Runnemede Board accepts audit, approves $1.86 million in bills and multiple personnel, transportation and program items

The Runnemede Board of Education accepted the district's external audit for the 2024'25 fiscal year and approved November financial reports and payments totaling $1,860,534.87 at its Dec. 17 regular meeting at Mary Volz School Library.

The board's action formally accepted the audit performed by Nightlinger, Colavita & Volpe, with the filing noting there are no CAFR/AMR findings. The board also approved the Board Secretary's and Treasurer's reports for November 2025 and certified, under cited New Jersey statutes and N.J.A.C. regulations, that no line items have been overexpended for the fiscal year.

The board approved five payroll and accounts-payable batches and related disbursements that sum to $1,860,534.87. The bills lists included two payroll batches (Batch #51 and #52), an accounts-payable batch (#63), a student-activities batch, other accounts-payable and cafeteria accounts payable. The meeting materials specified individual batch amounts and a total of $1,860,534.87.

Business Administrator Sean McCarron was designated as the district's Public Agency Compliance Officer for 2026. The board acknowledged submission of the 2025'26 Title I comparability report, approved course reimbursements for staff, and approved professional development attendance listed in the meeting packet.

On personnel matters the board approved hiring Perla Martinez as an instructional aide (Step 1, $21,000) at Bingham School beginning Jan. 5, 2026, pending paperwork; accepted the resignation of Sydney Price effective Jan. 31, 2026; approved paid sick leave requests and medical accommodations for identified employees (listed in the packet); named Tiburcio Torres and Maia Torres as substitutes for before/aftercare; and approved a salary step/degree change for Nicole Kelly effective Jan. 1, 2026.

Under property and transportation the board approved multiple facility-use requests from the Runnemede PTA (including holiday and basket auction events at the Volz gymnasium) and approved several field trips for spring 2026, including trips to Adventure Aquarium, Philadelphia Zoo, Toms River/Hershey or Six Flags-style events, a college tour for Students of Distinction, and middle-school band/choir travel. The board also approved continued Runnemede bus transport for Volz basketball teams to 14 away games. Where the packet listed vendor costs, such as 2 First Student buses at $287 each for a 2nd-grade trip (total $574) and 2 T & L buses at $845 each for a middle-school trip (total $1,690), those figures were noted in the meeting materials.

Finance items also included approval of homebound instruction for an identified student for 2025'26, tuition contracts under McKinney-Vento for students attending Gloucester Township schools (with Runnemede financially responsible), and a parent-transportation contract with Mrs. Hoffman at $25 per day per student not to exceed $5,500 for service from Jan. 1'June 30, 2026.

The board approved curriculum items including course approval for Diane Torriero (EDST 24504, "Action Research in Education") and the QSAC District Improvement Plan from Spring 2025, and it accepted the HIB report presented by the district HIB Coordinator. Multiple DonorsChoose classroom donations were approved for specific teachers and classes.

Motions to approve grouped agenda items were moved and seconded by board members as recorded in the minutes; roll-call votes for major grouped approvals were recorded as 5 yes, 0 no, 0 abstain, 4 absent. The meeting closed with a motion to adjourn at 6:51 p.m.; the board announced its next regular/reorganization meeting for Jan. 5, 2026, at Mary Volz School.

Note: The minutes record motions, batch payment totals, start dates, and personnel actions as presented in the meeting packet. Where individual employee identifiers were used in the minutes (e.g., employee numbers or SID references), the packet lists those entries; the minutes do not provide narrative statements from individual speakers beyond procedural motions and approvals.