Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Our Schools Are In Crisis: Degradation, Delta T and Mission One

 Monday, August 19, 2013, there will be a Special Meeting of the Englewood Board of
Education. 8 pm @ Grieco Elementary School.

It is extremely important to attend this meeting and witness how our School Board handles the question of approving or not approving another year of very expensive substandard service. 

Doesn't it just make one tingle all over to learn that our Board of Education had prior knowledge of the fact that the quality of services provided by

the "independent contractors" would not be of the same quality as from the outsourced employees.

 From northjersey.com
At Thursday’s meeting, Board Vice President Harley Ungar said, “We all expected a       degradation of quality” as a result of the outsourcing, but that the issue is to find out “how deep that degradation is.” - See more at:   
President Haughton accepts plaques
from the alumni class of 1963

 Degradation is the act of lowering something or someone to a less respected state. A president resigning from office is a degradation .

The "Outsourced" Secretaries, lunch aides, bus aides, and teacher aides were mostly women with families to support. A man who objects strongly to public employees forming unions found it deplorable that most of the workers were single women with children who had the nerve to have a union, tenure and medical benefits. He said this to me, a retired teacher who was a single parent and the member of a union. (It should be noted here that only the secretaries earned tenure)

Englewood Public School District  firmly embraces the concept of doing as they please regardless of the law. Click here and Read the law about paraprofessionals in Title I Districts signed January 16, 2010. 
1. The Legislature finds and declares that as school districts that 
receive federal funding under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. s.6301 et seq.) come under greater pressure to meet standards and demonstrate higher student performance, teachers in those districts are being forced to focus more on curriculum and student test preparation.  In response to this pressure, the paraprofessionals that assist teachers are assuming greater responsibility for supporting students in the classroom and the school environment. Paraprofessionals perform a critically important role in providing a thorough and efficient education to the State’s public school students. It is therefore fitting and proper to establish measures to enhance employment stability and promote professional development for these individuals..... 

Henry Pruitt works on his ipad
during a School Board Meeting?
Let us remember that 70% Free and Reduced Lunch Students do make a Title I School District. So There is instability and degradation here. 3rd graders must know how to type by the spring of 2014. They will be given a literacy test in varying forms on the computer. They should know the 10 Finger Typing Method by then. We need well trained Teacher's Aides.
why are we embracing a situation that was known to degrade the quality of services to our students? We are a Title I district.

We have instability. Deltat T, the Referral Company is paid $18.00 hour. The actual "independent Contractor" gets only $10 pr hr. The Referral Company pockets 8 bucks for every hour that each "Independent Contractor" works. Wow! The Referral Company gets almost half of
Mr. Henry Pruitt, do you know that
it is against the Open Public Meetings
Act to use your electronic
device while the meeting is in
session.
what the "independent contractor" makes.  Disgusting. The independent Contractor must now pay Social Security, State and Federal Income Taxes, out of that 10 bucks..What about healthcare? Persons working with our children should be healthy and stable. What are the chances of an Independent Contractor spreading a disease in one of our schools? This same "independent contractor" is not paid for vacation, sick days and no unemployment is taken out unless they arrange for it themselves. We have people working with our most vulnerable children that would fare better working for MacDonald's. We have unstable 
and unhappy people who may not even have passed a criminal 
background check. They have certainly not passed the praxis. 
We have instability..

Frequently asked questions about Paraprofessionals

After School Program
On August 8, 2013 we watched the School Board raise After School Fees for the people they just fired in 2012. They argued back and forth on this topic for almost an hour. All they had to do was change it right there by putting the slide back in the sliding scale. It was really embarrassing.

After questioning persons in other towns about the policy when charging parents with more than one child, we learned that the general practice is to reduce the price for each additional child.

Regular    $250.00 monthly per child
Reduced  $200.00 monthly per child
Free        $200.00 monthly per child

It was decided that the rates would be published this way and adjusted if the need arises. If you feel that the fee schedule above is out of your range make the call.   (201) 862-6254 
Click here for more information: Remember that the first month's fee is due at registration and is payable by money order only.

                                       How are the children?

Monday, August 12, 2013

Our Schools Are In Crisis...But...

Our Schools are in crisis, but there are a few good things happening. We have made some gains.

Englewood Tackling Waiting List For Pre - School  was the northjersey.com headline on Thursday, July 25, 2013. Some of us thought it was too good to be true and crossed our fingers.
Thursday, August 8, 2013 we were assured that the space had been found to allow more children than ever before to attend preschool.

It is a win-win for parents of Englewood preschoolers. It had been announced that at least 47 children might find themselves attending Quarles Early Childhood Development Center in September. At least 51 families across the City may now begin to put together uniforms for their preschoolers.

We embrace the uniform idea for Englewood students. We have also found online places where uniforms may be purchased wholesale. We encourage everyone to join the uniform initiative. Talk to other parent and compare prices. It might be a good idea to speak to parents of older children and begin to recycle uniforms kept in good condition.

Check your information packets from EPSD for uniform information.

Online Wholesale uniform Merchant sells bulk: (Check out the bulk rate..Little ones grow fast..The box includes more than one size.)


 My 16 year old granddaughter and I are preparing to sew the bottoms of the uniforms. We are using the sites for suggestions of style. She is interested in fashion and this is as good a place as any to start. She is excited at the prospect of sewing the uniforms of her little sister and brother.  Wish us luck. The machine has been collecting dust.


12th Annual Back-To-School Block Party


Saturday, July 27, 2013

On The Subject of Delta T

Rumor about town is that the referral Companies Delta T and Mission One have already called their employees and advised them that they will be returning to work in September. We realize that they may have been assured that this delay and subsequent evaluation is a mere formality to satisfy a minority of Board Members and some Community Members.

As a Community, we must all weigh in and ask that:

  • Criteria for Rehire of Delta T include some indication that our Board and Administration has higher Expectations for persons working with the Special Needs Children in the Englewood Public School District.
  • Please email the Board Members and ask that they require proof and documentation that each "independent contractor" has at least 60 college credits and has been certified by the Executive County Superintendent
  • Criminal Background Checks - They should also make sure that each "referral Agency" has been fingerprinted, vetted and cleared
  • The 2 items listed above shall have priority over the concept of whether the "outsourcing" saved a few dollars a head or NOT.


The one and most important thing that we must all remember and bring to the attention of our elected officials is that although Delta T is a vendor, they are not providing widgets or lawnmowers. They are providing "independent contractors" to work with our most vulnerable children. This means that Mark deMontagnac was right and it is a personnel issue. Some Board members do not wish to admit when they were wrong. It is very selfish of these people to continue to deal with Delta T as if they are vendors supplying inanimate objects for sale.

Board Members must be made to understand that we understand that these "independent contractors" must still be held to a standard. That standard includes the mandate that they have at least 60 credits and have a credential from the County Executive Superintendent. Otherwise we might as well get a few seniors in high school to do the job of babysitting. (Englewood may have abolished the title Paraprofessional, but the state has not)

They must also be vetted and pass a criminal background check prior to being hired and sent into our schools. We all know that this is not the case. Each person reading this post has a responsibility to write to our Board and demand that they ask Delta T for the Credentials of each "independent Contractor"

Left to their own devices, we all know they will deal with the idea of money alone. This last past Board meeting was the only Board meeting in the last 10 years that I have attended where the subject was education and achievement. It was refreshing. We all know that is because HP was not in attendance. Write the emails and letters to the board asking that they demand to see the credentials of every single "independent contractor." 

If they are not willing to do this they do not have the best interest of the children as priority and the district will continue to fail.


                                               " How are the children?"

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Apartheid Education is alive & Well: Final Exams Are Taking Place on Only One Side of the DMHS Campus

The Academy@Englewood Program is having Final Exams 

June 17 - 20. No Finals are being given in the North Building.

This means that only one half of the high school is being 

engaged in the academic process these last weeks of school 

before summer vacation. What is up with that? Final exams 

are not a punishment. They may be considered a 

preparation for college. Another thing, what type of 

preparation are today's 10th graders being given to prepare 

for the HSPA?


How do we get it across to these folks that bringing in a 

"best practice" to only one side of the campus is making the

achievement gap much wider? Oh, I forgot, there are some

folks who will welcome a designation of PRIORITY SCHOOL

 on our high school. They are still not getting the point that 

the entire campus is a focus school. They CAN YELL DMAE 

all they want, but DMHS is still a FOCUS SCHOOL and all of 

the teachers, administrators, students and parents are 

impacted by this designation. 


Another thing. now that the "equity and excellence" money is

all gone there are some serious problems in this district. I 

for one, take strong exception to my tax dollar being spent 

on a system of APARTHEID EDUCATION.



APARTHEID EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES MUST BE REJECTED 

IN THE ENGLEWOOD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT!

STAND AND GIVE EVERYTHING BUT UP!