Pennsauken Board approves $17.5 million in bills, multiple personnel hires and authorizes year-end reserve transfers

The Pennsauken Township Board of Education on Dec. 16 approved payment of $17,537,367.21 in bills and carried a package of personnel and procurement items, while authorizing board officials to move year-end surplus into district reserve accounts.

The board, presided over by Board President Mrs. Young, voted to approve business and finance agenda items 39–55, which included the December bill list totaling $17,537,367.21 and several budget certification statements required by state law. The package also authorized the district to accept carryover ESEA/ESSA federal grant funds, including Title I-A ($383,952), Title II-A ($241,602) and other program balances.

Why it matters: The approvals clear routine payroll and vendor payments, advance construction contracts and technology purchases, and give administrators authority to allocate unanticipated surplus into restricted reserve accounts for capital projects, maintenance and emergencies — decisions that affect the district's fiscal position going into the 2025 budget cycle.

Key approvals and contracting details Mrs. Young reported that the district recommended purchasing up to 200 Chromebooks from Dell Marketing under an existing New Jersey state contract for a not-to-exceed amount of $54,280. The board also approved a managed print-services contract revision with Canon Solutions America covering parts, labor and supplies for network and local printers; the packet lists an annualized amount for that agreement.

W.J. Gross, Inc. received Payment Application #4 for Longfellow Park Improvements for $46,951 and Payment Application #5 for the Carson & Franklin Elementary School HVAC project for $460,394, with the packet noting balances to finish and retainage on the projects.

Personnel and programs The board ratified a broad set of personnel items including new Non-Teaching Assistants, food service workers, a Work Based Learning Coordinator (Jeffrey Ford, $92,119, start date 01/30/2025), an art teacher (David Inzinna, $72,184), and a school nurse (Anne Vizzard, $72,609), subject to pre-employment checks where required. Stipend and co-curricular positions were also approved, including athletic and club assignments across schools and grant-funded community liaison stipends ($5,000 each) under an ECPA/ELLI to PEA Transition Grant.

Budget and reserve resolutions The board approved resolutions authorizing the School Business Administrator to transfer current-year surplus into reserve accounts at year end: up to $19,000,000 to Capital Reserve, up to $3,000,000 to Maintenance Reserve, and up to $1,000,000 to Emergency Reserve. The motions cite NJSA provisions that permit such transfers and instruct the Business Administrator to certify availability of funds prior to any transfer.

Votes and an item that failed Most grouped agenda packages were approved by roll call vote. The board approved agenda items 2–24 and 26–38, but item 25 — a request to approve Board Member Matthew McDevitt's attendance at the NSBA conference in Atlanta with estimated reimbursement of $2,979 — failed during the meeting. Business & finance items 39–55 were later carried.

What happens next Approved contracts and payment applications move forward subject to available funds and standard administrative certification. The budget and reserve transfer authorizations affect year-end accounting and will be implemented by the Business Administrator in accordance with state law and district policy.

At the meeting's close the board moved into and returned from executive session; public business resumed and the meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m.