Board of Education Taxes

Construction workers at the Claremont Road School site are ruffling the feathers of some of their neighbors. Two Marion Avenue residents appeared at the July 27 Board of Education meeting to ask the board members’ help with some issues with the workers.

A new 5-year contract for the schools Superintendent was approved May 25 by the Board of Education. The $196,584 contract ups schools Superintendent John Ravally’s salary by nearly $20,000, and comes just two years into his original 5-year term.

There were more questions than comments May 16 when the school district’s proposed school rezoning plan was debuted to a packed house in the Franklin High School cafeteria. That could be a good thing, in terms of keeping district on schedule for getting the entire redistricting project finished in time for the 2018-19 school year.

The Franklin High School outdoor athletic complex and gym will likely have some new additions starting next school year in the form of sponsored banners. The Board of Education at its April 27 meeting unanimously approved amendments to the district’s policy regulating sponsorship signage, allowing the banners only at the high school, showing no signs of the discord that accompanied …

Reginald O. Davenport has resigned as principal of Franklin Middle School. The resignation was effective April 3. Nick Solomon, the Sampson G. Smith vice-principal, has been named interim FMS principal.

Nearly $1.5 million in contracts were approved by the Board of Education at its March 23 meeting. The biggest ticket item was a $1,128,999 contract awarded to Irvington-based KM Construction for reconstruction of the Franklin Middle School parking lot.

Update 2: The Board of Education gave final approval to the 2017-18 school year spending plan at its April 27 meeting. The budget passed unanimously, but board member Pat Stanley said she was doing so with some “reservations.”

Update: The budget presentation meeting has been rescheduled for 7:45 p.m. March 21 in the FHS media center.  

A resolution calling for a temporary moratorium on expanding existing or creating new charter schools in Somerset and Middlesex counties sparked a heated debate at the Jan. 26 Board of Education meeting. The measure was supported by all board members in attendance, save Pat Stanley, who mounted a spirited argument against it.

Games and crafts were the order of the day Jan. 26 when a group of MacAfee Road School 4th Graders visited residents at Spring Hills Somerset assisted living facility. The 30 students, their teacher – Alyson Samarel – an some aides brought floor hockey, bowling and other games, as well as some craft projects, to the residents for about two hours …