Pamela Cosplays Board Administrator Kot

-Sai Akiri

If you watched the 3/30 BOE meeting, it is understandable if some walked away with that question in their minds.

There were multiple questions on the courtesy busing about the number of children, the cost included in the tentative budget, and so on. Julie Kot was unable to answer them. Rather surprising since the tentative budget she presented on 3/13 includes courtesy busing, which means the underlying data is available. Unless the tentative budget is make-believe. Let us assume for a minute that it is real. So, while Julie declined to share the data, it didn’t stop Pamela Stanley from rattling off numbers without citing where they came from. What is wrong with that picture?

Julie Kot, the business administrator responsible and accountable for creating the budget did NOT answer the basic questions on courtesy busing, but surprisingly, Pamela Stanley came to the rescue when Julie raised her hands and said I don’t know.

How does Pamela Stanley know the exact number of students (144) getting courtesy busing to Governor Livingston? Not a round number of 140 or 145 or 150. A very specific number – 144.

How do we know the numbers and information provided by Pamela Stanley to the public are accurate? Where is she getting this information from? Also, how is it possible that only ONE board member is privy to this information?

It was interesting to see Pamela Stanley repeatedly interject and respond to key questions on budgeting and busing when she is neither on the Personnel Committee nor the Finance and Facilities committee.

Board President Angela Penna did NOT seem to mind when Board member Stanley interjected multiple times to answer questions that the administration was unable or unwilling to answer. Strangely NONE of the finance committee members seemed to know the answers to how many students are currently being bused under courtesy busing, and the budgeted amount for courtesy busing in this budget?

Board president Angela Penna, Vice President Joy Young, and Robert Cianciulli (the finance committee member) also didn’t seem to mind when Dr. Varley, in her desperate attempt to abolish the supervisor positions, said we need to cut people or courtesy busing to find $350,000 in the budget.

If the superintendent is aware of the cost of courtesy busing in the budget, why didn’t she or Board Administrator Julie Kot provide this number?

Makes one wonder how only one Board member has this information at her fingertips?

The NJ Code of Ethics for School Board members’ specifies that Board members provide oversight and make sure schools are well run but do not administer the schools. However, as we saw in the 3/30 meeting, perhaps the lines seem to be blurred for some board members.

And, this is not the first time this has happened.