Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Board Meeting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Harrison Township Board approves $3.03 million in bills, accepts $354,889 in IDEA grants and approves multiple hires
Summary
At its July 21 meeting the Harrison Township Board of Education unanimously approved June and July bill lists totaling $3,033,819.37, accepted $354,889 in IDEA grant funding for 2025–26, approved several student placement contracts and multiple staff hires and transfers; the board recessed into executive session and returned before adjourning.
Board Vice President Shannon Williams called the Harrison Township Board of Education to order at 7:00 p.m. Monday and announced the meeting might move into executive session to discuss personnel, student issues, property or other appropriate matters, with results to be made public later.
The board approved routine finance reports and bill lists after the Business Administrator presented the June reconciliation and Secretary’s report certifying agreement under New Jersey statutes and administrative code. The board ratified a June 2025 bill list of $2,256,291.32 and approved a July 2025 bill list of $777,528.05, a combined total of $3,033,819.37, by a 7-0 roll call vote. The board also set the adult breakfast price at $3.00 for the 2025–26 school year and approved a change order of $3,947.00 to replace two pneumatic valves with new electronic control valves.
The board accepted IDEA grant awards for the 2025–26 school year totaling $354,889 (Basic $289,699; Basic-NP $34,653; Preschool $27,843; Preschool-NP $2,694). The motion to accept the grant awards and other finance items passed unanimously.
On personnel matters the board accepted the resignation of special education teacher Renee Gavio, effective June 30, 2025, and approved voluntary transfers for Dana Savvas (to instructional aide) and Sean Griffith (to part-time custodian), effective Sept. 1, 2025. The board approved several hires, including Lisa Bregenzer as a full-time school nurse at Pleasant Valley School (effective July 22, 2025 through June 30, 2026), Ashley Drissel as a part-time nurse’s aide, Emily Mickle as a full-time speech pathologist and Angela Stewart as a full-time board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA), all with start dates effective Sept. 1, 2025 and salaries to be set under the 2025–2028 contract, pending required clearances. The personnel motion passed 7-0.
The board approved the district’s 2024–2027 Language Instruction Educational Program (LIEP) and several student placement and ESY contracts. Approved contracts included multiple placements with GCSSSD for students to attend ESY from July 7 through Aug. 7, 2025 (examples: Student #28006 and #27000 at a total cost of $8,670 each, including 1:1 aides) and two contracts with Archbishop Damiano School for full-year services totaling $110,917.80 and $66,187.80, respectively. The education approvals passed on a unanimous vote.
Administrative approvals included authorization to award certain professional services without competitive bidding (naming Dr. Craig Wax as district physician for July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026), approval of outside evaluation costs, a kindergarten field trip to Storybook Land, tuition reimbursement requests for staff (AnnaLisa Rodano and John Berkett), and acknowledgement of a fire drill and a shelter-in-place drill conducted on July 16, 2025.
In transportation business the board added Student #30180 to an existing Del City bus route transporting Student #27000 to Bankbridge Developmental Center for ESY at no additional cost. The buildings and grounds agenda item approved facility use for community programs, including a basketball clinic and a math club at Pleasant Valley School for the upcoming term.
Superintendent Missy Peretti welcomed Christopher C. DeSanto as the district’s new Business Administrator and said the transition has been seamless. The board recessed into executive session at 7:11 p.m. and returned at 7:30 p.m.; the minutes note that results of any executive-session discussions will be made public later. After returning the board acknowledged completion of the superintendent’s 2024–2025 professional evaluation and approved the district goals for 2025–2026. The meeting adjourned at 7:32 p.m.
All motions recorded in the minutes passed unanimously when roll-call tallies were recorded; several procedural votes were taken by voice.
Authorities cited in board materials included references to the New Jersey statutes and administrative code governing district financial reporting (18A:17-36; 18A:17-9) and the cited N.J.A.C. provisions for the Secretary’s certification (N.J.A.C. 6A:23A-16.10 and related citations).
