Chatham schools report smooth first day after reconfiguration; enrollment up, staffing full

The School District of the Chathams reported a largely successful first day of school after a district reconfiguration, with administrators telling the board on Aug. 25 that transportation hiccups were limited and buildings opened smoothly.

Superintendent Dr. Sartino told the board students at Lafayette and Chatham Middle School “were phenomenal” and that aside from “some transportation blips, otherwise, districtwide, everything was extremely seamless and successful.” He credited custodians, teachers, principals and other staff for preparing the schools over the summer.

Board and staff said the district added roughly 102 students after recent housing developments — Cornerstone, Arbor Green, The Ivy and Enclave — opened units. The exact distribution among the individual schools was described by administration as an aggregate total of about 102 new students since those developments began filling.

The finance committee reported transportation changes: three new bus routes were added, bringing the total to 11 routes, and roughly 15 students remain on a waiting list for subscription busing the committee said it may not be able to accommodate because of costs.

Administrators also briefed the board on construction and facilities: the high school roof project is complete and crews are working to reinstall solar panels; middle-school reconfiguration work finished just before school started with a few punch-list HVAC items remaining; Lafayette’s HVAC is fully operational and most affected rooms had temporary air conditioning so students were comfortable on opening day.

Board members reported that human resources completed substantial summer recruiting. The personnel committee chair said the district was fully staffed at each building for the first time in “a long time,” though a small number of paraprofessional positions remained open pending new residents moving into town.

Finance items approved on the consent agenda included donations: a $3,000 Special Olympics New Jersey Unified Champion School Grant for CHS PLAY Unified programming, a $24,000 wellness grant from the school health insurance fund for human-resources–coordinated activities, and additional gifts from the Chatham Booster Club, Chatham United Soccer Club and Morgan Stanley earmarked for Lafayette School (amounts not specified in the meeting).

The board also approved personnel and curriculum items during the meeting by roll-call votes (see “Votes at a glance”).

Public comment touched on bike and e-bike safety; councilman Justin Strickland volunteered to work with the police to provide education to families about e-bike classifications and applicable licensing and registration rules. Superintendent Dr. Sartino and staff said they would coordinate with police on school outreach, as had been done in previous years.

The meeting closed without an executive session.

Votes at a glance - Minutes of July 14, 2025: approved by roll call, 7–0. - Personnel agenda A1–A25: approved by roll call, 7–0. - Finance agenda B1–B18 (including donations noted above): approved by roll call, 7–0. Motion to move B1–B18 was made by Mr. Smith. - Curriculum agenda C1–C6: approved by roll call, 7–0.

Action items approved as part of the consent/regular agenda were handled by roll call with the following board members recorded as voting: Miss Allen (yes), Mr. D’Alessandro (yes), Miss Peck (yes), Mr. Ryan (yes), Mr. Smith (yes), Miss Weber (yes), Dr. Zhang (yes).