Proposed Budget, Continued Calls for Supt. Resignation Are Top Priority at Montclair BOE Meeting – TAPinto.net
THE BUDGET, NO PHYSICS TEACHER AND THE CONTINUED CALL FOR THE SUPERINTENDENT’S RESIGNATION ARE TOP PRIORITY AT THE FEB. 5 MONTCLAIR BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
MONTCLAIR, NJ: Frustrated students and angry parents spent over an hour and a half giving the Board of Education a piece of their mind at the Wednesday Board of Education meeting. There were several issues on the minds of the public and they weren’t shy about sharing with the Board.
The evening started off with a pleasant performance by students from the Renaissance Middle School. At the conclusion, things escalated quickly.
Several requests for additional money was made during the budget presentation. Significant increases were requested for facilities, legal services, judgments against the district, technology and transportation.
“And I don’t want to be an alarmist, but there are some significant financial issues the district faces,” Emidio D’Andrea, Business Administrator for the Montclair Board of Education, stated.
THE BUDGET REVIEW
D’Andrea stated that on February 3, the Finance Committee met and went through the budget which he shared at the meeting. He states that the administration has a lot of work to do over the next few weeks, making tough decisions and recommendations that will be available for the public to see on February 19, when the draft budget will be presented at the Board meeting. The draft is pending the State Aid Allocation and Release which is estimated be slated for February 24 through the 27.
You can review and download the entire PowerPoint Presentation that was presented at the Board by clicking here: https://www.montclair.k12.nj.us/UserFiles/Servers/Server_889476/File/District/Business%20Office/Budget%202020-2021/Budget%20Presentation%2002-05-2020.pdf
Here are some key highlights D’Andrea went over regarding the Budget at the Board of Education meeting:
Special Education: Our Out of District Tuition is a big portion of the budget. Along with Professional Services are the two biggest items related to special needs students.
Curriculum: “This is the budget development out of the equity, curriculum and instruction department. Some of the key items on this line item are additional monies being allocated for professional development,” he said.
Since the Board is looking to adopt some new textbooks for the new year, which will be reviewed and analyzed as they finalize the budget.
D’Andrea pointed out that Glenfield and Buzz Aldrin had requested special items they are looking for next year and that is why their numbers are much higher than the rest.
The High School is broken out a little more in detail. There is Guidance Services and Supplies, Graduation and Awards, Special Services, Tuition Alternative Programs, Conferences for staff, supplies and material.
He added, “A significant amount of money is being allocated to enhance the performing arts and music program with instruments and all.”
The Athletic Department is trying to develop a uniform replacement plan where on an annual basis; he has allocated money into the plan whereas uniforms are being replaced each year for both male and female sports. So that after a period of time new uniforms are coming into the district. And some are being worked out between the Varsity and Junior Varsity and freshmen levels.
Transportation: “We have a significant increase in our transportation. We have additional outside of district students that are driving up the transportation cost. In addition to that, we’ve had some route changes and some changes to our third party vendors. But we have a new Director of Transportation and are looking at all of our number of students on routes and are looking to make changes to the routes to see if we can bring that number back down. But it is a significant number that has increased over the years,” D’Andrea added.
Technology: Technology is also up a significant amount of money. “There is request for various types of technology. Not only for infrastructure but for projectors, Chromebooks, technology devices, so that’s all laid out in that $1.4 Million as you can see close to $800,000 up from the current budget.”
D’Andrea also went through some various other departments and district wide expenditures that are in the budget.
“The first item is architect and engineers to help assist where we are with our district. And we are now going to bring in the architect in advance of the projects that we are looking to bring forward to the board of school estimates. So we have to allocate money for their services before we go before the Board of School Estimate.”
Legal Services: “There is additional money next year as we have three contracts expiring and we will be negotiating with three bargaining groups.”
Judgments against the district: “Unfortunately there have been many judgments against the district. We are asking for a million dollars. We will analyze and look at that much more closely as we go forward. But our numbers are significant for the amount of judgments we have.”
“We have our Cops in School Program and that’s a payment back to the Municipality for the police that are in our building. We get a bill on an annual basis when we work with them.”
School Development Authority (SDA): “The SDA is a service Aid. We have applied and have received grants for the development and improvement of our building. We get the grants but over the years, the state accesses a fee for the grants that we’ve applied for. So we have to pay back around $86,000 a year for the grants that we apply for.“
He briefly went over the Social Security Line item, the Retirement Fund Line Item, Safety Line Item, and other smaller line items.
“This budget does not include salaries or health benefits. It is strictly an operational budget,” he added.
After D’Andrea’s presentation, there were no questions from the Board.
PUBLIC COMMENT
As they moved to public comment, Robinson then went on to ask everyone who came to speak to identify themselves with their first, last name and their address, unless you are a student or an employee of the district.
When the floor was open to the public, the energy changed to one of frustration and anger.
NO PHYSICS TEACHER – TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR PHYSICS EXAM
Several high school students spoke to express that there is neither teacher, nor substitute teacher in the AP Physics class. This has the students up in arms because there has been no consistent sub either.
According to the students, when they first received their schedule, TO BE DETERMINED was written under the Physics class as there was no teacher for that class from the beginning. After months of asking for a teacher, there still has not been a regular teacher who is a Physics teacher yet.
The students, who are mostly juniors, are very concerned because they have only covered 2 of the 7 Units needed to cover the exam. With only 11 weeks until the AP Physic exam, the students are very upset because they feel they are being set up to fail. “There simply is not enough time to learn the rest of the material and score reasonably well on the exam,” they said.
A few parents came out to ask for a teacher to be placed in the class immediately.
BUDGET CONCERNS
Since it is budget season, a lot of the parents were concerned with how the Board will spend the budget for next year.
Jill Riley came to the podium and advocated for the lights to be replaced Glenfield Middle school gym because they were out for well over a year. Though she worked to get the lights back on and they were replaced prior, the lights are out again. She is asked that it doesn’t take six weeks again to replace the lights.
Some of the more in-depth concern about the budget, came from speakers such as Kathy Malloy on behalf of the Leadership Committee of SEPAC, The Special Education Parent Advisory Council announced that they will be making an effort to stay on top of the budget this year.
The district has talked about conducting a comprehensive analysis of Special Education.
Malloy implored the Board “…to think about how much easier some of the choices ahead would be if we knew what we did well and what we could improve on, and if we had a plan. Making budget cuts and choices without a full understanding of the authenticity of our program is challenging. What could the wrong cuts mean to some students? In some instances, more behavior issues, more students with needs unmet, more parents forced to fight for their individual child, more lawsuits and more students out of district. Additionally, I also think that we need to recognize the challenges our district has had in forecasting its special education needs. I understand that in the fall we were so short on para’s that we had to have a para job fair to get as many para’s as we could.
“One of my roles at SEPAC is to answer our public email address. I get a lot of emails from parents who have children who are struggling and whose needs are not being met, and who feel lost in the system. To be perfectly clear, SEPAC is not a support group. I think it is helpful to recognize we are a state-mandated group. Our district is eligible for aid because we exist, our main job as an organization is to represent families with children with disabilities. And to work with you and the administration to make meaningful changes for the greatest number of students. We did a survey in the spring.”
Malloy mentioned results from the survey, “Parents feel that their children are not being included to the fullest extent. Parents feel that their students with disabilities are not being supported socially or emotionally. And last, we keep saying, parents value para-professionals. They feel they deserve respect and more training.”
“I say all of these things because I want us to remember, like President Robinson said, when you look at those numbers, there are kids with disabilities that are behind all of those numbers. We are here to represent them in their educational, social and behavioral needs which are often not being met. Let’s prioritize an analysis of our special education program in the next year so we won’t have to be here in another budget season without a clear path forward.”
Several other speakers with SEPAC were also present pushing for the analysis of the special education program and adding this to the budget.
The next two advocates also were concerned about the budget and hoping the Board considers a dyslexia screening program for early detection.
NIBPA’S ZERO TOLERANCE FOR RACISM
Then the atmosphere turned to anger and confusion over why the rules have changed and speakers are being asked to state their home addresses after it was already stated that the Board had no control over the recordings and who had access to the information stated at the podium and also as to why the Board has not already fired Superintendent Dr. Nathan Parker.
One of the parents took the podium and was confused as to why all of a sudden everyone has to state their address. She recommended that the Board of Education should conduct their Board Meetings like Glenridge where the Board actually answers the questions. She later went on to express her opinions of the Superintendent’s harmful statements. She pointed out Board members who were present and remain silent when the Superintendent made the controversial remark. She calls for Zero Tolerance when it comes to racism.
Colleen Docherty gave a moving speech addressed the board that we do as much as we can to invest in our training of staff. Then she addressed Dr. Parker ”your words caused damage to individuals in this community and to our community as a whole. They harmed people. My friend recently said when you have the privilege you have to be the voice alongside of those whose voice may be drowned out. I do not think you are the right person for our community. I urge the community to attend the sessions next week asking for feedback for what the district does need in a superintendent. I have been reading about the achievement gap in our district and it is both heartbreaking and appalling. For those people who do not know, there is a significant disparity between white children and child of color. This has been prevalent in our district for 30 years. It is prevalent in our country. Sadly, I did not come here today with answers. Only more questions. Why does the achievement gap presence in our community? How do we eradicate it? I have read that it the result, among other factors, of aseismic and inherited racism. I feel that if we are to eradicate it in our schools it will take an effort from everyone…the Board, the teachers and the staff and the community. We don’t have to agree, but I think we all need to listen more. Members of the board, I post this question to you. Why do you think people raise their voice at these meetings? I think it is because they do not feel as if they are not being heard. There is a Hindu saying that people raise their voice at each other because their hearts are far apart. “
Just to give a history of the statement the public is angry over–Superintendent Parker attended a NAACP Educational Committee meeting and was the speaker. During his speech, he made the statement that although he knows it may be controversial, but he does not have a problem with racist teachers so long as they do not disturb the instructions. He has since apologized for the misunderstanding of his words.
Several other individuals and member of the National Independent Black Parent Association (NIBPA) took the stand and stated their steadfast position of removing Superintendent Dr. Nathan Parker. One by one they made it clear that the NIPBA has zero tolerance for racism in the educational system and even less tolerance for people in positions who have no concern for racism. One by one they called for the immediate resignation of Dr. Parker.
Kellia Sweatt, the President and Organization of the National Independent Black Parents Association took the stand and stated that the NIBPA stands for the complete eradication of racism from the education system. Ms. Sweatt stated that the public no longer has confidence in Board any longer. She also pointed out that there were two Board of Education members who boycotted the meeting to vote in the first African American Superintendent. She stated once again that the public is calling for Dr. Parker’s immediate resignation and asked him to resign on his own, and if he did not resign she asked the board to remove him immediately. She also stated that the Board is creating another barrier or a tactic to intimidate by asking the public to state their address in an open forum that is recorded for the public. She declared that it will not work. And there is zero tolerance.
FINAL NOTES
To end the meeting the Board gave a summary of the different committees and wrapped up the meeting for the evening. They welcomed the public to come to the public meetings with the Board of School Estimates and to give their opinions on the budgets. Although they do not have a date at this time, the Board promised to keep the public updated and will announce when they have a date for thismeeting.
During the Board Committee discussion, they asked that the public comes out on March 8th for a conversation on biases and racism in the schools and in the town. If you cannot attend in person, you can go to the MFEE website and sign up to be placed in one of the conversation groups.
President Robinson thanked everyone who came out and thanked everyone who spoke on the mike. The audience was still in an uproar at the end of the meeting. The people are fed up and are seeking answers.
Principal, Joseph A. Putrino, Jr, with the look of a proud father, took the podium and stated into the mike, “I would like to thank Dr. Parker and the Board for welcoming Renaissance Middle School here this evening. And I would like to say how impressed I am that we continue to showcase kids at each board meeting. I think that these are really positive events that highlight what is great about Montclair.”
Putrino went on to say, “Montclair gave me the opportunity last year, to really rebrand Renaissance Middle School. So I want to start by saying that Renaissance Middle School is your innovative education magnet. And we pride ourselves in the fact that it is not what we teach but how we do it. And so we have a very innovative way of bringing instruction to children. And we try to weave everything together. Everything is connection.”
Summarizing the Renaissance Middle School’s focus for the beginning of the year, Putrino stated, “…through the month of January we decided, as a Restorative Justice School in the district, that we were going to [send a] message for students that it is very important to understand the content of your character. So we really took on the charge of Dr. King and we wanted to bring the kids the idea that you cannot just sit down and put yourself out there without reflecting on how people are receiving you. How are you being perceived in the community? How are you being perceived in the community of your peers? What is content? How do I share that? How do I put that out there? How does that connect to social media? And the different means that kids communicate with each other. Then we talked about character and reflecting on how do you want yourself to be perceived.”
“…[we] tried to connect the two pieces”, continues Dr. Putrino. “Really the pinnacle moment was at our Dr. Martin Luther King Day Assembly where we had students performing pieces, some of which you will see tonight, which kind of punctuates this ideas of reflecting on who you are as a person in a community.”
Putrino went on to explain that the Renaissance Middle School piloted and screened the movie, “LIKE”. “LIKE” is an IndieFlix Original documentary that explores the impact of social media on our lives and the effects of technology on the brain. The goal of the film is to inspire us to self-regulate.
Putrino further explained that the Renaissance Middle School welcomed the students and parents to the screening of this film and allowed them to participate in a Panel Discussion after the viewing of the film. Some of the experts, who were actually featured in the film, along with the counselors from Renaissance Middle School, were there to give a reflection on some of the really important facets pertaining to the film.
“It was powerful to hear one of the panel members say, ‘I’ve never been so impressed as to be in one of these screenings where I have been invited to participate where kids asked a lot of the questions,’ proudly states Putrino.
The Renaissance Principal stated, “I think that we could all agree that social media is a powerful thing happening for all of us–along with technology in general. And the fact that we can get together as a community and have open discussions, I think will bring us all to a common place. [But] I will warn families, if you go and watch this film, it will not let you off easy because at some point it says ‘Lead by Example.’ And it turns the camera around. Because it is not just about kids, it’s about all of us. And so families had a little uncomfortable moment sitting in the crowd when they were like, ‘yeah, I kinda use my social media just as much as my kid or I’m telling them to get off their phone when I am on mine.’ But it was a great moment that kids felt validated. It is no fault here where no one is wrong. It’s important for all of us to be in a conversation together. So, all of those concepts sort of build together and they came together for us as a school.”
After his short speech, Putrino introduced the performers for the night. “Tonight I am happy to present that we are going to be seeing two, kind of conjoined performances both from the Rock Band at Renaissance who was inspired to take a Langston Hughes Poem and turn it into a Rap Rock song in their own words, communicating to their school community and now to you about how they feel about what is going on in the world today. As well as our 8th grade dance company who will be up performing directly after them and show you how movement needs unity in order to bring harmony. So I hope everyone enjoys our performance…Renaissance Middle School.”
The Renaissance Middle School’s Rock Band performed. The rock band consists of students, Ms. Spagnuolo worked with in her “Song Writing” class to write original music and lyrics inspired by a poem authored by Langston Hughes entitled, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” During the songwriting process students read the powerful words of Hughes and collaboratively organized their thoughts to craft a message to be performed for their peers. A mixture of rap and rock framed a beautiful message about how we are all connected through the lines of history. RMS Newsletter 1/24/20
Immediately following the Rock Band, Ms. Lorusso and our 8th Grade Dance Company performed a dramatic dance dressed in blue and black attire, they depicted how unity is needed to produce harmony in movement.
Interim Superintendent Nathan Parker then officially began the Board meeting by stating the following:
“So welcome everybody. I have a lot to talk about tonight. I am going to go and read more than I like to read but I am going to try and describe as much of it as I can. So this is African American history month. “Throughout this month of February, the district is celebrating African American History Month with a host of educational and enrichment activities around the school.
“In addition to African American history that is woven and integrated into our yearlong curriculum on all levels, February is time to honor and pay tribute to generations of African Americans that contribute to our nation and allows our students concentrated time to work on displays featuring art , literature, science and get to enjoy a multitude of assemblies programs and classroom activities.
“A few examples are at Bradford with the interactive assembly featuring Soul Steps showcasing African American dance traditions known as Stepping.
“Edgemont students will be making Freedom Quilts and African masks. Hillside features a Sit-In reading activity, hearing books by African American authors read to them by their teachers. Initialing the Bright Star Assembly Group will be hosting an assembly entitled, “Black History Hall of Fame.” And the list goes on and on.
“Please visit the Board of Education’s website this month to peruse the comprehensive document outlining it. We are putting new items on the website almost daily. I know the website hasn’t been very active over a period of time. But it is truly active now and we are really highlighting many, many activities and events that are going on in the district. All of the activities throughout the schools and if your schedule allows, feel free to visit as we acknowledge with special recognition the contributions of African Americans. We will post the document and round up article towards the middle of the month so we can capture as many of the activities with real time photos and students celebrations.
“And just on a sad note, but I think it’s a time when one of our most know African Americans, Kobe Bryant, who died tragically recently with his daughter, Gianni, hit the nation hard. As we mourn the great loss of this sports icon, loving husband, father, especially at this time when it came when we were just about to enter into African American history month. Kobe is gone from this earth. But his legend will live on forever. May he rest in peace.
“Not only our schools but our greater community is celebrating Black History Month. The Montclair Film will host a free community screening of “Amazing Grace.” Those of you have not seen it, its’ an absolutely fabulous, mostly live recordings of Althea Franklin throughout her career. Please visit the Montclair Film website to get your tickets. Even though the tickets are free, all tickets and seating are on a first come, first serve basis. (http://montclairfilm.org}
“Additionally, this week of February 3, though the 7th, is a time for us to honor our counselors in our schools who help with the social and emotional development of our kids. It’s sponsored by the American School Counselor Association and highlights the unique contribution of school counselors within the school system and the impact that they have in helping our kids have success in school and in careers. It helps support the families as well. Let’s be mindful of their work and take a moment to thank them with a round of applause. (The audience claps).
“And tonight I am actually going to be describing things that are in the academic world, as well as the arts world as well as athletic world. These are kind of the pillars of our entire school system. So it’s kind of a great opportunity to promote the district.
“Tonight in this building, the Civics and Government Institute. sophomores are having their first public demonstration of Lorraine, the social reform panel. I’ve heard this is a remarkable evening and the students prepared speeches and dress in character as their chosen reformer. This brings to life the first unit of study of the CGI US history literature curriculum.
“As I have said, February is a busy month. Hillside school action time for partnerships and MFEE are announcing a special viewing of the film Screamagers, Next Chapter–uncovering skills for stress resiliency on Thursday, February 13th from 7th through 9th grades. And it’s just another example of the social emotions and character development is really throughout the district as Dr. Purtino just described the movie last night that was quite compelling. This event is free and open to all parents, caregivers and students in the district. But it is recommended for students in the 5th grade or above. It’s a follow up to the original Screamagers. The Next Chapter is the science behind teens emotional challenges, the inner play of social media, and most importantly, what could be done in our schools and homes to help them build crucial skills to navigate stress, anxiety and depression in our digital age. Immediately following the film will be small group breakout discussion. The screening has been made possible by the generous grant of the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence. And I just want to take a moment. Let’s applaud the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence. (The audience claps.)
“On the academic side, we are going to have Parent Math Night starting February 3. This week we had the Elementary Parent Math night. And coming in the next few weeks will be a Math Night for middle school and high school sections. Flyers are on the table for your reference and they are also posted on the website. They are very informative sections so you get to understand the scope and process of navigating through the level of math courses and transitioning from elementary to middle, and then from middle to high school.”
Dr. Parker goes on to tell about him and his wife checking out the student play “She Kills Monster!” Although this play is no longer available, he recommends that you go to check out any student performances. He also took this time out to give his wife, Rochelle, a shot out.
“On the Athletic front, there are 5 students athletes signed to Division 1 and Division 2 colleges. It was a wonderful evening to see these five young men at the table with their schools they are going to be going to. Unfortunately I have two football players whose names I do not have. But I will give the names of the students I do have, Patrick Barns in football going to Fordham University which is a Division 2 school. Mateo Neighbors, this is incredible. He will be playing soccer at St. John’s University which is the highest ranking Division 1. And Bryan Tommy Wright is the captain of the football team and going to St. Bonadventure. They all have full scholarships. (Note: Shawn Collins was signed to Rutgers, another Division 1 University.)
“Switching back to the academic side of things, we are in receipt of various emails regarding title 1 Audits and our reviewing concerns and turn leaf. We will be responding when this review is complete.
“One of the big frustrations that the parents, and myself, and the members of the Board of Education have had is the problems of teachers vacancy. This year, we are going to have a job fair end of February or early March. But we are going to get to that very quickly. It’s been our upmost priority, in addition to safety, to find qualified teachers in children’s education. We’ve had a number of vacancies in the high school and we are diligently pursuing searches. We had a certified teacher filling classes for these voids and recently the AP Physics void has presented itself unfortunately again. The search for an AP Physics teacher has been ongoing since May of last year and a shortage of qualified candidates in the state of New Jersey, well frankly, around the country, has made this difficult. Previously and currently we have reached out to the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning, The New Jersey Institute of Technology, Montclair State University, Essex Community College and surrounding areas. I have literally written to all of the Superintendents in all of Essex County and Union County to see if they know someone. We are looking into an option of an Online Course that will address the needs and standards of this course.
“It’s easy for me to say, please understand. But it is difficult to understand the situation so, it is very unfortunate and I surely regret that that’s the situation.
“We also have, starting next week, the Board of Education has hired an architectural firm called EI that is going to do an analysis of all of our facilities. I think we had 5 unexpected incidents in our school where we had some facility failure. And this group is going to take a look at every building, every facility. They are not only going to look at the walls and the roofs, but they will also be looking at the heating and air conditioners where they do exist. But to me the most important part is that they are going to be looking at whether the physical structure is able to support 21st century land systems. So what may come out of this may be proposals for repurposing space. There may be project rooms, there may be small group instruction groups, and there may be different kinds of options for theatre. This is going to be a look at not just the physical structure itself, but how can form follow the actual function that we expect. This is going to take our principals and our teacher’s time to figure out what is possible that can be done in the 21st century. Hopefully this will be done by May 1.
This will become a 5 year long facility plan. So rather than piece-mealing changes in the physical structure…fixing a roof here, a stair over there, we will take a look at the entire structure of the system and come up with a long range plan that will be comprehensively presented to the Board of Education and also to the Board of School Estimate. My hope is that if the larger community really understands how this could be the #1 school district in the country so far as it’s physical facilities and then the education can actually lead the structure to be at that level.
“There was a lack of transparency overtime in terms of how the budget processes develop and how it evolves. And I have made a special attempt with the Principals and with the teachers and with DeAngelo’s and the district office there, to try and become as transparent as possible.
And I will just name one fact that is driving this. Health insurance is a major expenditure. It is probably one of our largest standalone expenditures outside of salaries of employees. Health insurance is projected to go up 16% next year and this is based on current usage of the policy. And the insurance companies project what it is going to look like over the next period of time. But I just tell the Board and I tell the public, it is going to be a challenge for us to look over our budget and to figure out how to manage the finances of the school district.
SEARCH FOR A NEW SUPERINTENDENT
After the Budget Presentation, Board of Education President, Eve Robinson, informed the public that the Board is in the middle of a search for the next Superintendent. “The ads have been placed. Recruitment has started.” She urges the public that if they know of anyone who wishes to apply, they should go to the Board of Education website and apply. They have already received several applications.
PUBLIC SESSIONS FOR SUPERINTENDENT SELECTION
The Search Team will be holding three public sessions to get public input into what kind of Superintendent qualities the public is looking for in their next Superintendent. The dates for these sessions are Monday, February 10 at 4 pm at the Charles H. Bullock School, located 55 Washington Street. The second meeting will be held that same night at 7:30 pm at the Northeast Elementary School located 603 Grove Street. Another meeting will be held Wednesday, February 12 at 10 am at the Central Office for the Board which is 22 Valley Road. The snow dates for both of those dates are February 26.
Everyone is urged to go to those meetings and have interaction at the meetings. The consultant, Charlene Peterson, will be describing the process of how the superintendent will be recruited and interviewed, and she will be there to take input for the Board. The board will not be at the meetings. It is only for the public.
In case you cannot make any of the meetings, you can go online to the Board of Education’s website and complete a survey and write opinions there. These surveys will be complied as well. You can do this anytime.