The Board of Education (BOE) was placed in an impossible situation last night by the Mayor and the Recreation Department. A room packed with residents that had only been exposed to the Mayor’s version of events, thanks to what we now know were fabricated rules regarding contract negotiations—where confidentiality seemingly only applies when it suits the Mayor – who apparently can write factually inaccurate front page news reports spinning why locking kids out of tennis courts is a good idea.

That said, while I am appalled by an agreement that hands over school land to the township with little to no benefit in return—especially considering we already spend over $450 per pupil in that area while allocating a mere 50 cents per pupil for textbooks—I can’t fully fault the BOE for moving forward with it. It was encouraging to see every BOE member, except Gale, call out the disgraceful tactics of the Mayor and the Recreation Department.

Natasha did her best to negotiate under what was clearly a political trap, while Dipti showed leadership by supporting the agreement she clearly had deep reservations about for the sake of our students.

I also have deep respect for Sai and Tom’s ‘no’ votes, which serve as a statement that the district still has some self-respect.

PAL and other sports organization in town do great work and they deserve this as do the kids they serve, I just wish our students got something back.  I truly hope the Mayor and Township deliver on this because, with what they put the District and it’s students through, anything less than what was promised would be unacceptable.

At the end of the day, someone had to make the difficult choice to prevent this debacle from negatively impacting students—so the Board held their noses and moved forward.

The main substance of my notes is in the form of an email to the Superintendent:

Good Morning Dr. Feltre,

I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to follow up on a key point from the Math presentation on February 14th. During that meeting, Dr. Curtiss indicated that the new math approach materials would include after-school online tutoring, requiring a $200K investment. I previously wrote to the Board of Education in support of this initiative and would like to clarify a few details:

1. Can you confirm if this tutoring component is still part of the plan?
2. Will the tutoring involve a live person, or is it an AI-driven resource?
3. Is there a cap on the number of hours available for students?

This is a critical issue for the district. I do not accept the notion that “money is tight” when funds seem to be allocated toward the wrong priorities. A real-time, live tutoring resource—without exceeding the 2% budget increase—would demonstrate that the district is truly prioritizing student success.

I also want to express concern over the way the budget discussion unfolded. While security was initially categorized as a third-priority item, it was given significant attention in the meeting, yet when a direct academic support question was raised, there was noticeable confusion. It seemed as though the budget meeting was more focused on accommodating the mayor’s initiatives rather than prioritizing the needs of students and families.

The work Dr. Curtiss is leading in math education is far more essential than diverting funds to initiatives that do not directly impact academic outcomes.

The Uncle Scutari Turf Field and the Devanney Jobs program for retired police officers is not the number one priority for our students, 

I urge the administration to focus on delivering meaningful educational support, such as this tutoring initiative, rather than blank checks for unrelated programs.

I appreciate your time and look forward to your response to my questions.

Best,
John Migueis

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