School Board

Nancy LaCorte was voted president and Ardaman Singh vice president at the Board of Education’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 9. The winners of the 2017 election – newcomers Michele Shelton, Michael Smith and Nishita Desai – were also sworn in during the meeting. Both LaCorte and Singh are in the second year of their current three-year terms. Also at the …

The final Board of Education meeting of 2017 was also the last meeting for members Pat Stanley and Ed Potosnak. Neither Stanley nor Potosnak were re-elected in their November bids. Stanley made no public statement during the meeting, which featured an unusually light agenda. But Postosnak expressed thanks and had some requests. “I wanted to thank the board for their …

Update: As expected, the Board of Education Oct. 19 accepted the resignation of the Franklin High School principal, and appointed an interim. Former principal Cheryl Clark abruptly resigned Oct. 13, citing personal reasons. Without comment, the school board Oct. 19 accepted Clark’s resignation and appointed FHS vice-principal Beth Ebler as the school’s interim principal through Feb. 28, 2018. According to …

A $23,057.25 merit bonus for schools Superintendent John Ravally was approved by the Board of Education. The board approved the bonus, the terms of which had been negotiated last year, at its July 19 special meeting. Ravally was eligible for merit bonuses based on his base salary at the time of the agreement of $177,500. Ravally and the district have …

The Board of Education at its May 25 meeting commended a number of Franklin High School students for their achievements during the school year. Among those honored at the meeting were members of the FHS football, track, cross country and field hockey teams, the varsity cheerleaders, the FHS marching band and the Junior Classical League. Following are videos of the …

Teachers and Education Service Professionals of the year for each of the township’s nine schools were honored May 4 with a breakfast ceremony at the Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School in Bridgewater. The teachers, professionals, families and staff gathered for the event at the school’s Trade Wins cafe, which is staffed and managed by VoTech students. The schools’ …

A divided Board of Education on March 23 introduced major changes to its policy regulating sponsorship signage, and who in the district can solicit sponsors. The changes restrict sponsorship advertising – such as banners – to only the high school athletic complex, meaning the football stadium and the gym. The underlying policy, which was approved in 2010, allowed sponsorship signage …

Nearly three dozen water sources in seven township schools contain levels of lead higher than is considered safe by federal standards. The levels of lead found in the water ranged from 15.6 parts per billion (ppb) to 1,720 ppb. Federal guidelines recommend that lead levels in water in excess of 15 ppb be remediated because of health concerns. The affected …

The school district’s state-mandated support of charter schools could hit $20 million over the next three years, attendees at a Feb. 22 anti-charter school growth forum were told. The money would be needed to support the expansion of the Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School, the Central Jersey College Prep Charter School and the proposed Ailanthus Charter School, schools Superintendent John …

The school district’s pre-K program did not meet enrollment estimates this year, a fact the school board president blames on the township’s two charter schools. Board of Education president Ed Potosnak said that the increasing amount of money that the district has to send to the township’s charter schools forced the board to start charging for pre-K this year. The …