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School Budget
Posted By: Rhonda Frank- Boccassini
Date: Saturday, 15 April 2000, at 11:25 a.m.
To All:
There are 2 issues that you may have heard about recently concerning the Board of education - I would like you to take a minute and hear what I have to say - I have been serving/working very hard, for you, the voters who put me on this board three years ago and I an outraged by what is going on.
The issues are:
Issue 1)
The majority of the board has decided to let the G.W. school sit empty to rot after they were presented with an offer to rent the building out for a year. This will cost the school a lose of income in about the $80,000 range. The tenant that is presently renting (and has been for the last 17 yr.) gave notice that they would be leaving at the end of this school year back in January. When asked point blank why they don't want to rent the school there was no reason given. A vote was taken and the vote was 3 - 2 not to rent - this vote was taken minutes after we got the offer. The offer was rejected without ever being looked into at all. GW school will need to be taken into consideration for any future expansion plan but the board does not have a single thing in place for a plan. We do not have an education plan or a facilities plan. It will take the board at least a year to get any kind of plan on the table in the mean time the school could have been getting rent. This income offsets the cost of the school to the taxpayer in this town. This budget you are looking at for the 2000- 2001 school year represents a 9% increase over last year. Last years increase was 1.57% big difference!!!!!
Issue 2)
In the budget is allocated one single line item alone that is for $30,000 for architectural plans for what we can do with the 2 building sites for future expansion. There is more money in the budget that will be spent on the board appointed architect (I say board appointed because when the board sensed that Linda and I were unhappy with him and his work about a year ago they voted on him - the vote again was 3 -2 Linda and I voting against)
This is the same architect who:
1) still has not finished the work in the new expansion here at EVG even though we opened the new wing 3 years ago. In the library there is a wall made of glass block and it leaks so bad so often that our repair people fix it at least once a week (more if the board is coming in)
2) he is the same architect who was fired from Bogota's project (7-0) for missing several deadline to submit plans to the state and for hiring his own construction company to do work - think about that for one minute - he had hired himself and was in charge of inspecting his own work!!!! The state found the board in violation of breaking bidding rules (the architect made the bid and than had his own company submit the bid and they won the bid - what a surprise!) Because of his poor work school in the district school started 10 days late that year (1999)! He took down a wall that made the building unsafe. Can you imagine what would have happened if there were kids in the building!!!!
3)He was also sued by the city of Paterson in the 1980's for his poor performance there -
4)and speaking of being sued he has a string of tax liens and lawsuits on his company records.
This man sees Edgewater as a "cash cow" nothing more!!! With all the good architectural firms out there why do we have to put up with this?? There is enough doubt, in my mind, that this man has troubles - troubles that the kids in this town don't need and that the tax payers of this town should NOT have to pay for. When presented with his firms Dunn and Brad Street report - one of the board members flat out refused to read it would not so much as to pick it up and look at it. Is this the type of people who you want running our school?? Making decisions about your tax dollars!!!!! Does this sound like people you can trust.
Also, another added fact - the school report card from the state came out in February - by law the school has to distribute that info to the public - why has this not been done - well I'll tell you why - we have one of the highest cost per pupil rate in the state and we scored the 6th lowest test scores in Bergen County and this was not published before the budget for fear that the public might not not support the budget - I have news for you - kids can learn any where - it's not the building that is important it's the kids - it's education - words that the majority board never lets pass through it's lips!!!!!!!
This budget has so much "fluff" in it that we will not lose programs - we will not lose busing - one of the board members might use their calling card that you the taxpayers pay for - but we won't lose Spanish!!!! The PTO pays for class trips not the board. Overcrowd class rooms who are you kidding EVG has the lowest enrollment in years. A comment made at the budget meeting by one of the members "I don't care about this budget because my kids go to Leonia and no matter what their tuition will get paid" - now there is a vote for ALL the kids in this town! As for the "new" math program - all that is planned there is new books that are the same as the books Leona is using - this issue came up because one of the board members kids was having problem with the math up in Leonia - why was this not done years ago when YOUR kids or other kids from our town were going up there - do you have to be a kid of a board member to get these things done?? Why is it that we have been sending out middle school kids to Leonia from the late 1970's until now and our high school kids up to Leonia from the 1950's - and now we are getting around to hiring a curriculum coordinator (an idea that was rejected by most of the board when first brought to the board attention!). Do you really want to see this board in action come to the May 1st reorg meeting and see how the loudest mouths about what is wrong with Leonia will NOT and never have been the member of the Leonia board - they just want to sit back and complain but they won't go up there and fight!!!
Also - you will be receiving a letter from the board of education on their side of this issue - I would just like to say this was send out without a vote being taken - it cost $5,000 to send a town mailing - no vote - not a single vote and they decide how $5,000 dollars of your children's money get spent!!!!!!
I really need to tell everyone that I resent being told these are "non budget" issues - lose of income how on earth is that not related to the budget? How is this architect getting paid?? That is not a budget issue? Please help to make this board understand that we the tax payers of this town will not be made fools of that we deserve and DEMAND better than what we are getting from them!!!
VOTE NO on this budget - VOTE NO because you are not stupid enough to believe that this board had the best interest of the taxpayer in mind - VOTE NO because this board does not have the best interest of the children in mind - VOTE NO because the words curriculum and education never pass the lips of anyone on this board but Linda and I - VOTE NO because you believe in public education - VOTE NO because we have a high cost per pupil and the 6th lowest test scores in all of Bergen County - VOTE NO on the budget because your are being bullied by falsehoods and scare tactics - VOTE NO because you want to see you money put to better use - but most of all VOTE NO because you care!
Thanks,
Rhonda Frank-Boccassini
Vice President
Edgewater Board of Education
Messages In This Thread
- School Budget
Rhonda Frank- Boccassini -- Saturday, 15 April 2000, at 11:25 a.m.
- Re: School Budget
Mathilde -- Sunday, 16 April 2000, at 6:03 p.m.
- Re: School Budget
Rhonda Frank-Boccassini -- Sunday, 16 April 2000, at 7:40 p.m.
- Re: School Budget
Rhonda Frank- Boccassini -- Saturday, 15 April 2000, at 11:25 a.m.
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