Ventnor Educational Community Complex
VENTNOR At a special meeting held in the superintendent's cramped conference room noon Tuesday, June 18, the Ventnor City Board of Education unanimously approved a new job description for the superintendent of special education and appointed Alison Ricciotti to fill the position. With barely enough seats for board members and administrative staff, members of the public stood in the doorway and hallway to hear the exchange.
Ricciotti, who has been with the district for 18 years and currently serves as the district's ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) coordinator, will replace Supervisor of Special Education and ELL (English Language Learner) Services Gina Scharff, who is retiring June 30. During her time with the district, she assisted Scharff with Child Study Team matters.
According to board member Michael Hagelgans, the board is reducing its administrative staff from six to five, which could be burdensome for remaining administrative staff.
This will help us be more fiscally responsible for the district to save some money with an administrative position not being filled, he said.
Board President Doug Biagi called it a win-win for the district.
Business Administrator Terri Nowotny said the district would save $142,0000 by consolidating the two administrative positions.
Ricciotti, who has all the certifications needed to fill the post, will receive some cross-training in the weeks before Scharff retires.
The new job description, which was also approved at the meeting for one year, calls for Ricciotti to supervise CST staff, certified and non-certified special education instructors and school nurses. She will help coordinate the special education curriculum, apply for entitlement grants and explore outside funding sources.
Ricciotti's annual salary will be $115,000, about $4,500 more than she earned during the 2018-2019 school year as ESSA coordinator and $3,234 less than Scharff was paid.
The board also provided Ventnor Elementary School Principal Carmella Somershoe with an increase in salary. However, the board did not reveal why she was awarded a $3,000 increase in salary to $115,323 for the 2019-2020 school year.
Nowotny said the salary was negotiated privately and provided no further details.
In other business, board member Kim Bassford, who attended the meeting via teleconference, offered a motion, which did not receive a second, to advertise a request for proposals for a consultant to review district operations.
It's common practice in business to bring in outside people to look at operations to ensure your business is running efficiently and effectively in all areas, she said.
The board had discussed hiring a consultant at prior board meetings, and even went out for quotes at one time, but after backlash from administrators and teaching staff, the board never moved on the issue.
According to Ventnor Education Association President Gina Perkins, the teaching staff wants to be part of the conversation in in determining how to best meet the needs of the students and on budget issues but they did not endorse the concept of hiring a consultant, she said.
Board member Albert Battaglia said the district already has five administrators who are experts in the field of education.
We just reduced one administrator, now you want to bring in a paid consultant to tell us how to run our school system? Battaglia said. I'm blindsided by this.
With all due respect, we need another set of eyes, Bassford said. We've been at odds about issues with basic skills and if our resources are being spent properly. If there are not changes recommended, that's terrific that's validation. If there are changes suggested, that's something we need to evaluate. It's always a good idea to get someone from the outside looking in with fresh ideas and suggestions.
The board agreed to review prior RFP documents and collaborate on establishing parameters for the consultancy before voting on advertising for RFPs at the next meeting, 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 26.
