Green Township Board approves vendor contracts, boosts nurse substitute pay and awards $91,629 network contract

GREEN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The Green Township Board of Education on May 21 approved a slate of contracts and budget items for the 2025–26 school year, moved to shore up substitute nursing coverage and awarded a contract to replace the district’s network backbone.

Board President CJ Bilik called the regular meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Green Hills School library. Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Cenatiempo and Business Administrator/Board Secretary Karen Constantino presented reports before the board took up motions across finance, operations, personnel and policy committees.

The board approved routine finance items including a General Fund bills list totaling $1,303,309.79 and accepted the Board Secretary’s and Treasurer’s monthly certifications that no line-item account was over-expended as of April 30, 2025 (per N.J.A.C.6A:23A-16.10(c)). The board also approved financial transfers and motions related to student-services contracts. The board approved an out-of-district placement for Student ID ending in #2674 to P.G. Chambers School with total tuition for the extended-year and regular-year program listed in the contract at $107,079 (ESY $15,297; regular year $91,782). The transcript records the motion and roll call; the meeting record does not print each board member’s vote tally in the transcript excerpt.

Business Administrator Karen Constantino presented contract renewals and procurement items: the board approved a third-year renewal with Maschio’s Food Service Inc. for 2025–26 with a management fee of $8,584.64 and a total contract cost listed as $124,311.46, and approved a Maschio’s Trucking delivery agreement with per-delivery fees and a potential fuel surcharge as specified in the contract terms.

The board voted to accept a REAP grant application and to accept REAP funding of $42,121 for the 2025–26 school year as presented by the finance committee.

In operations business, the board voted to award the contract to replace the district’s network backbone to HighPoint Solutions, Inc. for $91,629.22. The agenda shows funding sources for the project: $65,487.24 from capital reserve and $26,141.98 through E-rate support.

Personnel actions included approval of summer custodial hires and the retirement of James “Woody” Wallace, effective June 30, 2025. To address a reported shortage of substitute nurses, the board approved an immediate increase in the substitute nurse rate to $350 per day and a waiver of application and background-check fees to expand the pool of eligible candidates. Superintendent Dr. Cenatiempo had told the board, “We must have a nurse on site to care for our students, especially those with specific medical needs,” when describing the staffing need.

The board approved several student-support service contracts: Learn Well Education was authorized to provide direct instruction and administrative support for Student ID #2353 at a rate of $58.75 per hour (with additional billing at 33% for administrative/prep time), and the board approved a contract renewal for physical therapy services with Allison M. Peck, PT at $90 per hour for July 2025–June 2026.

The board also moved and approved policy items on first and second readings, including a first reading for P2365, the Acceptable Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy and Plan, and second readings for residency eligibility, LifeVac use, food services, spectator conduct, and cooperation with law enforcement.

The meeting included routine curriculum motions: approval of professional development (IMSE training funded via Title II and grants), field trips, Title grant amendments reallocating funds to classroom materials and staff training, and adoption of grade reporting plans for 2025–26 (standards-based grading for PreK–3; numeric grading for grades 4–8).

The board entered closed session at 8:35 p.m. to discuss confidential matters including attorney-client privileged items, pending or anticipated litigation and personnel matters, and reconvened in public at 10:18 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 10:18 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled for June 11, 2025.

What the transcript does not specify: for several motions the agenda records that votes were taken by roll call but the transcript excerpt does not print individual yes/no tallies for each motion; where roll-call results are explicitly recorded in the transcript (for example the recess at 7:18 p.m.), the record notes unanimous "Aye" votes.