Are You Tired of Being Dismissed?

The events of this week have clearly shown us two things.

1. People are tired of being blatantly dismissed. People are feeling disengaged, disempowered, and ignored. 

2. There are elected officials who have personal agendas and what the residents want is not important to them. They have shown to have an alliance with individuals versus the community.

So what do we do about it? How do we get people engaged and ensure that ALL of our elected officials are held accountable?

First, you must start attending meetings. BOE, Council, Planning Board, Board of Adjustment, etc... This is how you know what is being planned for your community. Of course we understand that it is extremely difficult to attend all these meetings because, after all, we have this thing called life, however we must start to work together. I am sure each one of us has at least 4 friends. Each person take a meeting and report back to the others.

Make sure you are informed on who your respective council person is so that based on the reports you can email your councilperson with your thoughts.

Secondly, we must educate ourselves about the candidates running for various positions. We obviously cannot afford to blindly elect people just because they are in the first column or just because they are our neighbor, or just because. We cannot afford to re-elect people simply because they are the incumbent. Having the position today does not mean you will be the best person for the job tomorrow. Know your candidates.

Now, knowing your candidate does not mean you may not end up supporting the “wrong” candidate. I am guilty of this. The person I supported turned out to be all the way wrong!! It’s okay though. Lesson learned. I certainly won’t vote for them next time.

Thirdly, thing we absolutely must do is actually vote. This is where our power lies. We literally have the power to hire and fire by pushing a button. 

We have several officials up for re-election this year

Ward 2 Michael Cohen
Ward 4. Wayne Hamer

Board of Ed (should they chose to run)

Kim Donaldson
Angela Midgette David
Elisabeth Schwartz

Think about what these candidates have done for you during the last three years? 

• What changes have they supported in our city? 
• What impact have they made? If you don’t know you have every right to reach out to them and ask. They are applying for a job and you are the hiring manager. How else would you know who is the best candidate without interviewing them?

Now, are you ready for change? Are you ready to make a difference? Are you ready to take back the power that rightfully belongs to you? You should be. It’s your life that’s being impacted. 

It’s your child’s life being affected.

If you’re not ready, why not? 

What will it take for you to get ready? 

How can we help?

Amy Jones Bulluck

A Cry In The Wilderness?

And how are the children...….?

Captured here is 57 Seconds of "disorderly conduct" at DMHS in Englewood, NJ.    The video below was posted to Instagram minutes after the melee broke out. Within minutes, the children made this go viral to neighboring towns. I see the posting of this video from what I presume is a student as a cry for help. Are we going to help or are we going to condemn the people who understand the message?

 

I have published here the opinion of a father and grandfather who  knows it is crucially important for parents to understand the severity of the situations when students are not held accountable with the full force of the District policy/law. This law should be clearly outlined in the Student Handbook for Englewood Public School Students. Professor Kelly worked for 30 years in a School District that has a School Resource Officer and an Attendance Officer. I also worked in a School District nearly 30 years that has these student support programs and more in place. Englewood does not have these and other support positions in place even though they are mandated by NJ law.
  

             On the subject of the above "57 Second" video

"I must push back on one aspect of this video, as well as commend the posting of the video. 

1. Pushback: yes, the students should receive consequences for their very disturbing display of violence; however, the underlying causes of the violence are being overlooked. 

Paraphrasing MLK: “Violence [rioting] is the language of the unheard.” The violence is a symptom of the climate in the schools. Yes, schools. There are fights occurring in other schools in the city. Parents and stakeholders must begin asking those who’ve been entrusted w/ the children, WHY?

Do ALL of the children feel supported, respected, motivated, uplifted, and “heard”? If yes, then there should not be the intense violence as displayed on the video. If no, WHY?

Parents, do you know whether the schools that are charged with educating and protecting your children are fully staffed with certified, competent and dedicated teachers, administrators and support staff? Support staff like School Resource Officers Attendance Officers, Psychologists (optimally) or Social Workers (minimally) are mandated by NJ state Law. Are they present in the schools? Have you asked?

2. Posted video: I’ve read several parents’ reactions expressing not knowing there was such discord and dysfunction in the schools. Why? Because it’s bad PR! Without this very graphic display, it would be very easy to down play the exigency of the situation. It’s very problematic to “don’t believe your lying eyes”! Only showing it to parents and not the broader spectrum of all stakeholders weakens the impact of the potential dangers suggested in our schools.

Don’t be lulled into believing that everything is milk & honey. It’s not. Fluff, feel-good articles crowing about the gains in the schools are just that, FLUFF. 

The power is in your hands now (make phone calls, regularly attend Board of Education & City Council meetings (w/ your concerns and demand answers) and in the future (your vote for those who will walk the walk they “talk” when they campaign)!"

Peace...

Thom Kelly, Ph. D

NBC Coverage https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Brawl-Breaks-Out-at-New-Jersey-High-School_New-York-509459941.html ATTENTION PARENTS: If your children are fighting in school they are breaking the law. Fighting in school is "disorderly conduct". It is a misdemeanor and it applies to everyone, even School Board Members. Read below. NJ Statute: 2C:33-2. Disorderly conduct.
a. Improper behavior. A person is guilty of a petty disorderly persons offense, if with purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof he
(1) Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior; or
(2) Creates a hazardous or physically dangerous condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.

b. Offensive language. A person is guilty of a petty disorderly persons offense if, in a public place, and with purpose to offend the sensibilities of a hearer or in reckless disregard of the probability of so doing, he addresses unreasonably loud and offensively coarse or abusive language, given the circumstances of the person present and the setting of the utterance, to any person present.

“Public” means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access; among the places included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons, apartment houses, places of business or amusement, or any neighborhood.

L.1978, c. 95, s. 2C:33-2, eff. Sept. 1, 1979.
https://www.lawserver.com/law/state/new-jersey/nj-laws/new_jersey_laws_2c_33-3-1?fbclid=IwAR24vWnqDGNcnTZUduZifKHEB_Q_drQerAwzWO4Lrz4-BWHpklUH2YGhjJM

And how are the children...………………?

Double Dipping in The City

On this month's agenda , I see that Mr. Kravitz is attending a two day workshop in Atlantic City. The funny thing is that the board is already paying this man a monthly car allowance for “travel within the state” yet he is also putting in for an additional $270 for travel expenses.  

Not bad to have a district that is laying people off every year because of financial issues yet they pay for this guys car and then reimburse him for travel. DOUBLE DIPPING?!

Maybe the community should require him to report back on exactly what breakout sessions he attended and how they will fit into the long range plans for the district. Or maybe he is getting a two day three night trip to Atlantic City on the community’s dime.  

Is The EPSD Warehousing Our Children?

*Substitutes have been outsourced. 

*Even long term subs have been outsourced. 

*Teacher Aides have been outsourced.

*Secretaries have been outsourced. 
*Bus and Lunch Aides have been outsourced.

At least 2 Teachers are leaving every month for one reason or another.

So what does the Human Resource Manager/Director do again? 

This Stakeholder needs clarification. 

Requirements for Substitutes changed in 2015. It is horrifying that Public Schools are leaving such a delicate area up to a "Referral Agency". This Referral Agency is a vendor. That means that the oversight for this program falls under the Business Administrator. Again, what is the Human Resource Director doing other than conducting the many exit interviews?

How do we know that the Substitutes hired by the "Referral Company" have completed the additional requirements set by the state? Who is the responsible Party employed by the Englewood Public School District to oversee this sensitive matter?

Changes to Substitute Teacher Requirements - N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-7
https://nj.gov/education/license/UpdatedSubChanges.pdf

Changes to Teacher Certification Requiremtnts (N.J.A.C. 6A:9B
https://www.nj.gov/.../edu.../license/UpdatedCertChanges.pdf

Memo to all Human Resource Directors
SUBJECT: Update to Proposed Changes to Teacher Preparation and Certification Requirements
https://www.nj.gov/.../pre.../060315Chapter9ProposalMemo.pdf

So whom do we blame for a teacher being subjected to having over 40 children per class, because of lack of Substitutes? Seems that Phantom Human Resource Director, the Business Administrator and the Outsource happy Superintendent need to put their heads together so they can STOP warehousing our children. Perhaps our School Board should also collectively wake up and begin to deal with our children as real boys and girls and their parents as real humans.

It would also be nice to read a breakdown of salary for Substitutes, Paraprofessionals & Secretaries (which the district abolished and never reinstated with a resolution) are paid like humans, which should be above minimum wage. Exactly how much of the amount indicated in the contract with ESS goes to the persons who actually work with our children.

It would also be nice to feel confident that there is an Aide on all school buses, since this is where much of the bullying is taking place.

1This document provides an overview of requirements for substitutes. For all official matters, such as issues brought before the Board of Examiners, concerned parties should rely on regulatory requirements at N.J.A.C. 6A:9, 9A, 9B, and 9C as the final authority.
https://www.state.nj.us/education/code/current/

The last I heard Englewood Public School District was over 70% free and reduced lunch. That is considered high poverty. That is definitely a Title I School District. A School Board nor a Superintendent has the power to change the law listed below. 

Take note and ask any Attorney, when the word "shall" appears within the wording of the law, the Board has no choice but to comply. Reports are coming in from parents who have been asked to have their children count heads in their classes that the numbers have increased to over 30 in many classes. 

This writer attributes part of that increase to the fact that teachers are resigning, retiring and being fired at an alarming rate and they are not being replaced. This would cause Class size to increase.

N.J.A.C 6A:13-3.1  - Pages 8 and 9 of 15 - Not FAKE NEWS, NJ LAW

6A:13-3.1 Class size in high poverty districts
(a) A high poverty school district as used in this chapter means a district in which 40 percent or more of the students are “at-risk” as defined in P.L. 2007, c. 260. 8

(b) Class size in school districts in which 40 percent or more of the students are “at–risk” as defined in P.L. 2007, c. 260 shall not exceed 21 students in grades kindergarten through three, 23 in grades four and five and 24 students in grades six through 12; provided that if the district chooses to maintain lower class sizes in grades kindergarten through three, class sizes in grades four and five may equal but not exceed 25.

Exceptions to these class sizes are permitted for some physical education and performing arts classes, where appropriate. 
https://www.state.nj.us/.../code/current/title6a/chap13.pd

How Many Children Are in Your Child's Classes?

The last I heard Englewood Public School District was over 70% free and reduced lunch. That is considered high poverty. That is definitely a Title I School District. A School Board nor a Superintendent has the power to change the law listed below. 

Take note and ask any Attorney, when the word "shall" appears within the wording of the law, the Board has no choice but to comply. Reports are coming in from parents who have been asked to have their children count heads in their classes that the numbers have increased to over 30 in many classes. 

This writer attributes part of that increase to the fact that teachers are resigning, retiring and being fired at an alarming rate and they are not being replaced. This would cause Class size to increase.

N.J.A.C 6A:13-3.1  - Pages 8 and 9 of 15 - Not FAKE NEWS, NJ LAW

6A:13-3.1 Class size in high poverty districts
(a) A high poverty school district as used in this chapter means a district in which 40 percent or more of the students are “at-risk” as defined in P.L. 2007, c. 260. 8

(b) Class size in school districts in which 40 percent or more of the students are “at–risk” as defined in P.L. 2007, c. 260 shall not exceed 21 students in grades kindergarten through three, 23 in grades four and five and 24 students in grades six through 12; provided that if the district chooses to maintain lower class sizes in grades kindergarten through three, class sizes in grades four and five may equal but not exceed 25.

Exceptions to these class sizes are permitted for some physical education and performing arts classes, where appropriate. 

https://www.state.nj.us/.../code/current/title6a/chap13.pdf