Pennsauken board approves hires, curriculum changes and multimillion-dollar construction payments

The Pennsauken Township Board of Education on Dec. 16 approved a slate of personnel hires, curriculum updates and construction payments as part of its regular business meeting.

The board voted to ratify appointments across district operations and schools, including maintenance, instructional and support staff. Appointments listed in the agenda include Ty’Jahnae Howard as a science teacher at Pennsauken High School and several educational assistants and bus aides; many start dates are contingent on fingerprinting, criminal-history review, certification and physical examinations as noted in the agenda.

The board also approved curriculum revisions and new elementary arts offerings, including Dance K–2, Dance 3–5 and Theatre K–2 and Theatre 3–5, and interdisciplinary updates to business and economics courses. A related question from the public asked whether curriculum Item 28 would affect kindergarten starting age; the agenda did not show any change to enrollment age, and the board did not adopt a separate policy on kindergarten age at this meeting.

On capital projects, the board approved Payment Application #9 for the Pennsauken High School Magnet School addition to Nacom Companies, Inc. for $1,073,274.97; the agenda lists a remaining balance to finish plus retainage of $6,316,753.59. The board also approved Payment Application #4 for Pre-K additions and alterations at Baldwin Early Childhood Learning Center to Arthur J. Ogren, Inc. for $390,991.58, with a listed balance to finish plus retainage of $11,967,847.04.

Financial items approved include the board’s bill list showing departmental totals (general fund bill list $4,957,751.41; food services $131,086.08; payroll for Nov. 26, 2025, $3,414,007.24), with a reported total of $8,503,479.11 for items presented to the board.

Administrators also recommended and the board approved applications and program submissions: the FY 2026–27 Preschool Education Aid (PEA) application, an application for the New Jersey DOE competitive grant "Artificial Intelligence Technology in Career and Technical Education Pathways," and an application for the Interventionland Education Grant (details of requested award amounts were not specified in the agenda).

The board approved membership in The Interlocal Participation System (BuyBoard Purchasing Cooperative) to permit cooperative purchasing, and it approved multiple staff travel and professional-development requests, including attendance at NJASA TECHSPO (Jan. 28–30, 2026) with an itemized fee of $610 plus travel per person.

"Renovations to the baseball and softball fields will begin in spring," Business & Operations chair Mr. Carey said during his report, and he noted the Magnet School and Baldwin School project completion dates listed in the agenda. Several stipend and extracurricular-pay items were also authorized, including a $7,500 district nurse chairperson stipend to be paid in two installments.

The board approved the consent agenda items (items 2–46) and addendum items by motions recorded in the minutes. The agenda contains numerous line-item account numbers and contingency language for hires; where the agenda lists conditions (for example, fingerprint and certification requirements), the board’s approvals were recorded as contingent on those checks.

The board’s next scheduled meetings were listed as Jan. 6, 2026 (reorganization) and Jan. 20, 2026 (business).

Ending: The meeting adjourned at 7:27 p.m.