This is not a time to be silent. We need to bring the right people into the vacant seats of our board of education. Those people are Richard Kaye and Louisa Ho.
At the end of my family’s WW-P tenure, we will have been in the schools for 16 years. Since 2007, I have served on the PTA board in all three schools my children have attended. I sat on the HIB School Stakeholder committees for years in two different buildings. Over the past 10 years, I have attended many meetings with both the current and former superintendents. I have met one-on-one and in groups with various administrators, countless teachers, parents and other integral people in our schools. I have been a substitute teacher and deeply involved with innumerable school events..
Kaye has been a principal, teacher, administrator, past school board member and an active citizen in our school district. He has remained involved connected and concerned. Ho has served on the board, offers constructive conversation, listens and is focused on moving our district forward.
Over the past year I have attended board meetings, read letters and educated myself on learning about issues at hand. I strongly urge you to do the same.
Mrs. Herts and Mrs. Marinsky are simply not the people for this job. Without offering solutions, they endlessly hurl shameful untruths. They twist and turn things to serve their own agenda. With seats on the board, they wish to rip this district down and attempt to realign it with their personal vision without concern for the greater good. I have witnessed their nasty, rude and demeaning behavior in school board meetings. We do not need this.
I am writing this letter because it’s time to be vocal. It’s time to stop getting caught up in the loudest voices and to learn what’s really going on. Our district is strong, our teachers are engaged, our kids are excelling, our administration is pushing hard to push forward.
Don’t like PARCC etc.? Write a letter to Governor Christie. David Aderhold is continuously outspoken and liberal in his opposition to various government/DOE governances which are unfair, unwieldy and unnecessary. He approaches the DOE with objections and observations as to why these things are not appropriate.
Don’t like the new offices? I attended countless meetings in the old ones, and they were simply unsafe and unfit for habitation. The new ones have opened classrooms and meeting space that were sorely needed in many district buildings, and will serve for decades and decades to come. Didn’t go to referendum on that? Didn’t have to. The money was in the reserves and the Board acted appropriately by not incurring more debt when they didn’t need to.
Teachers left the district? Of course – people leave jobs for a multitude of reasons. Mostly well earned retirements, moving on to new positions, some who were not performing well were let go before they were granted a lifelong job with tenure.
The music program? Stronger than ever, hundreds of students who have never been involved in music are involved and being taught by amazing teachers. A&E? Revamped to better serve our student community at large, as it should be. Stress not an issue? Incorrect. HUGE issue which is being addressed. Transparency? You betch’ya. Check out the district website and do some reading. It’s tedious but it’s there. Quick decisions by the Board? Ridiculous. Board committees spend countless hours reading, reviewing and discussing all matters at hand before voting.
Every year, we are given the chance to vote for people to sit on the board of education. These people are elected by us to make decisions based on their extensive involvement, professional backgrounds and research- for the good of all the students. State your concerns, but be civil and tell the truth based on facts–not in the grossly unprofessional and bullying nature we have so often seen.
Know that the overly sweet smiles, knocking at your door and shaking of hands by some of these candidates is in gross opposition to the nastiness and the sheer unprofessionalism they bring to the Board of Ed meetings. Kaye and Ho are the professional, astute people we need in the WW-P Board of Ed seats. Join me in supporting our district, it’s evolution under Dr. Aderhold and his administration, and the amazing work it does. PLEASE VOTE!
Theza Friedman
West Windsor
