Dear Editor:
I am writing this letter to the residents of Secaucus with regards to the recent Board of Education meeting, which was held March 24 evening. I would first like to thank those who spoke, especially the teachers, who spoke their mind. While listening to the parents and teachers who did speak, I can only conclude that they have made many attempts to work cooperatively and congenially within the chain of command however, they have been met with nothing but staunch resistance and relentless retaliation for their efforts.
This week’s board meeting proves we have an administration that lacks leadership, and has little or no communication with the elected board.
The administration’s actions at this meeting displayed conduct unbecoming of professional administrators in education, it also displayed they do not have the ability to work cooperatively with staff or students.
I asked three questions at this meeting and none of my questions were answered. My questions were: (1) If the budget passes this year, will this eliminate the need for RICE notifications (pink slips) for teachers and aides, which includes demotions? (Please remember after the budget passed last year, several days later a handful of pink slips were given out however, most teachers were given back their jobs after the mayor got involved) (2.) Will they be reposting the District Spokesperson’s job that Mr. Manfra held? (I still have not figured out what Mr. Manfra’s job description was or what he did for the school system. I do know Mr. Scerbo was able to speak for himself. By not posting this position we will save a salary that can be given to a teacher which will ensure decent class size.) (3) I also asked Mrs. Randina to forgo her annual 5 percent raise on her $216,718.000 salary and for all administration that make over $110,000 per year a voluntary 5 percent pay cut. Many of us are fortunate to have jobs in this economy and I am sure many of us have not gotten a raise in a while. Remember every time we pass a budget for the school we are taking a voluntary pay cut because our taxes go up. The administration speaks of how they need this money to ensure our children’s education and how they care about our school system. Well, they can talk the talk all they want, let them walk the walk and take these voluntary pay cuts so we can make sure our students futures are not jeopardized, this is how we can all work together as a community including this administration.
I am urging the superintendent and administration to please answer my questions in letter form. They are simple questions, most require a yes or no answer such as, is the superintendent willing to take a voluntary pay freeze and show the residents of Secaucus how serious she is about our children’s education, our community, and the proposed educational budget?
Waiting for your reply,
Pat Belenski