Gym Membership Reimbursement, Air Purifiers, New High School Groundbreaking, Covid Vaccine Mandate Topics of BOE Meeting

8/31/21 Board of Education Meeting

By: Katherine Massopust

PERTH AMBOY – The Board of education meeting was called to order at 4:08 p.m. The Board immediately went into a closed session at 4:11 p.m. and returned 4 hours and 1 minute later at 8:12 p.m.

There was a brief presentation by Yolanda Gomez, Director of Personnel on gym membership reimbursement for teachers and staff at a qualified health facility. “There is a membership for two family members who can go to a gym and a reimbursement,” stated Gomez.

It was noted by Superintendent Dr. David Roman that this program is at no cost to the staff or the district.

Assistant Superintendent Delves Rodriguez stated that there were three types of air purifiers throughout the school depending on the needs of the room or area: Aera Max, Trio Plus, and Carrier Opti Clean.

Dr. David Roman stated that this was something that the district decided to do on its own and it was not mandated by the state. 

Dr. Delves Rodriguez also stated that the state will have over 30,000 disposable masks for distribution to the students and staff. 

Dr. Roman added, “The district has gone above and beyond to make sure that filters are in place. I think we have the best custodians in the state.” It was also noted by Dr. Roman that anyone who comes to visit any building in the district must have an appointment and their temperature scanned. “We must have qualified personnel to see what is going on.”

Public Portion: There was only one public portion. The only people who spoke was Perth Amboy American Federation President Pat Paradiso and District Representative Lynn Audet. Here are their statements:

Pat Paradiso: We are very concerned about some of the large class sizes in the district. In the elementary schools, we have large bilingual classes, and some empty classrooms available. We were wondering if you had any plans to have any of the supervisors or instructional leaders cover classes for the safety of our students… at least until we can hire more teachers. 

In a similar vein, we were finally able to get a copy of the Perth Amboy Collaborative Monitoring Report from May 2021 that resulted in the district being put on a Corrective Action Plan. One of the recommendations from the Department of Education stated that the district should “create pathways for paraprofessionals to gain bilingual/bicultural certification to address the bilingual teacher shortage, in coordination with Title II and Title IV funds.” We were wondering where the district is in planning for that. We have always advocated for a pathway to certification for our paraprofessionals and included language in our last negotiations regarding reimbursement of tuition. Too many of our ELLS are being taught by non-Spanish speaking teachers, particularly at the middle and high school level. It puts them in a difficult position. We have the best paraprofessionals in New Jersey and an obvious great need for bilingual teachers. Let’s make this happen. 

On a final note, we are very concerned about assembling large groups of staff members on September 1 & 2 for professional development. All last year professional development was conducted remotely; We know that it can be done that way safely and effectively. We are requesting that you reevaluate that decision. It does not make sense to risk an outbreak before instruction even begins. 

Thank you.

Lynn Audet: On August 31, 2021, I addressed the Perth Amboy Board of Education at their monthly meeting. I must begin by saying that the Executive Session was four hours long that night… I feel that the public portion of the Board meetings should occur before Executive Session. It is unacceptable to make members of the public wait that long to be heard. I feel it is a thinly veiled attempt to deter the public from participating in and listening to the meeting. 

I began by wishing our students and staff the best of luck for a safe and productive school year. The past year and a half have definitely been a very difficult time for all. Our entire staff has been amazing throughout the pandemic! I just wanted to thank them for all that they do every day for our students! 

I was very pleased to see in a letter sent out by Delvis Rodriguez, that the air purifiers at our schools without HVAC are being replaced with appropriate units for the size of the classrooms. The issue of ventilation is something that Union Leadership had been very passionate about being rectified since we learned that the units that were being used were not sufficient to ensure the safety of our students and staff. 

Next, I made a formal request for the Board to adjust our school calendar for the 2021-2022 school year to include a day to observe Juneteenth. 

I also addressed Governor Murphy’s mandate for all staff members to be vaccinated for Covid by October 18, or to be tested at least once a week. It is my understanding that a majority of our staff members are vaccinated. We do, however, have a large number of staff members that for various reasons are not vaccinated. These staff members according to the Governor’s mandate are going to be required to be tested for Covid at least once a week beginning October 18. I requested that the Board negotiate with the AFT as to how this testing will be carried out. We want to make sure that the process of testing will be as easy as possible for our staff members. 

I suggested for AFT Leadership to be included in the decision-making process when it comes to all procedures and protocols that will impact the staff. All too often I feel as if AFT Leadership is not included in the planning stages, which forces us to attempt to rectify problems that could have been avoided in the first place after directives are made public to our staff. 

I gave an example of AFT Leadership not being included in the decision making when we found out “through the grapevine” that there was a Safe Return Planning Committee Meeting scheduled for June 22, 2021, to discuss plans for the upcoming school year. AFT Leadership was not invited to participate in this meeting. We had to push Central Administration to be included.

This practice is not productive and leads us to having to file grievances to be heard. This is something that I have been asking for since I took over as the District Representative. 

I pointed out to the Board of Education that we are not the enemy. We want to work collaboratively to help move the Perth Amboy Public Schools forward, as well as always making sure our members are safe and treated fairly. We are the ones talking to staff members daily and listening to their concerns. We wish to be proactive, not reactive.

Board President Ken Puccio wished everyone good luck in the upcoming school year. It was noted that Board Member Stephanie Márquez-Villafañe lost her mother, Nilda Rivera, and former principal Gerald Chismar has passed away.

Dr. Roman received much applause when he announced that the groundbreaking of the new high school will be on Monday, September 27, 2021. “Many people do not realize the amount of work that the Board does. I’m grateful you volunteer for us. We may not agree how to get there – we gave children an opportunity – your children are safe. We will do what is best. We got you – Here we come!”

Board Member Junior Iglesia stated, “The groundbreaking ceremony – we would like everyone can be a part of that moment.”

Board President Puccio then said, “I thank two of the hardest working people who keep the district going: Maritza and Milagros. They are two of the most hardest working people I know.”

It was noted by the Board that all district employees must be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 or take a Covid Test once or twice a week. This will take effect on October 18, 2021. A copy of the policy was available at the Board Meeting.

Everyone voted yes during the roll call votes for the supervisors on the agenda. 

Board Vice President Tashi Vazquez stated, “I want to thank our school staff for the vaccination clinic and thank the AFT for distributing books.” She emphasized the importance that parents should fill out the free lunch application. “Even though every child will get a free lunch, there are other benefits that become available and we have accurate counts when the application is filled out. I encourage everyone to get that completed. When you see the lines at the food pantry, there is a need.” Vazquez then said, “I encourage students to get library cards. Thank you AFT for being there. Let’s have a safe school year.” Vazquez then added, “Uniforms are available at Kid City. It is mandatory for students to wear uniforms.”

The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m. All Board Members were present.