BOE Meeting Tapes, Raised Concerns and Thanks to Anonymous Reader for Updates

Last month's BOE meeting was one I wanted to attend, but a last minute "emergency" from one of my children and a flat tire at Watchung Mall made my plans of attending such meeting sour.

The day after the meeting I received a message from Anonymous giving me an update on what went on a meeting. I was grateful for the update, but the list of concerns were serious enough to guarantee a request to hear the tape of the meeting before I posted anything about it. Today I finally was able to listen to the tape.

Below is the list of concerns that I was able to gather today, I hope it is aligned with Anonymous' own list, if not, please let me know. A later post will deal with some of the issues presented below:

FROM PARENTS

--Lack of Teacher Assistants for Evergreen Kindergarten classes. The parent presenting the concern offered the state's own Kindergarten Implementation Guidelines to the school board and the interim superintendent so they can see what the proper staffing is for K classes. This Evergreen parent also made the request for the school board to set up a policy on this matter as this is a recurring concern for K parents.

--A parent from Woodland raised concerns on the district's use of Substitute Teachers and how a certified and qualified teacher has been substituting but really deserves to be hired as a permanent teachers, especially after this teacher has been serving the same classroom, 1st grade (Dual Language?), since September.

--A parent from PAAAS was there to raise concerns on the integrity of the admission process to PAAAS. Students at PAAAS must go through an application and interview before they are accepted, this parent apparently witnessed something different.

--From PAAAS also, concerns on the district's reconfiguration. Good questions and observations were made and hopefully we will hear more on this topic before the school board announces what their decision will be.

--The same parent from PAAAS also raised concerns on miscommunication from the Athletic Department and the Cheerleaders team. There was a mention on future written guidelines for procedures on how to handle overcrowding and athletes.

FROM STAFF

--PEA's President raised questions on the hiring process, on how will the newly hired Supervisors assist teachers and the use of Substitute teachers.

--Woodland's Principal (who also is the district's Administrators' Union President this year) shared her concern on how a certified and qualified teacher that has been working as a substitute has not been offered full-time. If I understood well, she also mentioned that the district has already hired for her school a teacher who is to graduate in the next couple of weeks. This hiring apparently is for Woodland's Dual Language classroom.

--A staff member from Evergreen raised concerns on the interviewing process as he applied to the position(s) being advertised and didn't get a phone call from the district despite the fact that he holds certifications as Supervisor, Principal and School Administrator. He asked if there were policies and procedures in place so he could understand the process. (Serendipity here is at its best as it would be couple of days later that I would finally open the last responses from the district and would find Regulations on this very topic.)

--A teacher from Washington school also talk of how his former district, Westfield, offered "Courtesy Interviews" to all those who applied for a position.

The above are serious concerns that merit serious consideration and serious action from both the school board and the current interim superintendent. As always, corrections, suggestions and comments are welcome.

Much thanks to Anonymous reader for sending me an update on last month's meeting!