After incorrectly approving a Spanish-English education program for young Hoboken schoolchildren in November, the Board of Education rescinded their original vote on Tuesday and then took a second vote against instituting a pared-back version of the “HoLa” program next year.
Parents on both sides of the debate have swarmed board meetings over the last four months, with some saying that there are better ways to spend district money than on teaching young children to speak Spanish, especially with the low test scores in the upper grades. Two women who live in Hoboken have spent almost a year promoting the program to the district, and recently offered to continue as consultants without having to be paid.
But some parents and taxpayers still believed the cost of the program was too high. In addition, the administration was advised that the November vote to approve the program had circumvented public bidding laws when the district awarded a $150,000 contract to the two HoLa founders.
Down to seven
On Tuesday, the board voted 4-3 against providing the program next year. The board normally has nine members, but board member Phil DeFalco was not at the meeting, and former board member Anthony Romano left in January to take a seat as a county freeholder. The board could have chosen a new member, but has decided instead to let the voters choose in April.
Six of the remaining members voted the same as they did in November – but board trustee James Farina, who normally votes in favor of the administration, went the other way this time, providing a crucial swing vote.
Board members Carmelo Garcia, Frank Raia, and Board President Frances Rhodes-Kearns voted in favor of the dual-language immersion program, while board members Theresa Minutillo, Rose Markle, and Carrie Gilliard voted against it.
The Farina vote
Farina said at the meeting that the board may need the $500,000 left for school programs as the board works on the new school budget, which will go to a public vote in April.
“In the long run, [the program]’s going to cost us,” Farina said.
However, one board member, who asked not to be named, complained last week that Farina changed his mind for different reasons.
He claimed that the “no” vote was retribution because Carmelo Garcia did not support putting former board member Theresa Burns in Romano’s vacant seat. Burns was one of a group of people who had applied for the empty seat.
While she was on the board, Burns filed ethics charges against Garcia for allegedly voting on a job promotion for his brother, and for voting on a contract for a public relations firm run by a county freeholder while Garcia was a freeholder aide. At the time, Garcia said that there were so many matters on the agenda that he didn’t realize his brother’s job was one of them, and that he asked the board secretary to change his vote to an abstention later. Ultimately, the state’s School Ethics Commission decided to reprimand Garcia for the vote, but not force him to step down.
Last week, Farina said the rumor about his vote was “absolutely” not true. “One didn’t have anything to do with the other,” he said.
He said he was worried that the public might vote down the school budget in April, which would force it to be sent to the City Council for cuts. Farina noted that state-appointed Fiscal Monitor Judy Tripodi would make the cuts because of the state takeover of Hoboken’s finances. He said it’s possible that the first thing she would take out is the new program.
Public opinion
The program had polarized the community at recent board meetings.
Ruth McAllister has been opposing the program because the district needs help in other areas.
“We have to worry about these children who are failing now.” – Ruth McAllister
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Kai Rebane, a lawyer, warned the board that they were “forging ahead with many flaws” in the process of implementing the program.
She cited No Child Left Behind Act regulations and other requirements for the district. Before leaving, she slapped a binder the size of two textbooks on the board’s desk, full of materials she said they may have needed to make their decision.
John Keim called the marketing of the program by the HoLa leaders “divisive,” and asked the district why they were concentrating on programs for the lower grades when students are leaving the district to go to private schools or other districts in the middle school years.
“We have no problem getting kindergarteners,” Keim said.
The HoLa leaders, Jennifer Hindman Sargent and Camille Korschun Bustillo, both spoke at the meeting and reiterated that they would do anything they could to “facilitate the process,” but in the end, their pleas fell on deaf ears.
Both said after the meeting that they would regroup and re-evaluate the situation, but that they still have confidence in the program.
Ravinder Bhalla, a lawyer who is running for City Council, voiced his “unequivocal opposition” to the process the district used to approve the program.
He noted that the women are now offering to run the program for free when they would have originally to cost the board $150,000.
“Why didn’t the board negotiate the contract?” he asked.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.