WESTFIELD — In less than a year, the Westfield Board of Education (BOE) will introduce a capital bond ordinance that, if approved by local voters, would allow the district to address existing challenges and prepare itself to better meet the changing needs of the school community.
On Tuesday, during a special meeting of the BOE, Superintendent Raymond González, Ed.D., said the district has already formed a community advisory committee that will provide feedback and suggestions as the board attempts to draft its bond proposal and identify its collective priorities.
The 60-member committee — comprised of parents, Westfield taxpayers, school administrators, board members, teachers and staff — met for an introductory meeting earlier this month. Going forward, Dr. González said, the group will act as a “valuable sounding board” that will help add a variety of community voices into the conversation as the proposal moves toward public introduction later this year.
“There is a very big difference between a bond referendum and a general operating budget, and we want to make sure that we get that information out there now so that people know what to expect,” Dr. González said. “The tax levy provides us with the resources that we need to operate our schools on an annual basis. This bond referendum would be more like putting a mortgage or a home equity loan on a house.”
The district plans to launch a digital referendum portal on its website over the coming weeks. In the meantime, Dr. González said, residents are invited to bring their questions, comments or concerns about the referendum directly to the board either by attending public meetings or emailing wboe@westfieldnjk12.org.
Tuesday night’s meeting also saw board members engage in conversation about social media, meeting decorum, conflict resolution, expectations and responsibilities as part of an ethics seminar conducted under the direction of Jeanne Cleary and Patricia Rees of the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA).
“As a general matter, a school official does not violate [the state’s School Ethics Act] merely because they engage in social-media activity,” Ms. Cleary said, but cautioned that in the past, “reasonable members of the public” have construed personal posts by elected officials as official communications from the bodies that they were elected to serve.
Ms. Cleary went on to remind board members that all social-media posts made to personal accounts should include a disclaimer that isolates their own opinions from those of the BOE.
Board member Charles Gelinas asked whether a legal definition for “reasonable members of the public” had ever been provided by the state, adding that he doubted whether people would be willing to accept social-media posts as official vehicles for communication.
“Unfortunately, it’s a gray area,” Ms. Rees said. “People in your community know that you are a board member, so your comments carry a different weight. Even if you are posting something to a personal site or sending something from a personal email, someone who doesn’t know how board communications work may assume that you have more information about a given topic than you do.”
The board also recognized multiple teachers and thanked them for their continuing dedication to the district on Tuesday as part of its annual end-of-year recognition ceremony. Among this year’s honorees were Ryan Belline, an Edison Intermediate School mathematics teacher, and Marissa Conneely, a social studies teacher from Roosevelt Intermediate School, both of whom were named as the winners of this year’s Optimist Club Awards.
According to information provided by the district, the Optimist Club, a non-profit organization that supports children and schools within the community, presents these awards each year to celebrate middle-school teachers and their accomplishments.
John Cheddar, a wrestling coach who works as a Language Arts teacher at the high school, was recognized as the winner of this year’s Robert and Linda Foose Memorial Award. A laudatory resolution in Mr. Cheddar’s honor explained that the award was created to recognize “a member of the Westfield High School faculty who, through both excellence in teaching in the classroom and a demonstrated commitment to intellectual pursuits beyond the class- room, is a role model and an inspiration to the Westfield High School community.”
This year’s Jeffrey Family Above and Beyond Award was presented to Westfield High School teacher Gregory Bowers for, as district officials said Tuesday, being “a dedicated social studies teacher at Westfield High School” who “makes the classroom welcoming and fun while making students feel like they have a safe place to go.”
Shawn McDonald, a Westfield High School Language Arts teacher who also spearheads the district’s award-winning journalism program, was named as the winner of this year’s PTSO Teacher of the Year Award. Ms. McDonald was applauded for her dedication and commitment to her students.
Further, Craig Stanton, a music teacher at Westfield High School who was described by district administrators as an “above-and-beyond” educator who “provides a positive and highly-creative classroom environment,” was recognized as the 2024 Distinguished Teacher of the Year.
“Our teachers and staff are our greatest assets, and we want to thank you all for all of the work that you do for our students,” Board President Robert Benacchio said, addressing the honorees.
