Minutes of the Paterson Board of Education Regular Meeting
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MINUTES OF THE PATERSON BOARD OF EDUCATION REGULAR MEETING February 17, 2010 – 7:20 p.m. John F. Kennedy High School Presiding: Comm. Errol Kerr, President Present: Dr. Donnie W. Evans, State District Superintendent Mark Tabenkin, Esq., General Counsel Comm. Theodore Best Comm. Waheedah Muhammad Comm. Wendy Guzman Comm. Pedro Rodriguez Comm. Jonathan Hodges Comm. Willa Mae Taylor, Vice President Comm. Danilo Inoa Absent: Comm. Eddie Gonzalez The Salute to the Flag was led by Comm. Kerr. Comm. Kerr read the Open Public Meetings Act: The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act was enacted to insure the right of the public to have advance notice of, and to attend the meetings of the Paterson Public School District, as well as other public bodies at which any business affecting the interest of the public is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this law, the Paterson Public School District has caused notice of this meeting: Regular Meeting February 17, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. John F. Kennedy High School 61-127 Preakness Avenue Paterson, New Jersey to be published by having the date, time and place posted in the office of the City Clerk of the City of Paterson, at the entrance of the Paterson Public School offices, and by sending notice of the meeting to the Arab Voice, El Diario, the Italian Voice, the North Jersey Herald News, and the Record. Comm. Kerr: We are going to ask those of you who have your cell phones turned on to please turn them off because they do interfere with the recording of our meeting. So we are asking your cooperation at this time by turning them off. Page 1 02/17/10 PRESENTATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS Recognition of Students Receiving the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth Award Dr. Evans: Mr. President and members of the Board, it is always a pleasure to recognize our students for their accomplishments. We hear so many things that are negative about our district, negative about our children, and negative about our staffs, when indeed we have some students that we need to do everything we can to praise them for the work that they are doing and for accomplishments that they make in our schools. Indeed the group of students that we are going to recognize tonight I‟ve already mentioned to you in a previous meeting that we were going to do this. In recognizing the students, I also need to recognize two of our Board Commissioners that I will mention after I recognize the students. On January 18, 1020, the Paterson Youth Council, with the support of NJCDC, not only planned but executed. These students were actually in charge of providing and leading a youth recognition and community recognition ceremony at the Brownstone. Those students took charge and they did an excellent job and that doesn‟t happen by accident. It happens because of the work that‟s being done with them in our schools and it occurs because of the leadership provided by you. At this point, I will mention Commissioners Best and Gonzalez who actually played a very, very important role with these young people to help make it happen. But they let them run this program and they did it exceptionally well. So I want to commend them for the work that they did and the recognition that we‟re giving them is for that purpose. There were other students who were a part of this program who also received awards and were benefactors of it. So I want to commend both the students who received awards as well as those who led the program. I understand the parents of these young people are here as well and I have something to say to you after I recognize your children. First of all, from Eastside High School we have Fidel Garcia who is a senior in the 12th grade. Please come forward. Principal Karen Johnson I believe is here. Secondly, Harley Huarachi from International High School is here and your parents are here also. Principal Robina Puryear is here. Third, Dehstin Smart who is a 7th grade student at Norman S. Weir is here as well as his parents. Principal Grace Giglio is here. Last, but certainly not least, we have Marcus Morel who is an 8th grade student at School #7. Principal Joanne Cardillo wasn‟t able to be with us tonight. Again, I thank these students for their efforts. I thank the principals and teachers who work with them every single day to instill in them the value of education and the kinds of things that they can do. Obviously, they are off to a good start with the accomplishments that they are realizing thus far. To the parents of these young people, they wouldn‟t be here without you. I will repeat that. They wouldn‟t be here without you. You are your child‟s first teacher. We can be critical of parents not being involved, not doing this and not doing that, but you are examples of what parents should be doing. You are with your children. You are supporting them. You are helping them. You are working with the principals and teachers at schools to make sure that your children get what they need. Thank you. We need more parents like you. Thank you, Mr. President. REPORT OF STATE DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT Dr. Evans: I have only two items, Mr. President, and I shall be brief. I mentioned in our workshop meeting earlier this week that we are currently engaged in our budget planning process. Actually, we‟ve been engaged in it now for several months, but it‟s coming to fruition. The budget is coming together. My point for mentioning it now is twofold. First of all, a calendar is being developed that will at some point involve both the Board as well as the public in giving them opportunity to give feedback and to give Page 2 02/17/10 you an opportunity to review and do your due diligence as you have done on the past with regards to the budget. But my second reason for mentioning it is that we are in a situation this year where making deep cuts is a very, very strong possibility. Level funding is the best case scenario for us and by level funding we mean get the exact amount or approximately the same amount of funding that we received this year as our base funding to be able to support our programs. We were level funded this year. Level funded is kind of a misnomer because it is a budget reduction. While we receive the same amount of money, the cost of utilities continues to go up, the cost of insurance continues to go up, and I can go on and on. Board members know this, although I‟m not sure how much the public is aware. The cost of doing business in our world continues to go up. So level funding is indeed a budget cut because we have to do the same, if not more, with less. However, that‟s the best case scenario for us. Realistically, we are going to have to cut pretty deep in some areas. That means some things that we‟re doing now we won‟t be doing next year and unfortunately it‟s going to have an impact on staff. There are some staff reductions we‟re going to have to make. How much? We don‟t know yet because again we don‟t know the extent to which we‟re going to have to reduce the budget. But I commit to keep you informed as we get new and updated information on what that might look like. I was in a meeting this morning in Trenton with other urban superintendents listening to the Commissioner talk to us about the budget and the possible impact that it‟s going to have. So I just want everyone to be prepared so that when that time comes you can expect that we‟re going to have to make some hard decisions and everyone is not going to be able to get what they want out of this budget year. Secondly, kindergarten registration is coming. Beginning March 1, kindergarten registration will be held at 90 Delaware Avenue, our district offices. Paterson residents who have a child entering kindergarten in September 2010, who do not attend a State Mandated Pre-School Program, should call the office of Central Registration at 973-321-0990 and make an appointment to register their children. The Office of Central Registration will notify families of children currently enrolled in our State Mandated Pre-School Programs of their September placement and will provide instruction on how to complete the registration process. Further details about kindergarten registration are available on the district‟s website. Thank you, Mr. President. REPORT OF BOARD PRESIDENT Comm. Kerr: It was just reported to me about an hour or so ago that one of our Commissioners lost his grandfather today, Comm. Gonzalez. So we want to express on behalf of the Board and on behalf of the Paterson School District our sincere condolences to the family and we trust that you will find some strength. I hope that your grandfather is now at peace. I want to just congratulate those students who received awards this evening. It‟s always a good and positive thing to highlight the achievements of our young people. It‟s kind of easy to beat them down when they are not doing too well. On the reverse side, I believe we should always be willing and ready to say to them that they are doing well.