Monday, November 25, 2013

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.

Equity is a Half Eaten Pie...!

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


Saturday, November 23, 2013

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?

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

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?

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?