District gets state stabilization aid

The West Milford Township School District has received $405,966 in state stabilization aid, officials told the Board of Education at its meeting Feb. 20.

The district had applied for $1.4 million in stabilization aid last fall.

The money received is expected to go to the English Language Arts program.

The district has lost more than $9 million in state aid in the past nine years, forcing it to “reinvent itself financially” to continue programs.

As it has done in past years, the district shut down its purchasing system in January and is reviewing expenditures on an individual basis for the rest of the year.

Officials also are closely watching enrollment figures. As of the beginning of February, 148 students had been registered for kindergarten next fall and the number has grown since then.

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant funds are available this summer for the STEM camp that Daniel Novak, the district’s director of education, has run for the past two years.

The district has used ESSER funds, which were meant to help schools cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, for its Chromebook purchases in recent years. It will have to pay for those purchases next year with the operating budget.

The district’s Encore program also has benefited from ESSER funds.

In an update on the search for a new superintendent, board president Claire Lockwood said the search has narrowed to three candidates.

The board approved the retirements of Linda Jacobs, a special-education teacher at Macopin, effective July 1, and Barbara Corbett, the school nurse at Upper Greenwood Lake Elementary, effective March 29.

It also approved the transfer of John Shutte from assistant principal at the high school to assistant principal at Highlander Academy at an annual salary of $132,598.

Among recent honors for the district:

• Marshall Hill Elementary School and West Milford High School recently were designated as Schools of Character.

• The high school cheerleaders won their division in a national competition and were named grand champions.

Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7198 said Krista Provost, who teaches social studies at Macopin Middle School, was named the VFW Teacher of the Year.

Marco Petrosillo and Natasha Blauvelt placed first and second, respectively, in the Patriot’s Pen written essay contest at Macopin. Petrosillo also won at the district level and competed in the state contest.

Jilena Hass won the “Voice of Democracy” oral essay contest at the high school.