Schools

Five Things You Need to Know About the Galloway Township School District

It is part of the Teens for Jeans Campaign, and four other things that took place at Monday's Board of Education meeting.

1.     President Ernest Huggard stated at the board’s meeting Monday night Jan. 31 at the that by approving the budget without going before the public for a vote, the Galloway school district is falling in line with every other local government in the country, as well as local school districts in Ventnor, Margate, Linwood and Port Republic. He also stressed that the only way to get all the facts about school district is to attend the Board of Education meetings.

The district voted to move school board elections to November and to pass their annual budget without voter approval as long as they stay under the 2 percent cap at its meeting last week.

“For those who are disappointed, we remind you we are a representative democracy,” Huggard said. “We represent the taxpayers of Galloway. If you don’t agree with us, you can remove us when the time comes.”

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2.     The Galloway Township School District has joined the 5th annual Jeans for Teens Campaign, sponsored by dosomething.org the district announced Tuesday morning, Jan. 31. The campaign collects gently worn jeans for homeless teens across the country.

The district is asking those who plan to attend the Wellness Fair at the middle school on Feb. 9, 6-8 p.m., to bring bring gently worn teen size jeans for donation. Those donating jeans will receive a coupon for the in Galloway, and will be automatically entered into a raffle to win a $25 Visa Giftcard. One coupon and one raffle entry for every pair of jeans collected.

Find out what's happening in Gallowaywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

3.     Steven Bolli was promoted to Facilities Operations Manager at a pro-rated salary of $85,000 at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting. Larry Timberman was promoted to Assistant Facilities Operations Manager at a pro-rated salary of $58,000. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Annette Giaquinto stressed that these were not new positions, and, according to Business Administrator Tim Kelley, the school district will be saving $20,000.  Previously, the district had one person who was the Buildings and Grounds Manager and one was the Operations Manager. With the retirement of the Buildings and Grounds Manager, the district decided to revert back to its old format, using a Facilities Operations Manager and an assistant. Timberman was given a starting salary since this is his first district level manager’s position, Giaquinto said. Bolli has been a district level manager for many years, so he doesn't have to begin at an entry level salary, Giaquinto said.

4.     The New Jersey Department of Education recently audited the Galloway Township School District, and while the groups did find some things the school district needed to correct, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Annette Giaquinto stressed at Monday’s meeting that the school did not lose any federal funding. The state will take back federal funding from districts found to have major violations.

5.     Recent discussions between the school district and the NCLB reveal that economically disadvantaged children are not scoring as well as children who are not economically disadvantaged. Studies show that while economically disadvantaged children qualify to receive both breakfast and lunch from the school district, there are many more children taking advantage of the lunch program than the breakfast program. As a result, the district intends to study the breakfast habits of children, at no cost to the taxpayer.


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