Are Our Schools In Crisis?: Do you feel yourself being Erased?

Mr Garrison and other board Members who enforce the separation of students on campus should cease in the interference with the school. (ie. ethics code violation) The academy is a program, like any other program. Students from outside of Englewood attend Dwight Morrow High School, because it is an Official State Certified School of Choice. Which basically means that students from other towns may attend. When you read the description of School Choice the academy program does not come to mind, because it is a program. The School Choice option has been perverted into a tool to segregate the campus. School Choice Funds may never be used to construct buildings. School Choice is described as Voluntary not Exclusionary.  Perhaps you should really go read the description.

The controversy over the colors has come up many times. Curtis Caviness has questioned the board in open session about the colors. Mr. G. Hollander, the band director took credit for the change, but he could not have done it alone. More to the point, he would not have done it alone.

Mr. Hollander, the Band Director said he changed the colors to maroon and black for the band and the twirlers/color guard, because the kids didn't like the white. He said it was impossible to keep clean. I wrote an earlier article where I gave Mr. Hollander the benefit of the doubt and suggested that he might want to use the black for practice and that there was nothing wrong with having a choice of colors.

This was before I saw that:

• There were two sets of Home Coming King & Queens

A display of Memories

• There were two sets of Prom King & Queens
• There were 2 Valedictorians, one for DMHS and one for the academy program
• The words of the Alma Mater have been changed from the original EHS to DMAE. It had been EHS since the origin of the school.
• The gowns are maroon and black for academy program students who graduate from DMHS and maroon and white for DMHS students who acknowledge it as their school.
• The Board of Education President questioned why Dwight Morrow High School was named after Dwight W. Morrow. He suggested that the man was unimportant in the scheme of things.
• The Dwight Morrow High School Yearbook has been captured and held prisoner. The spine of the book reads Academies@Englewood, then Dwight Morrow High School. Check and Match. Our School is being erased.
• A board member's wife said to a principal, "do you know who he is?" when her son was not inducted into the National Honor Society. That Principal has been removed from the HS as principal.

• In most schools Honors Program
  Particpants are identified with a sash
  like the one shown here. Why isn't
  this enough for the Board of Ed.?

  There is no T in PTO - yes I'm going there also. What Teacher wants to be in an organization ran by the wives of the board members. Talk about ending up in a dusty closet with no pupil contact.. Pillow talk. What would we do in Englewood if there was no tenure? That my friend, is a scary thought. The Vice President of the Teacher's Union did not think that this was a conflict of interest. Okay, it may not be illegal, but it is certainly suspicious and the cards are totally stacked against anyone not in the click. Board Members and their wives are too much in the business of the school. Oh what a precious web we weave...once we practice to deceive.
• There are very few parents in the PTO's.  How many do we have anyway? Quarles, Grieco, Jan Dismus PTO, Jan Dismus Avid PTO, Jan Dismus Academy Prep PTO, PPA, DMHS PTO. The only time these organizations want to know us peons is during school board election time. They want to know us then. Well, we see you now. We know you now. How are the children?
• Principals are shuffled around so much that they are dizzy.
• Certain people are scared away from even registering in the Englewood School District, because they are treated badly in the registration office. Very poor customer service/public relations. I witnessed this first hand.
•  The wall plaques commemorating Dwight Morrow High School's rich sports history had been removed from the Gymnasium walls.
• An Athletic director who is NOT highly qualified called the basketball team together and announced that their hall of fame coach had been fired from the coaching position.
• A principal who failed miserably in the middle school and was removed to Liberty School was slated to move to the high school where he will be entrusted with the same children that he has already failed when they were younger.
• People are running away from the School District, because of the people at the top.
• The jerseys worn by former sports figures that have served to inspire pride in young athletes for years have been removed.
• The traditional school colors formerly on the gym floor have been repainted to maroon and black. The board suggests that others are treating students differently. Hah!
• When the students marched down Palisade Ave. in The Juneteenth Parade they chanted DMAE half heartedly. DMAE was explained to mean Dynamic Motivation Attitude & Excellence. There is only one thing wrong with that Mr. Hollander. It has no rhythm. A band director would not choose a mantra that cannot be chanted with conviction while high stepping. Try again.
• They were almost invisible. They Captured our Colors and Made our Children Invisible. The kids have better fashion sense so you can't blame this on them. The rationale was lame. 
• The Band Director however, did not paint over the white on the gym floor or the wall. That would be Mr. Hunkin.
• 8th graders must identify themselves on forms as Academy or Dwight Morrow students. When it is convenient for this board, they are DMHS students. Stop using the kids.
• My neighbor complained with good reason about AVID and her son was thrown out of the program in a very unprofessional manner. As a consolation prize, she was offered a place for her older son, who is enrolled in private school, in the academy program. Englewood's Elite few would have hissy fitted if she'd accepted that offer.
• A K- 3 Summer program was only posted on the walls of the Liberty School Building the same day that registration was over. This announcement was sent home to a select few. Did your child get one?
• There are too many bullies working in the Englewood School District.

William Walker Jr. points to a photo of
he and his track team members. Mr.
Walker still holds the record for the
100 yard dash.

• Historical plaques disappearing from walls. What is this with plaques being removed from walls? Mr, Hunkin would have been instructed to do so by a Mr. Glenn Garrison who would have been breaking his oath as a board member. Yes, I did name names, didn't I? Isn't freedom of speech a wonderful thing? I don't work for the board of Education. They can't fire me or move me to a dusty room where I will have no pupil contact while they must continue paying me six figures. This is also NOT the Wild Wild West where the newspaper editor's printing press would be burned.  The Ellen S. Bindman Dedication Plaque was also removed from the Dwight Morrow High School library wall.
• Our students do not know about FREEDOM, neither do our principals or teachers. They know only fear. Fear and apathy are constant companions to board of education employees.

The Juneteenth Parade and Carnival was a thoughtful gift given by some proud men and women who also have a historical connection to the roots of this town. Those children should have been chanting a mantra or slogan that demonstrates they understand what the parade was all about. The Jersey City Kids were stepping like they knew the importance of FREE. The cheerleaders were stepping high and looking rather prideful in the traditional colors of maroon, white and gold trim.

     

Business is Booming, Facilities are Beautiful, Profits are high, but how are the children?