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Board approves personnel, appoints assistant business administrator; public raises funding and social-media concerns
Summary
The Rockaway Township Board of Education carried routine personnel and policy votes, approved the assistant business administrator appointment and heard public commenters ask about state funding and criticize some board members' social-media conduct.
The Rockaway Township Board of Education on April 9 approved a slate of routine personnel and policy items, confirmed two substantiated HIB determinations and took a roll-call vote to approve personnel and finance recommendations.
In the business-administration report, the board announced the hiring process and recommended appointment of Jaleesa Hazen for an assistant business-administrator role; the candidate was on the meeting agenda for approval. After the board approved the personnel slate by roll-call vote, the appointee (identified in the meeting as Julissa) thanked the board in brief remarks.
During public comment, resident Joseph Stammati asked whether recent Department of Education changes or funding uncertainty would affect Rockaway Township's budget. A district official replied, "At this time, we don't have any specific guidance as to what effect these decisions will have on funding. We have not been notified of any cuts to funding or any changes in funding," and said federal allocations typically arrive in mid-summer.
Another public commenter, Dana Tabadella, cited the School Ethics Act and an NJSBA guide and said inflammatory social-media posts by some board members have eroded trust in the board and risked creating an appearance of impropriety. The board recorded her remarks as received correspondence for the minutes. A different commenter, Bob Norden, spoke in support of the board and urged continued focus on students.
The board also took roll-call votes to approve minutes (one abstention by board member Carol LaRue was recorded), approve HIB determinations after staff identified which case numbers were confirmed or unconfirmed, and carry routine education, special education, administration, finance and policy items. Specific roll-call tallies were recorded for consent items; most motions carried unanimously or by clear majority as entered into the meeting minutes.
The meeting closed after a second public comment period with no additional speakers and adjourned at 8:54 p.m.
