Special Meeting of the NJ State Board of Education
Contact: Barbara Morgan
609-292-1126
The New Jersey State Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. for the purpose of receiving the annual reports from the superintendents of the three state-operated school districts of Jersey City, Paterson, and Newark.
No action will be taken. The public is invited to attend the meeting which will be held at the following location:
Liberty Science Center
The Interactive Theater
222 Jersey City Boulevard
Jersey City, NJ
Questions can be directed to the State Board Office at 609-984-6024.
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Evaluate the Superintendent. Follow the law before outsourcing 2 entire work forces with years of service to the district.
Outsourcing will not solve Englewood Board of Education's spending problem. Custodians are outsourced and one may smell urine in the stairwells on most days. Cafeteria workers and food service is outsourced and children are eating too many carbohydrates off of styrene plates. At times they are being served moldy bread and the breakfast from Friday as lunch on Monday.
Is outsourcing the answer? I don't think so.
Englewood is faced with some of the same problems as Jersey City, Paterson and Newark. Englewood has been called Abbott-Like by a lot of people over the years. Our School District is
known as the "Apartheid Education" school district. Instead of digging in and fixing problems that have been pointed out by qualified professionals over the years, our board has taken a route of inaction at a time when a new strategy was needed. Keep in mind everyone that they are saying that the money ran out in 2008. It is the end of the 2012 school year. Last year, we watched as Dr. Carlisle hired nearly 40 people who were not planned for in the budget. At times I wondered if any one of them had a calculator. All of the board voted in employee after employee knowing full well the budget would not cover them. We have Dr. Carlisle on videotape telling new hires that there would not be enough money to rehire them a second year. We watched them hire and hire and hire. Most of the new hires were provisionals, CE's and CEAS's, folks who are not certified. If you check the agendas, you will notice that they are still hiring while they claim they have no money. They just collected over 6 million dollars from the City for the sale of Liberty School. Where did it go? Englewood does not have a money problem. Englewood has a spending problem. They all need tutoring in all 5 areas of the QSAC.
A few people would have us believe that the best thing for us would be to throw ourselves butt first into another alliance with the Bergen County Technical Schools. Dr. Carlisle and key board members are working on that right now. That, myfriends is the author of the problems we face right now. In the original plan, we got the cast offs of Bergen Academy. They came in with all the attitude and none of the know-how for which Bergen Academy is known. Besides, Bergen Academy contains the best of all the towns in the county. Anyone can teach the smart, self motivated student who has enough money to buy lunch. An excellent teacher teaches all students that enter his/her class as if they can achieve anything possible under the sun.
We say evaluate the program that was paid for years ago. A lot of children have suffered because of its existence. A lot of money was thrown at our School Choice program and it has never been evaluated. The original problem that cost the tax payers upwards of 30 million dollars must be evaluated. When the money ran out the program should have been tailored. By their own admission the Board did not do anything to adjust to the loss of funding. Not a very prudent or wise move on their part. We have a spending problem. Our board needs state help in learning to spend the taxpayer's money. They desperately need the training that most of them refuse to get from the New Jersey School Boards Association. They also need help following the road map that is created by the laws in 18A.
Secretaries do not fill out these forms. That is above their pay grade. Where is the problem really? At the top. EPSD is the problem.
A lot of money has been sucked up by Dr. Carlisle. He spent over a $100,000.00 on a program that basically teaches students how to say hello and greet each other every day. They should have kept the money and given teachers training on how to talk to meet, greet, and share with each other for the good of the children. Did we really need that? A good theatre based Improvisational exercise workshop would have accomplished more. Getting to know and understand how we are alike and the same type of exercises. Behavior modification for students, teachers and administrators. Who cleans up after Bull when he leaves the China Shop?
Dr. Carlisle has never been evaluated. He had no goals and objectives for the district. The objectives he presented at the last minute were plagiarized from other districts where the students do not look like 90% of the students here. How do you evaluate someone based on the achievement of people with whom we share nothing? Why is he not getting to know our children? At board meetings, a young man is often presented to the public jokingly as Clark Kent far too many times. It became annoying simply because it did not sound flattering to the student. Last Thursday, Clark Kent turned into Superman and stood up in his full height for the secretaries. For the first time since he was introduced as Clark Kent I was proud of this student. Now he has earned Superhero status.
What happens to a Board of Education that fails the minimum basic skills test in how to function as a board under the state law.
What happens to a board of education that has consistently flouted the laws of the NJ state constitution? What happens to a Board of Education that cannot hire a competent Superintendent at CAP salary? What happens to a Board of Education that hires a man who seems lacking in the same basic skills that we require in our high school student? What happens when a Board of Education changes nothing, but fills out the QSAC District Improvement Plan as if compliance is in place. The important words in the invitation above are: "for the purpose of receiving the annual reports from the superintendents of the three state-operated school districts of Jersey City, Paterson, and Newark."
As a public school teacher, one sees a lot of Superintendent's reports. We have a frame of reference. Perhaps watching other Superintendents give reports on the state of their schools will give us and others some valuable information as to what should happen in Englewood.
It is high time for us, the stakeholders to give ALL of them a Report Card. Every tax payer should read this report in order to gain a higher understanding of how Boards of Education hide pertinent information concerning payment to superintendents. Sample Superintendent Evaluation Form. Notice how simple it is. You should also note the name at the top of the form. We need a relationship with those people. They are there to help us.
How are the children?
Contact: Barbara Morgan
609-292-1126
The New Jersey State Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. for the purpose of receiving the annual reports from the superintendents of the three state-operated school districts of Jersey City, Paterson, and Newark.
No action will be taken. The public is invited to attend the meeting which will be held at the following location:
Liberty Science Center
The Interactive Theater
222 Jersey City Boulevard
Jersey City, NJ
Questions can be directed to the State Board Office at 609-984-6024.
************************************************************************
Evaluate the Superintendent. Follow the law before outsourcing 2 entire work forces with years of service to the district.
Outsourcing will not solve Englewood Board of Education's spending problem. Custodians are outsourced and one may smell urine in the stairwells on most days. Cafeteria workers and food service is outsourced and children are eating too many carbohydrates off of styrene plates. At times they are being served moldy bread and the breakfast from Friday as lunch on Monday.
Is outsourcing the answer? I don't think so.
We say evaluate the program that was paid for years ago. A lot of children have suffered because of its existence. A lot of money was thrown at our School Choice program and it has never been evaluated. The original problem that cost the tax payers upwards of 30 million dollars must be evaluated. When the money ran out the program should have been tailored. By their own admission the Board did not do anything to adjust to the loss of funding. Not a very prudent or wise move on their part. We have a spending problem. Our board needs state help in learning to spend the taxpayer's money. They desperately need the training that most of them refuse to get from the New Jersey School Boards Association. They also need help following the road map that is created by the laws in 18A.
None of this accounts for the
$900,000.00 that was recently taken from us because of faulty reporting. A lack of due
diligence in the completion of paperwork at the top of the chain is key in the crippling of the Englewood Public Schools. I like the way the blame was placed on a snafu at the state. The paperwork does not support that allegation. The state acted on the information that they were given. Grants come with a lot of paperwork. Important forms cannot go undone for 2,3,4,5 years in a row. This report gives Englewood up to 18 citations. That is not a good thing. This serious infraction was NEVER discussed in a public meeting. It was buried in an agenda with no action being taken. When disabled children are sent to private schools paperwork is generated and lots of it. Money allocated for specialized programs cannot be used to pay the salaries of teachers or employees not associated with the program. Read "The corrective action plan" created and submitted after the audit by the Business Administrator. We need a forensic audit. It took 600 signatures to get a forensic audit in Miller Place when the spending began to cripple that district during Dr. Carlisle's time there.
Secretaries do not fill out these forms. That is above their pay grade. Where is the problem really? At the top. EPSD is the problem.
Dr. Carlisle has never been evaluated. He had no goals and objectives for the district. The objectives he presented at the last minute were plagiarized from other districts where the students do not look like 90% of the students here. How do you evaluate someone based on the achievement of people with whom we share nothing? Why is he not getting to know our children? At board meetings, a young man is often presented to the public jokingly as Clark Kent far too many times. It became annoying simply because it did not sound flattering to the student. Last Thursday, Clark Kent turned into Superman and stood up in his full height for the secretaries. For the first time since he was introduced as Clark Kent I was proud of this student. Now he has earned Superhero status.
What happens to a board of education that has consistently flouted the laws of the NJ state constitution? What happens to a Board of Education that cannot hire a competent Superintendent at CAP salary? What happens to a Board of Education that hires a man who seems lacking in the same basic skills that we require in our high school student? What happens when a Board of Education changes nothing, but fills out the QSAC District Improvement Plan as if compliance is in place. The important words in the invitation above are: "for the purpose of receiving the annual reports from the superintendents of the three state-operated school districts of Jersey City, Paterson, and Newark."
As a public school teacher, one sees a lot of Superintendent's reports. We have a frame of reference. Perhaps watching other Superintendents give reports on the state of their schools will give us and others some valuable information as to what should happen in Englewood.
It is high time for us, the stakeholders to give ALL of them a Report Card. Every tax payer should read this report in order to gain a higher understanding of how Boards of Education hide pertinent information concerning payment to superintendents. Sample Superintendent Evaluation Form. Notice how simple it is. You should also note the name at the top of the form. We need a relationship with those people. They are there to help us.
 |
| EPSD |
 |
| Stephen Brown - has his role confused with that of the Superintendent and the Business Administrator. Those 2 salaries combined equal almost $400,000.00. We want to see them doing the job. We also do not think it is right to pay top dollar to Administrators before they have proven themselves or at least have earned the required credentials. |
How are the children?
