Next Tuesday is an important date to keep in mind because it's on March 11th that the Middletown Board of Education(BOE) will be holding a voter referendum for the approval of a $19.3 million bond issuance that would fund much needed school facility upgrades. The BOE announced in late January that they had received $12.9 million in state ROD grants and needed to match it with additional funds totaling $32 million (hence the $19.3 bond) in order to receive the whole amount of from the state.
The BOE has since held 2 public information sessions on this referendum, neither of which I was able to attend. Instead, I've read a number of comments posted online, both pro and con, left here on my blog, Middletown Patch, the Asbury Park Press and elsewhere in an attempt to educate myself on the issue.
Below you'll find 3 videos that I found on the BOE website; 1 from the 2/19/14 meeting at Thompson Middle School, 1 of an interview School Superintendent Dr. William George did with a student of Middletown High School North discussing the referendum and the 3rd is from the 1/28/14 meeting of the Middletown Board of Education where the presentation was first introduced. There is also a link to the actual PowerPoint presentation used in the videos. At this point, after reading all the comments and watching these videos, I'm still not sure what to think.
Are the schools of Middletown in need of some major upgrades and repairs? Yes, they are. Has the BOE been negligent over the years for allowing the conditions of the schools to get this bad? In my opinion, yes. Absolutely. In the 1/28/14 video below, Dr. George gushed about how proud and special he felt that Middletown received the most Regular Operation Districts (ROD) grant money for facility upgrades from the state, than any other school district in Monmouth County. To me that's nothing to be proud of and bolsters my assertion of negligence for letting the schools fall into such disrepair.
Does all this work need to be done immediately, all at once? I'm not sure. I understand the "want" in order to take advantage of all the state monies available, but $19 million is a lot of cash to ask from residents who are only just beginning to feel better about themselves and the economy after so many in town were effected by the "great recession". There are still a lot homes in the area under foreclosure and many who are still under employed. Can they afford this referendum at this time? I don't know.
I'm still on the fence on this, I still have a son in the school system and I have a number of family and friends that also still have children in the system, so I want what's best for them. But I just can't get over the history of failed leadership and past school construction projects that have gone terribly wrong here in Middletown under current and previous BOE administrations. Maybe some of you reading this can help make up my mind.
Come Tuesday however, when I step inside the of voting booth, I'm sure I'll be holding my nose no matter how I decide to cast my vote.
February 19th Referendum Presentation by Dr. George and Amy Gallagher, Hosted by the Thompson Middle School PFA
Uploaded on Feb 19, 2014
On Wednesday, February 19th, Superintendent Bill George and Business Administrator Amy Gallagher presented information on the March 11th voter referendum.
Interview with Dr. George on the Referendum by Cindy Fernandez, High School North Student
Uploaded on Feb 19, 2014
Middletown H.S. North student Cindy Fernandez interviews Dr. William George on the March 11 voter referendum
Presentation on the Referendum at the January 28, 2013 Board of Education Meeting
Spiezle Architectural Group, Inc. and Wilentz, Goldman and Spitzer P.A. provided a presentation to the Board of Education at the January 27th and 28th board meetings.
Here is the PowerPoint presentation from these meetings that is posted on the Middletown Board of Education website.
42 comments:
Very astute observation Mike and I have to agree. There should be no patting oneself on the back for having allowed the schools to get to this point where we have to decide on such grants.
These problems have been festering for a long, long time, a much longer time than the current team has been in charge. Who are you going to punish by defeating the referendum? The people who left the district or our kids?
This district has had a revolving door on the central office for the best part of the last decade. We finally have some administrative stability and a good team in place. They are trying to set us on the right track.
Voting no because you don't like the way things have been done in the past solves nothing and will only make it more difficult for the district to move forward.
Really Mike? You only feel a need to do what is right for the students in the district as long as your kids or kids you know are in the system? As soon as they graduate to hell with the district? Your sense of community expires with their graduation? Are you going to move to Shadow Lake and ride the Republican sponsored bus to the polls so that you can vote down any school initiatives when your kids are out of the school?
I expected more from you.
Read some of the entries on Mike's earlier posting about this issue. Interesting and thought provoking.
Why was so much invested in turf fields when schools went unmaintained ???
WHY,WHY,WHY ???????
The representative from the Spiezle Architectural Group lied and not one Board of Education member said anything because either they don't know or are complicit in the deceit. If the referendum fails, the money does not go away. The district has 18 months to spend the money and can do another referendum. This is directly from the state website http://www.state.nj.us/education/facilities/projectapplication/rod/
So either the board, superintendent, and the attorney does not know this (scary) or they are willfully lying as the failed to correct this misinformation. I have to ask, why?
They did mention that there are 18 months to pass the referendum and still get the state funding at the meeting. But there are only a few opportunities in those 18 months to hold a referendum. The bond attorney advised, at the meeting, that the odds of passing a referendum that has already failed is almost zero. It cost the district money to have a referendum. Why would the district waste money trying to pass a referendum that had been defeated? What would be different the second time?
This is the only shot at getting this $13 million from the state.
The township committee does not want the school to pass this referendum and they have been spreading misinformation on Middletown Patch, and now here, attempting to scare people into defeating it.
We know that the committee has worked to get their representatives, like Chris Aveta, on the BOE in the past. The parents overwhelmingly rejected their attempts to involve politics in our children's education. They are doing it again here. They will be on this blog again spreading lies and misinformation about this referendum.
That is just the first lie here,from anon7:58, but there have been many others on Middletown Patch by posters who are well known to be either committee members posing as other people or, based on their posting history, known big supporters of the committee.
They will tell you that this referendum doesn't have to pass now, that the district doesn't have plans, that this is really a referendum on redistricting or additions or turf fields. They will tell any lie that pops into their heads that they think will scare you into defeating the referendum.
Educate yourself like Mike suggested. Don't let them scare you because you don't know what is going on.
Why does the Township Committee want the referendum to fail? Can you elaborate as to their motivations Anon 10:38?
It's obvious what's going on because this TC has proven to be as trustworthy as snakes....has been for the last ten plus years and has tried to take over the BOE in more recent years in order to control the money....just they did with the library.
The characters in government in this town are not to be trusted...about anything.
According to "Belford Bob" on Middletown Patch, he met with our Mayor and discussed the school referendum. According to Bob the Mayor said everyone should make up their own mind about the referendum because it was not a committee matter.
If the school district and the committee have nothing to do with each other why did they plant Chris Aveta on the board of education? When the committee restructured the library board so that they could put library funds towards the municipal budget why did they make the superintendent responsible for appointing a member to the library board? Aren't the committee and the school district involved in some joint projects together? Don't they share some services with regard to vehicle maintenance and garbage removal? Why are they distancing themselves from the school district now?
Why wouldn't our Republican mayor support an opportunity to receive $13 million that our Republican Governor approved for the school district? What is wrong with this picture?
Why are people who are obvious supporters of the township committee posting misinformation on Middletown Patch and here trying to scare people into voting against the referendum?
One thing is certain. It has nothing to do with what is best for our school district and our children's education. Through Chris Aveta, and others, they have proven that they are not concerned with educating our kids. The fact that our anti-school district township committee will not support this referendum does not mean that it isn't what is best for our town, it just means it isn't what is best for the politicians on the committee.
Don't believe the lies they will post here. If they tell you this will lead to redistricting or that it has anything to do with additions or turf fields or anything other than the state funding 40% of our repairs, look at the videos, read the grants or call the central office administrators and find out the truth.
As a taxpayer in this community it is easy to find opposition to this proposal based solely on that premise,the cost and impact on property taxes.
Also it is easy to oppose a plan that has not been thoroughly investigated and lacks the details necessary to a project of this magnitude,especially since some opponents claim aspects of this plan are redundant.
Clear up all the questions in this project, then conduct a referendum!!!
Furthermore. it's hard to feel trust in the BOE when recent TC influence on BOE elections begs for caution on the part of the tax paying voter.
Twice or thrice burned taxpayers.....BEWARE.
"Anonymous said... Why does the Township Committee want the referendum to fail? Can you elaborate as to their motivations Anon 10:38?
March 6, 2014 at 12:43 AM"
That's a great question. Why doesn't someone ask our Republican mayor why she has not publicly endorsed the school district taking this money which was approved by our Republican governor?
Did they quit the "Christie Team"?
Here is another video that I came across: http://youtu.be/F7Yl9zU5Xxg
It is the BOE budget presentation from last year. About 1hr into the video Dr. George points out that the roofs at HS North and South, as well as Harmony School were just completed.
See how integrity challenged the characters in all aspects of government in this town are???
DISGUSTING !!!
Makes a taxpayer want to puke !!!
anon 10:58,
Did you watch the presentation where the rep said if it doesn't pass now the money goes away? Not one member of the board corrected this. It's factually wrong, willfully ignorant, and is misleads the people. I'm sorry but I have to agree with many of the comments that this referendum is happening too fast an should be better articulated to the people.
Use the budget they have and fix what is needed with the resources they already have and start focusing on the overcrowding more. The thought of one high school, moving kids from Thompson, aka Village, to Thorn and the like is the natural byproduct of this referendum. The reason being is they won't come back for a 2nd referendum to do construction or the like. What part of, 'it's a rumor at this time' are people missing?
Enough with the turnover on the board nonsense. There are only 2 new people on the board and one of those has already been there in the past and didn't do a very good job. You want to keep funneling money to these people when they can't manage what they have?????
Thank everyone for your comments, keep them coming.
There has been some speculation here as to whether or not a 2nd referendum could happen sometime in the future if the current referendum fails on Tuesday. It is my belief that a referendum wouldn't be needed. A simple ballot question on either the June primary or November general election ballot would suffice.
I am really curious why that option wasn't explored to begin with.
Do the people in this town take into consideration that the BOE handles more of our money than the TC, the Monmouth County portion and the garbage charges all put together?
It's about time that mismanagement stopped and the people in this community demanded fiscal responsibility from those in government....ALL of THEM !!!
Turf fields,Trinity School, drug addiction clinics in residential settings,self serving politicians and all the BS is enough to enrage any taxpayer!!!
First some background. This is a post from Middletown Patch where someone who for all the world appears to be Tony Fiore posting as "MaverickMom".
MaverickMom has been posting every manor of misinformation about the referendum attempting to get people to vote it down. The latest lie was that voting for the referendum will lead to overcrowding. Below is the response that followed on by Johnny Local:
MaverickMom says:
"It does have to do with overcrowding Danielle as the BOE will never be able to turn around and hit the taxpayers with another referendum to do construction."
Now it all makes perfect sense. That's what this is all about isn't it Tony-The MaverickMom-Fiore?
The committee must want to float its own referendum but you guys don't think you can "hit the taxpayers" for another referendum so it's time to throw the kids under the bus again.
Just like you did when you put Chris Aveta on the BOE and he underfunded the budget so much as head of the finance committee that we couldn't hire the teachers we needed.
It's easy, all you have to do is flood the local forums with lies about overcrowding and having no plans, say the super is lying, say they are rushing it, mention turf fields, redistricting or anything else you think will upset the parents and bingo, the school referendum gets knocked down and you guys can float your own referendum. It doesn't need to be the truth, it just needs to scare people.
Tony, I knew if you talked long enough you would spill the committee's beans and we would learn why you are so desperate to defeat this referendum.
You guys must want to float your own referendum to put a feather in your cap and those pesky children in town are spoiling your plans. First they want libraries and now they want roofs in their schools that don't leak. The nerve of those kids standing in the way of your political ambitions. Screw em, right Tony? It won't be the first time.
Well it's clear the crazies are out in full force because now people are posting from the patch. I actually think this maverickmom makes some salient points as does Mike.
Why is no one concerned that the schools have gotten this bad that we need a referendum to fix them? Why is no one concerned that the majority of our tax dollars are being administered by a group of people more concerned with turf fields than making sure the kids have safe environments to learn in?
When was the last time you saw a board member or Dr.George at pickup when parents have been complaining for years over the safety?
It's easy to see who the board supporters are in these posts because all we get is, 'it's for the kids, it's a no brainer, if we don't someone else will get the money'. All of those things are incorrect. We have 18mos to pass a referendum, why must it be done so quickly with limited time to fully appreciate the concerns in the schools?
Because we have 18 months to prove that we have the funding from the time the grants were approved which was months ago.
I'm sorry, what does fixing roofs have to do with the kids being picked up?
But I agree, the crazies are out. Some people are actually saying this is related to turf fields.
It's easy to see how inept both the BOE and the TC are because caution gets thrown to the wind and they all have their bowels in an uproar to get their paws on a pile of money.
Just look at the information in the press about the failure of state government (Christie & Co.)in the management of the Sandy money and we all know about the BS the locals are capable of when they want to commandeer money (our library is a good example) and anyone who trusts any of them is a fool !
Patience can be a virtue and these politicians, both BOE and TC better start to exhibit some because this money DOESN"T GROW ON TREES !! It's the hard earned tax money of the residents and for many these are still very trying times .
Get you heads out of your posteriors and THINK BEFORE YOU ACT for a change and stop acting like a kid with the money for a candy bar. There's plenty of time for this money grant .....eighteen months !!!! Especially when this BOE and TC put turf fields before things that were really necessary !!!
When money needed for IMPORTANT repairs on our schools takes a BACK SEAT to turf field construction. ANON 5:59 a.m. , the dispute IS ABOUT TURF FIELDS and a lack of realistic priorities by ALL elected officials in this town...both the BOE and the TC !!!!!!!!!
The only explanation is that neither of these government bodies has a clue about the difference between RIGHT and WRONG !!! JUST or UNJUST !!!!!!
RATIONAL or IRRATIONAL !!!!!!
Anon 5:59, the crazies are people like you and that committeeman who repeatedly used turf field construction as campaign fodder time and time again. Started that nonsense on Middletown Lincroft Road, then West Front Street then moved the proposals onto school property because of the lawsuits generated by the other location proposals .
There's nothing crazy about those of us who see things exactly as they are and understand that a lot of this could be about politics and another money grab and we do not trust the BOE or the TC about much of anything anymore.
The video mentioned in the 1:23 post shows that the roofs at both HS were done in the past 2 years. A roof is usually good for 20 years. There are 17 schools in Middletown. If 1 roof is replaced every year it would spread the cost out. The money collected for the HS roofs is going where now? What are they using that for, now that the job is done?
If all of the roofs are done at once, in 20 years we will be doing this again. It does not make sense to replace all of the roofs at once, unless ther is a solar project to on top of them. This is something that should be disclosed, but then the public might have a better idea of what is going on. Instead, there is a lot of fear motivation being propagated.
Isn't Committeeman Settembrino connected to a solar company of some kind ? Seems that he was promoting solar back a while ago.....
Why don't you make a phone call to central office and ask them? They want this to pass, they will explain it to you.
No one is trying to hide anything here.
You are getting over $30 million in repairs and it will cost you a little more than dollar a week.
This is not a life changing event. I really don't understand why everyone is using this as an opportunity to bash the people who are trying to get the district in shape. It's baffling.
@anon 6:58
Because the people in charge let it get this bad. The repairs will happen with the tax increase through the referendum or without it. I'd rather without the tax increase
And just what is that $52.00 more going to do for the taxpayer....especially if there's something clandestine going on ????
And what's that to you,anon 6:58? Yeah,what's it to you anyway? The taxpayers have a right to ask questions !!!!
The district should be in shape AND WE DID NOT NEED TURF FIELDS IF OUR SCHOOLS NEEDED EXTENSIVE MAINTENANCE now did we ????????? ???????????????????
Liars, liars,pants on fire !!!
You are correct, this will cost you a whopping dollar a week to invest in the education of your children.
This will be a sad day for Middletown if the efforts of Chris Aveta and Tony Fiore pay off. They have been posting anonymously on the local forums spreading misinformation because the committee wants to have its own referendum. They are once again working against the interest of our children.
What a shame that our township committee will not support our school district. Belford Bob (Chris Aveta?), on Middletown Patch said that he met with the mayor and the mayor would not endorse the referendum saying it was not a committee matter, it was a BOE matter.
The education of our children is everyone's concern.
Why wouldn't our Republican mayor want to accept $13 million that was approved by our Republican Governor?
Where is Tony Fiore? He posts on The Patch and here using his real name to defend himself. Why isn't he weighing in? He is, anonymously, and he is trying to scare you into voting "No". He is conspicuous by his absence. Mark my words. If this referendum fails the committee will be proposing their own referendum within a year. They want to increase the chances of their referendum passing by defeating this one and they have no problem lying to you to achieve their goal.
Here is the bottom line. The work is going to be done. It has to be done. You can vote "yes" for the referendum, accept the $13 million from the state or you can vote it down and pay much more down the road as cuts are made to education to fund the repairs and band aids are applied to stop the bleeding.
We will be losing much more than just the $13 million. There is an economy of scale if we do all the work at the same time. Without the state aid the cost of the same work will be much more and the damage will be piling up.
Don't buy into all the misinformation being disseminated here by people who only care about their political careers. Invest a dollar a week in our school district and our kids. Vote "Yes".
anon 10:38, you are rambling and no one is making sense of your post. You referenced a previous poster who is clearly not supporting the referendum. Is that your position?
This BOE has 18 months to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth to the taxpayers in this town !!! Then we can decide what is valid.....if in fact the high schools got new roofs 2 years ago then there is definitely a problem with the facts as currently presented.
That's the problem with this BOE and this TC, they all have a problem telling the truth. Motivation of all these people is suspect and rightly so ! They constantly abuse the taxpayer and the taxpayer is fed up with the dishonesty displayed !
That old refrain "it's for the kids" should be ignored because the politicians (BOE & TC) serve themselves before they EVER serve anyone else and never forget that !!! Ask yourselves, Middletown taxpayers "what's in this for the politicians because money is always behind everything and make no mistake about that, ever!
If all of this was so urgent,please explain why it was neglected for so long and why the priority was TURF FIELDS ? WHY, WHY, WHY, please tell us !!!!
Trusting anyone in government in this town is impossible as they all seem challenged when questioned about the truth. And their stories don't JIVE !!
This BOE has 18 months to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth to the taxpayers in this town !!! Then we can decide what is valid.....if in fact the high schools got new roofs 2 years ago then there is definitely a problem with the facts as currently presented.
That's the problem with this BOE and this TC, they all have a problem telling the truth. Motivation of all these people is suspect and rightly so ! They constantly abuse the taxpayer and the taxpayer is fed up with the dishonesty displayed !
That old refrain "it's for the kids" should be ignored because the politicians (BOE & TC) serve themselves before they EVER serve anyone else and never forget that !!! Ask yourselves, Middletown taxpayers "what's in this for the politicians because money is always behind every scheme and make no mistake about that, ever!
If all of this was so urgent,please explain why it was neglected for so long and why the priority was TURF FIELDS ? WHY, WHY, WHY, please tell us !!!!
Trusting anyone in government in this town is impossible as they all seem challenged when questioned about the truth. And their stories don't JIVE !!
OMG stop with the mayor nonsense. The mayor has nothing to do with this as it's a board and schools issue. You people trying to attack the tc and mayor are doing so only to gain some political fodder. Shame on you as this much different than that.
I don't think anyone is saying to say no to 13 million from the state but want accountability and an understanding on why is this being done so quickly, why are the school in such disrepair (if they are in fact so bad), why is there not a better plan that includes other issues, why are we investing in geothermal when it's been inefficient, why are we putting boilers BACK in when the board ripped them out, why are we just hearing about this now?
There are lots of unanswered questions except why is the board getting off on such mismanagement? Maybe we should hold a recall vote and get a whole new board!
It's my understanding that the district found out in December that the township was awarded the grants. They started working on the referendum right after that. The district has 18 months to get the additional funding in order to receive the grants. No funding, no grants. If the referendum passes the work can be done this summer. Interest rates are going up along with construction costs. The sooner this work is completed the less it will cost.
"I don't think anyone is saying .....no to 13 million from the state"
You are kidding right? A "no" vote is doing exactly that.
Hopefully people have invested a little time into educating themselves and aren't relying on the speculations and outright misrepresentations that can be found here.
It's a buck a week folks. Let's be serious. The state wants to give us $13 million, hold your nose and vote yes if you have to but don't be foolish and refuse the money.
Because of the collusion in these last few years between the TC and this BOE , it is right to question what they are up too. This is an expense the taxpayer deserves the truth about but good luck in getting a truthful explanation..
Can assure my fellow posters that political fodder has nothing to do with the expectation that our TC and our BOE have an obligation to tell the truth to the people who are expected to pay for these expenditures......you and me and every taxpaying resident of this town!
If many of those serving on both these boards had a better track record and didn't always try to bend or distort the truth, MAYBE the people would trust them. Currently that is not the case and we do not trust them ! ........and we won't until the scheming stops !!
Anon 4:35, why are you in panic mode?? Interest rates are not supposed to rise until late 2015 or 2016 and if you ever listened to the financial news the head of the Federal Reserve Board., Janet Yellen, intends to continue to keep rates where they ARE!!
Stop the propaganda just to get your own way.If this was so urgent please tell us why SO MANY POOR FINANCIAL DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE and WHY WE SHOULD MAKE ANYMORE POOR,RASH DECISIONS??? HUH???!'
This panic is a load of crap !!
anon 4:35
no, a NO vote is not saying no to 13 million but rather a plan that is better disseminated to the public, includes overcrowding issues (if we do another referendum then why not include more to add to the capacity of our schools), the referendum is not a an all or nothing vote as the board of ed can come back with it again.
I think a poster above said it best, 'why is there no mention of the board of ed allowing the schools to get this far'. I agree that a no vote forcing them to come back to us with a better understanding and explanation is in order.
So far, few of these discussions have really addressed hard questions and are more like 'rah rah' vote parties.
My house is voting no
anon 5:45
Collusion? Does the Board of Education not go to the town for things they should? How about we hold the Board of Education responsible for the condition of the schools and the allocation of dollars they in charge of handling?
Who was on the Board of Education when these inefficient geothermal systems were put in? How many of these Board of Ed members are reelected?
Why is the Board of Education putting in turf fields and looking to do MORE when we need roof repair?
When they put the turf field in over at NutSwamp, they rushed it (like they are doing now) and didn't get the drainage right resulting is MORE spending!
Why did the district spend almost 9 million dollars to fix roofs and were able to do so without a referendum?
Why do we have money to pay this architect regardless of how the vote goes but don't have the money to fix the roofs.
There are plenty of reasons to question the Board of Ed and NOT vote yes until they adequately explain to everyone exactly what is being spent on, how it got this bad, why they addressed other concerns instead of fixing 'critical issues', and what their concerns are for redistricting or crowding concerns.
Voting yes simply because, 'it's for the kids' is not the right thing to do. Asking for more information, accountability, and a better plan that encompasses is more is, 'for the kids'
Anon 10:20,
Definition of collusion =complicity or connivance,intrigue ,treachery,plot, conspiracy
Just look at the recent BOE elections and think about the TC attempts to control the outcome of those elections. Because both bodies are in control of our tax dollars and the BOE much more than the TC, it's easy to see conflicts of interest, connivance and plotting in anything that involves money in this town. Think about the antics of the TC and our library !
Don't know how you think anon 5:45 is thinking but think it is clear that caution is advised and mistrust of the local officials is expressed ,all of them, and a clear and truthful discourse between the BOE and the people must take place. So far only half truth, mistruths and distortions are all we get and they assume we will open our wallets. WRONG !
Vote no until the questions have been answered. There is plenty of time ....like it's only 2 months since December and that means there's 16 months
left to get this done without all the subterfuge and panic . Haste makes waste !
Mike,
Do you know if in fact the roofs were replaced on the Harmony School and the two high schools only two years ago ?
If this is fact,then why isn't the contractor being consulted if there's something wrong with these roofs?
Anon 10:29
No, I don't know for sure if the roof were replaced or not. My son was a Harmony kids a couple of years ago and I seem to remember trucks outside the school a couple of summers ago. Whether or not they were fixing the roof I'm not sure.
I also vaguely remember a team of contractors on the roof of HSN last year or the year before.
Harmony and Port Monmouth Schools had their roofs entirely replaced in the last few years. Those roofs are fine and under warranty.
They are not included in this referendum.
The other 15 schools are included in the referendum.
Repairs were made to the high schools roofs, they were not replaced.
Correct, repairs were made and we didn't need a referendum to do this. Continue operating within your budget and leave the taxpayers alone.
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