Why Reorganize?: The Academies@Englewood is a Focus School

Have you wondered why there were no lawn signs, persuasive mailings, robo calls, door knob hangers and individuals at your doors urging you to get out and vote? Did you notice that you did not vote in the month of April?

There is no simple answer to that most important and burning question, because the School District gets the largest share of taxes collected in this town. While you were sleeping, 5 people made a monumental decision for you, without your consent.

School Board Elections have been moved to November 4, 2014. Click for details.
The residents of Englewood voted to move from an appointed School Board to an elected School Board so we would be able to vote on the School Budget. 

Earlier this year, 5 School Board Members deprived "We the People" of the right to vote on the budget by moving the School Board Elections to November. 

CITIZENS in 61 Bergen County towns need not concern themselves with voting for or against local school budgets this Wednesday. Their right to vote on school budgets, which consume two-thirds of property taxes, has been stripped from them by their boards of education or municipal governing bodies, with little public notice.  - See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-a-lesson-on-disenfranchisement-1.999324#sthash.6xMClBoW.dpuf

The residents of Englewood will not be able to vote on the budget again, unless we elect School Board Members who will vote to change back to an April School Board Election. 

Why? Because at least 5 Members of the School Board and the Special Interest Groups that they represent have other plans. We would like to see their plans. At least one of their plans, that has been in operation since 2002, has earned us the Focus School Designation.

April 10, 2014 Dr. Donald Carlisle and Howard Haughton suggested that we had a more serious problem than a "focus school" designation. They tried to turn our attention to an allegation that we have hundreds of people attending Englewood Schools in Quarles and Grieco who do not live in Englewood. They think that is a more important issue than dealing with the attempt to change our focus high school into a reward high school. 

That is a ridiculous smoke screen. We know about the "keep away from Quarles" and we will "keep away from the high school" agreement. Isn't that the real reason that it was so important to get rid Richard Segall? Read the documents in this post. You be the judge. If we are teaching children to multitask, then surely our elected officials must model that same behavior. That each may continue to learn while alive.

FACT: The Academy only exists, because of Dwight Morrow

High School? If Dwight Morrow High School did not exist, there would be no reason for the Academy Program. It was created to integrate Dwight Morrow High School. The A@E existence depends on the survival of Dwight Morrow High School.

FACT: Dwight Morrow High School/Academies@Englewood is a Focus School

FACT: When Dwight Morrow High School/Academies @ Englewood was designated a Focus School, by the Federal and State Governments, it was assigned a RAC. 

FACT: The former RAC for Dwight Morrow High School/Academies@Englewood is now Interim Executive County Superintendent for Bergen County.

1. What is a RAC? What does a RAC do?
2. RAC Job Titles
3. Meet the Ron Karsen, RAC for Bergen, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties
4. What are the 8 Turnaround Principles that high school leaders must follow?
5. The RAC Mission, Guiding Principles and why you should care.
6. Regional Achievement Centers
7. RAC - What are Regional Achievement Centers?
8. RAC Mission Statement
9. The RAC Approach
10. Priority And Focus Schools
11. SIP School Improvement Plan Videos
12. Questions & Answers about the RAC Regional Achievement Centers
13. Other Schools in our area have also been designated as Focus or Priority Schools.
14. Reward Schools may be thought of as Focus Schools that improved the most.
15. RAC and PARCC: What is PARCC and how will it affect my child's education?
16. What is expected of my child and yours?

RAC Interventions... EXCERPT from njdoe Ouestions and Answers about Regional Achievement Centers

What is the Quality School Review (QSR)?

• The QSR is a baseline evaluation of Priority and Focus Schools with quality indicators aligned to the eight turnaround principles. The QSR replaces the CAPA Review.
• QSRs will be conducted this spring in Priority Schools. QSRs in Focus Schools will start this Fall. School Improvement Plans will incorporate the results of the QSRs.

What is the School Improvement Plan (SIP)?

• Based on the findings from the QSR, RAC teams will work in conjunction with school and district l eaders, educators, and families to develop comprehensive and individualized SIPs based on the 8 Turnaround Principles and the unique needs of each school. School and district leaders will commit to and be held accountable for the high quality implementation of the intervention strategies identified in the SIP with the support of the RAC team. Example intervention strategies include:

•  Implementation of NJDOE model curriculum and unit assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards;
• Redesign of instructional time to better meet student needs and increase teacher collaboration focused on improving teaching and learning;
• Use of current data to design and implement specific classroom strategies to improve teaching and learning;
• Required professional development focused on the 8 Turnaround Principles for school leaders and educators; 
•  Changes to the climate and culture of the school to ensure a quality learning environment with a culture of high expectations for every student;
• Development of new family and community engagement strategies that are specifically focused on academic achievement; and
• Hiring or reassigning full-time professionals specialists (e.g. culture and climate leader, data leader, literacy leader, mathematics leader) to be embedded in schools.  

School Improvement Plans will be reviewed and modified if necessary, at regular intervals of about 7 weeks. This activity will be based on the progress of interventions and student achievement.

Will the RAC Team work with the Priority and Focus School leadership in developing the School Improvement Plan? 

• Yes. Development of School Improvement Plan is is a collaborative process, which includes school and district leadership, teachers, and other key stakeholders. http://www.state.nj.us/education/modelcurriculum/

The EPSD did not acknowledge the Focus School Designation in August 2013 when they met at a

retreat  in order to create goals and objectives by which to evaluate the Superintendent. There were no goals articulated relating to the desire for Dwight Morrow High School to become a Reward School. Our Board and Dr. Carlisle did not discuss the 8 Turnaround Principles or the Rubric that must be utilized to turnaround the school.

David Matthews and others claim that they were not consulted about a plan that would reorganize the high school with no changes to A@E except the moving of physical classrooms. Do they mean that they were not asked?

Well, now you know how we feel. In June of 2002, DMHS students went home eager for summer fun. When they returned to DMHS in September of 2002, high school life had changed forever.  There is no way to measure all that they lost in just one summer. We were not consulted, asked or informed of these changes. We were not advised that our children would be chased out of the building by a man with a bullhorn at 3 pm.

For 12 years, you have taken care of your own children, now you must take care of all of them.

Has our Board of Education abandoned the children of Englewood Residents?

                                                      How are the children?

A Novel Idea?

Found by Laura Winston in a Brooklyn thrift shop. 

Perhaps the "idea" should find its way home.

Our Schools Are In Crisis: Evolve!

Posted on northjersey.com and reprinted here with additions...

There you go proving our point again. The real deal here is that the children from other towns are better

prepared educationally than Englewood children. That is the important point here. The needs of the many far outweigh the needs of the few. There are only 193 children from Englewood registered in the Academy. We, as taxpayers are supplementing the education of School Choice students to the tune of approximately 1.7 million dollars per year. That does not include litigation, which is an undisclosed amount. "Academic Segregation" is coming to an end in Englewood. It is not benefiting enough Englewood children It siphons off resources in order to survive in the state that it is in currently. Note how the entire school is described by the Department of Education.

"This school's academic performance lags in comparison to schools across the state. Additionally, its academic performance lags in comparison to its peers. This school's college and career readiness is about average when compared to schools across the state. Additionally, its college and career readiness is high when compared to its peers. This school's graduation and post-secondary performance lags in comparison to schools across the state. Additionally, its graduation and post-secondary readiness is about average when compared to its peers." New Jersey Department Of Education  (emphasis is theirs)       http://www.state.nj.us/education/pr/1213/03/031370040.pdf  

It should be noted again, that there is no plan now and there has been no discussion of changing the content

A 6th grade Science class from the Dwight Englewood
School participates in a STEM activity at the 3rd
Street Community  Garden

or makeup of Academy Program classes. There has been no discussion of changing the teachers that you love so much. None. The Propaganda that has your head spinning around is based on lies. Ultimately one must face the fact that the majority of the parents at the April 10th meeting do not reside in Englewood and do not vote here. We did not try to fill the room with children or parents from Englewood. We saw what the deal was and we did not take the bait. We did not want the riot that would have occurred after parents and students from Englewood listened to the remarks made at that meeting. Change will come. The Program must evolve. The entire school district must be reorganized for the sake of all students.

It is a low place to go when discussing this situation to blame a population of children who have been told since 3rd grade that they are not good enough, because of their Math scores. My 27 years in the classroom are not going to waste here. In the 3rd grade, one group of children is given an affectionate pat on the head, while the others are ignored. The situation that exists at the high school is exactly what happens when the district, teachers, administrators and Board members have "high" expectations for one group and "no" expectations for another. Every single parent in the district should sign that contract that is handed out to the IVY children. Englewood children must be better prepared from Pre-K up. It is a tragedy that you feel the way you do, but change must come in order for the entire district to survive.

The students are going to Achieve just as well regardless of the building in which they study. Parents need to

They got a little dirty as they turned the soil in their
chosen raised bed.

calm down and let the professionals do what has to be done. The School Board does not run the district. The parents certainly do not run the district. The parents from out of town come to one Board meeting and everyone goes "wow". I have missed only 2 Board meetings since February 2011. I have seen maybe 3 School Choice parents in attendance. Get a grip on reality. We are not slaves and there are many different types of intelligence. For the record, I prefer a STEAM building. Art cannot be separated from Architecture, Design and Engineering. It is shared by the disciplines.

Change should have come in 2008 when the Board realized that the Equity & Excellence millions were no longer available. It is not okay with me that my property taxes supplement students who heckle Englewood parents, "class Act Fatty". I heard that with my own ears and saw the mouth that it was coming from. I love the way the problems in the Academy are sanitized. Did students earn the right to be disrespectful when they scored higher on the test? Do students deserve the right to crack into the server in

They tested the soil  in the beds. 

order to collect tests and grades of all students in the district? That child/hacker was made a hero. Was he following in the footsteps of this guy who graduated from BA? Are they heroes when they commit the same infractions that north building children are demonized for even thinking about?  Let us just discuss how there are also problems in the Academy Program. Stop talking about an imperfect failed Educational Model as if there are no faults. David Matthews has been complaining about the stagnation for at least 3 years. Which one is it? Is it stagnant or perfect. Stagnant is not good. plagiarized or no.

Albert Koloff, northjersey.com did a comparison study of Englewood's School Choice and the Manchester school district's School Choice Program and concluded that our model is not sustainable. Other districts make a profit on School Choice, EPSD incurs a deficit. That deficit is shouldered by the taxpaying residents. These same residents are being discriminated against in too many ways to list here. Our children are being disenfranchised year after year. Taxpayers from all 4 Wards are losing out on having a successful School District, because our Board vilifies our professionals in public instead of giving them the support needed to educate all children. Learned and trained professionals have given excellent advice on how to raise test scores and overall Academic Achievement, but this Board cannot admit that it shot itself in the foot with a cannonball when this program was constructed this way. I was here and the residents of Englewood were not consulted about the establishment of this Educational Model.

                           

                                    How are the children? How are ALL of the children?

                                         

Duty to a collaborative and effective Board

Letter to the Englewood Board of Education from a parent.

Board members,

Yesterday's BOE was very disturbing, for everyone no doubt.

For 5 years now, I speak to every single one of you to find common ground and identify which pieces I can help you solve.

We're not friends, nor coworkers, I was not elected and have not sworn to do so, I am not occupying any seat of power, nor I am rewarded with any guarantee that the countless hours invested will lead to decisions and actions on your part, and YET I DO THIS EVERY DAY.

Three new board members were elected, broadly chosen by the community: we don't care that you don't like each other, you don't get to decide whether or not you will work together: YOU HAVE TAKEN THE OATH TO DO SO. 

The majority has now even chosen to do so until December so DO IT.

Whoever cannot work with newly elected Board

Members need to step down, and we can start over with elections! These faction wars will only gain you a Board vote of no confidence. How hard is it to all look in the same direction instead of facing off? Please serve ALL our students with honor and character.

The new Board Members were absolutely honest in their communications. They campaigned with full disclosure of their skills, experience, affiliations and were ELECTED. 

As residents, fellow Board Members only have 1 voice: YOU DON'T GET TO UNDO the elections – and your loyalty is CERTAINLY to the ALL the students, and certainly NOT to SEEK or our local (has been) politicians!

Particularly considering the state of our district, it was completely irresponsible for Howard and SEEK to block the new members from serving to their full potential to save this FOCUS, RAC district.

Jeff, Devry and Carol have the duty to restore justice and to regain their powers so they can be effective and meaningful Board Members, because that is the duty EACH OF YOU swore to uphold.

You were all voted in based on your skills and professional experience, and each of you should lead the committee best matching your expertise, and be productive in the others to serve the whole.

Carol was elected, not only as an EDUCATOR, but as knowing the EPSD inside and out, including when and why specific programs WORKED. Carol must not only be totally involved, but she should LEAD the Academic affairs Committee!

Jeff was elected BECAUSE of his BCSS experience, so he can help ensure that our 500 SpeEd students are also taught to the standards, and we can stop getting sued and making exceptions/favors that rob the whole and drag down the district.

Devry was elected for his financial acumen, and Lord knows we need SCRUTINY.

Right now you are being deceived and manipulated by the very ones who should serve you, and you don't even know what to do about it!?! You may want to hire Jim Olobardi as a consultant to train you. Each of you owe it to voters and to the students to do all you can so all 9 members can put their experience to the service of ALL OUR students.

Please, please, please get yourselves together and keep your eye on our precious prize!

Leen Mosley

What is Up with The Record Keeping?!

It has been over 2 years and Englewood residents are still asking School Board Members what purpose the buses below serve. Residents are wondering why we never see our children on them. There even exists a plan to spend over a million dollars to build what they called a SHED to house these buses inside. (We have a professional Bus Company right here in town. First Student. First Student buses are parked in an outdoor lot.) This 'proposed shed' has an office, a break room, 3 bathrooms, a loading bay and who knows what else. It would have been located less than the mandated 25 feet away from the brook that flows into Overpeck Creek where people fish. Sewer lines may not be located less than 50' away from the shoulder of a stream bed. One wonders what these folks are thinking. They paved over a beautiful grassy area anyway and this resident thinks they still plan to build the shed/office building.

Shirley Smith, a veteran and now retired Englewood School Board Member, who served close to 13 years, has been watching these buses sit. She wants to know why they never seem to move. We have seen only one item listed in the Board agenda to pay a bus driver. Why is payment to these bus drivers not listed regularly? No one seems to know how or even if the buses are used. Dr. Carlisle suggested that they are used to transport students to athletic events. Several residents have seen First Student buses transport the students to these same sporting events. 

Curtis Caviness is a marvel. He attends most sporting events. He also keeps everything. Below the buses, find the answer to the question that we have all been asking. Answering one question simply raises more. What are these shared services? Why are board members not privy to this information? 

The Business Administrator is in charge of purchasing and keeping record of all purchases. The Board Secretary is responsible to make sure the Board has this information readily available. In Englewood, the Business Administrator and the Board Secretary are the same person. This BA/BS is paid well with our tax dollars. The Board should have been able to answer this question long ago. What is wrong with this picture?

Instead of becoming upset with members of the community employees should make every effort to find the information. The Business Administrator/Board Secretary (our employee) should provide our Board with the answers to our questions without being forced to do so by angry taxpayers. 

The highly paid professionals must keep better records. Highly paid "professionals" should at least pretend to care what the public thinks about how proficient or effective they are at their jobs.

We, as taxpayers, parents, guardians and folks who care must begin to rate our professionals much the same as they rate our children. Are our employees far less than proficient, partially proficient, proficient or highly proficient?  Are we getting our monies worth? Whom do we blame?

Where is the resolution documenting Board Approval that was supposed to be sent to the Executive County Superintendent almost 4 years ago?

We have a sharing agreement regarding buses?

What other school districts are involved in this

sharing agreement?

                                                       How are the children?

17 Facts that Englewood VOTERS Should Remember!

1. Englewood's School Board Elections were changed to November 4, 2014. 
2. Voters will NOT be able to VOTE on the School Budget in November. 
3. Voters must begin at the bottom of the ballot in order to put children first. 
4. Voters will choose 3 NEW School Board Members. 
5. Voters will choose a 1st Ward Councilperson. 
6. Voters will choose a 3rd Ward Councilperson. 
7. Voters will choose 3 Freeholders. 
8. Voters will choose at least 1 Congressman. 
9. Voters will choose a US Senator. 
10. In Type I School Districts the Mayor appoints the School Board Members. 
11. In Type I School Districts the Board of School Estimates decides the School Budget. 
12. In Type II School Districts the School Board Members are elected by the VOTERS. 
13. Englewood VOTERS, voted to switch from an 'appointed' Board to an 'elected' Board. 
14. Englewood VOTERS wanted to be able to VOTE ON THE SCHOOL BUDGET. 
15. 5 Current School Board Members VOTED to move School Board Elections to November.
16. 5 Current School Board Members reversed the decision of the people. 
17. 5 Current School Board Members created a Type II School District that cannot VOTE ON THE SCHOOL BUDGET. 

                                                           How are the children?

Navigating Your School System: updated September 20, 2017

BOARD OF EDUCATION: 

•  The board of education hires the superintendent and approves other personnel. 
• The Board adopts by resolution all laws and regulations.
•  The board creates and sets the policies for the district based on the laws and regulations. 
•  The superintendent administers the policies for the board. 
•  If you have issues that you think would require a change of district policy or you have concerns about the general governance of the district, these matters should come to the board’s attention. 
•  You could write or e-mail the individual board members or speak about the issue at the public forum at a board meeting. 

http://nj.gov/education/parents/articles/nav/navigate.htm

Protocol

There are times when parents feel it is necessary to address an issue that affects them with the school or district.  The following will guide you to the person most able to assist you:

1. CLASSROOM:  If you have any concerns related to your child’s classroom such as poor academic performance, behavior issues, or difficulty interacting with peers, make an appointment with the teacher to discuss the matter.  Work with the teacher, but if the issue cannot be resolved, request a meeting with the principal.
   
2. SCHOOL:  If you have issues with administration of the school, such as quality of meals, condition of the facility, extra-curricular activities, receiving school information, obtaining Title I supplemental services, or getting a special education evaluation, make an appointment with the principal.
   
3. DISTRICT:  If you have issues related to the operation of your school district, such as unresponsiveness to your requests by the teacher or principal, hours of instruction, starting times, school attendance boundaries, transportation routes, etc., make an appointment with the superintendent.
   
4. BOARD OF EDUCATION:  The board of education hires the superintendent and approves other personnel.  The board sets the policies for the district.  The superintendent administers the policies for the board.  If you have issues that you think would require a change of district policy or you have concerns about the general governance of the district, these matters should come to the board’s attention.  You could write or e-mail the individual board members or speak about the issue at the public forum at a board meeting.

http://nj.gov/education/parents/articles/nav/navigate.htm

When Will Englewood Acknowledge The Blip of 2013?

The last official Englewood School Board Election took place in April of 2013. The results were a surprise to some and shook others to the core. Some called it a blip on the radar screen, because it was not supposed to happen that way. Some sore losers accused the Mayor of stacking the deck in favor of the 3 who won. That was an interesting suggestion since it was common knowledge that the Mayor and many of the city leaders supported the incumbents.

Why are the results of School Board Election 2013 so hard to accept? Why have those results caused people to behave in ways not representative of people who want harmony in the city?

1. Is that the reason that the City has still not changed the School Board Members on the City Site? It is nearly a year since the blip of an election. Voters made their choice. Voters pay the salary of the person who has the responsibility to change the status and membership of the website Boards. What is the problem here? The results may have been a shock, but the people spoke through their votes almost a year ago.

2. Is this also the reason that the President of the School Board started a campaign to neuter the newly elected Members immediately after they were elected? Mr. Haughton, admitted that he asked for an official Advisory Opinion from the School Ethics Commission. He says he wanted to make sure that there was no conflict of interest. Was there a conflict of interest when the ETA supported and helped to elect both Stephen Brown and Glenn Garrison? What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. Is it only a problem if the elected members are NOT MEMBERS OF SEEK?

3. Is this the reason that Carol Feinstein and Jeff Carter are not allowed to vote on personnel issues? All over the state of NJ, union members also serve on School Boards. These 2 are not even allowed in on the discussion of personnel issues. They must excuse themselves from closed sessions and wait to be summoned back into the room. Yet Harley Ungar, (VP of the School Board) who is also a Teach 4 America employee* is allowed to vote and participate as she pleases. Henry Pruitt is allowed to chair the negotiations while his company is hired to handle confidential files of Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield. (Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield would be part of negotiations with employees because they are the insurance carrier that the district uses.) They are constantly put out of closed session meetings by school board employees.

4. How did they miss the fact that Mark Tabakin's very employment is a conflict of interest? He functions as the full time attorney. Is Mark an employee of State Senator Raymond J. Lesniak's law firm or is he an employee of the Englewoood Board of Education? (We pay him $147,000 yearly) Not only does the Board have a problem identifying his designation, but it seems that Mr. Tabakin himself is a bit confused. His 2011-12 Ethics Disclosure does not agree with his 2012-13 Disclosure Statement. Does Mr. Tabakin know for whom he works? Who writes the checks that pays the mortgage on that over a million dollar home?

5. Is this blip the reason that more effort has been put into neutralizing the 3 new members of the School Board than in trying to improve the Academic Achievement of the students in the district?

6. Is this the reason that the SEEK Board Members with terms expiring in April, 2014 voted themselves another year on the School Board? The Resolution to move School Board Elections to November was technically an official election and SEEK won. George Garrison III had the integrity to abstain from voting himself another year on the School Board. Howard Haughton voted himself anothere year as school board president. Someone should inform Mr. Haughton that it is far more prudent to please the people than it is to please the press. Besides, the school board and the people already pay the press, don't we? 

Check it out and make call. The City of Englewood Official Site

Board of Education -
City Clerk: Lauren Vande Vaarst, RMC
clerk@cityofenglewood.org

Department Phone: (201) 510-8213
2-10 North Van Brunt Street
Englewood, NJ 07631

Harley Ungar* claims to have quit working for Teach 4 America. The Advisory Opinion from the School Ethics Commission says that Jeff and Carol may not participate in those areas ever, even if they were to quit their jobs.  Equity has gone astray.

                                         How are the children?

Reverse - RoboCall

The time is always right for learning. 

"An investment in knowledge pays the best

interest." Benjamin Franklin

How are the children?

The School Board Election That YOU missed!

A Special School Board Election was held on January 16, 2014 at Grieco Elementary School.

SEEK won!

Two sitting board members, all SEEK, and 5 others with 1 abstention voted to move the School Board Elections to November. Page 14 of 20. 14-F-73 APPROVAL - ESTABLISHING THE ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF THE ENGLEWOOD BOARD OF EDUCATION AS THE FIRST TUESDAY AFTER THE FIRST MONDAY IN NOVEMBER .

What does this mean?

• Voters will not be able to vote on the budget
• 3 sitting board members with terms expiring in April gave themselves nearly a year more on the board without input from the voters.
• The President just voted himself another year in charge. 
• According to Harley Ungar, a study conducted by David Popkin may have shown that many people will not vote in the school board election. She suggested that the supposed $45,000 saved is more important than voters.
• Taxation without representation - Your taxes pay the tab and you no longer have a say
• The campaign has begun. 
• The School Board Election must remain in November for at least 4 years.

Tuesday, January 28 is going to be a very special day.

Board of Education: Special Public Meeting
7:30 PM

Grieco cafeteria
Meeting will include questions from the public concerning the 2012-13 audit of the financial operations of the district

(Will there be answers?)

The City Council of Englewood is also having a meeting January 28, 2014.

Municipal Court 73 South Van Brunt St. (Courthouse)

• Fire house bond ordinance
• An ordinance amending chapter 8 Boards
• An ordinance amending chapter 425 tree codes of Englewood
• An ordinance amending chapter 191 fees code of Englewood
• An ordinance amending chapter 358 soil erosion
• City Board Appointments 

The State of the Union Address 2014 by the President 9:00pm

                                       How are the children?

ATTENTION PARENTS: ARE YOU AWARE OF THE FACT THAT YOU MAY OPT OUT OF "STAR RENAISSANCE" TESTS?

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR CHILDREN ARE BEING TESTED IN KINDERGARTEN?
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THAT?
WHAT IS THE VALUE IN THAT?
WHAT DOES IT DO TO PREPARE YOUR CHILD FOR FIRST GRADE?
YOU MUST BEGIN TO QUESTION SUCH THINGS. NEW MANDATED TESTING IS COMING, BUT THIS IS NOT PART OF IT. THIS SMACKS OF CHILD ABUSE. WHY STRESS OUT OUR CHILDREN AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE? OTHER DISTRICTS ARE NOT DOING THIS.

IS THIS ANOTHER WAY TO SEGREGATE THE CHILDREN BASED ON INFORMATION THAT THEY HAVE NOT EVEN BEEN TAUGHT? CHILDREN WHO DID NOT GO TO PRE-SCHOOL ARE BEING SHAFTED. SOME OF THESE KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN WERE DENIED PRESCHOOL. THINK ABOUT IT. STAR RENAISSANCE TESTING IN QUARLES SCHOOL SHOULD STOP. THE TEACHERS MUST BE GIVEN A CHANCE TO TEACH THEM SOMETHING FIRST. IS THIS TESTING DESIGNED TO TEST TEACHERS? THAT IS CRAP. THERE ARE MANY OTHER METHODS FOR DOING THAT.

PARENTS: BE AWARE OF THE FACT THAT YOU MAY OPT OUT OF STAR RENAISSANCE TESTING WITHOUT ANY PENALTY WHATSOEVER. TESTING OF CHILDREN PRIOR TO 3RD GRADE IS PURELY A DISTRICT INITIATIVE. IT IS A QUESTIONABLE DISTRICT INITIATIVE. THIS TESTING IS NOT MANDATORY. IT IS AN ILL PLANNED EXPERIMENT. WE ARE IN THE PETRY DISH AGAIN.

                                "HOW ARE THE CHILDREN?"

Calling All Student Filmmakers...!

President Obama has an assignment for you.

He would like to see your work in The White House.

Click the link below and find detailed instructions on how to
participate in the first ever White House Film Festival.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/filmfestival?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email265-graphic&utm_campaign=filmfest

In the Absence of Equity...

Is there conflict of interest?

Recently, the President of our Parent Advisory Council questioned the lack of equity on Dwight Morrow High School Campus.

She asked the Board of Education again why

there is little or no equity on the campus.

She pointed out the fact that some Board Members

have been there long enough to understand how

the question should be answered.

There was silence.

Two Board members have been forbidden from voting

on any and all personnel issues. Our Board President

took credit for eliciting this Advisory Decision from

the School Ethics Commission. He said  that a parent 

had asked a question about "conflict of interest" during 

the Candidates forum.

5 Members of our Board of Education have children

who attend our Vocational & Technical Program

at the high school. 

Why is it not a conflict of interest for these same 5 Board Members

to vote on issues concerning the Vocational & Technical Program?

On Thursday, November 21, the Board voted unanimously to approve

5 field trips spending nearly $6,000.00 for students in the Vocational 

and Technical Program. No trips were presented or approved from 

students in our Comprehensive High School.

The little ones from Quarles were charged 11 bucks a head 

and they will be traveling to Paramus, NJ on a bus we own. 

So the district could not pay the $11 admission for the 55 pre-schoolers?

Oh, the price of gas, so exorbitant.

Field Trip List from the November 21, 2013 Agenda 

Equity is a Half Eaten Pie...!

And there are no more plates or chairs at the table...

Where do we begin...?

I have not posted in a long while. I have been accused of only publishing negative stories and "gotcha" articles and information.

I stopped publishing. Writer's block set in and I started to question myself. That is over

                                                      How are the children?

At Long Last....You Can't Miss This...

Goals and Objectives for the District...

For the Superintendent?

Important  Special Meeting October 3, 2013
Greico School
50 Durie Avenue

http://www.epsd.org/site_res_view_folder.aspx?id=980f01c7-1a90-43f1-b26a-9b1a544c6a93



Meanwhile.....

Does your child's teacher have a contract yet?




              How ARE the children?

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?

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.)

• unisex polor shirts, 
• pants, 
• jumpers 
• skirts 
• skorts
• Boy's shorts
• Boy's Dress Shirts

 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