DISTRICT , from Page 1 Chieco gave a brief presentation regarding the Student Safety Data System Report Period 1 from September 1 through December 31 , 2022 .
“ School districts are required by statute to report to the New Jersey Department of Education any instance involving violence , which includes fights , assault or threats , alleged or confirmed harassment , intimidation or bullying , vandalism , which includes incidents such as trespassing and damages to property , weapons and substances , which includes possession or use of alcohol or drugs . Schools must also report any other incidents resulting in a half-day or more of in-school suspension ,” Chieco said .
Chieco said that this information must be reported to the
board of education in a public hearing two times each year . In terms of total incidents , Chieco said that there were 28 for the reporting period .
Of those , 13 are for violence , one is for vandalism , two is for substances , two for weapons , 10 for hit confirmed , 16 for hit alleged and 217 for other incidents leading to removal ,” Chieco said .
After the report , Chieco told the board that the district was scheduled to host a presentation by the Atlantic County Prosecutor ’ s Office at 6:30 p . m . on March 29 in the Hammonton Middle School auditorium .
Chieco said the presentation will relate to “ making good decisions related to social media and cell phones , focusing on cyberbullying , sexting and human trafficking .”
“ Although this information is primarily for parents , students in grades four through 12 may also attend with their families ,” Chieco said .
Board member Luke Coia commented further during the report from the Safety Committee .
“ It could be very helpful . We all have young kids with these devices , and there ’ s a lot of stuff that they can be doing on there . It ’ s going to be a good learning experience for everybody ,” Coia said .
Wednesday , March 29 , 2023 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
Board of education discusses safety matters at meeting
Coia said that the committee is investigating the possibility of hiring a second School Resource Officer ( SRO ) at the high school .
“ Hopefully , we could find some funds to make that happen ,” Coia said .
Coia also discussed concerns for the Warren E . Sooy Jr . Elementary School ( WES ) grounds .
“ We have all that old , wooden guiderail that ’ s probably 30 , 40 years old — I don ’ t know — but it ’ s all deteriorating . I sit there and watch as I wait to pick up my daughter ; kids are leaning against it . They ’ re sitting on it . In the spring and the summer , there ’ s bees flying all over it . It ’ s a disaster . Quite frankly , I don ’ t think it would stop a bicycle from going through it ,” Coia said .
Coia expressed hope that funds could be found to effect repairs to the guiderail .
Additionally , Coia discussed security cameras in the district .
“ Some of our cameras are really old ; I ’ m being told by our IT department that it ’ s hard to get parts for them ; he ’ s replacing what he can and moving things around . My suggestion would be , let ’ s see if we can get a whole , brand-new camera system . Let ’ s bring it up to date ,” Coia said .
Under the Solar Committee report , board member Kelli Fallon noted “ the solar project is over .”
“ I had requested to chair a special committee to explore how we can further support and enhance the arts curriculum in our district . This was denied by our board president , but I still want to discuss this with the board as a whole ,” Fallon said .
Fallon said that it is important to promote social and emotional learning , which includes music and art education . Fallon said that , currently , there are 90 first-grade students signed up for Paul Enuco ’ s violin club , and the fifthgrade band has 60 participants , 15 of whom are playing the violin .
“ I think it ’ s time to extend string instruction and ensembles into the middle and high schools — and , honestly , I think we ’ re decades overdue for it . This isn ’ t an extension of a music program ; it ’ s a completion of a music program to incorporate strings ,” Fallon said .
Fallon expressed a desire to discuss the matter further in a committee . Board president Sam Mento was not present at the meeting .
“ Mr . Mento ’ s not here tonight , so he can ’ t grant my request now , but I ’ ll renew it next month — and I ’ m going to keep renewing it to ask for a separate committee to dive into this ,” Fallon said .
The next meeting of the Hammonton Board of Education is scheduled for April 13 at 7 p . m .
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