Agenda for the June 24th Meeting - Personnel Motions (Retirements, Resignations, Transfers, Restructuring, etc...) & Much More
- Kathie Schwartz
- Jun 22, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 24, 2024
The next meeting of the RIH BOE is tomorrow, June 24, 8pm at the Indian Hills Auditorium.
The agenda, prepared by Acting Superintendent Dr. Quackenbush, is lengthy.
Some items of note:
There are 10 retirements and 6 staff resignations. It is unfortunate for our district to lose so much talent and experience.
After spending over $100,000 to restructure the Supervisors to be District Supervisors (contract not in place so details are still unknown), the agenda contains the appointment of Building and District Level Head Teachers in each subject area, with stipend costs of $60,786.
There is a motion to approve a new 3 year contract with the RIH Education Association (details unknown).
There is a sidebar agreement to add Competitive Dance Team coaches and choreographers, at a cost of $10,814. It is still unclear if this is a district wide team or a Ramapo only team.
There is a motion to transfer Assistant Principal Daniel Guido from Ramapo back to Indian Hills, and Assistant Principal Claudia Dargento from Indian Hills back to Ramapo (unclear why an Acting Superintendent would make such a significant transfer a week before a new Superintendent starts).
There is a motion to approve Summer Stipends for the new District Supervisors of $91,401.
There are 3 Special Ed Settlement Agreements (cost undisclosed).
There is a motion to approve the Superintendent recommendation on 8 HIB cases at Ramapo (that seems like a lot for one month).
There is a motion to develop and maintain the district website for 5 years at a cost of over $90,000.
There is a motion to hire Comegno Law Group of Moorestown, NJ as Special Counsel for labor and negotiations, at $225/hour. It is unclear why the Board would do this at a time when they just changed counsel to Porzio last year, and just completed their contract negations with the teachers union this month. Changing law firms and transitioning knowledge of our contracts is extremely costly to our taxpayers. A reminder that our previous law firm, Fogarty and Hara, which was terminated by the Board majority led by Judy Sullivan and Kim Ansh last year, handled all of our contracts with the benefit of historical knowledge, for a significantly lower hourly rate of $175. As the new firm is from Moorestown, perhaps this firm was suggested by the incoming Superintendent. Why would our Board want to hire a firm for labor negotiations based in South Jersey? What qualifications does a South Jersey firm bring to negotiating contracts in Bergen County?
There is motion to spend $3,000 to send the Interim Business Administrator to a leadership conference.
These are just a few of the motions, there is much more. Agenda attached.
Here's the link to the agenda:
