Courtesy Busing Changes

[Gene_Tanala]

I tryed to scan and put up the central office adminstration for the Jersey City School District.  The site would not let me.

In Jersey City here are 31 Administrators at the Board office.  There are 42 school with  30 failing.   Snyder High School is being reconstitued for the 2nd time in 6 years...........Tier 2 under NCLB.   ALong with these 31 administrators, they all have staff, and all make over 110,000 a year.

The superintendent just received a 2 year extension. His present salary is 265,000  a 1000 month housing expense, and a driver.

Each high school has 4 vp's and a principal. This along with security guards, CIT's and police.

No supplies, no books, no potable water in one school for over a year, no copy paper, etc, Your tax dolars also pay for these districts, who keep on getting funding, less cuts, and the money goes in thier pockets.


NO Howell is not overstaffed in Administration, nor overpaid.........Its utterly ridiculous that anyone suggest to cut one of the 4 administrtors positions. WHo would then pick up the extra work, etc, not the secrataries as you all want them cut also.

We have a great school district, with less administration, less custodial, less teachers, less monies, HBOE is doing what they can with less monies.

And Christies cuts the 15 percent on state aid. He did not cut state aid by 15 percent. He took 15 percent of the ENTIRE budget. That is also your  txdollars he took, twice. once on the state aid, and the remainder from the Howell taxpayer, Fifteen persent of approximately 100 million, not the 36 million we get.  This in addition to taking all our surplus. The township has it wrong on thee busing issue. NO ONE was back doored.

Courtesy busing was discussed in February, cut from the budget in March and was part of the original budget cuts. Just to clarify.

Wednesdays meeting is scheduled for 7:00 executive and 8:00 meeting.

It would have been nice to see the townshiip return some more monies to reinstate co-curricular. Remember the hired auditor suggested 700,000, the council wanted 1.9 million. 

Just my opinion, but factual.

Gene Tanala

   

[Thomas Jennings Jr.]

Gene,
Only you and I and a few others understand that schools like that are the problem and not howell.

Do you know if the htboe coulf send their budget to the state? Or is it all said and done?

The frhsd did and the commissioner of education took the original concession of the districts 2.65 million instead of the 4.5 recommended by the towns. Maybe with the independent auditor they would have taken 700k.

Tom

[Jody_Branin]

http://www.app.com/article/20100721/NEWS/100722001/Howell-restores-courtesy-busing-for-elementary-schoolers

Howell restores "courtesy" busing for elementary schoolers

By JOSEPH SAPIA • STAFF WRITER • July 21, 2010

HOWELL — The township Board of Education has restored "courtesy" busing for an estimated 600 students at three elementary schools.

But the restoration of the busing at a cost of $200,000 came through an unusual twist — the Township Council agreeing to restore $200,000 to the school budget, or in effect cutting only $1.7 million. Originally, the council cut $1.9 million from the board's proposed 2010-11 budget of $108,230,491.

After the council acted earlier this month on restoring $200,000, the board tonight voted 8-0 to amend its budget. Board member Suzanne M. Brennan was absent.

Although the state Department of Education has to formally approve the amending of the budget for this fiscal year, which started July 1, it has already given the OK informally, board President Mary Cerretani said.

In New Jersey, public schools are only required to bus students who live two miles or more from school or those who live within two miles on hazardous routes. Otherwise, busing provided within the nonmandated area is considered a courtesy.

Cutting the courtesy busing to 596 students at Aldrich, Newbury and Taunton schools had been part of the budget process in recent months.

But the Township Council said it would have cost the township more than $800,000 to put crossing guards in place to assist the children who would walk to school, said Superintendent of Schools Enid Golden. So the township restored the $200,000 to the budget.

The restoration of the courtesy busing was good news for Eileen Rivero, an Aldrich School parent and president of the school's Parent-Teacher Organization.

''I'm very happy about that," Rivero said.

At a board meeting last month, Rivero, who has children entering first and fourth grades in the fall, said there has been gang activity and illegal drug issues in the area of Aldrich School. Also, according to Rivero, children would have a problem walking from and to their homes through school fields in rainy or snowy weather.

"You just take it (busing) away, but my taxes don't go down," said Rivero, speaking earlier today before the board's vote. " 'Courtesy' busing — I pay for that busing."

The budget for the kindergarten to eighth-grade school district of 6,900 students wound up under review by the Township Council because voters in the April school board election rejected a tax plan to fund the budget. The council could have ordered the budget left alone, cut it or even increased spending.

The approximately $106.5 million 2010-11 budget is supported by a tax rate of $1.031 per $100 of assessed property, said Ronald Sanasac, the school district business administrator. The tax rate is 1 cent more than the previous school year's.

[James_Mazetta]

The buses are back and that's great for the kids. Amazing what happens when ALL the people complain at the powers to be.