Welcome to our first Board of Directors meeting of the new

school year.

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September began with some very good news for New Jersey’s

public school community.

Our state’s public schools received the top ranking in Education

Week’s annual report on school quality, which was released on

September 4th. Education Week cited New Jersey’s financial

commitment to public education, its efforts to close the

achievement gap, and overall student academic performance.

The high performance of our public schools is nothing new. In

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fact, we consistently rank near the top in the Education Week

survey and other measures of school quality. This month’s report

is one more indicator of the hard work and commitment of our

state’s school board members, educators, parents and students.

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Our schools attained another benchmark when the Governor

announced that New Jersey became the first state in the nation

with universal access to arts education. This is a significant

accomplishment, and one that will benefit our students.

I’ve always been very proud of NJSBA’s efforts to put the “A”

for “arts” into STEAM education. The fine, visual and

performing arts can have a powerful and positive impact on

students’ academic performance, their careers, and the quality of

their lives.

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Achieving universal access to arts education has been an initiative

of Arts ED New Jersey, a non-profit advocacy group that is

headed by our own Bob Morrison. Bob is one of the nation’s

leading researchers and advocates for arts education. He has

worked tirelessly for many years to make universal arts education

a reality for our students.

This summer, it was my pleasure to present Bob with the Certified

Board Leader Award from NJSBA’s Board Member Academy

during a meeting of the Watchung Hills Regional Board of

Education.

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I am happy to report that NJSBA is also off to a very good start

this year. Member participation in September activities has been

very healthy.

The Legislative Committee met on September 14, with over 60

people in attendance. In addition to the updates and discussion of

state and federal legislation, we heard an presentation on student

assessments from Diane Pasculli, deputy assistant commissioner

at the New Jersey Department of Education.

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We had an excellent turnout for last Saturday’s CAL meeting.

Leaders of the state’s 21 county school boards associations heard

an excellent presentation on social-emotional learning from Liz

Warner and Patricia Heindel of St. Elizabeth’s College.

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The County School Boards Associations have become a true

success story for NJSBA. And we are committed to continuing

that success. As I frequently say, the health of NJSBA is

dependent of the health of the county school boards association.

And we remain in excellent shape, thanks to the formula of

excellent programs, good locations and good food. Eleven

counties met in September, and overall attendance was up by 9.5

percent compared to their first meetings in 2018.

As always, I make a commitment to visit all 21 county

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associations. I have attended the Warren and Union County

meetings so far. Both were well attended. This year, the subject of

my presentations at the county meetings will be the final report of

the NJSBA Task Force on Mental Health Services in the Public

Schools. It’s titled Building a Foundation for Hope. More about

that later.

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As I’ve reported previously, our non-dues revenue is at an all

time high—36.6%. Nonetheless, we are still primarily a dues-

supported organization. And the rate of dues payment serves as

another indicator of member support. As of today, over 95% of

the state’s school districts have paid their dues. That is roughly

equivalent to last year.

But before we break out the Champaign, I have to add a dose of

reality to the conversation. There is a possibility that a small

number of districts will hold back on paying their dues. If this

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transpires, we are prepared to take the necessary legal action.

Tonight, the Board of Directors took an important step by

approving the new policy on loss of membership services.

I would be remiss if I did not address the fact that, last week, the

Toms River Regional Board of Education adopted a resolution

calling on its legislative representatives to introduce a bill to

eliminate mandatory membership in NJSBA.

We’ve been down this road before. A number of our members—

Toms River included—do not realize the full extent of the benefits

they receive from NJSBA. From 2014 through 2018, Toms River

saved $459,023 through NJSBA’s ACES energy program. That

works out to $94,970 per year—or over three-and-a-half times its

annual NJSBA dues.

When NJSBA was founded in 1914, the Legislature required

membership by all school boards so that they could speak with

one voice on educational issues. Today, mandated membership

also enables us to be one of the state’s largest providers of shared

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services, such as the ACES and TEC purchasing programs. It

helps many local school boards receive direct services and

training that they would not be able to afford otherwise. Our

partnerships and initiatives, which advance education and save

school boards money—such as Future Ready Schools, STEAM

education, Sustainable Jersey and NJSBA TEC—would not be

possible without the level of dues income provided by mandatory

membership.

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Partnerships are critical to our future growth. I’ve shown this

chart before. It lists some—but not all—of the partnerships

we’ve built over the past six years, as part of our Strategic Plans.

I’d like to briefly focus on developments related to some of these

collaborative efforts.

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Our relationship with the U.S. Army, provides our members with

valuable training and consultation related to STEAM education.

It’s an important membership benefit. Last Friday, we hosted a

meeting with Lt. Col. Brendan Toolan, the new commander of

the Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Battalion. He replaced Lt. Col. Keith

Bryant, who was a strong supporter of our partnership.

The colonel has expressed his enthusiastic support for continuing

our partnership. He has authorized the Army’s continued funding

of a STEAM education specialist on our staff. Right now, the

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specialist is Staff Sergeant Joe Wittmer, who participates in our

STEAM training and consultation for local school districts and

helps to direct the annual STEAM Tank Challenge. By the way,

this year, the STEAM Tank Challenge has engaged over 2,000

public school students.

Sergeant Joe will be taking on a new assignment with the Army in

January, and Col. Toolan has made a commitment to place another

full-time STEAM education specialist on our staff, paid for

entirely by the Army.

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As part of our relationship with the Army, each year since 2016,

NJSBA has promoted Military Opportunities Day.

Many students and parents are not aware of the wide range of

opportunities offered by the U.S. Armed Forces, including

scholarships, training and certification in more than 200 areas.

We encourage schools to provide information about these

opportunities as part of their efforts to help students prepare for

post-secondary college and careers.

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The letter on the screen was distributed to school district leaders

on Monday. It s signed by the executive directors of the state’s

major educational organizations. They constitute a coalition called

Leadership for Educational Excellence, or the LEE Group.

Here’s a bit of history: The coalition’s roots extend back to the

1960s, when NJSBA and NJEA determined that there was a need

to put aside differences and work on common goals. Originally, it

was called the “Princeton Group,” because its meetings were held

on the campus of the Educational Testing Service, which provided

the space as a public service. Over the years, the coalition has

gone under several names, but its purpose has always been the

same—finding common ground to advance public education.

This year, NJSBA is hosting the meetings of the LEE Group, and

yesterday we held our first meeting of the new school year.

President Mike attended the meeting and was impressed by the

depth of what we covered. In addition to the educational

organizations, the commissioner or his representatives also attend

the meetings. Yesterday’s discussions focused on health benefits

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reform, the importance of an accurate 2020 Census for New

Jersey, school finance, and pupil transportation, among other

topics.

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We have discussed Sustainable Jersey for Schools, a partnership

with The College of New Jersey, before. It has now grown to

include 57 percent of the state’s school districts, representing 872

schools. Sustainable Jersey has distributed over $1.8 million in

small grants to school districts and enabled them to initiate 5,100

sustainability action. Any discussion of the value of NJSBA

membership cannot overlook partnerships like Sustainable

Jersey.

And I am proud to say that, like many of our members, NJSBA is

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also implementing sustainability actions. You will notice that

tonight we have new badges. These are biodegradable,

compostable and environmentally friendly. And we can thank

Sheli Dansky for her suggestion last spring that we move beyond

the typical plastic badge holders, which clog landfills and hurt the

environment.

The administration of another important partnership, Future

Ready Schools–New Jersey, is being moved from the New Jersey

Institute of Technology to Sustainable Jersey. We believe this

change make Future Ready Schools even more successful. Future

Ready Schools was founded by three partner organizations—

NJSBA, the New Jersey Department of Education, and the New

Jersey Institute of Technology. NJIT will remain a founding

partner.

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In a minute, I will address NJSBA’s goals for 2019-2020. These

are exciting initiatives. But I also want to assure you that we

continue to build on our goals from previous years.

A prominent effort was our 2018 report on educational

opportunities for the career-focused learner. Today, we continue

to work with the business community, the governor’s office, and

other educational groups to explore concepts such as

apprenticeships, micro-credentialing, and dual-enrollment.

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We are seeking volunteers to serve as ambassadors who will speak

at board meetings and other venues about the need to expand

educational opportunities for students who do not plan to enroll in

four-year colleges immediately after graduation. Thank you IPP

Dan for your advice, counsel and commitment to make this

happen.

We’ve brought along a brochure with further information about

the Career-Focused Learner Ambassadors.

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The advance material for tonight’s meeting includes a copy of

the Executive Director’s Goals for 2019-2020. Each year, I

develop a set of goals in consultation with the Association

president and the Officers.

In reality, these are goals for the entire Association. They are

aligned with objectives of our current three-year Strategic Plan,

which was approved by the Board of Directors in November

2017.

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This year’s goals encompass a major professional development

initiative—that is, the creation of the NJSBA Online University in

partnership with the Rutgers University Division of Continuing

Studies. We announced plans for this effort last spring. Rutgers

will provide in-kind services to develop online programs covering

mandated training and other areas of professional development.

Later this evening, Dr. Richard Novak, vice-president of

Continuing Studies and Distance Education for Rutgers

University, will talk about our exciting partnership. His

presentation will take the place of the usual interactive session.

The Executive Director’s Goals also include the implementation

of new Association Management System that will serve as a

membership database. It will provide reliable program registration

and enable members to track progress toward Board Member

Academy Certification. Last year, the Board of Directors

approved an appropriation for the new system, developed by

Cobalt, a company with extensive experience in developing

management systems for associations.

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In addition, during 2019-2020, we will focus training and

information on the concept of educational equity. Our goal is to

promote the ability of local boards of education to meet the needs

of an increasingly diverse student population. Please remember

that our NJSBA Equity Council is another source of information

regarding this critical area.

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This year’s Executive Director’s Goals also focus on the positive

impact of effective mental health services and early intervention

strategies on student health and wellness, school climate and

school security.

The key initiative is our study, “Building a Foundation for

Hope,” which is the product of almost a year’s work by our Task

Force on Mental Health Services in the Public Schools. This is

an impressive report with over 70 recommendations in nine

areas, including social-emotional learning, school climate,

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community relations, curriculum, professional development and

equity.

The initial roll-out will take place on Tuesday, October 15th at

Highland Park High School. Registration information is on our

homepage. In addition, a special Workshop group session will be

devoted to the report. That session will take place on Wednesday

at 9:30 a.m. in Room 304 of the Convention Center.

Tonight, we have copies of the report, which will be available at

the end of the meting. Don’t leave without taking a copy.

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As I mentioned earlier, as I visit the 21 county school boards

associations, I will address the work of the task force. The

centerpiece of my presentation is an excellent video that

describes the findings and recommendations of the Task Force on

Mental Health Services in the Public Schools. I’d like to

conclude my report by sharing an abbreviated version of the

video to give you a taste of this important project.

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