More Unadorned Facts...

stig·ma  stiɡmə/  noun
1.
a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person.
"the stigma of mental disorder"
synonyms:shame, disgrace, dishonor, ignominy, opprobrium, humiliation, (bad) reputation "the stigma of bankruptcy"
2.
(in Christian tradition) marks corresponding to those left on Jesus’ body by the Crucifixion, said to have been impressed by divine favor on the bodies of St. Francis of Assisi and others.

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"As a public servant you should be out there tying to improve everyone's quality of life--not just your own..." Jack Drakeford
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Why does Molly Craig-Berry, who is already on our Board of Education, feel that a stigma will be created if EPSD becomes a Title I School Wide Model? In responding to a direct question, she made a point of saying that she was absent at the Board meeting in which the resolution was presented, but that she would have voted "no" because of the stigma.

Our entire High School Campus is already designated a FOCUS School by the United States Education Department and the New Jersey Department of Education. Why would we refuse the "coupon" that may be able to help us?

Englewood;s Identity Crisis is showing again. Englewood is NOT filled with rich people. It has never been filled with rich people. Last I heard, we are over 70% free and reduced lunch. How does a Mother of 3, who makes suggestions that we should favor her, because she is a female say that she would have voted against something that will help all children, because it is humiliating to her. Did she mean that the entire City will be humiliated. Rumor is that we also have approximately 50 homeless families. Where is the shame?

Who is to say that we have not been blessed with "divine favor" in that we have been chosen to be the stewards of those less fortunate?

Are we supposed to hide our faces in disgrace, because the media and those in power, call us the "working class". As far as I am concerned, anyone who works is the working class. So get over yourselves.

Title I — Improving The Academic Achievement Of The Disadvantaged
THERE ARE 2 MODELS FOR CONSIDERATION
*****TARGETED ASSISTANCE 
*****TITLE I SCHOOL WIDE MODEL

The Englewood Public School District is now a Targeted Assistance Model. That  means that we ALREADY ACCEPT TITLE I FUNDS. Every year, Title I funds earmarked for helping children Read, Write and do Math are returned to the Federal Government. Thousands of dollars go unspent when there are hundreds of children in need of help in READING, WRITING AND ARITHMETIC.  Check the past agendas and minutes if you are skeptical. Check out the reasons given by the law as to how Paraprofessionals should be trained and utilized in School Districts that accept Title I Funds.

The Title I School Wide Model helps ALL students who need the help academically. Where is the stigma in that? So if Parent A falls above the poverty line, the child will still qualify for the academic assistance needed. If anything, the STIGMA is eliminated.

George Garrison III, who is competing for a another term on the School Board, called it a coupon. You might even call it a "built in voucher" that allows students to remain in their own schools. It can be used to improve the entire school district. It might even bring help for our Professionals who seem to need assistance determining the most effective way to spend the funds to raise test scores.

Where is stigma in helping others? Where is the stigma in helping yourself?

Board Members are not required to be "educators" but they are required to read. They are required to learn more about the LAWS that protect our children and help them ALL to become successful "literate" additions to society. They are required to get the training required to accomplish this goal.

As taxpayers, we require the Board of Education to hire a Superintendent who will lead the professionals who are charged with the task of preparing Englewood children to compete in a global society. At the very least, they must be able to compete with the children from surrounding towns.

Listen to this 18 minute Webinar:
Title I School Wide Program: Transitioning from a Targeted Assistance to a School Wide

http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/SchoolWideTransition.shtml

DELTA T IS OUT, OUTSOURCING STILL IN!

WHY WOULD ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT SIGN THIS CONVOLUTED CONTRACT?

JUST SAY NO!
http://www.epsd.org/www/epsd/site/hosting/BOARD%20MEETINGS%20-%202015-2016/Tab%2010%20-%20Mission%20One%20Contract.pdf

4.5 MILLION DOLLARS?

Where is the savings?

We are talking about real people who work with our children on a daily basis. REAL PEOPLE!!!

ENGLEWOOD BOARD OF EDUCATION
SAY NO
 TAKE BACK YOUR POWER.
TAKE BACK OUR POWER!

WE STILL DO NOT WANT STRANGERS!

RESIDENTS: READ THE CONTRACT
CAREFULLY!

WHY ARE WE STILL OUTSOURCING CLASSROOM PARAPROFESSIONALS?

PARAPROFESSIONAL LAW EFFECTIVE AS OF JANUARY 16, 2010.

"....Establishes measures to provide employment stability for teaching paraprofessionals employed in school districts that receive Federal funding under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act..."

How can we fill this out truthfully?

And Now, Some Good News...

Attention Englewood Residents:

There is only one more School Board Meeting before the November School Board Elections.

October 15 is the last regularly scheduled School Board Meeting before the November 3 elections. You have 38 days to decide how you are going to vote.

Do you even know who is running to fill the 3 member's terms that are up?

Are you planning to vote?

Do you have any idea what is at stake?

Have you seen any mention of this extremely important event in the newspapers? 

Have you gotten any Literature in the mail or attached to your doorknob drawing your attention to this very important election?

The following School Board Member's terms have expired and all 3 are running for re-election.

Howard Haughton, current President
He has served 1 term, 3 years

Henry Pruitt III, 9 + years, 3
terms

Molly Craig-Berry
1 term, 3 years

The 3 incumbents ran together in 2012,
the year that outsourcing
changed the face of the School District.

George Garrison III is competing against his former Board Members in hopes of returning to the School Board. Mr. Garrison has previously served 2 terms and was School Board President for 2 of those years.

George Garrison III

A little backstory.........

George Garrison III ran on the 2014 ticket with current School Board Member Betty Griffin and Kevin Lake in 2014. Only Betty Griffin was elected that year.

In 2014, voters returned SEEK Outsource champions Glenn Garrison and Stephen Brown to the Board. It was the first School Board Election held in November. It was not a shining hour for voters in Englewood. It is hoped that more Englewood Residents will exercise the privilege of voting this year. A 70 million dollar budget is controlled by these elected officials. Since the School Board Elections moved to November, the public is no longer able to vote on the School Budget as in the past.

This Taxpayer is wondering if moving the elections to November, where it is swallowed up by the partisan machine, is obscuring the importance of the event. Please remember that School Board Elections are non-partisan and have nothing (on the surface) to do with political Party Affiliations.  There are no Republicans and Democrats when voting for School Board Candidates.

Is serving on the Englewood School Board becoming less attractive? 

Where are the Candidates?

Look for announcements of Candidate Forums. Debates are more important than ever before since all Candidates are basically incumbents.

During the year that Glenn Garrison and Stephen Brown were

not on the School Board, members actually embraced the training offered to them by the New Jersey School Boards Association. We, the Taxpayers pay the NJSBA $26,000 per year to train, advise and generally protect our School Board Members from frivolous lawsuits by training them to serve according to the laws of the state of New Jersey. 

In the last 2 years, the Board has been functioning more as policy makers and less as micro managers. Mr. Haughton has become a President who understands his role of presiding over meetings. He worked better with Dr. Carlisle and supported the cause of preparing students in summer PARCC Camp for the online standardized PARCC test that was introduced in 2014. We are waiting for the results of this test now. It is still not clear whether terribly low test scores in the high school will force our Focus School into the designation of Priority School instead of raising us up to become the desired Reward School.

Stephen Brown has demonstrated that he is uncomfortable not being in charge. It appears he does not play well with others unless he is in charge. His presidency in 2012 represented one of the most contentious and turbulent periods in Englewood School Board history. Over 100 employees were outsourced and their jobs eliminated in order to save money and to break the union. Did we save money? What happened to the services that were degraded by outsourcing? Harley Ungar, the then VP 

June 7, 2012
It was very important to some Englewood Residents that the
Paraprofessionals understand that they did not rate a Union.
One Englewood Resident actually suggested to me that
these single women with children should not have a union
because they were single. I told him that I was once
a single woman with a child and in a union.

of the Board said that they expected a degradation in services. 

In class Instructional Support was destroyed when Instructional Paraprofessionals trained, as per the law, were fired and the position was abolished. Did we save money?

We certainly did not hire better, more Highly Qualified personnel. We are concerned, not only with the Academic Success of our children, but also with their Health and Safety.

How has outsourcing impacted the Academic Success of Englewood children?  It is a question that needs answering. Since their return to the School board, both Stephen and Glenn have participated in voting that seems contrary to the objective of improving the Academic Success of the children in the District. One wonders how long this behavior will continue. 

Interim Superintendent Michael Roth 

made the first and only Educational Proposal based on Data Driven Evidence and research that has been presented to the public in many years October of last year. It chronicled the downward spiral in the test scores of Englewood students since 2006 when the schools were reorganized. He speaks to the fact that students practically "fall off a cliff" at the end of 3rd grade. That proposal is collecting dust. During Roth's year in District, we saw the flickering of a school board that functioned with the needs of the students coming first. The problems in Elementary Education connected to Math and Reading Comprehension must be addressed. 

We witnessed a different and much more healthy relationship between the School Board and the Professional Educational Leader, that we pay, beginning to develop. We wish M. Roth well in retirement. We would like to see this new and different direction of the School Board continue with the new Superintendent. 

Some good news.......We have a New Superintendent......An Educator is coming............

September 17, a new Superintendent was hired.

Mr. Kravitz was introduced to the public on Sept. 17. 2015

Robert Kravitz, who currently serves as Superintendent in Englewood Cliffs was hired on September 17, 2015 with a unanimous vote of approval. Dr. Michelle James is currently serving as Acting Superintendent.

• Read his bio at Huffingpost

• His opinions on involving parents

• Huffington post describes our new Superintendent as an Educator, Entrepreneur, and Author. Read his philosophy on what we are doing in education as published June 16, 2014

• Read  his book
  

Read Out Englewood!

Have you Pre-Registered your child for this event? 

There is still time. Use this  link and Pre-Register online. 

http://www.myebc.org/read_out_englewood_registration

Or Pre-Register at Ebenezer Baptist Church

Mon - Fri. 10 am - 4 pm

Register at the event to participate in our Junior Classroom Style Spelling Bee.

                                        Help us "fill a bus" with School Supplies.

"...And how are the children?"

Summer Packets

My grandson's newest little saying is "don't judge me"

This is his answer for everything.

Today, the 4th grader and 1st grader were trying very hard not to work on their summer packets for school. I asked my grandson, the 1st grader what his new Teacher would think of him if he did not hand in his summer packet completed.

He cocked his head to one side, raised his left eyebrow, touched his finger to his lips and asked a serious question.

"Are you trying to say that she is going to judge me, grandma?"

When I said yes, that is exactly what she is going to do, he started to work until he had only one page left. Whatever it takes.....because we all know that is exactly what the teachers are going to do.

To all teachers:
Make sure you collect those packets. That is the very first homework from your new young students. You are the one who ultimately makes homework meaningful. If you never acknowledge, collect, correct or just use check marks, they know that you place no value on the work that you are giving them to complete at home.

He sends this to his new teacher.