Wednesday, June 6, 2012

2012 - 2013 EPSD Will Outsource Secretarial Services & Paraprofessional Services

Or will they... Become part of the solution. It only takes giving up one evening a month to find out how lightly people take your child's education.
The Credit Recovery Program is a trick for the underachiever. Make no mistake. 
There is no expectation for the student who cuts, is chronically late or  has school 
 phobia. The Ivy Program is a tracking tool. Everyone is Ivy. We must fight
to make sure this Board of Education understands that. Outsourcing is
a diversion. Follow the money and the slipshod way the records are kept. 
Check with the auditor. Carlisle admitted to creating the money problem. This
board never admitted to allowing him to do so. Pardon me public, we have them 
on videotape allowing it to happen. Or should I say, Voting it to happen.

The best way to tell you what has been done is to include the exact text of the draft resolution for the June 7, 2012 School Board Meeting. They vote on this today @8pm @Grieco School
DRAFT RESOLUTION FOR JUNE 7, 2012
WHEREAS, due to reasons of economy and efficiency, the Englewood Board of Education authorized the administration on January 30, 2012 to advertise for a request for proposals (RFP) for outside vendors to provide the following contracted services: (i) nurses; (ii) Child Study Team; (iii) secretaries; (iv) paraprofessionals; (v) related special education services; and (vi) substitute call-in services; and
WHEREAS, on March 12, 2012, the Englewood Board of Education advertised for RFPs and on April 5, 2012 responses to the RFPs for the provision of the contracted services listed in the above paragraph were publically opened; and
WHEREAS, the administration has evaluated the RFP responses received, and each response was carefully reviewed and evaluated pursuant to the RFP specification; and
WHEREAS, based upon the evaluation of the RFP responses, the administration recommends the selection of following vendors: (i) Mission One Educational Staffing to provide secretarial services; and (ii) Delta T Group North Jersey, Inc., to provide paraprofessional services; and
WHEREAS, the administration is not recommending the use of outside vendors for nursing, Child Study Team, related special education services or substitute call-in services at this time; and
WHEREAS, the contracted services will be implemented as soon as administratively practical so as to minimize operational disruption during the student school year and optimize the cost savings needed to keep the District within its budget; and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that the Englewood Board of Education will save an estimated $2 million per year by awarding contracts for outside vendors to provide secretarial services and paraprofessional services;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Englewood Board of Education award a contract (to be negotiated) for secretarial services to Mission One Educational Staffing for the 2012/2013 school year at a cost not to exceed $832,000, excluding overtime (at $18.46 per regular hour).
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Englewood Board of Education award a contract (to be negotiated) for paraprofessional services to Delta T Group North Jersey, Inc., for the 2012/2013 school year at a cost not to exceed $1,658,895 (at an hourly rate of $18.50 per hour assuming 70 FTEs @ 183 days per year).
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Board authorizes its administration and attorney to negotiate contracts with the aforementioned vendors with terms and conditions consistent with the RFP and the needs of the District for a one (1) year term, with an option for one year renewals for a subsequent term not to exceed five (5) years.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that upon the contracts being finalized by the vendor and the administration, said contracts shall be presented to the Board for approval and ratification.

                                                      How are the children?

Saturday, June 2, 2012

ATTENTION! ATTENTION: MORE CHANGES IN POLLING PLACES

Polling places have changed in Englewood, New Jersey and not just in the 4th ward.
There was significant confusion in polling place location in Englewood during the School Board Elections. Some folks tried to vote at more than one place. We can beat the confusion. Check those ballots. Make sure they have the same information as these documents. Call, write or email the Superintendent of Bergen County Elections if the information is different.

Click here for a list of streets in Englewood, New Jersey.
  • Find your Street
  • Is your house # on the odd or even side of the street? Look closely.
  • Determine your Ward & District based on your street (sometimes it is a different polling place for the same street) 
  • For example, I vote Ward 4, District 2. It is written W4D2

Click here once you KNOW your Ward and District numbers. This is a list of places where each Ward and District votes. Now get out there and rock it!

Yeah, it is very odd that different sides of the street votes in different places. Now we know.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Suggestion Box EPSD: The Expectations Described Here...

Ivy?
...should apply to every single student in the 3rd grade, not just the ones in this program. 
This is not Education Reform. 
This
is 
tracking.
http://www.epsd.org/site_res_view_folder.aspx?id=546c6af5-6dcd-4e9b-8e29-cc4c649005d7

Do you have a child going into the 3rd grade next year? Click the link below and fill out an application. Every child should have the opportunity to experience a program that has high expectations.
http://www.epsd.org/www/epsd/site/hosting/Ivy%20Program/Ivy%20Program%20Application.pdf

                                           How are the chldren?

Do You Understand the New Jersey 2011 - 2012 School Report Card?

Trenton, NJ - The Department of Education today released Report Cards for each public school in the state for the 2010-11 school year.

The Report Cards are released annually to provide user-friendly information to the public about school performance. The information in these Report Cards also provides useful data to educators and districts to help develop local improvement plans.

Based in part on these results, the Department of Education has already begun interventions in Priority Schools - the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools in the state over the past three years - with full support to begin in September through the state's new Regional Achievement Centers.

The Report Card contains information in the five areas below.
 1. School environment
 2. Student information
 3. School performance
 4. Staff information
 5. District financial data

Beginning next school year, the Department will develop and publish new school performance reports for every school in New Jersey to replace the current bifurcated School Report Card and NCLB Report Card publications.

Through these reports, the Department will set specific school and subgroup performance targets for both language arts and math, and will report annual progress towards meeting those goals. In addition, the reports will include a number of new data points including;

  •  progress towards closing achievement gaps, 
  • comparison to "peer schools" with similar demographics, 
  • growth as measured through Student Growth Percentiles on state tests over time,
  • and additional college and career readiness data points. 


These public reports will help districts and schools to:

  • engage in local performance management by setting local performance goals, 
  • identifying strengths and weaknesses, 
  • and developing local plans to focus on areas of low performances in their districts.... 

The School Report Cards for the 2010-11 school year can be found at the link below: http://education.state.nj.us/rc/rc11/ 

The full press release is here: 
http://www.state.nj.us/education/news/2012/0531rc.htm

Guide to the New Jersey Report Card 2011:
http://education.state.nj.us/rc/rc11/guide.htm

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Suggestion Box EPSD: Branding & Yet Another Broken Promise

This year makes 42 years since the South building on the Dwight Morrow High School Campus was named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hall. It was the year I graduated from high school. We called it King Hall. Isn't it about time that those letters appeared on the outside of the building facing the street? Paint is quite reasonable these days. Another promise gone and drying  up by the wayside like a raisin in the sun.

You would not believe how much such a seemingly small thing can do to help healing begin. 

                               How are the children?