The Hoboken Board of Education put the finishing touches on a summer’s worth of work at a meeting on Tuesday night, just a few weeks before students return to the classroom. The board hired new instructors, changed the way teachers will be evaluated, and briefly discussed a state Department of Education evaluation that showed the school district once again did not meet the minimum recommended placement score in instruction and programs last school year.
Former board member Teresa Burns presented the board and members of the public with a memo from the state Department of Education regarding the performance of the school district. School districts are expected to score 80 percent or higher in all fields of evaluation in the Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC) district performance review conducted by the Department of Education.
‘Yes, we did not pass one area of QSAC but we did well in other areas.’ – Superintendent Mark Toback
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“Yes, we did not pass one area of QSAC, but we did well in other areas,” schools superintendent Dr. Mark Toback said at the meeting.
Toback said he plans to discuss the results at the September board meeting, but since the issue came to light at the meeting, he said he would evaluate the progress of the district in a follow up interview.
Toback provided documents to The Reporter on Thursday showing that the evaluation numbers have improved over the past few years. In 2009, the instruction and program score was 34 percent, while other areas of evaluation received scores between 33 percent and 83 percent.
In July 2010, the district received another 34 percent grade in instruction and programs, which was less than half of the 69 percent score attained last year.
Toback said the district has made “significant progress” over the past few years.
Popular teachers replaced
The board, after meeting in executive session for approximately one hour, approved contracts for new teachers and directors. Those included replacements for the two teachers who were controversially denied tenure.
Danielle Miller is the new theatre arts teacher, earning $46,410. She will replace Paula Ohaus, who had a long history of success with the program but was at the center of a bitter controversy after she was not offered tenure at the end of last year. Toback said Miller has been involved in a few productions, television shows, and had backstage experience. But he did not respond by press time to a request for more information.
Robert Felicetta will serve as the new gifted and talented teacher, earning $53,917 in the coming year. He is replacing the other popular teacher who was denied tenure, gifted program director Cheng Yen Hillenbrand.
Board members Peter Biancamano and Frances Rhodes-Kearns, allies on the politically divided board, voted against the hiring of both teachers. Maureen Sullivan, an ally of theirs on the board, voted in favor of hiring the new instructors.
Board member Carmelo Garcia, who led the fight to try and keep Ohaus, was not present at the meeting after the executive session and did not vote on the issue.
Michele Russo, a former board member and the mother of 3rd Ward Councilman Michael Russo, spoke against the hiring of a high school trainer for $53,401 because the person will not be teaching classes.
New evaluations for teachers
Toback also discussed the gradual introduction of a new teacher evaluation system. Just over a month ago, two popular instructors were dismissed amidst controversy over why they were not offered tenure.
The new method would be implemented to increase communication between administrators and the teaching staff, school officials said at the meeting.
The teachers will be evaluated based on four criteria: their professional responsibilities, planning and preparation for classes, the classroom environment, and their instruction.
“It is research-based,” said Dr. John Anzul, the curriculum/personnel director in the district. “[The new method] involves a much higher level of dialogue between the administrators and the teachers about their practice.”
The new evaluation system will be phased in over a two-year period.
When asked if the change in the evaluation system is in response to the controversies involving the dismissal of the two instructors, Toback said he has been trying to implement a new system since he took over in March, before the controversial dismissals occurred.
Toback, in his report to the board, also said that the district is currently in the process of revamping the district website.
b>Other business
Robert Davis, the business administrator, provided an update on a project to install solar panels on Hoboken schools.
The project will begin in the next month, he said, and the expected completion date is April 2012. The solar panels are part of the district’s push to “go green.”
Davis also noted that the district would have more of a budget surplus than anticipated because of a large number of personnel retirements in the district. The issue of how to spend the approximate $1 million surplus will be addressed at the upcoming meetings.
The board also discussed the possibility of increasing enforcement of anti-tobacco rules on school property.
The new assistant superintendent, Dr. Miguel Hernandez, recommended that the board increase signage around the district.
“We should be educating our kids on where we stand on tobacco usage,” Garcia said. “We need to take a proactive stance on that.”
Board member Leon Gold, who is the chair of the facilities committee, said he would also like to see more signs to promote the anti-tobacco rules.
Freeholder Anthony Romano also spoke at the meeting, introducing a new program with the United Way that will provide students with backpacks containing school supplies in Hoboken elementary schools.
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com