The Margate City Board of Education maintains its office on the third floor of the William H. Ross Elementary School.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
MARGATE – Masks will be optional for students, staff and on transportation when the NJ mask mandate for schools is lifted on March 7. Superintendent Audrey Becker made the announcement at the Board of Education meeting held March 2. Also at the meeting, the board accepted the resignation of Business Administrator Jenn Germana without comment.
Becker said the decision is based on responses from the local community and the status of COVID-19 in the district. She thanked the nursing and teaching staff for keeping children safe during the pandemic.
“We are excited to have this change and are hoping it kicks off spring with some new excitement and a little more back to normal,” she said.
The board also heard a report from Nancy Sprolla, government auditor partner for the district’s auditor, Ford Scott Associates of Ocean City. Sprolla presented an unmodified opinion for the 2020-2021 school year, stating that Germana does a “great job,” which makes her review easy.
Germana said she will be taking a job as assistant business administrator in the Egg Harbor Township School District where she lives.
“It sort of fell in my lap. They reached out to me and it is a great opportunity to learn and grow in a much larger school district,” she said.
Germana will help manage a budget that educates 7,700 students as opposed to the 354 students enrolled in Margate’s two schools.
Germana has been with the Margate school district for 10 years, serving first as an assistant and then as business administrator for the last five years.
“This is a wonderful district to work for,” she said. “The board is great, and the administrators and teachers are great to work with. It’s going to be a hard move to make, but it’s more about the opportunity to grow and advance.”
Some of the new challenges she will face is transitioning from a Type I district with a Board of School Estimate and appointed board members to a Type II district with elections that require the public to approve board members and school budgets that exceed state spending limits.
Administrators who resign are required to give 60 days’ notice to the board. Her last day in Margate will be April 30.
Germana said the board would likely advertise for her replacement, or it could hire an interim business administrator until a permanent replacement is found.
The board also approved the use of the Dominick A. Potena Performing Arts Center for a concert by the Bay Atlantic Symphony that was originally scheduled for New Year’s Eve. The concert, which is sponsored by the Margate City Public Library, was postponed due to the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 and will now be held Saturday, April 2.
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