The Nutley Board of Commissioners recently passed a resolution to enter into a shared-services agreement with the Board of Education with a mutual goal of what it calls “continued educational excellence throughout the township.”
The township and BOE have historically shared services, assisting each other in various capacities —examples include the completion of an outdoor preschool playground — and to further those efforts, have established a new ad-hoc committee to share resources and collaborate on various initiatives.
Plans include the improvement of existing conditions of board and township buildings and facilities to better serve the residents as a whole as well as continued discussions to continue to improve upon current and future infrastructures for students’ academic and developmental support.
“We are excited to get started on this initiative with the board of education subcommittee to further our mutual goal of ultimately optimizing the facilities, buildings and programs available to our residents,” Mayor Dr. Joseph P. Scarpelli said.
“We’ve been working cooperatively with the BOE for many, many years,” Commissioner Mauro G. Tucci said. “But we never really formalized the way we go about doing things. We need to make sure that our children are given the best educational experience we can possibly afford. The best way to do this is to pool our resources.
“By introducing this resolution, we’re making a statement as a board that we’re committed to improving the educational experience of every child in the Township of Nutley. We need to assure that the educational experience will continue to attract people into this town who are committed to the same ideals and family goals that we have.
Members of the Nutley Board of Education were also present for passage of Resolution 138-23, including President Sal Ferraro, who addressed the board following its favorable vote.
“This resolution is the first formal step in establishing a joint agreement that will implement solutions to benefit our school district and community. I want to thank the BOC for their insight and knowledge. We look forward to continuing our work together,” he said.
The mayor agreed.
“Establishing a joint working relationship will further help Nutley continue to uphold the importance of high-quality educational offerings to our residents and taxpayers in a formalized, fiscally responsible way,” Scarpelli said. “We are all excited to work as a team to do what is best for our great township.”
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.