HELLO DR. GRIECO!

Public School Update

After half a dozen Superintendents, about the same number of Business Administrators and a referendum that brought an elected school board to Englewood, finally our district has the chance of a lifetime. Dr. John Grieco, Superintendent of the Bergen County Technical Schools (which includes the nationally acclaimed Bergen Academies), is the Interim Superintendent of Englewood Public Schools. Hopefully, as we are going to print, he will be voted as Superintendent by our Board of Education.

We are confident that Dr. Grieco and his team will bring accountability, discipline and order to our district. Also, we believe that under his leadership the re-registration project will be done properly and by outside personnel. Only the students of Englewood deserve our tax educational dollars. Four years ago we began an effort to bring awareness regarding the problem of having non-resident students attending our school district for free. They contribute to overcrowding in our schools, and steal our teachers’ time and classroom space. This is a violation of the educational rights of our own Englewood Students. They must receive a thorough and efficient education by law.

Fort Lee, North Bergen, Leonia and Clifton and Montclair are among the many school districts that have hired off duty or retired policemen and private investigators to find non-resident students. From 1992 to the present the school district of Clifton, (which is sandwiched between Paterson and Passaic districts) established a hotline and a bounty for tips about illegal students. About 60 non-resident students were found within a few months. These measures should be used in our school district for the protection of the educational rights for our students, as well as the educational dollars of the taxpayers. The misuse of taxpayers funds is an outrage and unlawful. Other districts thoroughly investigate these abuses. The Englewood Public School district should follow these policies, which have been successful in other school districts.

The Board of Education must put in place a firm central control for registration of new students and demand all documents required by law from the parents or legal guardian. All current student files must be carefully checked for missing documentation, and when irregularities are found, home visits should occur. This is the only way our public schools can restore credibility.

It is all about trust.

We believe Dr. Grieco will place this issue on the top of his very long list of priorities. As homeowners and taxpayers we pay $30 million for public education, and poor test scores show us over and over that our money makes no difference. It is time to clean house. It is time to get on with education. It is time to stop giving money to lawyers and place it in the classrooms. We are a small district, and there is no reason to continue the status quo. There are very bright students today in our schools, and sadly it does not show in the test scores. This is why we consider this sea change in the leadership kind of miraculous.

Dr. Grieco, his team, and our elected Board of Education are aware that we are in a deep recession and will look into the fact that the Board of Education is the wealthiest landowner in Englewood. There is a limit on how much money homeowners can pay. Home values increase when the schools provide quality education to their students. Our district test scores have been at the bottom of the barrel for years. And, even for a man like Dr. Grieco and his team, this is an enormous challenge. We sincerely believe that under his leadership, our school district will shine and make us proud. We must be patient and have faith in the successfully proven expertise of Dr. John Grieco.

Thus far, the Board has passed several resolutions on Dr. Grieco’s recommendation. They accepted the resignations of several highly paid personnel. James Lerman, who was hired by the former Superintendent Dr. Baynes at a salary of 112,500 per annum as Assistant Superintendent resigned. Dr. Lynn Jemmott, who received a salary of about $104,000 per annum, also resigned. Business Administrator Robert Brown, who received a salary of about $104,500, resigned as well. Also the services of the Hillier Group, (one of the most expensive architectural engineer firm in the tri-state area) hired by Mayor Fader and the former Superintendent, will no longer continue. We hope there will be other resignations of ineffective personnel, including the numerous expensive consultants on the payroll. Accountability is the motto of Dr. Grieco team.

Articles in the Bergen Record by journalist Doug Crause, an editorial in its Sunday edition, and a long article in the Sunday New York Times by journalist Maria Newman affirmed the EHOA hopes for our district.

The amount of the new budget for the public schools is unknown as we are going to print. Everything is on hold until Governor James McGreevey decides how much state aid school districts will receive. We hope Governor McGreevey will provide our school district with the entire state aide package requested by our School Board.

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