With little in the way of controversial agenda items, the first meeting of the Hoboken Board of Education following the 2014 election was colored by battles won, battles lost, and battles still being fought. With the notable absence of Frances Rhodes-Kearns, the 12-year trustee who was defeated on Nov. 4, every candidate in the school board election was present, and many spoke out on the same issues that had been their focus during the campaign.
In the race for three school board seats that concluded two weeks ago, incumbent trustee Peter Biancamano of the Education for all Children slate was re-elected for a second term. In addition, Parents for Change candidates Monica Stromwall, who was appointed to the board in January, and her running mate Sharyn Angley were elected for this first time.
The election did not alter control of the board, since Parents for Progress are generally considered to be in line with the six trustees from the Kids First slate. The board is expected to have an 8-1 majority on many issues, with Biancamano as the only dissenter. However, the results of the most recent election, in which only 234 votes separated the second and seventh place vote-getters, demonstrated that Hoboken’s population may have a greater diversity of opinion on the direction of the public schools than the board itself.
Sticking to their guns
Though unsuccessful at the polls, former Parents for Change slatemates Lynn Danzker, Brian Murray, and Patricia Waiters showed no signs of halting their scrutiny of board actions as private citizens and district parents.
Danzker was perhaps the frankest in her criticism of the election. “At the end, it was the political machine that secured two seats on the Board of Education and big money that secured the third seat,” said Danzker, ostensibly referring to Parents for Progress’ support from the Kids First majority and Mayor Zimmer, and Education for all Children’s backing by Hoboken politico Frank Raia. Danzker said she had support from neither, although her slate did have the backing of State Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia.
“If anyone is out there with a skill or expertise, here we are, and I’m looking at a predominantly empty room.”—Tom Kluepfel
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Danzker said teachers, CFOs, accountants, educational lobbyists, and public policy professionals have told her they want to become involved with the school board.
In response, Board Trustee Tom Kluepfel cited himself as an example of someone who decided to start volunteering his expertise and eventually became a board member. He issued an open call for anyone interested in getting involved to come to board meetings.
“If anyone is out there with a skill or expertise,” said Kluepfel, “here we are, and I’m looking at a predominantly empty room.”
Murray accused the Board of Education of creating an environment in which his children were bullied at school due to their father’s candidacy.
“I’m putting this board…on notice that I’m holding you personally responsible for the actions of other parents and their children,” said Murray.
Biancamano said he hoped Murray’s allegations were looked into, and Interim Superintendent Dr. Richard Brockel promised to meet with Murray.
Though she garnered the seventh highest vote total overall, Waiters performed well in the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Wards, where Hoboken’s low-income housing projects are located, and she asked that the school board not forget the children of those areas. “Most of these kids depend on the public school system,” said Waiters.
Waiters alleged that she had been followed by the Deputy of Elections and intimidated by scurrilous complaints during the campaign, but said she would continue her advocacy regardless. “It’s mandated by the federal and state laws to provide these kids a quality free education,” she added.
Other issues
Both Waiters and Murray inquired about the $22,100 contract the school board unanimously minted with the Hoboken Police Department for security for basketball games. In response, Brockel said it was his experience that police were always paid for their presence at basketball games in K-12 districts.
Murray also questioned why the school district was planning to pay someone almost $1,800 to operate the scoreboard for 30 J.V. basketball games this season. If each game lasts two hours, the individual will earn roughly $29 per hour for his scoreboard work. “A lot has been made about the budget,” said Murray, “and what we can save, what we can spend, and what we can do, and it really confuses me.”
Standing up for the schools
In her committee report as chair of the curriculum committee, Stromwall continued the positive tone that defined her candidacy for the school board. She highlighted the school’s most recent professional development day as the “most beneficial” installment yet, according to the teachers involved. Stromwall also applauded the new teacher institute installed as part of the district deal with the teachers’ union as a positive and enjoyable exercise.
Biancamano picked up where he had left off on budgetary issues, seeking assurances from Business Administrator William Moffitt that the New Jersey Schools Development Authority would foot the bill for long-term scaffolding at Brandt School. Moffitt said that SDA has promised as much, but that he wouldn’t know for sure until he saw something on paper.
However, Biancamano also complimented Superintendent Brockel for hiring from within for certain teacher positions, specifically by hiring Hoboken High School English teacher Christopher DellaFave as a gifted & talented teacher for the district.
Board President Ruth Tyroler, the longest tenured trustee upon Rhodes-Kearns’ departure, used Tuesday’s meeting as an opportunity to stand up for the work that has been done since she came onto the board in 2009.
“There is a tremendous amount of change that has taken place from April of 2009 to November of 2014,” she said. “Books were 20 years old in 2009. We had 29 repeat audit violations when we saw our first audit…after I think a year or a year and a half, we got an award…we had one violation…we have a longer school day, we have a longer school year, there’s tutoring after school…we have been setting aside money in the budget to improve facilities.”
Still, Tyroler made clear that she and her fellow board members are not satisfied.
“It’s really easy for someone to walk into this district for the first time,” she said, “never having paid attention before, and point fingers at things that they say need improvement, but there’s not one person on this board that doesn’t agree.”
School board business
On Tuesday, the school board voted unanimously to approve the disposal of obsolete and broken electronic equipment. The parts are mostly modems and monitors from old Gateway computers and laserjet printers. Business Administrator Moffitt said many of the computers on the chopping block had already been harvested for any working parts, and that only the residual plastic and metal remains.
Superintendent Brockel said he was part of a team representing the city that recently met with representatives of Stevens Institute of Technology. He said Stevens “is dedicated to working with the city of Hoboken and the school district in Hoboken in creating a lot of opportunities for our students, and we’re going to be looking forward to working with them more closely in the future.”
During the 2014 school board campaign, several candidates pointed to joint programs with Stevens as a way of improving academics in Hoboken Public Schools.
The school board also approved a corrective action plan submitted by HOPES CAP, one of its contracted providers of state-funded preschool programs. The plan was required in order to address issues found in an audit of HOPES CAP’s 2012-2013 school year conducted by the New Jersey Department of Education.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Moffitt emphasized that any deficiencies in HOPES CAP’s budget were not the fault of the school district, but that the district was required to approve the action plan as the conduit through which state money flows to preschool providers.
Moffitt said the plan would be placed on the Board of Education website if it was passed, but it had not been uploaded as of Thursday.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that school board member Tom Kluepfel was an education professional.
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.