...And How Are the Children?

I just watched and listened to a very disappointing Englewood Public School District Special School Board Meeting which seemed designed to throw our current School Business Administrator under the bus. Since when do we need an Assistant School Business Administrator? Is there a problem with money that we should know about? Is the BA overwhelmed with paper work because vendors fall under the BA and the District has turned former BOE employees into vendors/independent contractors? Or is the current BA not satisfactory to our "new" Superintendent. And why is this action mirroring what just happened at the City level where an Assistant City Manager was added to the payroll?

Why did they hire this man, Jason A. Jones as Assistant BA? We certainly do not need an Assistant Business Administrator, especially one who comes with too many questions about inappropriate and near criminal behavior. Why is our Board so eager to hire people that other Districts fire for just cause, but at the same time, refuse to hire qualified Englewood School District Personnel? The School Board should know that we are fully aware of how many and which of our current long-term employees hold Superintendent certifications. Why also is no one concerned with Bill  A393 before the NJ Legislature? Check it out. It is an interesting read. Do you have a problem with the fact that they just hired a person with a questionable background and record to be the second in command with the job of keeping up with the spending of our "Tax dollars"? Was there a "Critical Need" to hire this employee also? The situation is very suspect. Is Our District in trouble academically and Financially? If so, this means that our Schools are in more of a Crisis situation than ever before. Why will this politican and part time Business Administrator make things better? How is hiring an Assistant School Business Administrator going to address the Achievement, Health and Safety of our children?  Besides all that, this man is a politician. Our district does not need to be steeped any deeper in politics. It already appears that at least one BOE member has not been able to separate his partisan indoctrination from his duties as a BOE member.

"...The audit was requested after it was found that school money appeared to be used to improperly. The allegations prompted the school board, in January, to place on administrative leave district Business Administrator Jason Jones and his assistant, Jade Wilson. Lots of Funny Business Found in Roselle School Spending, says Audit | Roselle, NJ News TAPinto..."

 

Back to the Board Meeting:  

I like that Henry Pruitt had questions about the presentation on test          results and Pathways to graduation. It appears we were both wondering why this presentation was being given when graduation is less than a month away. Another thing, why not encourage 11th graders to choose a "Pathway to Graduation" before the final hour? We would not have this problem if students were required to take a class designed to help them learn to take and pass the test. The concept of teaching to the test is deplorable, but preparing students specifically to take this required test is what? Forbidden? I think not. Students are prepared to take the SAT. Why not prepare them to take the NJGPA and all of the others based on their choice? Let them practice with supervision. We have agreed as a profession that all students learn differently. Considering that, why are we testing them all the same? Another thing, how does a child actually do well on the PSAT in 10th grade and fail the NJGPA 4 times? Perhaps the problem is not the students. I repeat, students should be encouraged to choose a Pathway to graduation before 12th grade. This should be a choice, not a punishment in the final hour. This is too demoralizing. For instance, the 29 Portfolio Review Students should have more time to put together a Portfolio. Will a Portfolio thrown together now, in such a short timespan, represent the student's best work? Does the District care about the student achieving his/her best work? 

David Matthews has still NOT learned his lessons about what his job is as a School BoardMember. I will be so glad when he is bored with this, because it really does look like his Supporters will keep him there forever. One wonders why, since he has repeatedly ignored the School Ethics Commissions "Code of Ethics for School Board Members". Every time I watch or attend a BOE Meeting, I end up wondering this. Why is David Matthews telling the Professionals how to do their jobs instead of setting goals and objectives for the District that will force the Superintendent and her staff to create an "Action Plan" that addresses the goals and objectives? I have watched this man publicly question an employee about such things as: why are there so many special education students, why are there are so many students under Title I because Englewood rents are so high, how can these people possibly be this poor and still afford to live in Englewood and this one is a kicker, asking for detailed information about point of entry children/immigrants....This told me that Mr. Matthews is not reading enough and he should let the Professionals do the jobs for which they were hired. Meanwhile, he was President of the Borad of Education and he was sitting beside the person who holds the responsibility. the BA, to be able to answer all of the questions that he was directing to an employee who had just given an indept report on the status of Academic Achievement for Elementary students. At one point, Cheryl Balletto, the BA, did interject with the relevant information. He needs more NJSBA training. His being restricted from running and serving on the Board for 10 years did not seem to take. It was difficult to watch him preside over the Board, because he does not know his role.

81 students failed the NJGPA 4 times and all the School District did was schedule another test date. Where was our Guidance Director, that they keep praising, during this time? What does he think of all of this? Scamardella has been here all of ten minutes and is an Elementary School Professional, not a high schoolprofessional . Her tone while dealing with the numbers was quite offputting.

Nothing was done in the interim, either time, to make sure that the scores improved, yet they expected improvement. Why would the District/or the Board of Education expect improvement? Let us also remember that this 12th grade class was in the 9th grade during a full Virtual Schooling year because of Covid 19. In March of 2020 Teachers did not know which way was up, neither did Administrators or students. Some students had not been on their computer but 4 times in their entire school experience. This information was there and available when the students signed in for Virtual Learning March of 2020. This grade should have been given some kind of support and maybe even been exempt from this standardized test. What did the District do to prepare students to retake the test? Why would the test score be higher if nothing was done in between test taking? How do  you ignore the fact that nothing changed from test to test? Did anyone even wonder why nothing changed? Why would 81 students take the same test and fail it 4 times? Another thing, educators all over the world agree that children learn differently. So why does the state test all of them the same?

Hazelton has not even been here a year, and barely knows 

anything about the district, yet the Board of Education has allowed her to change things drastically. For change sake? To make a name for herself? Why? If a new Superintendent is hired every 2 or 3 years and they are each allowed free reign with change, where is the stability? Another thing, we are "not"  going to have a Superintendent with a NJ address by June 30 and she is not filing a lawsuit that The New Jersey First Act is unconstitutional. The Englewood Board of Education has interceded at the state on her behalf. The State's Employee Residency Review Board of NJ has given her a pass, because the Employer, the EPSD has a "critical need" for her services. Seriously?

"2024-127(R) Marnie Hazelton Englewood Public School District The applicant’s request for exemption from the residency requirement was GRANTED on the grounds of employer critical need." Click here and scroll down Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the 2nd page. 

The Englewood Public School District has failed yet another group of seniors and are actively blaming the victim. I blame the School Board, the same School Board that just made a heaping lot of questionable decisions based on the recommendations of a totally unproven Superintendent. The only thing missing now is George Garrison III running into the Grieco Cafeteria with his arms in the air yelling, "we just hired a Superman". I am not impressed. I am also not impressed that the Board is moving ahead with the plan to send the 6th grade back to McCloud School.

Again, I will say that the Englewood Board of Education is a broken machine. Everytime a new Superintendent comes in, the machine is remade as the person gets his/her sea legs. The District and the Students never have stability in any area of the QSAC because of this. The New Superintendent becomes the tail wagging the Dog. All one need do is count the numerous Superintendents, including when the County has had to take over, to see that there is a problem with our School Board knowing how to hire a Superintendent. That is the minimum basic requirement of a School Board. We even had a Superintendent for a few years that was never approved by the state and who did not have a NJ Certification when hired. Since the days of John Grieco this has been happening more often. The Board never gets to see if the Superintendent's Action Plan has indeed been successful in implementing the Board Goals and Objectives. The Board ends up having to pay our hard earned money to get rid of Supertintendents that do not make it. Many times Superintendents are paid merit pay for things they did not do because those things were in place when they got here. For example, R. Kravitz was given Merit Pay for making Twitter and Facebook accounts, but we already had these Social Media accounts long before he became Superintendent.

There was no documentation or indication of how many students in this graduating class dropped out of school. I am interested in that number. They should not be forgotten. The Englewood Board of Education abolished the Alternative School, but the students who needed The Program are still here. How are the Children? 

All I can say is that the Website looks great! Unfortunately a passable looking electronic sign nor a great looking interactive Official Website page with a state Senator congratulating the states 2024 graduates will "not" increase test scores.  Oh, and by the way, the graduating Seniors should be told that there is a message on the Website from our United States  Senator from NJ. I have not spoken to a single student who has seen or listened to it.

...And How Are The Children?