Superintendent’s Town Meeting Met with Positive Feedback

For the second time since December, Superintendent, Dr. Paul Fried, invited the Montville Township Public Schools’ community -- parents, residents, administrators, faculty, board members and others -- to a Town Meeting. The format of the gathering was open-ended, allowing the public to explore a wide range of topics which influence the Montville Township Public Schools.

Over twenty-five parents and members of the community joined almost fifteen staff members, including the district’s curriculum supervisors, several principals, and both assistant superintendents.

Together the group discussed topics of educational interest, concern, and focus.

All grade levels and age groups were represented by the range of questions.

“I find these meetings to be very valuable,” explained Dr. Fried. “I always hope there will be five hundred people here, because, that’s the reason for the meeting. Every person can always do their job better. We all learn from these discussions.”

The meeting launched with a recap of two upcoming facilities projects. The first was the relocation of two athletic fields from the Robert R. Lazar Middle School to Montville Township High School [MTHS]. The fields will be turf and will be configured to accommodate baseball and softball, as well as including a multi-purpose field for sports like soccer and lacrosse. Construction on those fields is slated to begin at the end of this year’s baseball and softball seasons. The second project was the renovation of the MTHS Media Center. Plans are currently being reviewed, and the project is targeted for the summer of 2015.

One topic introduced by the public at the May 12 Town Meeting was a discussion regarding math and science initiatives at the high school level and the transition from middle school to high school in those areas.

Math and Science Curriculum Supervisor, Dr. Sandra Schwartz, who is in her first year at the Montville Township Public Schools district, explained the procedures she has implemented to identify educational gaps which need additional support. Dr. Schwartz also explained pilot initiatives, such as Math Labs, which she has established this year to address those gaps. Working with the teachers and principals across the district, the pilot initiatives have been evaluated, and Dr. Schwartz was able to outline some of the plans for next year.

“We have been showing tremendous success with Math Labs this year,” said Dr. Schwartz. “So next year, when we roll this out more fully, we hope to help significantly more students.”

Parents and other members of the community had an opportunity to discuss Math Labs, and other math and science educational initiatives, and provide a variety or perspectives and suggestions for improvement and advancement.

Dr. Schwartz thanked the community for their input and encouraged an ongoing dialogue.

“I am going to work on better communication between the teachers and the parents,” she said. “And, I am going to ask you, as a parental community, to involve me more and to use me more. I can’t address situations if I don’t know about them.”

Her encouragement for parents to communicate was echoed throughout the evening by all faculty and staff within the district, including Dr. Fried.

“My e-mail is available to you,” he said. “And I have never not sat down with a parent who has requested an opportunity to meet with me.”

Throughout the evening, the audience introduced many other discussion items.

In addition to math and science, subjects explored included: Honors programs, class sizes, homework, report cards, teacher evaluation procedures, middle school transitions, tutors, substance abuse, mental health resources, and many other topics.

The Town Meeting was scheduled for 7:30 to 9:00 PM. However, discussion was lively until just after 9:30. At that time, Dr. Fried thanked everyone for coming, and pointed out that two curriculum supervisors, Edward Fleischman, for Fine and Performing Arts, and Lisa Howard, for World Languages and ESL, were also in attendance, and had not been called upon to field any questions during the evening’s discussions.

“In future conversations I would like to invite you back to discuss World Language and the importance of it,” said Dr. Fried. “Likewise, I feel the arts are incredibly important to our lives. Not just in terms of a subject you take, but also in terms of enrichment and the fulfillment it brings to our lives.”

Town Meetings will again be scheduled once school begins in the fall.