april 2019
Lawrence High DECA students claim spotlight at Proposed budget state conference — 23 qualify for international level invests in future Public hearing set for May 1 Board meeting You can count on it. If it’s time for NCAA college basketball’s March Madness tournament, it’s time to begin finalizing the district’s budget for the following year. Our Board of Education (BOE) approved the proposed budget at their March 13, 2019 meeting. We then sent the document to the NJ Department of Education’s County Office for approval by the County Superintendent. Once we receive that approval, we will hold a public hearing. Currently, that hearing is scheduled as part of our BOE’s May 1, 2019 meeting. We have until May 14 to change the proposed budget before submitting the final plan to the state. Students in Lawrence High School’s (LHS) DECA (formerly called Distributive Education Clubs of America) chapter made a big showing at the 2019 State Leadership Conference on March 4-6, 2019 in Atlantic City, N.J. Sixty-three LHS chapter members competed in marketing, finance, and entrepreneurship areas. Twenty-nine members took home 45 different awards, and of those, twenty-three earned spots to compete at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida in April. Diane Schneck, LHS business teacher, advises the chapter.
Check out the list of LHS DECA stars: https:// tinyurl.com/yyj894bt. As the DECA website relates, DECA was founded in 1946 and is organized into two unique student divisions. The High School Division includes 200,000 members in 3,500 schools. The Collegiate Division includes over 15,000 members in 275 colleges and universities. Members can be found in all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Canada, China, Germany, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Spain. The United States Congress, the United States Department of Education, and state, district, and international departments of education authorize DECA’s programs.
The district’s responsibility of developing a cost-efficient budget falls under Goal 4 Fiscal Responsibility of our strategic plan and aligns with our mission statement. Goal 4 reads, “The district will continue to prioritize the use of funds and
District to host Most Likely To Succeed documentary screening — April 8 Whether you’re a parent/guardian or a community member with no children in our district, we encourage you to explore compelling new approaches that aim to revolutionize education as we know it, and join us for a screening of Most Likely To Succeed (LMTS). This is a thought-provoking documentary feature film that reveals the growing shortcomings of conventional education methods in today’s innovative world. We will host the screening Monday, April 8 in the Lawrence High School auditorium (2525 Princeton Pike) beginning at 6:30 p.m. Babysitting is
provided. Online registration is open now at https://tinyurl.com/y2p9rsrr. The documentary runs approximately 90 minutes. Afterward, Ted Dintersmith, the film’s producer, will join us via Skype for a discussion. The film inspires school communities to reimagine what students and teachers are capable of doing. To date, MLTS has screened for thousands of audiences around the world, igniting conversations, and empowering change along the way.
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Excellence personified Third grade teacher named STEM Teacher of the Year by engineering society Sarah Sutton, 3rd grade teacher at Ben Franklin Elementary, has received the 2019 STEM Teacher of the Year Award from the Professional Engineers Society of Mercer County. For the past five years, Sarah invited her brother, a structural engineer, to do an engineering activity with her class. It began with his visiting as a college student and, once he started working at WSP in Lawrence, it developed into a company-backed project that expanded to a grade-wide event. Engineers from all parts of the company visited 3rd grade classes, spoke to them a little about their jobs, and then guided them through an activity. In previous years, the Mercer County STEM Teacher of the Year Award was given to high school teachers only. Sarah is the first elementary teacher to receive the honor.
Sarah Sutton
Lawrence High senior honored with national recognition for volunteer service Lawrence High School (LHS) senior, Andrew Sam, has been honored by the President of the United States for his exemplary volunteer service. The President’s Volunteer Service Award, which recognizes Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country, was granted by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program. LHS nominated Andrew last fall in recognition of his service, which included volunteering at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, the Lawrence Public Library. Additionally, and for the past three summers, Andrew volunteered as a research intern at the Beld Laboratory at Drexel University under Dr. Joris Beld, where Andrew conducted experiments on soil and tree bark bacteria.
L-R: LHS Principal Dave Adam & Andrew Sam
A school is a promise a community makes to itself about its future. — Shanna Peeples, USA 2015 National Teacher of the Year (continued from page 1) Budget . . . develop long-range planning strategies to cause cost containment and to create new revenue sources.” Budget Objectives Our proposed budget invests in the future: – protects primary resources (maintains existing programs and increases school security), – improves learning spaces, and – reduces overhead costs. The Lawrence Township Public Schools and Lawrence Township each will fund an additional Class III Officer. This means there will be two new such officers in our district. Both will share responsibilities of covering our four elementary schools. We will re-roof the administration building and add solar panels. We also will install solar panels on the maintenance building at 290 Eggerts Crossing Road. Appropriations = Spending Plan – Over the course of the past three years, the
cost of general education has grown 6% and the cost of special education has increased 21%. (As is the case for several districts, our enrollment is declining. This gives us the chance to create additional special education programs and bring back to our district special education students now in out-ofdistrict placements. Currently, we’re in the midst of taking a close look at our in-district and out-ofdistrict programs to see if there are opportunities to bring students back.) – Medical insurance premiums increased 14-16% over last year. Increase is determined by utilization. – General operating expenditures increased 2.75%. – Labor costs increased 3% excluding benefits. – We received $272,090 additional state aid for special education. – Consolidating as many bus routes as possible has helped to contain our ever-rising transportation costs. However, the state’s recent legislation to increase minimum wages of contractors and to grant sick leave to drivers will affect our costs. Currently, we own one van, four mini buses, and three full-size buses and provide district employee driv-
ers for those vehicles. We contract with eight bus companies for general and special education routes, and their drivers cover the routes. Generally, we daily run 115 routes to and from school and several vocational routes. Revenue Our tax levy increases are slightly more than 2% due to waivers we received from the state. Waivers are granted for certain categories of costs when the amount exceeds the 2% cap imposed on a school district’s budget. Areas in which the state may grant waivers include benefits, enrollment, pension, and shifting government responsibility. Tax Impact On an average assessed home in Lawrence Township of $282,000, the tax impact of our proposed budget is $141 per year. Questions about the budget may be addressed to Business Administrator Tom Eldridge at teldridge@ ltps.org or (609) 671-5420. See budget tables on page 4.
Who you gonna call? Call Guidance!
Guidance Department impacts every student in each school The mission of our Guidance Department is to implement a comprehensive, developmental program and provide guidance and counseling services to students in areas of education, career, and emotional development. School counselors provide support services to students in the following areas: 504 plan implementation for eligible students, Intervention and Referral Services (I&RS), services for students with health and medical needs, social-emotional learning, mental health support, and career and college planning. Providing support in all these areas is achieved through the collaboration and dedication of our staff, administrators, students, parents, and members of the Board of Education. Meet the Guidance Department Melanie Fillmyer, guidance supervisor, has served in Lawrence for two years. Her district responsibilities include test coordinator, anti-bullying coordinator, and 504 coordinator as well as supervisor of all K-12 school counselors. Lawrence High School (LHS) Christian D’Angelo started his career in Lawrence in 2007. He is a school counselor, anti-bullying specialist, and the Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP) liaison. He began his career in outpatient mental health, transitioned to inpatient psychiatry to outpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation. He worked at the Art Institute of Philadelphia Counseling Center before coming to LHS. Marjorie Cobin has been at LHS since 2002. She began her career as an English teacher, is a licensed social worker, and has worked in the mental health field. She is a member of Core Team which provides support and programs that focus on mental health and drug and alcohol issues. Marjorie organizes and publishes the LHS monthly scholarship bulletin and co-plans and facilitates the annual Summer College Application Boot Camp. Alexa Gonzalez has been an LHS counselor since 2012. Previously, she was a counselor at a bilingual charter school in Philadelphia and was a Regional Director of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania. From 19992007, Alexa and her husband worked in international schools in Mexico
and Saudi Arabia. At LHS, Alexa works with grades 9-12 students to identify, develop, and mobilize their own resources to successfully solve problems and meet challenges. She helps to direct LHS’s I&RS process, facilitates the Big Brother/Big Sister Program between LHS and Ben Franklin students, and is the liaison to different military branches connected to LHS. Doreen Welsh has been a counselor at LHS for 28 years. She is serving her second 4-year term as President of the Mercer County Professional Counselors Association where she runs a countywide college fair with over 150 colleges attending annually. At LHS, she has been the Student Council advisor for 20 years and has integrated the Josten Renaissance Program for students. Doreen coordinates the annual job fair, and is a member of Core Team and I&RS.
long-term leave replacement before coming to LMS. She is head coach of the girls cross country team and assistant winter and spring track coach at LHS.
Lawrence Intermediate School (LIS)
school climate, leading AWESOME assemblies and The Great Kindness Challenge. She teaches monthly guidance lessons which promote kindness and empathy. Melissa is the LES anti-bullying specialist and Leader in Learning.
Patricia Esser has been a school
L-R Standing: Vanessa Bernal, Doreen Welsh, Jennifer Holmes, Christine Bobb Nicholas, Patricia Esser, Elizabeth Guarini, Ann DeGennaro, Patricia Burns, Alexa Gonzalez, Meliss Wall, Corrine Rutt, Kristin Hopson L-R Seated: Marjorie Cobin, Melanie Fillmyer, Christian D’Angelo, JoAnn Geter
Ann DeGennaro is the LHS Student Assistance Counselor. In addition to her undergrad and graudate degrees, she holds a certificate in addiction counseling. For the past 14 years, she has provided short-term counseling for students and their families who are experiencing emotional, personal, or interpersonal difficulties or are struggling with substance abuse. She provides district-wide, in-service workshops for district staff on a variety of topics. Ann was an adjunct professor in the Counselor Education masters program at The College of New Jersey.
Lawrence Middle School (LMS)
Christine Bobb Nicholas has served at LMS for three years. She attended Montclair State University for her bachelor’s degree and Wilmington University for her masters. Before coming to Lawrence, she was an academic advisor at Salem Community College. Elizabeth Guarini has been a counselor at LMS for three years. She earned her masters in school counseling from The College of New Jersey and worked at West Windsor Plainsboro North High School as a
counselor for over 20 years. In addition to her undergrad and graduate degrees, she holds a substance abuse counseling certificate. She taught elementary education in a private school in Trenton and was a school counselor at Hunterdon County before coming to Lawrence. JoAnn Geter began her career as a school counselor at LIS 17 years ago. She has worked as a special education teacher in Ewing, Princeton, and South Brunswick Public Schools. Jennifer Holmes has been a LIS counselor for over 10 years. She has served on the summer faculty at Princeton University and was on the executive board for the Mercer County Professional Counselor Association as 2nd Vice President. She has been a Best Buddies International volunteer for over 15 years.
K-3 School Counselors
Melissa Wall began at Lawrenceville Elementary (LES) in 2017, bringing with her eight years of experience as an elementary and middle school counselor. She works with the school community to promote a positive
Patricia Burns has worked for the district since 1995 and has been an Eldridge Park school counselor since 2000. Prior to her current position, Patricia taught both Kindergarten and 3rd grade at LES. Kristin Hopson became the Slackwood School counselor after Melanie Seaman retired last year. Kristin interned with Melanie 16 years ago, and taught at LES as a special education teacher for 13 years. Previously, Kristin taught in the Mercer County Special Services School District. Cory Rutt has worked professionally with students in grades pre-K through 12 and is in her second year as the school counselor at Ben Franklin Elementary. She is also a licensed associate counselor (LAC), is a nationally certified counselor (NCC), and has worked as an adjunct professor in Rider University’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling. She has co-authored research that has been published in scholarly counseling journals. — Melanie Fillmyer Guidance Supervisor
Board of Education Kevin Van Hise, Esq., Pres. Dana Drake, Vice Pres. Michele Bowes Jonathan Dauber, Ed.D. Pepper Evans Jo Ann Groeger Michelle King, Ph.D. Cathy LeCompte Joyce Scott
District Mission The mission of the Lawrence Township Public Schools is to foster a community that: • values academic excellence, critical thinking skills, and lifelong learning; • challenges each student to become a responsible citizen of a global society; and • respects different learning styles and adapts instruction accordingly.
Check us out on the Web! www.ltps.org Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/LTPS1/ lists/ltps Online Backpack
As part of the district’s “greening” initiatives, we continue to successfully promote the use of the Online Backpack on the district website. Information from non-profit entities is entered as it is received. Check the site often.
Ross Kasun, Ed.D. Superintendent
Andrew Zuckerman, Ed.D. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction
Thomas Eldridge Business Administrator/Board Secretary
Sean M. Fry
Director of Personnel & Administrative Services
Linda Mithaug
Director of Student Services
Lana Mueller Editor
lmueller@ltps.org 609-671-5405 2565 Princeton Pike Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648 Phone: 609-671-5500
(continued from page 2) Budget . . .
2019/2020 Appropriations by Program