Schools
Pascack Valley School Board Sets Annual Goals
The goals include negotiating contracts, improving special education and implementing new state-mandated teacher evaluations.
The Pascack Valley Regional Board of Education set this year's goals for themselves, the superintendent and the whole district during their most recent meeting.
The goals include negotiating new contracts with both the teacher and support staff unions. They also include a mix of ongoing efforts, like improving special education in the district, and newer additions, like the new Regional Curriculum Office.
The goals were finalized by the school board during a full-day meeting over the summer with representatives from the Department of Education, according to board President Bertram Siegel.
The merit goals for Superintendent P. Erik Gundersen tie into the goals for the board and district. For example, the district has a goal of successfully implementing their new teacher evaluation system. Gundersen has a goal of achieving an "excellent" rating on the implementation of that system.
"If it's important enough to be a district goal, then it's important enough to be a merit goal," Gundersen said.
For the district as a whole, the board aims to:
- Monitor student wellness initiatives in the district; focusing particularly on college and career readiness.
- Successfully implement the Marshall observation/evaluation system in compliance with AchieveNJ.
- Enhance student achievement as measured by select indicators focused on students eligible for special education services.
- Monitor effectiveness of the Regional Curriculum Office.
The board also set the following goals for themselves:
- Develop a plan to improve public relations within the school community.
- Support the improvement of athletic facilities.
- Complete contract negotiations with the Pascack Valley Regional Education Association (PVREA) and the Pascack Valley Regional Support Staff (PVRSSA).
For Superintendent P. Erik Gundersen, the board set these merit goals:
- To achieve a 3 percent increase in the number of classified special education students achieving the proficient or advanced proficient level on the 11th grade HSPA as compared to the same cohort’s performance on the 8th grade NJASK, thereby entitling him to a merit bonus of 3.33 percent of his annual salary for a total of $5,244.75.
- To increase the enrollment and successful completion for students in 2013 – 2014 virtual high school course by 5 percent compared to the enrollment in a virtual high school course in 2012-2013, thereby entitling him to a merit bonus of 3.33 percent of his annual salary, for a total of $5,244.75.
- To increase the overall enrollment of students in the Pascack Valley Regional High School District internship program 10 percent by spring 2013. The baseline criteria will be the internship enrollment from the 2012-2013 school year, thereby entitling him to a merit bonus of 3.33 percent of his annual salary for a total of $5,244.75.
- To achieve an “excellent” rating on the effectiveness of the regional curriculum office – which primarily includes the implementation of a K-12 social studies curriculum and review of a K-12 science curriculum, thereby entitling him to a merit bonus of 2.5 percent of his annual salary for a total of $3,937.50.
- To achieve an “excellent” rating on successfully implementing the Marshall observation and evaluation system, thereby entitling him to a merit bonus of 2.5 percent of his annual salary for a total of $3,937.50.
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