During last night’s Board of Education meeting, Acting School Business Administrator Dr. Dennis R. Frohnapfel resigned from his position, effective November 15. But even if you were paying attention, you might have missed it. The Board voted to approve a contract renewal for Frohnapfel. According to Board Docs, the contract was for $216,000, effective from September 13, 2024 through June 30, 2025.However, during closed session, Frohnapfel stated to the Board that he would be resigning. A document on Board Docs confirms the resignation.“We talked about the governor extending his contract. Obviously, the contract was voted on. And then on his own accord, he decided that he wanted to resign. But because of the contract approval, because of his contract, he was well compensated for his time spent with the Jersey City Board of Education,” said Board President Dejon Morris.According to Morris, the contract was approved so that he could be retroactively paid for the work he had already done, but it will become null and void after his resignation date.Frohnapfel has served as an interim business administrator for a number of school districts, including Lodi, Hackensack, and Garfield. He became the Acting SBA for the Jersey City School District in September 2022, after then-Business Adminstrator Regina Robinson had been on administrative leave due to a “personal illness” since July. During a special meeting, the Board approved Frohnapfel’s contract to serve as Acting SBA until June 2023. His contract was renewed in July 2023 for a year-long term and again in July 2024 for a two-and-half-month term for the summer.The reason for Frohnapfel’s resignation is unclear, as is who will replace him as the district’s SBA. “He brought the Board back from a dark place. I want to thank him for all that he has done for the Board and I’m saddened to see him go,” said Morris. A key topic of discussion throughout the rest of the meeting was details surrounding a town hall the Board will be hosting to discuss policies banning cell phones in schools.The district is currently piloting two methods of keeping phones away from students during the school day. At President Barack Obama Community School, students put their phones away in lockable magnetic bags called Yondr pouches. And at Academy 1 Middle School, students exchange their phones for laptops, then swap them back at the end of the day.Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr. (D-Burlington) also recently introduced a measure that would require the state education commissioner to establish a policy for kindergarten through 12th grade on the use of cellphones and social media during school hours, on a school bus, or during school-sanctioned events.The Board announced that the town hall will be hosted on December 11 at 6:00 p.m. at MS 40. Fernandez said that a survey has been sent out to gather the public’s opinion on cell phone bans. She hopes to share the results of the survey at the town hall. The meeting ended on a high note with Joseph Pagon detailing the many improvements PS 41 has made since it flagged issues with the Board. According to Pagon, its library is being updated, its swimming pool is almost ready to be reopened, a game room for students was opened, and the school achieved a 91.25% attendance rate for September. “We’ve done so many things in that school which the last administration had over a decade to make a simple move and she did not,” Pagon said. “I’m super happy that these kids want to run to the school, be in school now… What we want to keep pushing for is PS 41 to become a community school so these kids have the same opportunities as Downtown schools and The Heights.”Many of the trustees thanked Pagon for coming to share the positive improvements to PS 41. “We don’t always get to highlight the success,” said Trustee Younass Barkouch. The post Amidst Contract Negotiations, Acting School Business Administrator Resigns appeared first on Jersey City Times.