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Stung by criticism that they needlessly waited until the last minute to decide to close schools on Jan. 6 due to concerns over the district’s main bus contractor, district administrators have released more details about what happened during the time leading up to the decision and its aftermath. Schools Superintendent Edward Seto late in the evening of Jan. 5 decided …

Contracts for goods and services worth $289,723 were approved at the Jan. 7 Township Council meeting. The council approved the $39,918 purchase of a pick-up truck with snow plow from Beyer Brothers Corp. of Fairview. The money comes from the 2013 capital spending plan. A $13,000 contract with Peak Software, Sandy, Utah was also approved. The software will be used …

Agreeing that commissioners should appear at a meeting and explain why they feel they need a more than $100 a year raise, the Township Council Jan. 7 tabled approval for the proposed 2014 salaries for Fire District 3’s five commissioners. The council did, however, approve proposed raises for commissioners in fire districts 1, 2 and 4. Although fire district operations …

There’s a new portrait hanging among the presidents in the Township Council chambers, that of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The portrait was unveiled at the beginning of the Jan. 7 Township Council meeting. Officiating were Council members Rajiv Prasad and Kimberly Francois, both D-At Large; Mayor Brian Levine, R; Paul Curry from the Franklin Democratic …

Julia Presley was re-elected president of the Board of Education and Eva Nagy was elected vice president during the board’s rescheduled reorganization meeting. Presley and newly elected board members Christine Danielsen and Nancy LaCorte were sworn into their terms during the meeting. The meeting was originally scheduled for Jan. 2, but had to be postponed due to the snow storm. …

Two hectic days of meetings and negotiations – highlighted by an apparent revolt by bus drivers against their former company – ended Jan. 6 with the Board of Education transferring the contract for the bulk of the district’s school bus routes to a new company. The move means that schools will be open on Jan. 7. If board members breathed …

Sparks flew at the Township Council reorganization meeting Jan. 1 when the all-Democrat Council refused to place Republican Mayor Brian Levine on a key township committee. The refusal sparked a rare show of public anger from Levine, who accused teh council members of playing politics. But one Democrat said the reason Levine was not placed on the Administration Committee as …

It’s not uncommon to have special guess show up at municipal reorganization meetings. But it is a bit unusual to have a sitting U.S. Senator and Congressman appear at the sessions. That was the case Jan. 1 when newly minted U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, and Rep. Rush Holt, D-17, showed up at the Township Council reorganization meeting. Both spoke …

The school district is in search of a temporary personnel director. The former director, Gail Reicheg, left earlier this month to accept a similar position in the Moorestown, Burlington County, school system. Schools Superintendent Edward Seto said he already has a number of resumes from people interested in the job. The Board of Education at its Dec. 19 meeting instructed …

School district officials are waiting to see what happens in the bankruptcy proceedings of the Staten Island, N.Y. based bus company that transports nearly half of the district’s 8,000 students. Atlantic Express Transportation Corp., which has an office in New Brunswick, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. The company is offering itself up for sale, but, according to …