Back on October 23rd, I attended the "Meet the BOE Candidates" night sponsored by the Harmony School PTO. I've been meaning to post about it since but was waiting to until after the second candidate night that I had heard was coming up but didn't know the date. As it turns out the second candidates night was held over in Lincroft last week and I missed it, oh well.
That being said, its been nearly two weeks since I attended that candidates night at Harmony School so a lot isn't fresh in my mind as to what was discussed, however, Middletown Patch posted a column on the night a couple of days later. The one flaw that I have with the article though is that it dwelt on a very small portion of the meeting, which was whether or not the school board should have given Middletown Superintendent of Schools, Dr. William George, merit pay. The night's event touched on much more than just Dr. George's pay, people were interested in a number of different issues ranging from redistricting and class size to properly preparing our kids for the future and turf fields. Nevertheless, I recommend you read it and the comments that follow the article to see what people where saying afterwards about the night and the candidates.Another good source on this year's BOE election is this weeks article in the Independent, "Board of Education candidates focus on taxes, curriculum" . The Independent sent a couple of questions to the candidates via email and posted the responses from 9 of the 10 candidates ( Bob Banta being the only candidate not to respond).
Finally, another source for information (opinion) on the Middletown Board of Education and this week's election is the Middletown Reader Forum on NJ.com. Read the posts dated from October 20th through today. The comments are impassioned and enlightening in both positive and negative aspects of the BOE and those seeking election this year.
Before anyone asks, if you are wondering who will be the 3 people I'll be voting for the BOE this year, I'll tell you right now, I'm not telling.
I'm not telling, not because I'm worried who will know who I'm voting for and support and therefore endorse. I'm not telling simply because I'm not sure yet who I'll be voting for. There are pros and cons with each candidate that I still need to weigh.
However, I can tell you who I will not be voting for and why. I will not be voting for Chris Aveta or John Bennet.
Aveta is more worried about cutting costs in order to establish some "street cred:" with district taxpayer for a future run for Township Committee, than he is with the welfare of the districts school kids. John Bennet is barely out of high school, lives home with his parents and has never paid 1 nickel in property taxes in his life. Hell, he probably spends more time playing his XBox or PS4 than he does working or going to school himself. How can you possibly have a "kid" like Bennet making important decisions that involve the future of our children.
Also, Aveta and Bennet have each failed to properly support Superintendent George and his personal decisions. Aveta and Bennet were 2 of the group of 5, that voted against Dr. George's recommendation to hire school principal, Eric Paulson permanently at Harmony School. It took an overwhelming. outpouring of public support from members of the Harmony School community, teachers and colleagues to make them change their mind and re-vote in Paulson's favor.
So remember, Tuesday you'll also be voting for members to represent the community on the Middletown Board of Education. Take the time to learn about the candidates and the issues (as you should with all candidates seeking office) before pulling the leaver on Tuesday. For the kids sake, Middletown's children deserve an informed decision.
12 comments:
Well put, too many people have a short memory about all that goes on with the BOE and their personal agendas. Aveta and Bennet have seemed to have forgotten what their duties are as elected officials of the people.
It's not really important that you endorse any candidates. What is important this time around is that Chris Aveta and John Bennett are sent packing.
I am endorsing the same candidates you are:
Anyone but Aveta and Bennett.
(also Ostrander, guilty by association)
well said, Mike...I agree about Aveta and Bennett, but the last comment posted here needs to be highlighted, because a vote for Ostrander, would be the equivalent of voting for the same majority that seems to lean towards their personal agendas and not the best interest of our children.
As always Mike you are right on. I've worked with Banta and can't vote for him again after what happened with him a few years ago. He got the seat then bowed out. Mike Donolon is a good guy and has the kids better interests at heart. Vinnie Brand is a joke. After his stunt a few years ago when the Ignorant BOE fired Tony Shallop. Brand is 2 faced. BTW as a town we need to get rid of Willian "The Liar" George--Stupidintendent of Schools.
Ugh!!! The Anthony Shallop story lives on.
The guy was a science teacher with absolutely no experience in administration who was promoted to be the head of one of the largest schools in the district. He was set up to fail.
You want to know who to blame for his failure as principal? It was whoever made the ill-advised promotion in the first place. They had to get an interim principal because Shallop did not even have the proper certification when he was promised the job.
And who were these people that thought a teacher with no administrative experience was the best choice to head High School South? Good question, right?
Here's another good question. Why were two ex-board of education members, who were on the board when he was promoted, speaking in his defense at the podium the night he was fired? Why did they have a dog in the fight?
You will never convince me that there were no better qualified candidates for the principal of a school with 1,500 students other than someone with no experience.
You should be thankful that Dr. George implemented policies that prevent this type of thing from happening again.
Speaking of brilliant career moves, Shallop could have resigned when he saw the handwriting on the wall, said it was for personal reasons, and not had this black mark on his resume. He met with the board moments before they fired him. He knew it was coming. He should have resigned. So what did he do? He had his wife go on Facebook weeks before and try to rally support. He turned the district into a three ring circus that still has some parents mad at the board and the administration to this day.
If you were the superintendent of a school district would you hire someone who did that? He shot himself in the foot. Who would want to hire a guy with a reputation for turning the public against the school administrators and the school board?
For a smart guy, he was not very bright.
Although we will never know, I would bet that it was that same type of poor decision making that got him fired in the first place.
And why don't we know why he was let go? Because he would not tell us what the board told him. They are prohibited by law from saying why they fired him. But there was nothing stopping him from saying what reason they gave him. Obviously he didn't tell us because he didn't want us to know.
Do you want further proof that Dr. Shallop was not qualified for the position? What is he the principal of now? What other large high school did he impress with his resume? Maybe a small school? No, he is the 9th grade bullying expert in Edison. He is filling in the gap in his resume that he should have filled in before he took the job as principal at South.
So years have gone by and Dr. Shallop and some board members are still paying the price for his poor judgment. He probably could have landed a better job if he hadn't decided he was going to drag everyone down with him when it was time to go.
I wouldn't want someone like that on my team.
As Anon at 3:57PM knows very well, Shallop was removed because he had the locker of a politically connected student searched, without dotting all the I's and crossing all the Ts. Had the student not been politically connected, this would have been a complete non-issue.
Clearly the above poster still has an ax to grind and will devote lots of energy and space to rewriting history to suit her purposes. Many parents at South know the truth, but as memories fade, Anon at 3:57 seeks to put out her tired string of lies to try to make it a factor in the current school board elections.
As the school board candidates provide us with nothing but platitudes and generalities, it is easy for the political animals in town to fill the void with their particular brand of bull. Nice try anon 3:57PM, but this South parent knows the truth.
Really? Is that what you heard? He checked a locker of someone? Did you know that if he did not have specific knowledge about that particular individual that it is an illegal search? Did he ask his superiors before he did this? If they approved it they should have been fired. Are you suggesting that Mr. Shallop conducted an illegal search of a student?
Is that what he doesn't want us to know?
He's lucky it wasn't my kid.
And the parent of that student whose locker was searched serves on the BOE,doesn't he???????
Oh please anon 7:40, anyone can tell you are the same poster as 3:57PM, now talking out of the other side of her mouth. And of course you are well aware of the fact that school administrators in public schools in NJ do not need probable cause to search a locker, merely reasonable suspicion. The rules for searches within a school are vastly different owing to the need for administrators to maintain order. But of course you know that.
That, "lucky it wasn't my kid" baloney is more to the point. If the student wasn't politically connected, we would be thanking Shallop for protecting the other students, rather than upsetting the entire community to appease one family.
Stop pretending that people don't know the truth because Shallop refused to tell them. You obviously know alot about what was written on Facebook because you yourself used it to spread your fairy tales. You obviously are still upset about Shallop, even though you got the exact result you sought. You have spread your bull about this matter for so long and so often, I have to believe you have it as a tempate on your computer.
"you are well aware of the fact that school administrators in public schools in NJ do not need probable cause to search a locker, merely reasonable suspicion."
"he had the locker of a politically connected student searched, without dotting all the I's and crossing all the Ts."
That's not true. Administrators don't need any reason to inspect a locker. Lockers are school property. They need reasonable suspicion relating to a specific student to perform a search on them but they don't need any reason to check lockers.
Is that what they said on Facebook? I didn't follow it on Facebook. They said he was fired for checking a locker? That's impossible. He wasn't fired for doing something routine. Is that what he said? He could not get in any trouble for checking a locker. There are no T's and I's to cross or dot. He could have checked every locker in the school if wanted.
Is that why you parents are still so upset years later? You really believe was fired for checking a locker? No way, that's just part of his job. I guess I would be upset too if I thought they fired my kid's principal for doing something like following all the rules and trying to keep the school safe.
Didn't Mr. Shallop let everyone know that he couldn't be fired for checking a locker? Or did he let it stay on Facebook because it made a good story that upset people who would then show up at the meeting to support him? Are you saying he allowed misinformation to stay on Facebook so that he could use the parents and students to try to save his job?
So if you say he was fired for conducting a search, and now we know it was not the search of a locker, what did he search without crossing his "T's" and dotting his "I's"? Is that on Facebook? I don't do Facebook? Do you have a link?
More to the point, believe she's is related to the student that is the subject of discussion.That's why she thinks she knows so much !
You people are crazy
MIDDLETOWN MIKEY STILL GOING STRONG! Your articles are still plagued with spelling mistakes (mostly names), but I appreciate you throwing your thoughts around the interwebz (although blogger is soooooo 10 years ago).
I went through this district. Started from the bottom, now I'm here. Dr. Schallop was one of the most responsive administrators I ever had the pleasure of working with (I went to North by the way). He reached across the aisle and put aside all the petty crap that exists between north/south, athlete/academic, fratstar/wallflower. He was actually concerned EDUCATION and how we can get students to take advantage of school resources and use them to discover and drive their own passions/interests. He worked with me to implement new courses into the district's high school curriculum and did no without dragging his feet (proposals drafted and submitted within a week).
What was everyone else concerned with? A 1 million dollar football field for each school and petty politics "THE SPORTS".
Going into a locker? Cut me a break! This is what's wrong with this country. "OHHHH, you can't do that to MY little Jimmy. Jimmy is such an angel."
...Then Jimmy ends up sleeping in mommy and daddy's basement for 10 years smoking the shisha...
What every happened to that Barry Travis guy?
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