For now, they agreed to continue disagreeing. An hour-and-a-half summit called by New Jersey Education Commissioner David Hespe and attended by Bayonne city officials and Bayonne Board of Education representatives ended in a deadlock of sorts, when Hespe said that the parties should meet again in a few weeks to further discuss what the city claims is millions of dollars of alleged missing money reimbursed by the state. Interim Executive County Superintendent Monica Tone also attended the Monday, March 16 meeting at the Board of Education offices on Avenue A. Representing the city were Mayor James Davis, Business Administrator Joseph DeMarco, and Chief Financial Officer Terrence Malloy. Present for the Board of Education were Schools Superintendent Patricia McGeehan, Assistant Superintendent/Business Administrator Leo Smith Jr., and Board President William Lawson. City officials contend that $7.4 million sent by the state to the Board of Education to pay for a portion of projects completed in Bayonne schools has not been reimbursed to the city, which had to bond for the initiatives. Another $4.4 million for still-open projects is also at issue. The Board of Education has countered that it is up to date in all money owed to Bayonne, including payments made and costs for cooperative projects with the city that the Board said it has written off.
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“He’s still gathering some information.” – Leo Smith
____________The meeting was scheduled after Davis had sent a letter to Hespe’s office on Jan. 22 regarding the reimbursement issue. Smith said that Hespe ran the meeting, asking a lot of questions of both sides, and then ending it to do more fact finding. “He’s still gathering some information,” Smith said. “He wants to get an SDA [School Development Authority] payout figure and wants to reconvene in two to three weeks.” Part of the problem in settling the disagreement is that information regarding some of the projects dates back to 1997 and is not easily attainable, according to Smith. “To try and re-collect [information] and go back part and parcel when you weren’t part of the situation is very difficult,” he said. Smith said some of the issue lies with the SDA, the state Education Department’s body which deals with the approving and funding of New Jersey educational construction projects. “Part of the problem is the way the SDA does business,” he said. “Some money owed to us is from 2009.” But DeMarco said the problem rests with what the Board of Education is claiming in regard to the $7.4 million the SDA refunded to the Board and which has not yet been transferred back to the city. DeMarco said that the Board’s central claim, that the Board wrote off millions of dollars in debt that the city allegedly owes the school district is not accurate. He said the real issue is finding out what the Board of Education did with the state reimbursements. “We want a schedule of all total payments received by the district from the SDA to see what was done with those monies,” DeMarco said. DeMarco said that the pending contract extension for McGeehan was also discussed at the meeting, as well as the Board’s change from an appointed school board to an elected one. He said another meeting topic was the interactions between the city and Board of Education, since the relationship between the two became strained in mid-December because of the funding dispute. But DeMarco said the parties agreed to continue working together despite their disagreements. “We left on somewhat of a high note,” he said. “It was a positive, productive meeting,” said Michael Yaple, director of public information and strategic partnerships for the New Jersey Department of Education. “We’re pleased that everyone is working together toward the shared goal of what is best for the community and its schools.”
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.To comment on this story online visit www.hudsonreporter.com.
