Lakewood board approves superintendent agenda authorizing preschool concession and renews IDEA contracts

The Lakewood Board of Education on Aug. 26 approved the superintendent's agenda, authorizing the Business Administrator/Board Secretary to procure a concession for a Preschool Services Program to operate at a licensed provider site in Lakewood through June 30, 2025 and renewing several IDEA-funded contracts for the 2024'25 school year.

The board voted to carry the motion after it was moved by Board member Chanina Nakdimen and seconded by Board member Heriberto Rodriguez. The agenda item cited N.J.A.C. 5:34-9.4(d)(2) and N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-4.3(a) as the legal bases for using competitive contracting for the concession procurement. The agenda packet listed vendor-level details and class counts for IDEA-funded programs and gave a total "Total IDEA - $11,488,759.00" for allocated IDEA program funds. The packet also listed nonpublic IDEA totals and program-level cost lines for vendors such as Tender Touch and Tree of Knowledge Learning Academy.

The motion carried as recorded in the agenda notes. The agenda text lists the eight board members voting "Aye" as Moshe Bender, Moshe Raitzik, Meir Grunhut, Chanina Nakdimen, Heriberto Rodriguez, Shlomo Stern, Isaac Zlatkin and Eliyahu Greenwald; Ada Gonzalez was recorded as not present for the vote in the agenda text. (The agenda includes several repeated vote lines; the meeting record shows the motion carried.)

The agenda described the Preschool Services concession as permitting a vendor to operate the district's preschool program at the vendor's licensed site from award through June 30, 2025, Monday through Friday, with contract award to be based on the bidder deemed most advantageous (price and other factors). The item also listed renewals for IDEA-funded vendors, class counts and per-class or program totals; the packet named specific solicitations and vendor program lines but did not specify the awarded vendor for the new concession at the time of the special meeting.

The board also approved the consent agenda and then adjourned; the meeting record shows adjournment at 8:42 a.m., and the Board Secretary (Kevin May Campbell) later certified the minutes. The agenda and packet note that certain approvals are subject to standard conditions (for example, criminal-history background checks where applicable and contract execution prior to payment).

What happens next: The concession procurement will proceed through the competitive contracting process described in the agenda; contract awards and vendor selections will be finalized through the Business Administrator/Board Secretary as authorized by the board and reported in future public records.