Westfield Board of Education Bids Farewell to Jane Clancy

After six years, Clancy says goodbye to Board.

At Tuesday evening's meeting of the Westfield Board of Education, members said goodbye to Facilities Committee Chairperson Jane Clancy. The educator and mother of seven began serving on the Westfield Board of Education in 2006 and announced in May that she would not seek re-election this past November. In a letter to the editor, Clancy stated that she was "filled with mixed emotions" upon declaring that she would not seek a third term. With her fifth child off to college, Clancy cited increasing career responsibilities as her reason for bidding the Board farewell. "I hope that I have made a positive impact on the district," she wrote. "I know that it has had one on me." Fellow Board member Mitch Slater said he felt honored to be able to …

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Letter: Clancy: 'Both Projects Are Important'

Facilities chair says it is not unusual to have multiple projects in one bond referendum.

Some residents have questioned why the September 24 School Bond Referendum to support new roofs and a turf field is one question on the ballot.  First, let me explain that this is not unusual. Four out of the last six bond referendum elections in the Westfield schools have been for multiple projects under ONE QUESTION.  On September 24, the Princeton Public Schools are holding a bond referendum election with ONE QUESTION, which also includes multiple facilities projects (roofing and turf as well).  In my research I have found many districts in New Jersey that have one question on their bond referendum and it includes fields and other facility projects. But that is not the driving factor for one question in Westfield. Both projects have …

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Letter: Clancy Thanks Residents for Attending Turf Field Outreach Meeting

The Facilities Committee Chairperson said the committee will continue to meet "throughout the summer and discuss topics that were raised at the meeting."

On behalf of the Facilities Committee of the Westfield Board of Education, I would like to thank the residents surrounding Westfield High School for coming to the Community Meeting on July 10.  The purpose of the meeting was to provide the residents with an update on the September 24 bond referendum, which includes a lighted turf field at WHS, as well as to answer as many questions as we could.  Joining the Facilities Committee, Superintendent Margaret Dolan, and Athletic Supervisor Sandy Mamary, were experts on field design, synthetic turf and lighting who provided explanations of the plan and answered technical questions. The facilities committee will continue to meet throughout the summer and discuss topics that were raised at the …

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Letter: After Six Years on BOE, Clancy Will Not Seek Re-election

The educator and mother of seven began serving on the Westfield Board of Education in 2006.

Thank you, Westfield, for allowing me to serve on the Board of Education since 2006. As a 26-year resident and a mom, of soon-to-be five Westfield school graduates, I have been honored to work alongside the most dedicated and hardworking people of our community. I have said it many times before and I'll say it again, we are so fortunate to live in a community that cares so deeply about its children and their education.  I am filled with mixed emotions as I declare that I will not be seeking another term on the Westfield Board of Education. I promise to dedicate my time and energy over the next seven months to the Board's current goals and objectives. However, next year, with our fifth child heading off to college, I will be increasing my …

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Video: BOE Reads Ethics Statement

Walker asked entire board to read statement.

In a change from previous years, Board of Education President Julia Walker changed the practice for the annual reading of the Board of Education ethics statement. Earlier this year, Walker had the entire board read the statement instead of reading it alone. Walker said that she believed this would allow the entire board to understand the meaning of the statement. Check out video.

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BOE Defers Final Decision on Tax Relief vs. Spending

Board places extra state aid in budget, to make final decision at future meeting.

The Board of Education punted a final decision on whether or not to use additional state aid for property tax relief or additional spending in the school district. The BOE voted during an emergency meeting late Friday afternoon to designate the additional $845,448 in state aid for inclusion in the 2011-2012 school budget, but deferred decisions on the exact spending and left open the door for using part or all of the funds for property tax relief. The board, which officially learned of the additional aid authorized by Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday, learned Thursday that they had to make a final decision on possibly using the funds for immediate property tax relief before Tuesday afternoon. Acting Education Commissioner Chris Cerf …

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BOE Sets Aside $1 Million for New Boilers, Bathrooms, Windows

Leiz raises questions about process used to determine fund transfer.

Following months of calls to create a maintenance reserve fund for the school system, the Board of Education voted last week to deposit an estimated $1 million from the 2010-2011 budget into a fund and authorized several projects to spend the funds on. The funds, taken from unspent line items throughout the budget, which ended on June 30, will be spent on a series of facilities projects. The move comes several months after the school district’s auditor advised the Board of Education that the district needed to build up the capital reserve fund, which totaled slightly over $800. “In view of the fact that the district had budgeted very little capital maintenance, the board has decided to use the funds for maintenance,” interim BOE Business …

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Rec Commission Discusses Pool, Jefferson Field

Town Administrator Jim Gildea made a presentation to the Recreation Commission about the budget surplus of Memorial Pool. Also, the Commission discussed the status of the Jefferson Elementary School field.

Recreation Commission members were briefed on the Memorial Pool's financing, surplus and financial history Tuesday night. Town Administrator Jim Gildea made the presentation as part of the commission's monthly meeitng. He noted the Memorial Pool was built in 1969 for $800,000, according to Gildea’s presentation. It was created, and paid for, as a town utility rather being financed by the municipal tax dollars. That distinction is important, Gildea said, because it mean that Memorial Pool is self-sustaining; it operates every season using the revenues from the previous season. In fact, the only money ever invested into the pool by the taxpayers was the initial investment over 40 years ago. Gildea stressed that if the pool had been built as …

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State Regulations Delay Replacement of School Boilers on 'Last Legs'

BOE told that McKinley boiler likely to survive winter.

Placing the blame at state regulations, the Board of Education postponed replacement of almost dead boilers at McKinley and Franklin Schools until next spring. BOE Facilities Committee Chairwoman Jane Clancy said that while the replacement of the boilers is needed before the boilers fail, a list of state regulations on how to replace boilers and when school districts have to provide heat prohibits the replacement over the summer. Clancy made the announcement while outlining facilities goals during Tuesday evening’s board meeting. “The McKinley boilers are on their last legs,” Clancy said. Clancy said the state requires school districts to provide heat starting on Oct. 15 and the process to replace the boilers will not be completed by then…

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EduNation: A Patch Report on Our Schools

Activity Fee Helped Avoid Massive School Cuts

Parents pay student-activity fees to save this school year, but picture for next school budget is troubling.

One speech is all it took to rock the Westfield Board of Education to its very core. And one generous gesture from parents was all it took to prevent the board from having to make massive cuts to student programs. The March 16th budget address by Governor Chris Christie – where he called for cutting state education aid by up to 5 percent of the school district's budget –  or the equivalent of a 90 percent cut in state aid — sent local school officials into a seemingly endless series of meetings dedicated to finding ways to offset a larger-than-anticipated cut in state aid. School officials had believed the word of then state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, who, on March 2, had told districts to prepare for a cut of up to 15 percent …

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