Board of Ed Meeting Summary for September 16th

At last, a spare moment in the crazyness of September.  Sorry for the wait, but a lot has happened recently, and our last Board of Ed meeting was definitely a big one.  Two major issues have presented themselves in the past week and a half: the Hatikvah International Charter School and the cancellation of Project Graduation.

Our Board meeting started cordially, with the good news that students who began foreign language last year in either 3rd or 4th grade will be able to continue their foreign language education through 4th and 5th grade.  Then however, the Good of the Cause portion of the night began.  Around 8 parents, some with spouses and some with their children, came to speak on the Hatikvah issue.  Among the issues raised, funding was first and foremost, but many parents expressed concern over severe bussing issues as well.  After all of the parents had been given the chance to speak, Dr. Magistro gave a response, addressing especially the bussing concerns.  Dr. Magistro cited the lack of rolls and student information as a major cause of the bussing confusion, but stated that she had placed her top staff in charge of transportation, including her dispatcher, on the Hatikvah busses.  After she finished, Mr. Giacobbe gave an explanation of the legal situation.  As of the 16th, the Appellate division court had not reached a decision on the charter issue, and the process was ongoing.  At the time of the meeting, the Board had not released funds to the Hatikvah School, nor had the State given the Board the monies it owed.  Mr. Giacobbe explained that the State was required to pay the tuitions of students switching from private schools to public schools, which it had not yet done.  A suit brought against the Board in early September demanding the release of the funds had failed in court, and the judged passed the decision to the Appellate courts.  The situation as it stands now leaves the money in limbo while the Appellate Court makes its decision.  Funds cannot be released until that decision is made.

The start of school brought with it other bad news, revealed early last week.  Project Graduation will no longer exist as it has in the past.  Instead, Tuesday of Senior Week will be another half day, and will include a Senior day, free to students, with many of the activities found at Project Graduation.  The plans for this program are still in the works, but the decision to end Project Graduation in its previous form is unfortunately fairly final.  The decision was made for two major reasons: liability and money.  Project Graduation was run by the PTA, not through the school, and was run for seniors who had already graduated, meaning they were no longer under the purview of the school system.  As the program grew, the possibility of dangerous situations grew as well, as did the cost.  Last year, issues with students brought up the concern that if ever one of those situations resulted in damage to person or property, the PTA would not be able to handle the liability.  An already budget-pained PTA would not be able to handle a law suit, so as a sad result of our litigious society we have lost a great program. However, my direction to students is this: don't blame the school or least of all our Class or Student Councils.  This decision was made by the PTA, the program was a PTA program, and the bodies I just mentioned really did not have the final say in this matter.  Moving forward, I suggest that if students want to have a rewarding senior year program, they have to take the initiative and create it.  Both the Senior Class Council and Student Council are trying to put together events, so I recommend approaching them with ideas and initiative rather than complaints and blame.

While these past few weeks have not brought the best news, we should look at these issues as not just terrible times, but also times of opportunity.  Situations like this force parents to become involved in their children's schooling, and students to become involved in the activities and affairs of their schools.  Hopefully both of these issues will see good conclusions for all parties involved.