With the contract among the three boards of education in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands with Superintendent Tara Beams set to expire June 30 of next year, several special board meetings are on the agenda this week.
It is anticipated that in evaluating the performance of the superintendent during the two years she has headed the educational program in the three schools, board members will review the state Department of Education assessment from the 2021-2022 school year, the last for which state figures are available. Those figures show all three schools are either average or below average in English language and mathematics subjects. Figures also show a high rate of absenteeism among students at Henry Hudson Regional School and below or at average absenteeism at the two elementary schools.
The expiration of the superintendent’s three-year contract next year and the need to notify her before June 30 of this year if they do not plan to offer a contract renewal comes at a busy time in the two boroughs. The mayors and council of the two boroughs and the Sea Bright Mayor and Council voted unanimously last week to submit a resolution to the Department of Education to put the question of including all three boroughs’ students in PreK-12 into one regional school district, in an effort to save funds and improve educational standards and opportunities.
The Highlands Board of Education is meeting in special session tonight at 8 p.m. at the school for the purpose of acting on the evaluation of Superintendent Dr. Tara Beams.
The three boards of education in the tri-district, Henry Hudson Regional, Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, are scheduled to meet in executive session Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Henry Hudson School for the purpose of evaluating the superintendent, however, no action is expected to be taken.
The Atlantic Highlands School Board has no date posted for any special meetings prior to Thursday at Henry Hudson.
Under terms of her contract, the boards are required to hold an evaluation at least once a year of the superintendent. However, since her current contract expires June 30 of next year, this year’s evaluation is essential in considering whether she should be offered another contract in 2024.
Under state law, if a board does not intend to renew a contract with a superintendent, notice must be given at least one year in advance of expiration of the present contract.
Currently Dr. Beams’ contract calls for the $180,000 annual salary approved when she was hired, with a 2 per cent increase each of the next two years. In addition, the contract authorizes her to have 12 sick days, two family days for sickness, five days for family bereavement, 20 days’ vacation, three personal days and all holidays in a 260-day week year. She is also entitled to a cell phone, mileage, and insurance and health benefits as well as professional membership fees and other items.
At the same time, Henry Hudson’s student attendance report in the State Department of Education’s assessment for the 2021-2022 school year, shows students are in a high risk of failure in education because of a 40.1 per cent absenteeism, more than twice as high as the state average of 18.1 per cent. The absenteeism rates in the elementary schools are better in the two elementary schools, with Atlantic Highlands absenteeism lower than the state average, and Highlands just at the 18 per cent state average.
Henry Hudson students scored 58.1 percent in English and Language arts subjects in the state report, approximately mid-way in the 49 to 70 percent that qualifies as average across the state. Henry Hudson students scored just above the 36 per cent state average for math with a 38.7 per cent average.
The teacher to student ratio at Henry Hudson is 8-1, with the average teacher staying with the district approximately 11 years.
According to the NJ School Performance report, taxpayers paid $22, 432.00 per student at Henry Hudson Regional school in federal, state and local taxes for the education of the 297 students registered in the 2021-22 school year.
In Atlantic Highlands, it cost taxpayers $14,588 for each of the 265 students in Pre K through 6. Students attended school for far more days than the average, with only 8.9 percent absenteeism.
In the Highlands school, where students scored below average in English and average in mathematics among its 178 students, taxpayers paid $19,302 per student. The rate of absenteeism was at the same 18 percent as the state average.
Since Dr. Beams became superintendent at least 22 per cent of the staff in the three schools have either retired or resigned, including two principals, the supervisor of Special services, and more than 30 other teachers or other employees.
Vindictive and slanderous! I HOPE SHE SUES YOU.
while I do not routinely respond to messages from people who hide behind telephones in Atlantic City, and vague Email accounts that don’t fully identify oneself, it concerned me that you thought the state Department of Education (NJDOE) is vindictive and slanderous. They are the ones who compiled the information in the story. Their purpose in doing that is to provide parents, students, and school communities with a large variety of information about each public school and district in the state. They urge using the information as a tool to help evaluate whether all students have equitable access to high quality education. I do not see any reason why they wold be vindictive and truth is never slanderous.