Is Blended Learning Equal to Flushing Money?

The Englewood Board of Education and Superintendent have ignored "every single concern and/or suggestion made" by Parents/Guardians and Residents since his hiring.

In reference to this, it seems that we have a serious Attendance problem in this District and the High

An armed police officer
was on hand for what?../

School in particular. When you notice the term "Blended Learning" it means that students are making up "seat hours" or at least this is what we have been told. All of this is supposedly about Attendance. Students are making up for absences from the school year in specific courses. They sit in a room with a computer and a Teacher (who may or may not be certified in the content area) who is paid $30 an hour to babysit. There have also been guidance personnel not certified in any content area serving as Teachers in "Blended Learning" sessions.

It is imagined that these students will graduate from high school sometime before September. We don't know for sure.

There has been a great deal of speculation about how many students out of 200 did not graduate. We have been given many conflicting numbers, none of which I believe. Numbers as high as 124 not graduating have been thrown out.

Okay, let us get back to the subject, which is Attendance. Read the State's Mandates from ESSA regarding student Attendance. Using "Blended Learning" in this fashion is contrary to State Law. We need an Attendance Officer. We have been begging for the "state mandated Attendance Officer position" for over 10 years. They look at us as if we are from Mars.

Consider the cost of the "Blended Learning" idea below.

July 19, 2018
1. "Blended Learning" instructors are ONCE again on the agenda. This time an additional 18 teachers are being approved for 200 hours! THAT'S $109,800!

FOR WHAT?!
*When you add up all of the "Summer Blended Learning" Instructor's payouts, the district will have spent OVER $200,000 IN TOTAL.

May 17th agenda -- 9 teachers at 120 hours = $32,940 (for work done July 9th to August 3rd)
June 14th agenda -- 17 teachers at 100 hours = $51,850 (for work done June 16th to June 30th)
June 14th agenda -- 2 teachers at 100 = $6,100 (for work done July 9th to August 3)
July 19th agenda -- 18 teachers at 200 hours = $109,800 (for work done August 6th to August 31st)

GRAND TOTAL: $200,690

This is the summer of "Blended Learning"! What are the outcomes of this? You could have allowed

That is Board Member
Elizabeth Schwartz
standing in the corner.
She is on her cell phone.
The rest of the Board is
engaged in a training session
conducted by the NJ School
Boards Association.
The Board Members are learning
about Goal Setting.
At the time of this meeting, there
was on the agenda
Merit Goals for the
Superintendent.
Mrs Schwartz is obviouisly
not interested in this
training.
Those Merit Goals cost
the taxpayers over
$30,000.00.

for 4 of the 25 people that were let go for reasons of economy to come back and do their jobs. These people now have jobs in other Districts and we are left with no VPs in the high school. Good Teachers are resigning every meeting. Hmmmmmm!

3. With this amount of spending, the board is also allowing the Superintendent to hire all extra comp positions between board meetings! Lord only knows what other hires he is going to make that will allow him to secretly spend more of the tax payers money! Why did the Board approve this recommendation last night ?Another thing, why were the police in high alert last night? A uniformed and armed policeman was in attendance. He was also presumably paid with your tax dollars.

It should also be noted that there is included in EPSD POLICY already  permission for the Superintendent to make an EMERGENCY executive decision to hire personnel between Board Meetings. It is stipulated within the policy, that the Resolution for hiring SHALL appear on the very next meeting agenda. On July 19, 2018, our School Board gave the Superintendent permission to hire personnel between meetings when there is no apparent emergency. Why would he need to do that?

The Salary of the "State Mandated Attendance Officer" is less than half the cost of "Blended Learning" expenses.

My question is this:

Is all of this a lie? 

What is the REAL PURPOSE of "Blended Learning"?

Do you want to know the real deal?

"Claiming a Future For Our Children"

Betty is seeking re-election to the Englewood Board of Education. She has been a resident of Englewood over 40 years. 

She earned a BA (Bachelor of Arts) in Sociology from South Carolina State University. Betty worked for the State of New Jersey for over 30 years. 

While employed with the Division of Family Development she administered the Food Stamp Program (SNAP) and supervised Child Care Centers across the state.

As part of the board , she has served on the following committees:

Year one (2015) Academic Affairs and the Ad Hoc Negotiations

Year two (2016) Chairperson of the Personnel Committee and Community Outreach .

Year three (2017) Academic Affairs

In May 2017, Betty was awarded the Certified New Board Members certificate for her completion of the requirements for Level One of the Board Members Academy Program.

The goals she has for the district are:

Complete the implementation of the reading program in the primary and elementary schools.

Continue to improve transparency between parents,students and the administration of the district through community meetings.

Update policies to assure the changes made are captures and understood by parents, students and administration
.

She currently serves as a member of the Englewood Recreational Advisory Committee. 

Betty is a tutor in the community and volunteers. She is the proud mother of two sons, Sebron and Samuel.

"Claiming a future for our Children"

It is a bird, it is a plane....nooooo!!

It is Super  -  in - tendent!

Why Are our Children forced to Vet their Own Teachers?

A parent called me today with some very real concerns about an incident with his child. It seems, a Geometry teacher, Miguel Tactuk employed in the Englewood Public School District was removed from the building today, October 13, 2017.  This teacher was allegedly verbally abusive with a group of female students. One young lady was insulted that he was speaking to them in ways that she had never heard from a teacher. She decided to google  him. What she found will shock you. 

It seems that this teacher has a history of being verbally abusive to female students.  He had in fact gotten into trouble in New York for sexually harassing a 12 year old female student when he taught    7th grade there. At the very least, this Geometry teacher was removed from the building.

What has our School System come to when the children must police their own teachers? We were assured that our new Human Relations Manager with her law degree was a top notch person for the job. How did she miss this? The former Human Relations Manager did not have the credentials to do the job, yet was kept in the position for many years. 

Why are employees not being vetted more closely now? Is this the reason so many teachers have been found teaching outside of their certifications? In light of recent developments one would think that every new hire would be vetted more closely. Who is watching the store?

It appears that the employees who have tenure charges against them are not the problem. The current system which is still status quo is. The new HR Director is part of the Corrective Action Plan. Perhaps the "exhaustive certification audit" should be expanded to include issues such as this.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/01/29/mother-bronx-teacher-sexually-harassed-girl-12/

Unfortunately teachers in Englewood and other school districts around the state and the country sometimes run afoul of what is right and good. They forget that children are people too.

.................And how are the children?

The Phantom Candidate

Save the date: The League of Women Voters' School Board Candidates Night- Tuesday, October 24th at 7:30 pm, Public Safety Building, 73 South Van Brunt Street.

Bill Feinstein
Column 5

We started this School Board Election season with a record number of 10 Candidates vying for 3 seats on the Englewood Board of Education. Candidates in the 9th and 10th columns dropped out of the race prior to September 6. Their names will not be on the ballot. We now have 8 candidates competing for those same 3 seats. 4 of those candidates are still a mystery to "we the people". The 4 candidates here are off and running.

April 2012 School Board Elections were a bit odd with unexplained events throughout. 2 Candidates ran who did absolutely nothing to win. They simply put their names on the ballot and became Spoilers.

One, we know. His name is David Popkin. Mr. Popkin was one of a few people who attended every school board meeting and challenged anything mathematical. He and I were once the only 2 residents who waited out a Board meeting that lasted until 2:00 am in the morning. He was a Math teacher in his early years and has lived in Englewood a very long time. He is known to keep the Board on its toes about many issues including accepting gifts from vendors. He was his very own Board Watch for many years. 2012 was not the first time that Mr. Popkin had run for the Board. He told me that he never campaigns and never signs petitions. 

Dierdre Paul
Column 7

When asked why he runs, he said that he just wanted to make it interesting.  I didn't try to understand, for fear of a math problem that I would never be able to comprehend. Mr. Popkin got over 200 votes without doing anything other than putting his name on the ballot.

The 2nd candidate was literally a "Phantom". We never saw her. No one knew who she was. We thought she did not exist. We searched the registered voter list to make sure that she was a real person.

She is a real person. Her name is Jennifer Kim. She never revealed herself throughout the campaign. She did not attend any of the debates or "meet the candidate" events. On Election night, the Asian news media was there with cameras waiting alongside us for the outcome of the election. I assume they wanted to see her also. She never showed. We call her the "Phantom Candidate".  She got votes from every single ward and district in the City. Jennifer Kim earned 233 votes. She did even less than Mr. Popkin. She and Mr. Popkin simply took nearly 500 votes from other candidates who may have done better had the Spoilers not participated. One will never know whom they were both set on derailing.

Last night a friend and I went over the voting patterns in Englewood School Board Elections for the last 6 years. It came to me that we have not seen or heard anything from 4 of the 8 Candidates. We have no photographs of them. School Board is very personal and somehow closer to the people than other elected officials. They make decisions that are closer to our hearts. They have the power to change the futures of our children. Yes, they do.

Betty Griffin
Column 4

Phantom candidates become what the political world calls spoilers.

We have not heard from 4 of the 8 Candidates. Matthew Garrison, we have seen in and around town as a child and a teenager. He did not attend Dwight Morrow High School. Most of us have not seen nor heard from Matthew since he went off to college. Did Matthew really want to be on the Board of Education? Did he personally carry a petition and get signatures? One wonders....

And who is Brent Watson? He has attended 2 of the same Board meetings and has a face.  He holds the #1 Column on the ballot and may join the ranks of those elected simply because of that. Voters, please read the names and attend the events scheduled to give you a chance to meet and question the candidates.

Did Michelle Marom and Dalia Lerner really want to throw their hats into that ring of fire? Who knows? Perhaps the 3 of them will show up at the League of Women Voters "Meet the Candidates event scheduled for Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 7:30 pm, Public Safety Building, 73 South Van Brunt Street.

Howard Haughton
Column 3

In years past, Northjersey.com published candidate photographs and campaign statements prior to the election. This blogger has no idea what the protocol will be this year. As it stands, the people should not have to wait. There are very important decisions to be made.

Do we have 3 "Phantom" Candidates in 2017?


.....And how are the children?