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| Pohatcong Resident & Current PTA President, Karen Weeks |
Pohatcong Blog: So Karen, at one of our recent Board of Ed meetings you really caused a stir and had that normally staid body squirming. It seems that while surfing the net, you came across a couple of real estate sites that really hammered our local schools. Care to elaborate?
I
have been attending Board of Education meetings for about 6 months
prior to asking the question to the Board of Education. I was concerned
about the committees and most of the time, these committees did not meet
or had nothing to report. As a faculty
member of a private college, there is always things to discuss about
curriculum (what works, what does not, how do we improve). I was feeling
concerned, so, I happened to type into Google “NJ school rankings” and
found a site called school digger.com. This
site listed NJ schools by a numeral ranking according to NJ ASK scores.
From what I gathered, the information is pulled from the Department of
Education website. If you have ever logged onto this website, it is
difficult to decipher. School digger.com makes
it easier for people checking out an area to look to see what the school
ranking is for that area. The question I posed to the school board was
why our school is not comparable to other school districts in our area? I
know the NJ ASK test is not the end all
to say all; however, I feel we should be comparable to Alpha and
Lopatcong. This also lead to questions like if a person found a house in
Lopat and Pohat that were the same and they liked these houses equally.
The deciding factor came down to the school district.
If these people were to type in “NJ school rankings” and this is what
they found. Where do you think they would buy their home? The question
to the school board had nothing to do with the PTA nor was I representing
the PTA in any form. I am a concerned parent
and taxpayer in this township. I want to make that crystal clear.
Now
with that said, I believe that Pohatcong is a nice school with great
students. I spend a great deal of my time and effort helping parents and
teachers with resources to help with their
child’s education. I firmly believe in education and also believe that
our children need a solid foundation in math, reading and comprehension
before moving onto other areas (technology being one). Pohatcong school
adopted the state of NJ’s curriculum of the
Common Core Standards. Parents need to be aware of the curriculum change
and how it affects their child’s education.
I
have learned a great deal when I posed that question to the school
board. The biggest lesson that I have learned is being involved and
being aware of what is going on with our school and
our township. I encourage everyone to attend our town and Board of Ed meetings.
Pohatcong Blog: It does not surprise me that you found this lack of engagement on the part of our BOE and many people would readily agree with you on that. This leads me to another issue that you find flabbergasting and perhaps one which the larger public in town has not even heard of. I am talking about the 1.9 million project to install solar panels at Pohatcong School. In your opinion, was proper scrutiny applied in this case or not?
To tell you the honest truth, I am not sure. I do not know what was said by any of the BOE members in executive session about the solar panel project. I know it was not really discussed in any meetings that I have attended besides one BOE member asking what (those in attendance of the presentation) thought about the presentation. What I do know is that I was at the presentation given by the solar panel company Eneractive. I am able to ask questions, as well as, anyone else in the audience and by the BOE. I was concerned because there really were not a lot of questions with an expensive project. I only knew about the presentation about the solar panels because I attend the BOE meetings. I did not know if was scheduled for that night. I was told in the meeting the presentation was advertised in the Express Times, along with the BOE meeting. I did ask the business administrator and BOE secretary about any other bids for the solar panel project. I was told,
“The company came highly recommended to us from other school districts, had impeccable references and was recently ranked #24 on Forbes’ 2011 list of “America’s 100 Most Promising Companies”. As they are a “professional service” provider the school is not required to go out to bid for their services. We did receive proposals from other consulting firms that specialized in the same line of work but Eneractive proved to be the most promising. Should the BOE decide to move forward with the solar field project, a formal bid process will be required and followed to secure the best price for the purchasing and installation of the solar field.”
I am not sure where the BOE is at with their decision about the solar panels.
Sorry if it is long. I feel there needs to be some sort of description versus yes or no answers.
Pohatcong Blog: Well Karen, that certainly is an intriguing narrative and one that cries out for some serious follow-up and I for one, would like to see some independent, cost benefit analysis done before any financial commitments are made. Shifting gears a bit, I sense that people are really becoming more interested in politics on the local level since it can have a more immediate impact on their day to day lives. Certainly, having seen you now at various meetings, I think you are part of that trend here in our town. That being said, if by some magical power, I could enable you to change a couple of things about this town , what do you think they would be?
I love this question. I agree with you that more people are
involved in politics at the local level. I believe we, as taxpayers,
should know how our tax dollars are spent. I would like to see more
people involved in questioning why we are doing the
same old things year after year. If it is not working, fix it or change
it. I do not like the excuse that is the way we always do it. If that
was the case in medicine, health care workers would not be washing their
hands. We would not have any advancements.
I would like to see the town actually save some money if not used and
not look for new ways to spend it if it is in the budget.
I would like to see nice fields at our school for our kids to play on. I would like to see more thinking out of the box to formulate a business plan that would sustain Pohatcong Township for years to come without the overkill of taxation. I would love to see Pohatcong Township grow, bring in new businesses, and bring in new families to our area. I am tired of seeing many for sale signs in my area or empty houses. I would like our children to have an excellent education, not an adequate one. I am tired of the good enough excuse. Well, it is not good enough for me. We need to have passion and drive to change our township. I like where I live. I like my house, my neighbors, my lot and my township. We, as a community, need to work together to make this change.
Thanks for your blog and questions.
Thank-you Karen for your time and continued effort. It's been fun!
