Five Things to Know About Wednesday's School Board Meeting

At Wednesday's public meeting, the Ocean City Board of Education thanked former member Greg Donahue for his six years of service to the board. But here are five other things from the meeting that might be of interest:

• Support Staff Contract: The board met in executive session to discuss a tentative agreement with the Ocean City Educational Support Staff Association, which has been working without a renewed contract since June 30, 2011. Pending the outcome of the executive session, a new contract could be voted on at the next school board meeting on Oct. 16.
• Primary School Principal: Superintendent Kathleen Taylor reported that the new Ocean City Primary School principal, Cathleen Smith, will be able to start work on Oct. 1. Smith moves from the Egg Harbor Township School District. She will earn a base salary of $107,000.
• Education Foundation Benefit Concert: Tickets are on sale online for a benefit concert 8 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 28) at the Ocean City High School Performing Arts Center. The concert features the Matt Portella Band.
• Strategic Plan: Superintendent Kathleen Taylor and New Jersey School Boards Association field representative Charlene Zoerb made a presentation on the district's five-year strategic plan for 2013 to 2018. More than 40 teachers, administrators, parents and community members participated in process that identified the district's mission, vision goals and objectives. The plan will guide plans for specific actions in the coming months. The district's vision: "The School District should serve as the 'center' of the community, ensure that our programs are ahead of the 'wave' and that our learning environment is flexible in enabling the students to go beyond the 'walls' of our schools."
• Crawlspaces: Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee Chairman Tom Oves reported that schools will have to make modifications to any facility with a crawlspace to create gaps to allow floodwaters to recede.