My particular school JUST got a new phone system. My 1st day on the job, I walked into a time warp- an antiquated phone that I shared with 4 other teachers and no voice mail. This was 4 years ago.
We (the people responsible for my school's physical plant) do the best job with the monies available. No squandering.
Where the money flies out the window is with the high salaries of the administrators. Do we need as many? (a guidance counselor per grade? the last school I came from had 1, albeit a smaller student population) TWO crisis intervention specialists? Does a secretary at the ed. center really warrant a 6-figure salary? I make slightly more than 1/2 that and I am in the trenches every day, responsible for teaching my subject matter, dealing with students, etc WHILE doing my paperwork (grade-keeping, providing input for parent/teacher team conferences, input for the child study team, implementing my LEGAL responsibilities in the classroom for my students on 504 plans and IEPs. Does a secretary really provide that much more of a useful service?
We have many, many caring, capable and superb teachers and administrators. I think any fat trimming needs to come from the top. My humble 2 cents.
Posts
34 comments:
Would everyone, from Bd employees, administrators, teachers , and from community agree to have a real Forensic Accountant take a look at the budget, the day to day expenses, etc. Then we could see, factually, what is being spent, and where. What is administration and what is teaching, and whether or not money is well spent. It would be good to have a list of all mandated expenses by the State, all reimbursed expenses. All Bd of Ed expenses, etc.
After all, we have more scrutiny of our town officials than we do other publicly supported institutions. Its our money, don't we have a right to make sure it is spent in the smartest way?
The outcome may surprise some, or confirm beliefs, but why not do it?
Not an auditor, we have one of those, but a Forensic Accountant; an auditor takes the figures given and makes sure the math is correct. A Forensic Accountant digs into everything and does his/her own research. It is something to think about, anyway!
dear employee of rps... many people agree with you. I am voting no on the up-coming referendum. How will you be voting? Thank you for sharing your perspective. It is refreshing to hear a voice of reason from one of our staff and yes, I believe there are many, just not willing to use it.
No argument here.
Now you're talking, 527!
Why do we hire so many consultants? Why does the superintendent get a $400 car allowance and he lives in town? Why do we have IT staff of a dozen? Tip of the iceberg!
On top of a 90 million dollar budget, you have Friends of RHS, REF, Friends of Music, service auctions, Dads night - all raising bucks for things that are not covered in the budget.
That's a ton of money!
5:39... are you daft?
Did you understand the teacher's post? She said 4 years ago she was sharing an antiquated phone with 4 other teachers. Her words were "time warp". She went on to say that the people do the best job with monies available and that there is no squandering.
Does that sound like someone that is planning to vote "no"? Do you think she wants YOU to vote "no", so that we continue to have antiquated and dilapidated facilities?
If you truly agreed with the poster, you would be voying "yes".
8:11...BRAVO!!! yes, what about all of the other efforts to raise money for the schools. We need a major time out to look at the big picture and the forensic accountant to audit the BOE! Then we can make qualified decisions.
And, with the yesterday's news of the financial state of the state would we really get those state funds?
No, 9:52, you are the one who is daft. She says the place to cut is at the top. And the only way to cut there is to vote NO! Then and only then will the BOE even consider looking at Cottage Place for money to save.
Voting NO, thank you very much!
Does someone have access to (is it public) some of the numbers like the $400 car allowance suggested above, or the $100k+ a year secretary? The school superintendent needs to drive, what a Mercedes?
actually the super drives a vw. maybe the benz is in the garage?
Porter had a Benz and a driver
Not that any of you care to have your vision clouded by facts, but...the superintendent's entire contract is on the district website. As is the teachers' contract. I am not sure if the administrators' union or the secretaries union contracts are there too. Probably.
And speaking of secretaries, did you know that they have tenure, too? So last year when the dsitrict fired a bunch of secretaries to save $$, they were required to let go the newest ones, which were the ones with the lowest salaries. If a secretary has worked there for 30+ years and has risen up the scale to $100,000 there is no way you're going to be able to get rid of him or her as long as he/she's doing his/her job. That's just the law and what do you anonymous financial gurus recommend on that? Looks like you're just gonna have to wait for her to retire.
And that's funny but I doubt Porter had a driver! Can you back that up?
There, 1002 said it all. We're all screwed and there's nothing we can do.
Really?
Has anyone ever visited the "Bored" office at Cottage place? Most of the workers there barely care to acknowledge you. (I know - for the ones who do a conscientious job, I am excluding you - I speak of the others, and you know who you are to use teacher-speak) I liken it to a kaffeeklatsch. If they worked in retail, the customers would walk out and go to another store.
So, I'm not a financial guru - I guess everyone on the BoE is a financial maven? In fact, one really is, but he wouldn't dare use his boss's money like that. As citizens, we know waste when we see it. And during trying financial times, we look even harder at our own finances, whether they be personal or those of our town. There is not an endless supply of money.
I know one thing for sure - the status quo in our school district will be challenged. (ie secretaries getting tenure? Never again) New ideas, new blood and a can-do attitude. Clinging to the past "vote yes and see you next year" will no longer be tolerated.
10:02... although it isn't easy to get rid of someone that is tenured like our 6 figure secretary there are many ways to make it happen. People get job assignments within the bounds of their contracts that they don't like, etc... and will wind up quitting. This is just one of the simplest means to push someone out. Granted it takes time and patience, but nothing is impossible.
Good Morning All:
With all this talk about retaining a forensic accountant, what needs to be done to do just that? I am floored at the fact that anyone working for the Village either way gets a car allowance PERIOD! Give him a damn Dodge Neon to run around town in only when he is working! This is the Superintendent of a Public School System, not the President of a Fortune 500 Company!
$400 a month for a car and last winter I sat there and watched HUNDREDS of school children walking (or at least trying to walk) to school on sidewalks in front of Willard School that were COVERED in ice. A situation that, thank God didn't end up with anyone getting hurt (that I know of) but could easily been addressed with a $20.00 bag of ice melt.
I respect the education system in our town, I honestly do. My wife and I always do whatever it is we can do for the schools and most importantly the children and their teachers, but to hear this is such a punch in the back of the head!
Albert Einstein when he taught at Princeton didn't even get a car allowance. Is it even legal for someone who is the superintendent of a public school system to receive such perks. After all that is taxpayers money that is to be directed to the education of our children.
This is or at least should be CRIMINAL!
Does anyone know of a LEGAL manner in which one can obtain access to the financials of the BOE Admin?
I am totally enraged by this!
Someone needs to step up and have this investigated! I am more than willing to look into the legalities surrounding this but it's going to take a Village to make a difference.
Respectfully,
Craig S. Hueneke
Re: "...although it isn't easy to get rid of someone that is tenured like our 6 figure secretary...
Secretaries get tenure? WTF????
(...and I was still digesting the fact that secrataries get 6 figure salaries!!!)
These are all helpful posts.. but where I am confused is how this message will impact my children today. Thats my concern. Bigger picture.. contracts, tenure, etc... all important, but lets be honest, they are LONG-TERM issues that wont be resolved with a revamped bond package.
Will voting NO be cutting at the top? Will that help fix the physical plant? Nope. Will voting NO hurt my children.. this year, next year, and likely the year after that? Yes. If you tell me otherwise, I am all ears. But so far, each and every negative post has done nothing to address our current needs. Scream and yell at each other all you want. I still see problems and I want them fixed.
We are voting YES. After that? Sure, I'm all for throwing the bums out. I dont need need adminstrators and teachers talking to my kid while the roof is falling down around them. I want to see physical improvements now. Voting YES.
1207, I agree. Fix the problem. Start with the fiscal irresponsibility. Voting NO until a sensible is presented. Next orders of business: better mid- and long-term planning, eliminate assistant superintendents, reduce unnecessary overlapping positions at all levels. And if the elected board remain apologists for the ineptitude, then we'll replace them too.
Curios 12:52, what is not sensible about the proposed project?
Getting rid of the older, more senior employees just to save on salary would have been age discrimination. You have to eliminate positions or management levels, not certain people. In the last year there has been a jump in the number of age discrimination lawsuits brought by executives over the age of 50. It is not just a union issue.
Public information to all NJ public school administrators, teachers found on web, those that are specific for Ridgewood, staff, salary,job position, link listed here:
http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?county=BERGEN&district=RIDGEWOOD+VILLAGE&school=%25&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&tfm_order=DESC&tfm_orderby=SALARY
On the Boe site there used to be access specifically to administrators 'perks' allowances given, can't find it now.
119, do you agree with taking out a loan for $2.5 million that villagers will pay for the next 25 years even though it will be totally worn out in 10-15 years?
Would you borrow $39 million for $48 million in work with the state of NJ saying 'we will foot the rest of the bill' as we face an $8 billion shortfall next year? What happens when NJ cancels the promised monies (like it did when the SCC went bankrupt)?
Would you contract for home improvements from a builder who says 'the job costs $43k but I'm charging you $48k - just in case'?
See what I mean or should I keep going?
Hey Craig
Do you have any idea what you're talking about? I swear you are like a kid with a stick hitting a can. You make a lot of noise, but it sure ain't music. Regardless of what you think, managing a $75-$80 million dollar budget is a big deal. We need great--not good, great--people managing this business. Whether we have the right guy for the job is a totally separate issue. You get caught up with gibberish about a car allowance (and make an absolutely asinine comment about a Dodge Neon) as if the search for a superintendant is a non-competitive lark. Really? Ever hear of offering a competitive compensatio package so we get the guy we want?
Get a clue, man.
Time for BOE to claim bankrupcy like GM and start over.
Superintendents have been vilified by the Corzine admin (politicizing the county superintendent) and a few gluttonous old timers (John Grieco-Bergen Tech/Spec Svcs/Academies@Ewd, Rich Sabella-Ridgefield, Barbara Trzeszkowski-Keansburg and now Aloia-same as Grieco, etc.). The are so many retired supers serving as interims because NJ is now hostile toward the district CEO. It's a thankless job,amazing anyone wants it.
There is no $100,000 secretary...what 11:18 said is what happened...she retired rather than be a school secretary.
There's also no $400 car allowance. Geez will the misinformation/lies ever stop? Prob not.
Check your facts before you react. You guys are positively rabid. (I love the banging on a can with a stick comment!)
4:24 is right! No $400 allowance. He gets reimbursed up to $450 for travel!! That goes up $50 per year.
I read the contract.
He also gets a board-paid disability insurance. That's a no-no. Check http://www.state.nj.us/education/code/current/title6a/chap23a.pdf This is only allowed if it is offered to everyone in the district. How about you run that past the REA and see how they like that?
In your house, do you get a free computer and Blackberry with service? Plus, you gets a new one every two years? Sweet deal!!
424 is probably a BOE member, works for the board or is a BOE apologist. The only problem is that the more 424 goads and demeans the residents, the more we will dig. The party is over.
PJ - If I am being rabid, please delete this comment and put this in its place: positively rabid comment deleted by admin.
4:24 -- Secretaries Do and HAVE earned six figures, $111,646.00. Get your facts right, She definately WaS a secretary and earned siX figures.
Public Information FROM the Minutes BoE web of 6-29-09 (in .pdf) BoE Regular meeting, a secretary with 46 yrs Retired Oct 1,09. Secty Support to Mathematics & Science Supervior (page 812 article iii)see:
http://board-of-education.ridgewood.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/group_files.phtml?gid=944840&parent=4063797&sessionid=1c74866c2f2c0d97f75907b7e1f2374b
+ FOR CENTRAL OFFICE SALARIES see..
FROM BoE Minutes 7-28-08 (in .pdf) Special Public Meeting, CENTRAL OFFICE SALARIES, page 40, 20008-2009 secretary $111,646.00
See:
http://board-of-education.ridgewood.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/group_files.phtml?gid=944840&parent=4063431&sessionid=1c74866c2f2c0d97f75907b7e1f2374b
"In your house, do you get a free computer and Blackberry with service? Plus, you gets a new one every two years? Sweet deal!!"
In my house? No. At my office, or wherever I call an office (like a parking lot, a train, a plane, a bus)? Yeah, that's reasonable. There are a lot of reasons to have common technology tools purchased through a corporation (in this case, the Village of Ridgewood).
Everybody seems to be grabbing for the low-hanging fruit with regard to the school budget (i.e., expense accounts, car allowances, etc.) We need to look deeper and further on down the road--like in Trenton--if we really want to know why education in NJ costs so much.
10:33pm, you are exactly right. We need to look at how our BOE is run, and how Trenton wastes out tax dollars. Beyond that? Its way too easy to call out the Super's Blackberry and laptop. Its easy to post comments on a blog, being critical of what a secretary gets paid. Low hanging fruit.
All of these are symptoms of a much larger problem: government waste. NJ is corrupt. Fight to change it, locally with our village gov and the bathroom at vets... then fight in Trenton with your vote.
Until then, dont make the children of Ridgewood pay for past mistakes. This bond vote comes at a critical time. Our schools are in need of repair.. NOW, not later, after you all "send your message" to the administrators, secretaries, and teachers out there. Stop mixing the facts until their suit your view. PS... same secretaries, teachers, and administrators whom you'll all be buying holiday gifts for next month. Tell them then to their faces that you think they're overpayed. Opps..! I didnt think you would.
Critical vote... critical time. My family supports this and we are willing to pay more per year to service this debt. Interest rates are historically low. Do it now. 3-4 years from now, when the economy has turned around, you'll all be on board? No way. You'll then be complaining about the high interest rates on the bond. You cant have it both ways.
If you have a leaky pipe in your house, or a leaky roof over your head, do you fix it? Do you take out a home equity loan, at low rates, to do so? Or do you sit your family down at the dinner table and say "This is a lesson for you all. We're going to suffer through it. Just ignore the water and the mold." OR, do you address the need... fix it, and get on with your life? Find a way to pay for much needed repairs and improvements? Would you tell your kids that the leak was from the previous homeowners, so you dont want to pay to repair it?
We support this, as do MANY families in Ridgewood. Dont bother with your references to my "BRATS"... it wont change my vote.
YES !
Yea 1033! Enough low-hanging fruit break. Back to the issues at hand.
Consultants gone wild, the splitting of the bond, redistricting instead of enlarging schools, the multi million dollar (2nd yr in a row) shortfalls just a few months into the fiscal year. Bloated BOE staff. Superfluous / redundant staff at schools. Pick a topic.
Let's start by voting NO. Let's send a message for our seniors, unemployed and those barely keeping their heads above water these days. A YES vote means that sub-standard stewardship is fine.
If you are being intimidated to vote YES by your neighbors, know that there are more of us than of them. Ironically, the most important lesson of the past year fiscal responsibility. Let's teach our kids this lesson.
757am
Fixing a leaky pipe or roof is one thing. But to include all of the sports upgrades and say its for PE?
Did you ever say to your spouse "Honey, the roof is leaking. Let's add on another bedroom, family room, yoga room and garage while we're at it!"
Separate issues, separate bonds. Split the bond and let the voters decide.
People who run a multi-million business get car allowance, cell phone and other perks. The Superintendent Deserves all of this. But... there are layers of administrative management that should be cut. Get rid of a grade administrator at each middle school. The salary & benefits are significent. Any other suggestions?
2:37 -
I am sorry if I offended you about the car allowance. Well, not really.
Also you may want to keep in mind and insult from someone who is not confident enough to put their name behind is a perfect example of what YOU would call "noise". And for the record: I have managed 90 million dollar budgets and have been responsible for situations involving MUCH, MUCH more. Furthermore, I assure you there are many more out there that have dealt with much more and they are not getting car allowances at the strapped tax payers expense. So with that being said, I will retract the Dodge Neon offer and be the better person here and offer him my old motor scooter. 72 MPG. Can park in a tiny spot (he can save the bs $6.00 a day fee at the station too!). Not only will it help put $4,800 a year back into the schools, it's also eco-friendly.
And in response to "asinine": When I hear that word I automatically think of someone who believes the size of the iceberg is only what is seen above the waterline. Think about it. The point I am trying to make here is that just maybe the $400/month car allowance is perhaps just the tip of that fiscal accountability iceberg. In reality what is really asinine here is the fact that because someone is responsible for a multi-million dollar budget you seem to automatically assume that makes him or her entitled to preferential treatment. It's a JOB! He puts his pants on one leg at a time like we all do.
In closing, I stand behind my comments of past and present. Noise or not!
Craig S. Hueneke
Why are you fixated on the car allowance. Most CEOs and Superintendents get it. At least he does not have a driver.
Lets look at the big money - cut administrative staff.
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