Superintendent reports a decrease in bullying
By Matt Nelson
HIGHTSTOWN — After serving 15 years as a member of the East Windsor Board of Education, Bruce Ettman, a township resident, has decided to step down.
”I chose to be on the board because of my interest in and concern for public education,” Mr. Ettman said.
Mr. Ettman served on the board for five consecutive terms from April 1997 to December 2012. During his time on the board, Mr. Ettman served as the vice president from April 2001 to April 2003 and board president from April 2003 to April 2005.
Mr. Ettman said, “As I’m leaving this position for other things, I have to say public education is still under attack in this country. It’s up to everybody in the school district to make sure that we don’t turn our schools into ‘yes, no,’ ‘true and false’ questions. Our students need to develop analytical and critical thinking skills.”
Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer said, “Bruce was one of the first board members to reach out to me when I first started in 2010. He did call me to offer any type of assistance if I ever needed him, and I appreciate him for that.”
Board President Robert Laverty said, “Bruce was a critical part in the turnaround of our school district years ago, which was a very important time in the school district’s history. We didn’t always see eye to eye at first, but I learned to respect Bruce and his passion for excellence and his unwavering commitment in the East Windsor Regional School District.”
Board member Suzann Fallon also weighed in on this subject.
”One of the best things about being on the school board is working with the other board members, and that’s what keeps you going for many years. Bruce has always brought his legal advice to our meetings, and it’s been really helpful to us over the past 15 years,” Ms. Fallon said.
Three students from Melvin H. Kreps Middle School were recognized for winning essays in a contest. The topic was “How to increase the amount of recycling in our community.” The students wrote essays that included their thoughts and ideas on how to recycle more in East Windsor.
Simrit Grewal, 11, of East Windsor, received first place with Rahul Kamat finishing second. Rahul was not in attendance. Harish Rabindran, 11, won the third-place award.
Several Hightstown High School athletes were acknowledged for fall sports athletic awards.
Among the students present to accept their awards in their respective sports were Kevin Lenart, 17, from Roosevelt for football; Max Hernández, 17, of East Windsor; and Mohamed Sesay, a 19-year-old junior from Hightstown, for boys soccer; Miranda Kosmides, 17, of East Windsor, for field hockey; and Caitlin Douglass, 17, of East Windsor, for girls soccer.
Once the awards were finished, Superintendent Forsthoffer went through a presentation on violence and vandalism data for the first half of the 2012-13 school calendar year. The first half consists of September through December.
There were only 10 acts of violent incidents in this half compared to 42 violent acts reported at this time a year ago, he said. There weren’t any vandalism acts reported this half, but there were two weapon incidents and 13 substance abuse incidents after three substance abuse incidents were reported from September 2011 through December 2011.
In regards to substance abuse, six students were confirmed to be using marijuana, two of whom also had cocaine, according to the report.
Superintendent Forsthoffer said he was pleased to report there was a decrease in the number of incidents in the harassment, intimidation and bullying category, known as HIB.
”If you look at the nature of our incidents, although there were dramatically fewer incidents, gender and race were the two largest categories where HIB incidents occur,” he said.
There were five incidents of race and four incidents of gender reported within the nature of HIB incidents, according to the report.
Some of the methods the elementary schools are using to keep their schools safe include guidance lessons, character education assemblies, Campfire Safety programs and Respect Week, he said.
In order to keep the middle school safe, some of the methods include student behavioral contracts, random acts of kindness, Community Day, video cameras and campus monitors, according to the report.
Finally, in order to keep the high school safe, some of the methods include the Rutgers Depression Initiative, digital cameras, Team Up With an Underclassman and getting involved in clubs and organizations, he said.
Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Debbie Feaster went over the teacher evaluation system. She discussed how teachers are evaluated within the school district, what the evaluation process should be and the Student Learning Objective Process.
The board also approved a new scholarship award, the Elaine B. Martin Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship is named after a former board member who died Jan. 22 at age 70.
The next board meeting will be Monday, Feb. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hightstown High School cafeteria.

