District Goals, Cell Phone Policy, Inaccurate TAP-Into Article, Visitor Scans, Superintendent Drama & More

Mr. Nixon provided a presentation on District Goals. I will summarize, but watch the presentation for yourself, please – I am not going to do it much justice here:

Goal #1

Student Achievement in grades 6-12 with a strong emphasis on improving the Math program.

Goal #2

Student Achievement K-5 will to focus on Math to determine and support areas of weakness.

Goal #3

DEI Metrics

Grades k-2 gender in intervention (this has NOTHING to do with sex ed – this does have to do with the fact that the data is showing females are under-performing males in mathematics in our early childhood centers and that the District is attempting to understand why and how they can make necessary changes,  Grades 3-8 grades will focus on school engagement while Grades 9-12 will focus on academic growth. Unfortunately, there is nothing in regard to or mentioning PreK (of which we have 4 sections containing 51 students total!).

Goal #4

Communication, specifically community engagement!!! Thank you for listening, Mr. Nixon!

Goal #5  Curriculum; modification and review of curriculum writing process district-wide.

The common theme through Mr. Nixon’s presentation on Distcit Goals was simple: student focused, community-engaged and supportive of teachers.

Welcome to CJ Hendricks, who is being named the new Athletic Director!

The CMS Phone policy was discussed and is in sync with our current procedures, as stated in Policy 5770. Students and parents have the right to refuse Admin or teacher access to the phone. The Board Policy and CMS Policy are intended to protect students, not infringe upon their right to privacy.

Board member remote participation was also discussed.

In Personnel, a new hire for interim assitant principal for GL and two business office positions are on the agenda.

Electric bussing was discussed. These buses will require charging stations. The District is expected to receive a grant for the buses to help offset the costs. The buses will be used for local (not defined) sporting events transportation until the District obtains a better understanding of the vehicles.

New software for visitors entering schools will now require a driver’s ID to enter the building. The software will track people in the building and log their activities in a central database. The discussion surrounding this software went on ad nauseam.

Side-Note #1: The Board should watch the recordings of these meetings to get a better understanding about when to RESPECTFULLY request their fellow members to MOVE ON from subject matters that are going to have little to no effect on our teachers and students.

While I’m on a bit of a frustrated tangent on the topic of beating a dead horse, I will add that the biggest problem of this Board as a whole, is that they sometimes fail to see the direct impacts their decisions have on the teachers, the schools and the children.  I am well versed in just about every topic and discussion and can understand WHY some people vote “no” on the resolutions that should be passed (PRISM, for example). I GET IT.

I am not smarter or better than anyone, but I have a fairly extensive knowledge of Board and District business; I have been (sometimes obsessively) paying VERY close attention for the last 5 years.  However, like so many of us do as parents and adults day in and out, you sometimes have to suck it up and move on, understanind that you can not change or control everything, so you need to let the small stuff go.  Okay, tangent over.

Finance discussion was hot!

Kudos to Mrs. Joly for her respectful and informative statement. Mrs. Joly addressed the inaccuracies in the TAPinto article.  TAPinto reported there were over $80K of bills which was not true.  The remaining unpaid bills were not a result of the Board holding up payment. The unpaid bills had to do with canceled checks.  Other items from the TAPinto article were just flat-out fake news as many of the reported “unpaid bills” were approved to be paid.

Mrs. Bradford mentioned that she had contacted TAPinto regarding the misinformation and issued a formal statement, but she didn’t bother to correct any of the misinformation.

Mrs. Akiri respectfully questioned how TAPinto obtained the $80,000 number. If the Board is truly committed to transparency and communication, why can’t it clarify the inaccuracies?

Mrs. Bradford requested that the Board not have this discussion in public and plans to address the article in a formal manner. She also confirmed there was a duplicate bill in the TAPinto letter, citing several incorrect data points in the TAPinto article.

As a point of clarification, Mrs. Khanna confirms the Board statement in the TAPinto letter was not on behalf of the Board but a statement from Mrs. Bradford only.  She further asks Mrs. Bradford why she is refusing to correct the misinformation eventhough she has stated she is aware of multiple inaccuracies.

Mrs. Bradford confirms the article has several errors.

In a back-and-forth, Mrs. Khanna clarifies that the errors presented in the TAPinto article are Mrs. Bradford’s to correct as the statement is her own, the data provided was from her, and the entire article is not a product of the Board.

I fall into a slight meditative state because this discussion seems to go on for HOURS…

The Board is still discussing #BillGate, and Mrs. Stanley tries to throw a fastball, and it ends up in the foul zone.  She addresses Mr. Dissler, recounting our former Board attorney usually interrupted members when he felt they were making defamatory or derogatory remarks  about employees and asked if he’d do the same.  He mentioned that he would interject himfeself if he thought someone was crossing the line but generally did not like to involve himself in ethics issues.

During the citizens’ hearing on any topic, Board Of Ed Candidate Deb Terrero asks about a canceled SAT test on October 5, which affects many BHPS students who had pre-enrolled.  Mr. Nixon is unaware and will address it. *GL parents received a letter of clarification on this matter on 9/13/24*

Mr, Hendricks, new Atheltic Director, greets the BOE saying “longest Board Meeting I’ve been to…” i guess he hasn’t watched any of our meetings – BUCKLE IN! 

Technical difficulties prevented Mrs. Ringwood from participating in the citizens’ hearing, but she was promised that once the issues were resolved, she would be able to speak when the new business was complete.

In a not-so-surprising turn of events, Mrs. Stanley becomes unhinged and obsessed with getting answers, over and over.  I’m not sure of her goals outside of what appears to be sheer frustration at the Board’s unwillingness to pay bills for things that have no rhyme or reason or things that legitimately have not been vetted or properly certified.

Back to Mrs. Ringwood’s comments: she speaks about her displeasure upon hearing rumors at a school event on August 28 regarding the Board passing on hiring Rob Nixon as Superintendent.  I wholeheartedly agree with Mrs. Ringwood, and if what she claimed is true, I am ashamed of the Board for passing up on a proven leader in our community. The work, cohesiveness, and dedication Mr. Nixon has demonstrated over the last 6 months far surpasses what we had to endure under our previous leadership.

Mrs. Ringwood continued her comments while citing possible ethical violations by Board members who shared this personal and private information about Mr. Nixon not being offered the Superintendent position. I’m not sure what this was about, or if there was even a Board member at her August 28 school event.  However, according to her, several teachers were discussing this matter at a school event.  Again, I’m unclear about what went down and why she wants to throw out the ethics card.

NJ21st does not profit from its content, does not accept money for campaign or business advertisements and is not run by a corporation.  We welcome content from ALL residents, regardless of political affiliation as long as they work or reside in the 21st District and abide by our terms.

Related Articles

BOE Representative Natasha Joly Responds to Inaccurate TapInto Article

Regarding TapInto’s Coverage of “Unpaid Bills”

Fact Checking the Politically Funded “News” Account of the 07/25/2024 BOE Meeting

Read All Articles on BOE Agendas and Meetings

Reach Out To Your Representatives

Subscribe to NJ21st For Free