By Michael Benavides
Staff Writer
JACKSON – A representative of the accounting firm that handles the Jackson School District audit said the district remains in good financial condition.
During a recent board meeting, John Swisher, of Suplee, Clooney and Company, Westfield, discussed the results of the school district’s most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR).
“I am happy to announce that the district has gotten an unmodified opinion again this year,” he said. “The district is in good financial condition with about $17 million in surplus at the end of the year.”
One finding in the audit required the board to approve a corrective action plan. Allison Erwin, the district’s coordinator of communications and technology, said there was a corrective action finding made relating to payroll deductions not being maintained accurately.
“There was one corrective action finding. During the course of the audit, the auditors noted that the detailed analysis of payroll deductions was not accurately maintained on a timely basis. We have since corrected that practice and complete an audit of payroll deductions every month,” Erwin said.
In other business, the board accepted a $3,200 donation from the Elms Elementary School Parent Teacher Network (PTN) for the purpose of awarding grants to staff members in order to promote school goals and district goals.
“The money was donated by the Elms PTN to the district to fund various teacher projects that have yet to be determined,” Erwin said. “These are mini grants or seed grants that will enable teachers to take on projects or to purchase materials outside of what would normally be funded.
“This is one of many donations made by the Elms PTN and many of our other parent-teacher groups which over the years have donated tens of thousands of dollars for projects like new playgrounds, Chromebook computers and books. The district is so grateful for their support,” Erwin said.
And, the board accepted books for children in kindergarten through fifth grade at the Howard C. Johnson Elementary School from the Gals on the Go group at the Four Seasons South Knolls adult community.
During a presentation to the board, managers Barbara Wright and Lynda Dayton of OceanFirst Bank, Toms River, delivered a $10,000 OceanFirst Foundation Model Classroom grant to administrators and staff from the Elms Elementary School.
Principal Michael Burgos, Assistant Principal Lisa Lane and teacher Danielle Parella accepted the grant on behalf of the school.
Board President Sharon Dey said the district was grateful for the grant. She said this marked the third time that “the quality of our ideas and the initiative of our staff has earned us this honor. … We are so grateful to OceanFirst and we commend our staff for working so hard to find and earn these opportunities for our students.”
Burgos said staff members at the school sought to increase their students’ knowledge of science and technology.
“The purpose of the OceanFirst grant is to first increase students’ scientific and technological understanding as 21st century learners, and second, to incorporate play- and project-based experiments to our existing daily schedule to increase science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) literacy,” Burgos said.
The principal said the grant money will be used to create a new classroom which will help improve students’ research and teamwork skills. Work on the classroom upgrades is expected to begin early this year.
“We want to create a learning lab. Student research teams with specific roles will explore, create and share. They will work collaboratively to set goals, conduct research and formulate project ideas,” Burgos said. “We are planning for the STEM learning experiences to transcend well beyond the (classroom) lab.”
