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Union Board adopts gifted-and-talented regulation, approves field trips and personnel hires
Summary
At its Sept. 10 worksession the Township of Union Board of Education unanimously adopted Regulation 2464 on Gifted and Talented students, approved districtwide student field trip authorizations under N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-5.8 and approved personnel hires. Routine bills and other items were deferred to next week's meeting.
The Township of Union Board of Education met in worksession on Sept. 10, 2024, and unanimously adopted Regulation 2464 — Gifted and Talented Students — following a recommendation from the Superintendent and the Policy Committee.
The regulation was moved for final reading and adoption by Mary Lynn Williams and seconded by Nancy Minneci; the full board voted AYE: Dicxiana Carbonell, Michael Cohan, Elsie Conteh-Mackey, Ronnie McDowell, Nancy Minneci, Greg Nasta, Kimberly Scott-Hayden, Mary Lynn Williams and Chastity Santana. No members voted nay or abstained.
Why it matters: the regulation sets the district's formal approach to identifying and serving gifted students across schools in the Township of Union School District, and its adoption establishes the policy framework staff will use for screening and services.
In other business, the Board approved F-7, a districtwide authorization of student field trip destinations and purposes pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-5.8. The motion to approve field trips was moved by Dicxiana Carbonell and seconded by Mary Lynn Williams and passed unanimously. Ms. Carbonell requested additional information about fundraiser items listed under F-9b during the discussion.
The Board also approved P-1A, a slate of personnel actions and new hires. In response to a question from Board member Michael Cohan about available full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, Superintendent Dr. Gerald Benaquista said the district is "in good shape." Board Secretary Yolanda Koon clarified that the district's 401(k)/ROTH item (P-6) requires an annual renewal: "it needs to be renewed every year," she said.
Educational oversight matters reported to the Board included the Superintendent's Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) report for Sept. 1–10, 2024, which showed no incidents reported for that period. Mr. Cohan said the Education Committee reviewed a new web-based curriculum program and called it "a very valuable resource for our teachers."
Procedural notes: the Board met in executive session at 6:02 p.m. to discuss personnel and legal updates under N.J.S.A. 10:4-12b and returned to public session at 6:57 p.m. Several routine items, including approval of bills, were deferred to next week's public meeting. The public session was adjourned at 7:49 p.m.
Next steps: minutes from this worksession will be adopted at the subsequent public meeting, and the Superintendent is scheduled to present a report at next week's meeting.
