Thursday, March 21, 2013
District also budgets 'best guess' for some state aid for special education expenses.
The Madison Board of Education's tentative 2013-2014 budget would increase the amount raised through local property taxes by 2 percent, including savings the school district realized by refinancing its debt, according to a district budget presentation Tuesday night. The proposed tax levy for operating expenses—$33,979,228—is up around 2.4 percent from the previous year, an increase of $801,363. The increase goes beyond the 2 percent cap for the operating budget by using $137,000 in some of the "banked cap" that the district accumulated through waivers approved by the state for circumstances such as increased enrollment. Meanwhile, the tax levy for debt service—$2,425,545—is down $87,544 over the previous year, a decrease of around 3.5 …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
There was a delayed opening Tuesday, but the district has not had to close schools since the week after Superstorm Sandy.
Madison schools opened two hours later than usual Tuesday because of snow. Madison Junior School orientation for fifth-graders also was moved to April 2, the district said. Heading toward the end of March, Madison has managed to dodge closing schools for snow, which is good news for the school calendar. All three of Madison's built-in snow days were used when schools closed for five days after Superstorm Sandy. Two of those five days were made up by opening when schools were scheduled to be closed for the NJEA convention. The convention was canceled for the first time in 158 years because of the storm.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Lower debt service aid actually means a net loss in state funding over previous year, Board of Education president says.
New Jersey needs solutions "that make every dollar we invest count," Gov. Chris Christie said in a news release Thursday announcing school state aid figures. "Every dollar" had new meaning for Madison, which was among around 40 districts that would receive just $1 more from the previous year under the plan. However the state wound up with one more dollar for certain districts, Madison Board of Education President Lisa Ellis said it felt like a slap in the face. Ellis said Madison's proposed state aid for debt service is more than $23,000 less than the previous year, so the district's aid from the state actually would be down overall. Meanwhile, the district is facing a steep increase in health insurance costs for employees, she said. The …
Friday, February 8, 2013
'Beauty and the Beast Jr.' schedule also adjusted because of the winter storm forecast.
Madison schools will have early dismissals Friday, according to the district website. Forecasters say a winter storm could bring around a foot of snow Friday afternoon into Saturday. Dismissal times "Beauty and the Beast Jr." Due to the weather, Madison Junior School's Friday evening performance of "Beauty and the Beast Jr." will be moved to 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening, according to the school website. If you bought tickets for Friday evening, these tickets can now be used for the Saturday performance at 7:30 p.m. As of now, the 4 p.m. Saturday show is still on.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
A law enforcement official was evaluating security at Torey J. Sabatini School when Madison schools locked down Friday.
Alfonse Imperiale, director of county critical infrastructure for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, recently toured each of Madison's five public schools to evaluate security at the buildings and happened to be on hand to see the district's lockdown procedures in action. Imperiale was at Torey J. Sabatini School on Friday when the district's schools locked down as a precaution while police in several towns were looking for a man who was considered armed and dangerous after an alleged assault in Morristown. When a parent at a school security forum Tuesday night asked if the precautionary lockdown was the right decision in hindsight, Imperiale said a limited lockdown "was justifiably called for because you're protecting the school …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Madison Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Rossi said the district is working 'to ensure that there is never a similar occurrence' after the cafeteria served bagels with an employee's blood on them.
Madison Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Rossi said in a letter to Central Avenue School parents posted on the district website that officials are working to ensure there is "never a similar occurrence" after an incident this month in which two Central Avenue School student purchased bagels from the school cafeteria and noticed what turned out to be a cafeteria employee's blood on their bagels. A parent-teacher organization co-president, Jennifer Groller, had asked at the most recent Board of Education meeting for the incident to be addressed by officials in writing to prevent inaccurate information from spreading. Parents were finding out about what happened at different times, emailing her about their concerns in waves, and some were …
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Madison food service provider fired an employee after students purchased food that should not have been served.
MADISON, NJ -- At least two elementary school students who bought lunch from the Central Avenue School cafeteria two weeks ago purchased bagels that had a cafeteria employee's blood on them. A co-president of the school's parent-teacher organization said the incident needs to be addressed by officials in writing so parents know exactly what happened. Mark Vidovich, president of Pomptonian Food Service, the company that provides food services for the district, said during Tuesday's Madison Board of Education meeting an employee who was with the company for 14 years cut her hand while slicing bagels, continued working and never reported the accident to anyone, which violated sanitation training and common sense. The employee was immediately …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Madison schools opened two hours later Wednesday on account of snow.
Madison schools opened two hours later on Wednesday because of inclement weather. While the delayed opening does not affect the school calendar, if the district has a full "snow day" this school year, it will need to figure out when to make up the day. All three of Madison's built-in snow days were used after Superstorm Sandy, and school officials were reviewing the calendar for when other emergency closings could be made up if needed. The storm closed borough schools for five days, but the district made up two of them by opening when schools were scheduled to be closed for the NJEA convention, which was canceled for the first time in 158 years because of the storm.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Counselors were made available and extra police patrols of schools were added.
Madison school officials said Monday they have made counseling professionals available to students who express a need to talk about Friday's shooting in Newtown, Conn., and Madison's acting police chief said borough patrol officers were instructed to provide additional patrols at all Madison schools. In a letter sent home with elementary school students on Monday, the principals of Kings Road, Central Avenue and Torey J. Sabatini elementary schools wrote they will do their "very best to provide a week that feels familiar and consistent for our students." "In times like these, solid, predictable routines are comforting and provide a feeling of security," the principals, Philip Kennedy, Michael Post and Kathleen Koop, wrote. The …
Friday, November 16, 2012
Superintendent Dr. Michael Rossi said topic has sparked questions, dialogue.
There's a new grading system coming to Madison schools, but this one is for the teachers. Madison administrators have been giving presentations to faculty about a new teacher evaluation system that, under state mandate, factors student achievement as half of the "grade." Superintendent Dr. Michael Rossi and director of Curriculum and Instruction Lee Nittel have been going school-to-school discussing the new system, as well as other state-mandated changes to curriculum standards and standardized testing, Rossi said at this week's Board of Education meeting. The presentations have answered some questions, raised other questions, and sparked a dialogue. Rossi said the district will keep the dialogue going, and work through the changes in a …
Charles
9:21 am on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Lots of nunbers here that cloud the issue. Overall, including the additional revenues, debt service savings etc., year over year, 2012 vs. 2013 what is the overal increase in the school budget? Sounds a lot more than 2.4%. more ›