Intermediate School; and Donna Wilder, secretary to the principal of Lawrence Intermediate School; and Ellen Kirsch, school social worker at Lawrence Intermediate School. All of the retirements are effective June 30, except for Kirsch who retires on July 1. “This is a really a hard night. There are six strong, beautiful women leaving the district on this agenda. And each one of them breaks my heart because it is going to be such a loss to us here in Lawrence… There’s so much in the press about how teachers are glorified babysitters and they’re being put down every which way by politicians in the press. And all of these women belie that. They are all just wonderful examples of fine educators,” Endo noted.
• The school board held an executive session that was not open to the public for, as Waters explained, the purpose of discussing negotiations and legal matters.

A copy of the minutes from the school board meeting can be found online here.

Audio recordings of the meeting can be listened to via the school district’s website here.