Bloomingdale Board Hears Audit Results

At the Board of Education meeting Monday night, the auditing firm, Ferraioli, Wielkotz, Cerullo, & Cuva presented Bloomingdale school district with a financial report and an auditor's management report for the fiscal year ending June 2011. 

Four categories had findings that needed corrective action, and included a recommendation for improvement: financial planning, accounting and reporting; school food service; student body activities; and application for state school aid. Six categories required no action. 

Thomas Ferry, the auditor who presented the report, said he would keep an eye on these items next year, so they don't persist. 

The meeting touched on several topics. Board member, Sheldon Bross, who serves as liaison to the Butler board of education, said he is very excited about a joint meeting taking place on Tuesday between students of Butler and Bloomingdale districts. He said Butler invited Bloomingdale students to participate in a testing program that can help find students’ weaknesses in math.

"I’ve always felt this should have been done a long time ago,” Bross said. “I am hoping tomorrow we can have this tremendous exchange of information in the seventh and eighth grades. It’s great to see both middle schools’ students working together."

Board president, Lauren Grecco, and Interim Superintendent, Terence Brennan, are attending the joint meeting. 

The agenda included Karen Peterson's resignation from the board, which was accepted with regret. Board member John Pituch said Peterson was a great asset and will be missed. Grecco said Peterson's seat needs to be filled within 65 days, and candidates will be interviewed. 

Grecco reported that teacher contract negotiations will begin in January. She said the PTA will be holding a Pot Luck Dinner at 7:30 p.m. on December 15 at Morse Lake Clubhouse. No kids are allowed. Parents can bring finger foods, an entrée or a dessert.

During public participation, Cathy Gurbisz told the board she liked the new format for parent-teacher conferences, which were held in the “cafetorium” this year instead of the classrooms.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Gurbisz said. "I was able to talk with more teachers. The old way, I never got to talk to all the teachers. It was a great help to be able to go right down the line.”

Gurbisz said parent turnout might have been better if parents knew about the change. Grecco said reviews were mixed, and some parents preferred to see their child's classroom. Brennan said, “I think it was a positive change.”

Gurbisz asked if any decision had been made regarding cars parking in the fire zone outside Walter T. Bergen School. She said she counted nine license plates on cars parked in the fire zone during a Halloween evening social event. She said one car backed up and almost hit her while she was trying to cross the street. She told the administrator, and was concerned about it happening again to anyone else.

They board discussed posting signs or placing cones as a way to stop people from parking there.

Maureen Jacobs, who teaches at Walter T. Bergen School and is a resident of Bloomingdale, told the board she is working with the Passaic County Consortium, writing math curriculum with the new core curriculum standards coming down for grades K-12 Jacobs said any district in Passaic County can have representation on the committee, and the curriculum will be shared by all districts in the county.

Jacobs said that next week she will be going for an articulaton with the building principal, and meeting with the math teachers from Butler. She said they would like to get Bloomingdale's middle school curriculum in line with Butler’s, since students from both schools will be attending Butler high school together.