School board approves the purchase of 500 Chromebooks
Page 4 • Wednesday, October 16, 2019 • The Hammonton Gazette
SCHOOL, from Page 1
district’s “dire need” for bus
drivers, and also mentioned safety
system upgrades being made and
the necessary purchase of 500 new
Chromebooks.
“On your addendum you will
find resolutions for the bus drivers
... We hope this is beneficial in
helping our cause. We have been in
dire need of bus drivers and
substitutes for a long time,”
Berenato said.
the board moved the rate for
substitute bus drivers from $15.50
to $16.50 per hour.
according to Sam Mento in a
text message sent to The Gazette
on October 14, in addition to the
substitute driver rate going from
$15.50 to $16.50, the full time
driver rate will also be raised from
$16 to $17.
an additional 3/4 of an hour per
day for full time drivers was also
added, Mento said.
“Substitutes in this conversation
are substitutes in the true meaning
of the word that they can only
come in when called. those would
be driver[s] in addition to the
current 4 full time substitutes.
[S]ubstitute in that sense meaning
they do not have a assigned daily
route,” Mento said in the text
message to The Gazette.
ramsay took to the podium to
discuss the latest happenings in the
first six weeks of school at HHS.
“all of our students and teachers
have been working extremely hard
… i’m blessed to work with some
of the best teachers in South
Jersey; supervisors, administrators
… they certainly have each and
every one of our students’ best
interests at heart,” ramsay said.
ramsay then discussed the
results of the spring 2019 New
Jersey
Student
Learning
assessments (NJSLa) testing,
formerly known as ParCC.
“Nothing tells the story more
than standardized assessments …
when you’re the principal of a high
school you get very excited when
you see this upward grouping,”
ramsay said in reference to the
upward trend of english Language
arts (eLa) scores from 2017 to
2018 to 2019.
according
to
ramsay’s
presentation, HHS students’ eLa
average score was higher than the
overall state average.
three NJSLa mathematics
exams were given to the students:
algebra 1, Geometry, and algebra
2. according to ramsay’s
presentation, the math scores
fluctuated over the last three years.
“We have our math supervisors
working very hard with the
teachers, analyzing the data,
looking at the different standards
that we really want to improve
upon and emphasize… and i really
expect [the scores] to be right back
up where they should be next
year,” ramsay said in reference to
a dip in algebra 1 scores.
ramsay then discussed the
advanced Placement (aP) courses
offered and the success of HHS
students in passing aP exams.
according to ramsay, HHS has a
higher percentage of students
scoring a 3 and therefore passing
the aP exam than the global or
New Jersey averages. the global
average is 58 percent, the N.J.
average is 69 percent and HHS’s
average is 76 percent students
passing the exam.
“Without a doubt, our students
are college and career ready when
they graduate from Hammonton
High,” ramsay said.
He also mentioned that thanks to
the success of a recently launched
Spanish for Heritage Speakers i
course, there is now a Spanish for
Heritage Speakers ii course as
well. there is also a new math
course to meet the needs of english
Language Learners.
in exciting news, ramsay said
that HHS senior thomas J. Cusick
is one of the 50,000 highest-
scoring Sat test participants out of
1.6 million test takers. also, HHS
students america aguilar and
Liliana arviza scored in the top 2.5
percent on the PSat out of
Hispanic and Latino students in the
region.
according to ramsay, thanks to
a Perkins grant, some new SteaM
academies are coming to HHS,
including computer programming,
Picade (in which students can
design video games), jewelry
design and more. He also
highlighted career and technical
education programs at HHS, such
as radio/tV, cooking and culinary
arts, drafting/design, graphic
design,
journalism,
and
construction technology.
ramsay ended his presentation
with a video about HHS Spirit
Week, which culminated in a
homecoming dance attended by
more than 700 students on
Saturday, October 5.
“i want to thank the board of
education for always supporting
excellence in education, the
students… the teachers, the parents
and the community for always
supporting our schools,” ramsay
said.
Next, assistant Superintendent
tammy
Leonard
gave
a
presentation on the 2018-2019 Self
assessment for Determining
Grades under anti Bullying Bill of
rights.
according to Leonard, each year
the school climate team in each
building does a self assessment
looking at efforts to prevent and
address harassment, intimidation
and bullying (HiB). the highest
possible score for a self assessment
is 78, and for the 2018-2019 school
year the district scored as follows:
• early Childhood education
Center (eCeC): 74
• Warren e. Sooy Jr. elementary
(Sooy): 72
• Hammonton Middle School
(HMS): 72
• HHS: 72
“each year we have seen
improvements, and we always
think we can do better,” Leonard
said.
She
mentioned
some
improvements that have been
made, including the use of the
electronic platform called HiBster
and the integration of social
emotional learning in kindergarten
through fourth grade eLa lessons,
among other things.
Leonard also discussed the
results of the NJSLa testing,
noting that the data will soon be
available on the district website:
www.hammontonschools.org
“What do we do with all this
data? … One of the things we are
doing is continually looking at
assessment data... so [teachers] are
going to use that data to guide
instruction. On a programmatic
level, our curriculum supervisors
are always looking at how students
did on a test to make sure that our
programs are addressing student
needs,” Leonard said.
Leonard went on to mention
some programs being implemented
by the district, such as a new core
reading program called Wonders
for kindergarten through fourth
grade.
after Leonard’s presentation
came committee reports.
Mento started off by mentioning
the board’s contract with architect
Wayne Neville to work on
updating the district’s “Long
range facility Plan,” which will
include a solar project, turf fields
and the possibility of an additional
field house possibly to be placed
by the tennis courts. He also
mentioned the board’s contract
with Classic floors to refinish gym
floors in Sooy elementary and
HMS.
in community relations, board
member ray Scipione discussed a
plethora of recent and upcoming
events in the district. Notably, he
congratulated HHS marching band
on being ranked third out of 43
bands throughout Pennsylvania,
N.J., Maryland and West Virginia.
representing the curriculum
committee, board member Linda
Byrnes highlighted the carpentry
career connections program and
her
excitement
for
its
implementation.
Waterford twp. representative
al Pangia noted that the four-
month district-wide restructuring
in Waterford twp. is complete,
with
grade
levels
being
reconfigured, principals and some
support staff being reassigned and
building
upgrades
being
completed. He also noted that
public support along with
enrollment has been on the rise.
“i wish to take this time to
publicly thank all of you around
this table for your continuous
support,” Pangia said.
in negotiations, board member
Kelli fallon also mentioned the
changes in the bus drivers contract.
“We’re in a situation where you
need to open the contract mid-
term, which is not typical, but we
are opening it up mid-term in an
effort to attract and hold on to some
quality people to drive our kids,”
fallon said.
the meeting then moved on to
voting, first on matters concerning
finance. Most notably, the board
resolved to:
• ratify the purchase order lists
for august and September 2019 in
the amount of $1,689,109.66
See BOARD, Page 12