Copyright Joliet, IL Patch
A man who works for the audit company used by the school district is treasurer of a PAC that donated to three BOE candidates this year: MIDDLETOWN, NJ — In addition to the big change that the Middletown school board will start having two public meetings a month, here is other news that came out of the Oct. 30 Middletown school board meeting: - A parent asked for an update on the district's Strategic Planning Process. She reminded the district the facilities study the district paid to have done was supposed to be completed in October, and she asked the district where it is. Superintendent Jessica Alfone said she is still waiting for the study, and the consultant said it will give it to her in two weeks. The administration and school board will review it first, and then the study will be presented to the community. - Ashley Studd, who once ran for Middletown school board, said during the meeting's public comment portion that HFA, the audit company used by the Middletown school district, is treasurer of a political action committee (PAC) that donated to Middletown school board candidates. The PAC is Proven Leadership, a Republican fundraising group that donated to the Students, Parents, Taxpayers slate of James Cody, Sara Weinstein and Chris Aveta in this most recent school board election. HFA is not their treasurer, but Joseph Sarno, a director at HFA, is listed on ELEC filings as the PAC's treasurer. "I'm concerned about this audit," said Board member Mark Soporowski after Studd's revelation. "If our auditor is making contributions to political candidates running in our district, that's concerning to me. And it should be concerning to everyone. There should be independence with the people handing our finances, and auditing our finances." Soporowski then asked the district to put out an RFP to find a new auditing company. The board unanimously approved his suggestion. The district will pay HFA $27,000 for the audit it did on the district's finances in the 2024-'25 school year. That audit is due to the state by Dec. 5. Joe Fitzgerald suggested not paying the $27,000 bill. - The district plans to get new microphones so the audio from school board meetings is better, and so people listening at home can hear better. - The school district reviewed the waiting lists for Champions before- and after-care at all the elementary schools. The reason all kids could not get into aftercare this fall is because Champions had to hire more staff to meet state staffing requirements. Students currently on a waiting list for before/aftercare are expected to be off it in the next two weeks. - The Middletown school district will start repairing the turf at High School South in January. The turf will be smoothed out along the sidelines. - The district had a meeting last Friday, Oct. 31 with Middletown Township, and the Township is getting ready to go out to bid to improve Bayview Fields. These are the sports fields near Bayview Elementary, and they badly need irrigation improvements. - The district upgraded the filters used in its AC units, and air quality tests showed this has resulted in improved air quality in classrooms. - The school district is also looking into signing up with New Jersey Community Solar to install solar canopies in some parking lots in the district, but the district did not say which ones. That will be revealed at a later meeting. The district met with an energy savings consultant called DCO Energy. The district is still investigating how much it will cost. Here is the Oct. 30 meeting: Middletown School Board Will Have More Public Meetings, Revise Its Public Comment Policy (Nov. 3)
