At its Tuesday night workshop meeting, the Livingston Board of Education discussed the district’s program and faculty needs. Interim superintendent Daniel Fishbein noted the district’s student population has increased approximately by 350 people since the pandemic and there are still multiple apartment buildings currently being built throughout town that are expected to yield more public school students.
Board president Seth Cohen voiced concerns about maintaining current class sizes, and potentially shrinking them, in spite of the town’s growth. “When we’re thinking about our facilities and our future curriculum, how do we ensure we have a minimum stay at our guidelines, and, ideally, below that?” he asked.
Board member Parul Khemka suggested taking a detailed look at the high school’s programs. She suggested the Board look into “What is it that we offer? What is it that we can do better? And what is it that will encourage students to actually pursue their passion while they’re in school?”
Board member Fang Gong proposed the Board have a new demographic studyperformed, to yield the most current data. Khemka recommended the Board go through its most recent equity audit to see how its needs match the program needs.
“When we’re thinking about what the space needs are, can we think about not only the programs we currently have, but how we should be designing our spaces to accommodate the programs the way they should be, so that they can be fully integrated in terms of the way our staff needs to work together but also the way students need to work with each other?” asked Board member Pam Chirls.
Cohen noted that throughout this process, the safety of the district’s buildings is of paramount concern.
The Board also briefly discussed how the district’s current spacing limitations would allow for universal preschool, if it were to be mandated.
Public Comment Policy
During his report, interim superintendent Daniel Fishbein discussed the Board’s public comment policy. He highlighted the Board’s policy that “the public comment section of the meetings are not an opportunity for a cross dialogue between Board members and the public.”
Board member Pam Chirls suggested potentially posting a Fre (Continued on Page A-6) (Continued from Page A-1) quently Asked Questions document to the Board’s website. Fishbein proposed possibly emailing responses to specific questions to the resident asking. “If it’s a personnel matter, we’ll never respond to it,” Fishbein said.
Board of Education
“I would be supportive of reviewing a proposal that reflects how we react in the face of questions,” said Board president Seth Cohen.
District Chain of Command Fishbein also discussed the district chain of command, describing it as “A road map to getting questions answered and voice concerns” in a way that “will help people get to the right person to answer their question.” He noted that if one does not feel their question were addressed or did not find the response satisfactory, this document can allow them to follow the proper chain of command to yield the best results.
The Board plans to have this document prominently available on tis website.
The Board will next meet on Tuesday, February 11.
