Are Our Schools In Crisis: New and Improved or Recycled?

June 27, 2011

VIA EMAIL & CERTIFIED MAIL

EPSD President and Board Members
Englewood Board of Education
12 Tenafly Road
Englewood, NJ 07631

Dear EPSD President and Members of the Board,

I am writing to formally object to the assignment of Peter Elbert to the Dwight Morrow High School as principal for the upcoming school year in September 2011. This letter shall serve as my formal complaint. Peter Elbert was transferred to the Alternative High School at the Russell C. Major Liberty building in September 2010. The Englewood Board of Education made that decision because the Middle School was unable to reach the state mandated average yearly progress in the No Child Left Behind Act. Additionally, the 2010 New Jersey Assessment and Skills Knowledge test showed that the Janis Dismus Middle School failed to meet the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress in the same content for five consecutive years during Mr. Elbert’s assignment as principal there.

I would like to remind you that the New Jersey School Ethics Act (N.J.S.A 18A:12-23), Code of Ethics, paragraph (c) requires local board of education members to vote to appoint the best-qualified personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer, and paragraph (h) which states that you will vote to appoint the best-qualified personnel available after consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative officer. The selection of Peter Elbert violates both of those. There are other more qualified principals with better track records such as Dorian Militeer, Malva Wise-White, and Joseph Bell. I strongly believe that the shuffling around of principals is neither in the best interest of the District, nor its students.

We want changes that improve our school district, not break it apart. Englewood parents want to keep their kids in town, not send them to private schools in other districts. It is your responsibility to give the children of Englewood the schools and the programs they are looking for. Assigning a principal who has a record of spectacular failure to lead the same students which he failed in the Janis Dismus Middle School is disgraceful. In doing this you fail our children miserably. Please consider the consequences to the community and reconsider the assignment of Peter Elbert to principal of Dwight Morrow High School for the fall 2012 semester.

Thank you,

Donna Sumler
Concerned Parent/Englewood Resident

cc: Senator Frank Lautenberg
Senator Robert Menendez
Congressman Steven Rothman
Senator Loretta Weinberg
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri-Huttle
Governor Chris Christie
Chris Cerf, NJ Department of Education
Robert Gilmartin, Acting County Superintendent of Schools
Englewood Residents