Hardyston Board approves finance, curriculum and personnel packages; notes $600,000 boiler grant loss

The Hardyston Township Board of Education on June 10 approved consolidated finance, curriculum and personnel motions and heard reports on facilities, grants and student‑safety data.

The board voted to approve the packaged motions for F1–F14, FL1–FL2, CP1, CP3–CP5 and P1–P19 after committee reports and brief discussion; a board member registered opposition to an item described in the agenda as seeking an RFQ for outside attorneys, but the remainder of the consolidated packages were approved in the public vote. The motion to enter executive session for student hearings and personnel preceded several of the public votes.

Why it matters: the finance report showed elevated transfers and bills driven by state pre‑K spending and highlighted near‑term capital decisions after the utility program disqualified the district for a boiler‑replacement grant estimated at about $600,000. The board also noted a $726,000 capital reserve balance and described options for phasing needed work pending architect and engineering proposals.

Details from the meeting: the finance and facilities committee reported that transfers were “excessive” because of added pre‑K funds and that the monthly bills list was roughly $354,000 above a typical month due to pre‑K spending. The committee also said the district achieved approximately a 21% reduction in busing costs, a savings of about $64,000, and that capital reserves stood at roughly $726,000 while the district maintains a target “gold reserve” of $750,000.

On the boiler grant, the committee reported the district was disqualified by JCP&L for the boiler‑replacement grant because of a 50% electric/50% gas requirement; the committee described that outcome as a loss of an estimated $600,000 in grant funding and said the architect/RFQ process will inform options for phasing replacements.

Superintendent Dr. Reiter summarized compliance and grant activity, saying the district was rated as meeting special‑education requirements for 2023–24 and that the district’s HIV/GRAMA assessment scored 70 out of 78 (about 90%). He said the district submitted a $51,000 REAP grant application and expects awards after July 1. "I was able to apply and submitted an application for a $51,000 grant," the superintendent told the board.

Student‑safety data presented by Miss O'Mara covered the September–December reporting window. She said the elementary school reported zero incidents during that window; the middle school reported one substantiated investigation and two incidents of restraint, with zero out‑of‑school suspensions and several trainings recorded.

On facilities, the board agreed to renew the township lease for the recreation area at Weeksworth Park and authorized the procurement steps described on the agenda (architect RFQ forthcoming). Several routine personnel items—substitutes, extended‑school‑year staffing and related appointments—were approved as part of the personnel package.

Votes and procedure: the meeting transcript records the consolidated motions and the clerk’s roll‑call calls for each package; the public record supplied to the board indicates the packages passed by majority vote. Specific named vote tallies were not provided in the public transcript for every consolidated item.

What’s next: the board will receive architect and engineering RFQ responses and continue planning for phased capital work; awards for the REAP grant are expected after July 1 and will be reported at the next board meeting if awarded.