Wasteful districts of course stand to make out and once again, rural townships like Jackson stand to bear the burden, but the only other viable solution right now is total reform of education, but that’s not going to happen before the governor delivers his budget address and presents the budget.

Governor Christie made promises to spare education during his campaign, it was a promise that I and many others believed in, but when finally getting access to the real data, it has become obvious that at this dire time, everything must be looked at.   The $1.5 million cut to Jackson was perhaps one of the most non intrusive budget balancing measures that could have been introduced at this time.   Alternatives could have been pay freezes and layoffs, which I most definitely do not support at this time without a full study being done on the ramifications of such a drastic measure and how it would effect education in Jackson.

It’s now up to us, in Jackson to effectively work around this ‘cut’ and do what has to be done.  We need to take a very hard and serious look at everything we do in our schools, from the top down and eliminate waste, reduce costs and soften the blow of this decision.  The answer is not an epic battle between the unions, school boards and Trenton.  The answer lies in compromise between all parties involved in the education of our children.

I will once again say that administrative salaries, even though Jackson ranks among the lowest per capita in New Jersey, need to be closely examined.  We need to justify each and every high end salary in our payroll and make sure the positions are essential and critical to the effective continuity of education.  

We need to reduce our energy consumption immediately by implementing effective energy conservation policies that will save us money today.  Other districts have seen savings up to $250,000 per year with these simple measures.  We need to aggressively pursue more cost effective energy purchasing options such as online energy procurement in which we can save another $50,000 to $100,000 per year.

We need to empower parents, student groups and volunteers with the ability to engage in aggressive fundraising opportunities in which we can raise money to offset the costs of these programs.   We need to consider the implementation of usage and registration fees to save non-essential extracurricular programs from the chopping block.

We need to evaluate all of the tools currently being used in our schools and guage their effectiveness versus their overall cost.  If a costly iniative or unfunded mandate is not helping our children changes need to be made and we need to support the state’s intiatives to end unfunded mandates.

We need everyone in education on board with education reform, including the unions, parents and administrators working together in the true interest of our children and their education.  Everyone must be willing to make concessions.  Without concessions from parents, administrators and the unions the system in Jackson as it stands now is completely unsustainable and reaching our hands out to the taxpayers to increase funding to people unwilling to compromise should not be the answer.

As a former United States Marine enlistee, I understand the importance of the “troops on the front lines” which I see as our teachers who teach core studies to our children.   There have been lies distributed by my opponents saying my support of education reform makes me “anti-teacher” and I can assure you that I am 100% not anti-teacher and realize teachers are the backbone of education.   

We need to make real cuts where we can afford to make them and where they will not impact our children.

Borga, a former president of the Pathfinders has worked hard to ensure that our town’s open spaces remain clean and accessible to residents.  The group was founded in 1999.   Members and friends of the Pathfinders joined Ms. Borga as Mayor Mike Reina and the Jackson Pathfinders  presented her with a plaque in honor of her service to the community.

Jackson, NJ – News 12 New Jersey field reporter Marci Rubin and her crew were on hand Tuesday night at the Jackson Township council meeting to cover a controversial debate brewing at town hall over the replacement of a port-a-potty with a suitable and sanitary ADA compliant facility.    Rubin interviewed local residents and children for the cable television station  for a segment which aired last night at 11:45pm and should run periodically through the day on television and online at www.news12.com.       At issue was the lack of funding over the years to the girls’ sport program who played their games on muddy and ill maintained fields while other programs saw state of the art upgrades including artificial turf and stadium lighting.     Mayor Mike Reina with backing from most of the major youth sports program leaders decided the most equitable solution for Jackson was to improve the Bartley softball complex for the girls which included a modest bathroom facility.     After 7 months of fruitless deliberation by the township council which postponed a decision, council members Ken Bressi and Mike Kafton presented stiff opposition to the current plan on the table citing costs.  

Girls representatives Shaun Staulker (L) and Tony Beja (R) speak to Marci Rubin at town hall about the inequalities between the facilities available to girls softball in Jackson when compared to those of other sports.

Belmar, NJ – The Jersey Shore Roller Girls who spend several nights each week at the Jackson Roller Rink took to the streets in Belmar this past weekend to participate in the Belmar St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  The girls are promoting their season home opener at the Asbury Park Convention Hall on April 24th. 

The Jersey Shore Roller Girls are an all woman flat-track roller derby league which is celebrating it’s second year after playing in front of sell out crowds in 2009.  To learn more about roller derby and the Jersey Shore Roller Girls or to purchase tickets for their upcoming matches, please visit their website at http://www.jerseyshorerollergirls.net/

It is one thing to attend a meeting and listen to what is being read off the powerpoint slides, it is another thing to do your research beforehand and attend the meetings better prepared with a full understanding of the requests made behind the scenes.

Please keep in mind that these documents were presented by district department heads and only represent their requests for the 2010-11 school year, not necessarily what will be approved.  The final approved budget is what will be presented March 23rd and March 26th. 

2010-11 Jackson Schools Proposed Technology Budget

2010-11 Jackson Schools Proposed Co-Curricular Budget

2010-11 Jackson Schools Proposed Curriculum Budget

2010-11 Jackson Schools Proposed Transportation Budget

2010-11 Jackson Schools Proposed Personnel Budget

2010-11 Jackson Schools Proposed Special Education Budget

2010-11 Jackson Schools Proposed Facilities Budget

2010-11 Jackson Schools Proposed Guidance Budget

2010-11 Jackson Schools Proposed High School Budget

Passerbys stood in line to take photos of themselves and their families in front of the now infamous beach house, incidentally, located just a few blocks north of the old MTV Beach House.   So what’s going on with the Jersey Shore house these days?  According Jan Valentini of Seaside Realty, the Jersey Shore house is available for nightly rental between now and June 15th.    A one night stay at the house that Pauly and Ronnie built costs from $1800 during the week to $2500 on weekends.

“We get about a dozen booking calls every day, mostly from curious young kids who walk by the house and see the sign” Valentini said. “There are still some bookings available, but only until June 15th.  We’re not sure what the owner has planned afterwards”.

Valentini says that bookings have typically been one night rentals to younger guests who are predominantly New Jersey Residents.  Parents have rented the house for events such as birthday parties and sweet sixteen celebrations.   Anyone interested in renting the Jersey Shore house can call Kim Valentini at Jersey Shore Realty at 732-793-5200.

MTV has announced recently that the cast of Jersey Shore will not be returning to the house for the 2010 season.

Jackson Township resident and 2010 Jackson Schools Board of Education candidate Phil Stilton poses with his daughter in front of the infamous Jersey Shore Beach House after partipating in the 2010 Polar Bear Plunge for Special Olympics.  Despite carrying an English surname, Stilton has 50%  Italian (Sicilian) heritage, more than most of the Jersey Shore cast members!

See the current conditions of the Bartley Softball Complex.

Representatives of the program spoke on behalf of children in Jackson who have not been given equal and fair representation when it comes to the use and quality of facilities available to the girls’ softball program in Jackson.   The problem grew slowly over the years as past township administrations invested millions of dollars into little league programs, which have been predominantly for boys, although girls are allowed to participate, while neglecting to invest any money into the future of the girls’ program.

The current township council is now being accused of continuing the process of discrimination based on gender as they have once again balked at facilities upgrades, despite voting unanimously twice in favor up the sanitary and safety upgrades at the Bartley Softball Complex.

In the girl’s corner is Mayor Mike Reina who intially aksed the council’s permission to negotiate an amicable settlement with league parents who threatened ADA and sexual discrimination lawsuits against the township, and Councilman Scott Martin who knows first hand the problems of the program as he is the father of two young girls himself.     The council in August agreed that negotiations and settlement was a more prudent approach than a costly ballot referendum or worse, a Title IX lawsuit against the township given the circumstances, a lawsuit the township would have most likely lost.  It would also have been a lawsuit which would cost taxpayers far more than the amount currently being requested.

After an inital objection to scrap the entire project by Council President Mike Kafton in January, councilman Scott Martin, backed by the legal advice of township attorney George Gilmore convinced the rest of the council that the project should move forward.   In February, when the final actual construction costs were delivered to the council, the council led by Ken Bressi and Mike Kafton once again proposed to scrap the entire project citing costs.

There is no question here that a wrong is being perpetuated against young girls in Jackson Township, backed by a statement from Kolbe Franklin of the National Women’s Law Center stated “It does sound like the situation in Jackson is in violation of one or more laws.”

Tony Beja, a representative of the children in the league has issued a rally call to all residents who want to see equality for Jackson’s children to attend this Tuesday’s township council meeting.

His letter follows:

As you all may know for many years the township’s past administrations and council members have neglected the girls’ softball program. This resulted in declining registrations, unsanitary bathroom facilities (which are also ADA non-compliant), playing on muddy, weed and feces infested fields, providing the girls with broken and unusable equipment, and inadequate parking facilities where parents are forced to park on a busy street with no safe traffic control. With much hard work and with the help of many concerned parents, coaches and the recreation department and the Mayor’s office we have made some initial progress towards these improvements but now once again certain council members  dealt the girls another blow and once again broke their promise to help our girls effectively halting any progress we may have made.

At last week’s council meeting council president Michael Kafton and Ken Bressi threw the girls program another curveball and successfully denied our girls their right to have the Bartley Road facility brought up to par with all the other multi-million dollar sports complexes that all other sports leagues currently enjoy. While we are sincerely happy that the all the kids in our town have benefitted from these other facilities, but we also believe that all the girls in this town deserve the same opportunities.

We have done everything possible to keep politics out of the equation, but it seems this is impossible in Jackson. It was apparent all in attendance that Mr. Kafton and Mr. Bressi have chosen a path to use our girls as a pawn in the upcoming mayoral election by creating a series of calculated delays under the guise of “fiscal responsibility”. At last week’s council meeting, both stated the reason they voted to put the project on hold…for the third time was because they did not have all the facts related to Bartley Field project, specifically the detailed bid plans/specifications, the costs involved and the recreation bond’s designated use.

The complete plans/specs for the Bartley project were provided to all council members as far back as December 22nd and R.F. Simon’s (the contract award winner) details of the winning bid was provided to the entire council prior to the council meeting that night.  Both claimed they did not have any knowledge of the final specs/plans or the breakdown of costs. Apparently each did not bother to take the time to review the documents they previously received from Dan Burke the township engineer. It should also be noted that the township attorney, Mr. Gilmore, and the townships Business Administrator, Mr. Del Turco fully explained to them several times (at the last three council sessions) the details of the project and that the cost of this facility would have absolutely no impact to the township’s 2010 fiscal budget. Whether it’s to discuss our issue or any others this is not the first time council members have come unprepared to meetings even though they receive detailed information prior to every meeting

It was clear to everyone who attended that they chose instead to ignore all the detailed information they were provided and made their decision to delay this project based solely on their own political agendas. Their actions have effectively delayed the project once again, ensuring the girls will be subjected to inadequate and unsanitary bathrooms conditions and more for the spring 2010 season. What does seem curious is that the entire council voted YES three times since August of 09 but have now flip flopped causing delays several times since then.

That same night, we witnessed approximately 24 other resolutions (which will also cost the taxpayers untold thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars) on the agenda receive a blanket “Yes” vote without a single question or one word of discussion or objection. Yet ours girls are continually put under a microscope. One example is Resolution 111R-10 TO AUTHORIZE THE PREPARATION, ADVERTISEMENT AND RECEIPT OF PROPOSALS FOR VETERINARY SERVICES PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 51, SECTION 56 OF THE TOWNSHIP CODE ENTITLED “MANAGEMENT OF FERAL CATS”

The cost to the taxpayers is about $15,000 to taxpayers for this program.

 

Want to know what was spent on our girls to date? A grand total of about $6,000

 

The Truth About Cost There is currently approximately $1.39 million in this designated Recreation Bond Fund that has not been utilized since it was created in 2006.  By law it must be used for the purpose that it was bonded.  Contrary to a suggestion by several council members, you cannot use it to artificially reduce the 2010 fiscal budget. Since this money was borrowed in 2006, we are already paying debt service on it. The cost of this bond has been in the budget since then and whether we spend that $1.39 million or not, we are still paying for it. Right now it sits in a non-interest bearing account, again as required by law. Even after completion this project there will be about $1.13 million left to continue to provide our residents with outstanding facilities.

Mr. Kafton and Mr. Bressi’s deficit reduction plan equates to taking out a home equity loan to pay your mortgage. Makes sense right?

The Real Numbers. The final accepted bid for the prefabricated combination bathroom, concession, storage facility came in at $261,000 dollars, which by the way is approximately 16 times less than was already spent on other facilities and is also the lowest bid ever submitted for a facility like this. The bid for the Justice Complex concession stand was $750,000 and the cost was not a concern when the other 4.2 Million dollars was spent?

The bond debt’s impact for the $261k would be approximately a $17.07 cost per household, over the 12-Year Life of the Debt. On average it cost taxpayers approximately $1.44…Annually.

 

 

Kafton and Bressi Believe Your Girls Equal Rights are Not Worth a $1.44 a Year

We are also taxpayers and no one has to tell us these are tough economic times, but we also believe the dignity of our girls is worth a $1.44 a Year, most everyone spent that on a cup of coffee this morning.

Why Should Anyone Care?

 

It’s Economical

For $65 per season there is absolutely no better value. In these tough times it’s even more important to offer activities that parents can afford. Not everyone can afford to pay hundreds of dollars for activities like dance, music, horseback riding lessons, etc.

Is There a More Safe Way for the Girls to Spend Their Time and Have Fun?

Gangs and Drugs are everywhere and yes believe it or not, in rural Jackson too. Would you rather have your kids playing ball and learning positive life lessons and building good character, instead of worrying about what they are doing and where they are spending their time? Don’t think just because they are young that they are not exposed to these things at every turn.

 

STOP THIS POLITICAL DECISION TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST OUR GIRLS. All township residents with girls in a program or not should be outraged at their blatant disregard for the girls and all women’s rights in general. 4.2 Million Dollars was already spent on other township sports facilities but the girls received virtually nothing.

THEIR ATTACKS WILL CONTINUE

In the next few days, you will learn about politics 101. Mr. Kafton and Mr. Bressi have now  fully mobilized their newspaper and radio spin machine to attack and discrediting anyone and everyone who has ever tried to do the right thing by the girls.   

PLEASE DON’T FAIL YOUR GIRLS. NOW IS THE TIME TO BE HEARD AND SHOW THAT WE KNOW WHATS BEST FOR OUR KIDS…NOT THE POLITICIANS. ATTEND THE NEXT TOWNSHIP COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY MARCH 9^TH, 7:30 PM  AT THE TOWN HALL

I know I speak for all the other coaches when I say that we enjoy devoting our time to your girls and have never asked for anything in return, but we really need your help now! We know it’s a school night but it would be best if you could bring along you kids to show the council who their decisions ultimately affect. Picket Signs are welcome! It should also be noted that at last night’s Second Annual Sports summit in Town Hall, representatives from Jackson Little League, Holbrook Little League, Basketball, Soccer, Lacrosse, Pop Warner and voiced that they would show their support. We all agree that regardless of politics that should do what best for all the kids. Many from the senior and veteran community have let us know that also are behind us 100%. All have expressed to us that this is still America where all our kids need to be treated fairly. This issue that should transcends politics as it directly impacts the rights of our daughters, wives, nieces, grandmothers, aunts and others.

Sincerely,

Tony Beja, Shaun Stalker, Andrew Kern, Jean Elias, Nicole Borota, John Simonetti, Dave Parinello and Bonnie Barrington.

The Jackson Girls Softball Advisory Board

The mission of SPECIAL OLYMPICS NEW JERSEY is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.

Jackson, NJ – Approximately 40 kids from Jackson Township’s Karate Dojo graduated in a ceremony held at the McAuliffe Middle School gymnasium on Saturday.   In the group of mini-ninjas and intermediate students getting belts from yellow to blue, four students earned their purple belt after months of rigorous and disciplined training by the school’s staff.

The ceremony started with a group of “mini-ninjas”, local children aged 3 to 5 turning in their old belts for new ones after a two month training program where the children usually train at a minumum of twice per week.   Each skill group in the ceremony performed the routines they have spent weeks preparing for in front of bleachers packed with moms, dads, granparents, family members and friends.   While the advanced students demonstrated their karate katas, the beginner students performed Brazillian Jujitsu style grappling moves they have been working on since the New Year.

The Karate Dojo, led by Master Eric Alders, a 5th Dan hosts this event every two months at the school as each group of students progresses in their mixed martial arts program.      He was joined by his team of trainers, Sensei Jennifer Fischbach 3rd Dan and Sensei Andrew Connito 2nd Dan.

To learn more about programs for children and adults at the Karate Dojo, visit their website at www.tkdojo.com.   The dojo is located inside the Jackson Crossing shopping center at the intersection of East Veteran’s Highway and South Hope Chapel Road in Jackson Township.

Jackson, NJ, February 27, 2010 – Sophia Porras, an 8th grade student at the Carl W. Goetz Middle School and Gina Capasso, an 8th grade student from the National Junior Arts Honor Society, have taken the first step
to becoming internationally recognized artists by winning a local competition sponsored by the Jackson Lions Club.

Porras and Capasso’s posters will be among more than 350,000 entries submitted worldwide in the annual Lions International Peace Poster Contest. Each year, Lions clubs around the world proudly sponsor the
Lions International Peace Poster Contest in their communities to emphasize the importance of world peace to young people everywhere. The contest has an original theme each year incorporating peace and this year’s theme was “The Power of Peace.”

The winning posters by Porras and Capasso were selected by a team that included art teachers, a representative from the Jackson Lions Club and a local professional artist. Winners were selected for their
originality, artistic merit and portrayal of the contest theme. Participants were able to use a variety of mediums, including charcoal, crayon, pencil and paint, to express the theme. The works created are
unique and express the young artists’ life experiences and culture.

Jackson Lions Club President Robert Burlew said he was impressed by the expression and creativity of all the students at the Carl W. Goetz Middle School and the National Junior Arts Honor Society. “It is obvious that these young people have strong ideas about what peace means to them. I’m so proud that we were able to provide them with the opportunity to share their visions.”

“Sophia and Gina’s posters will need to advance through the district, multiple district and international levels of competition if they are to be declared the international grand prize winner,” Burlew said.

One international grand prize winner and 23 merit award winners will be selected. The grand prize includes a cash award of US$2,500, plus a trip for the winner and two family members to an awards ceremony at Lions Day with the United Nations. The 23 merit award winners will each receive a certificate and a cash award of US$500.

“Our club is cheering for Sophia and Gina as their posters advance in the competition, and we hope that their visions will ultimately be shared with others around the world,” Burlew said.

This year the Jackson Lions Club sponsored two groups in the contest—The Carl W. Goetz Middle School and the National Junior Arts Honor Society. There were an astounding 27 entries between these two participating
groups. Honorable Mention posters were submitted by Elena Sweeney from the Carl W. Goetz Middle School and Jade Williams of the National Junior Arts Honor Society. The Jackson Lions Club presented the winners and honorable mention designees with savings bonds, certificates of achievement and an 8×12 photocopy of their poster mounted on foam board ready for framing.

View past international grand prize winners at www.lionsclubs.org. Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with more than 1.3 million members in approximately 45,000 clubs in more
than 200 countries and geographical areas around the world. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong  commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world. For more information about Lions Clubs International, visit the Web site at www.lionsclubs.org.

Visit www.jacksonsd.org for more information.

The following statement was issued by the Jackson School District:

The district announced the cancellation of afternoon kindergarten services and after schoool activitities include the performance of Guys and Dolls at Liberty High School later this evening.

The Jackson School District will dismiss students early today, Thursday, Feb. 25th due to the snowstorm. This means that the district will operate under a SHORTENED DAY schedule, with the following exceptions:

• There will be NO afternoon kindergarten.
• There will be NO special education afternoon pre-kindergarten classes at Crawford-Rodriguez Elementary School.
• There will be NO afternoon Pre-K Program at Goetz Middle School.
• There will be NO afternoon childcare for any students.
• All after-school and evening activities, including the play at Jackson Liberty High School, for Thursday will be canceled (see below).

NOTE: If you have tickets to the Thursday performance of “Guys and Dolls” — which is now canceled — you may bring your ticket to any of the other performances (Friday at 7:30 p.m. or Saturday at 2:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.). We may not be able to place you in the exact seat you had for the Thursday performance, but we will make every effort to accommodate you with the best seat available. Refunds will be available starting next week. Please check this site for more details.

 

 

Shortened Day Dismissal Schedule:

• High Schools – 11:54 a.m.
• Middle Schools – 12:45 p.m.
• Crawford-Rodriguez and Holman Elementary Schools – 1:15 p.m.
• Elms and Switlik Elementary Schools – 1:35 p.m.
• Johnson and Rosenauer Elementary Schools – 1:55 p.m.

  This system will be utilized for all Municipal emergencies including but not limited to Police, Emergency Management, Fire, and the Board of Education. The goal for this system is to notify the residents of Jackson Township of any expected or impending emergencies that the public should be aware of. 

Depending on the nature of the emergency, this notification will also provide you with any procedures that should be followed as well as emergency contact information should it apply.

 “This is a large family based township and our families are very important to us.  Therefore, in the event of an emergency, it is extremely important to have the ability to reach out to our residents to inform them of any emergencies and the proper procedures to follow to ensure their safety as well as others. Since the residents safety is our main concern, we are expeditiously gathering the necessary information and should have this notification system fully functioning with all pertinent information within the next 2 to 3 weeks” said Mayor Reina.   

For further information please contact the Mayor’s office at 732-928-1200 ext 211

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. LLS’s mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since the first funding in 1954, LLS has awarded more than $680 million in research funding.

To learn more about the Lukemia and Lymphoma Society, visit their website at http://www.leukemia-lymphoma.org.

On Tuesday, Jackson residents, including Mayor Reina showed up to eat their pancakes and help the Children’s Miracle Network raise money for local hospitals.

Children’s Miracle Network is a non-profit organization that raises funds for more than 170 children’s hospitals. Countless individuals, organizations and media partners unite with Children’s Miracle Network hospitals to help sick and injured kids in local communities. Donations to Children’s Miracle Network create miracles by funding medical care, research and education that saves and improves the lives of 17 million children each year.

Tuesday night, Wight recieved a call from Lou and Toni Maschi, owners of the Brick Township IHOP on route 88 who told her they had raised nearly $14,000 for the network on the day.    Wight said  ”My children had a wonderful day and we truly, and deeply thank everyone in Jackson, my hometown, for all of their support in the past now, and in the future.”

If you missed the event, you can visit www.childrensmiraclenetwork.org to make a donation.

In Wichita, Kansas, theives stole $1,000 in donations during a similar fundraising event at a local IHOP in that city.

The simple break down is roughly 30% on special education,  rougly 70% on the general fund and about 2.5% repairs.     However, when digging deeper into the 70%, I found an Aetna Healthcare expediture in there, so part of the stimulus appears to be supporting employee health insurance rather than building educational programs.  Let’s wait for the report first.

The inherent problem with the stimulus funding is that it is essentially short term insurance and once the money has been used, taxpayers locally will be expected to cover the difference.

H391A090114: Assist States to make available special education and related services for children with disabilities age 3 through 5 years, and at a State’s discretion, to 2 year old children with disabilities who will reach age three during the school year.   $78,480.

H391A090100: Assist States in providing special education and related services to children with disabilities in accordance with Part B of the IDEA. $2,171,433.

S397A090031: Government Services Fund for public safety and other government services, which may include assistance for elementary and secondary education and public institutions of higher education, and for modernization, renovation, or repair of public school facilities and institutions of higher education facilities, including modernization, renovation, and repairs that are consistent with a recognized green building rating.
 $287,558

S394A090031: Education Fund for the support of public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education and, as, applicable, early childhood education programs and services. $7,428,221

Total Federal Stimulus Fudning in 2009: $9,965,692

To learn more about this funding, please visit the Recovery.Gov Website

Jackson Township Schools art teacher Mrs. Thomas teaches Girl Scouts how they can make great crafts with simple items many would consider trash such as old soda bottles, caps, buttons and cardboard containers.

Jackson, NJ – The girls from the Dogwood Service Unit of the Jersey Shore Girl Scouts came together on Friday at Jackson Liberty High School to celebrate World Thinking Day 2010.   The service unit encompasses eastern Jackson Township and Lakewood.   Wolrd Thinking day occurs each year on February 22, and girls participate in activities, games and projects with global themes to honor their sister Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in other countries.

For Jackson’s girls of Troop 110, their project was Africa and they created African themed crafts and decorations and served African themed cake to participants.  Other troops celebrated nations such as Mexico, serving churros; tropical coconut macaroons from the Bahamas;  cookies from Greece and pastries from Italy.

Jackson's Daisy Troop 110 poses with their old friend Mrs. Thomas at World Thinking Day 2010

The girls all created themed crafts and collected items for the food pantry and donations to send to the Red Cross Relief effort in Haiti.

The theme of the day was reduce, reuse and recyle as the older scouts taught the younger girls the importance or reducing consumption, reusing what they can and to recycle in their daily routine in order to protect and save our environment.

There are some serious needs here in Jackson regarding the upkeep and maintenance of our schools.   This cannot be disputed.  However, the question we as parents and taxpayers need to ask ourselves is how did we get into this position in the first place?    For 7 out of the past 8 years, the Jackson Schools were unsuccessful in presenting an acceptable budget to the taxpayers of Jackson Township.   Subsequently, voters rejected the proposed budgets 7 years in a row, ending in 2009, when the district finally caught on that involving members of the community into the process for advice and oversight and the district finally presented a budget that was acceptable for 2009-10 and just barely passed by a hundred or so votes.

Lack of community involvement was just one reason for the failures.   In my outings to various organizations this past year and in talking to several community leaders, I learned prior to opening the books for all to see and allowing community leaders to participate in the process, there was a level of mistrust and lack of confidence in our district’s ability ensure fiscal responsibility.    Part of this was due to a 4.9% contract increase to unions.  Part of this had to do with the excessive costs of Jackson Liberty High School which many felt was a bit over the top in amenities and cost.   The shiny new citadel that sat upon the hill gave many taxpayers a bad taste in their mouth.     While it’s too late at this point to debate whether or not the district could have constructed a more modest facility, there are lessons to be learned here, which seemingly have not been learned by our school district.

While the efforts were placed on new construction, many of the older schools continued to deteriorate to the point where we are today, with millions of dollars of much needed repairs sure to be included in the 2010-11 budget and repairs at Jackson Memorial included in the $29,000,000 referendum.    The problem I have with what has transpired in the past 8 years in Jackson is that the same people who got us here are re-elected year after year.  As residents, we complain and balk at the rising costs of education, but we have yet to hold those responsible for this mess accountable.

The repairs needed in all of our schools are visible to anyone who walks into any of our aging schools.  We need many fixes.   Unfortunately, the school repairs in the January referendum were bundled with excessive and non-critical technology upgrades.  Essentially, the BOE and school administration told the community we desperately need to fix our schools, but we’re going to do it, only if you also approve millions of dollars in non-critical technology upgrades.    The fiscally responsible approach on this would have been to split the technology upgrades and necessary repairs on the referendum.

It’s not just the physical structures that are going downhill.  In a January report by the New Jersey Department of Education, three schools in Jackson once again failed to meet their Annual Yearly Progress goals as described under the No Child Left Behind program.   Jackson Memorial High School, McCauliffe Middle School and Goetz Middle School each missed their goals and were in the bottom 36% of schools in New Jersey according to the report.  Two other schools, Johnson and Crawford Rodriguez Elementary Schools were both placed on the “Early Warning” list as test scores are on the decline in those two schools.

The incumbents in this year’s election have between them 12 years of service on our BOE.   During their tenure, test scores are falling, facilities are failing and the cost of education has skyrocketed.    We need our board members to demand more accountability for the shortcomings we have faced and we need to get rid of board members who are not willing to accept any responsibility for the failed budgets, deteriorating schools and runaway costs.     We need board members who will not pass the blame to the voters for not supporting their failures.  We need board members who will look out for the long term interests of all of our children while at the same time keeping in mind taxpayer concerns.  Failed budgets, failed referendums and failing test scores are failing both parents and taxpayers.  In April, the choice is yours, but I feel at this point, a change of command is the only way out of this situation.

To learn more about how we can save our school programs from the impending chopping block, visit www.philstilton.com

Doors open at 4pm and the event will run until 9pm.   For $8 per adult and $7 for children 7-12, you will be treated to a cesar salad, spaghetti and meatballs, Italian bread and assorted deserts.

The fire company holds this fundraising dinner each year to support our hard working and dedicated volunteer firemen who help keep Jackson residents safe all year long.