Welcome to the Kids First 2010 Web Site
http://kidsfirst2009.blogspot.com/
Kids First from 2009
What a Busy 9 Months It's Been!
Dear Friends and Neighbors:
Happy New Year!!!!
It is so tempting to say “what a year” but truth is, it’s been less than 9 months since you voted the Kids First team to the Board of Education and the progress has been amazing!
The first order of business in April was to hire an outside legal advisor to review existing contracts. Although RFP’s are not necessary for legal services, we completed the RFP process anyway and found a wonderful law firm experienced in the field of Public Education. Thanks to this expert guidance, the Hoboken Board of Education was able to correct many existing irregularities, eliminate unnecessary positions and more efficiently renegotiate ongoing contracts.
The following are some of the positions eliminated: Asst. BA ($129,000), Chief Information Officer ($96,000), HVAC Coordinator ($68,000), General Tech ($44,000) plus their associated benefits and vacation packages. These previously negotiated contracts had included automatic 5 weeks paid holidays, 15-25 paid vacation days, 12-15 sick days, 3 personal days and 7 bereavement days. In addition, the Assistant to the Superintendent position was not renewed ($144,000).
In June, the Board of Education accepted the resignation of the Superintendent with just two months notice. The work began immediately to find an Interim Superintendent to insure a smooth transition for the students in September. After a complete search, a highly experienced Superintendent was found and Mr. Carter began on September 1st, 2009.
Under Mr. Carter’s experienced hand (and his recommended Interim Asst Superintendent), the Board and the District has undergone some fundamental changes. Mr. Carter immediately called for enforcing the “chain of command”. All District questions, complaints and concerns come up through the teachers and building Principals first. Inclusion of the Asst Superintendent and/or Superintendent is a last resort. This policy empowers the teachers and building Principals to act efficiently and independently with support from the Superintendent. This also frees up the Superintendent’s time and resources to focus on District wide concerns.
Mr. Carter also initiated a system of timely and consistent communications with District teachers, administrators and parents. In addition, all Board members receive daily or weekly communiqués from the Superintendent, keeping everyone equally in the loop.
Mr. Carter is also insuring that all current District policies and/or State mandates are followed, including the residency policy.
In November, for the first time ever, the Superintendent presented the Board and the public with the NJASK test results and the results of the Annual Audit. This was not a pleasant meeting for anyone. The test scores were a huge disappointment to say the least. Some dips in scores were expected as the test themselves and their scoring was set to change for some grades last year. However, we knew this was coming and forewarned should be forearmed. Mr. Carter told the shocked audience "this will NEVER happen again!” Mr. Carter had already utilized Stimulus Funds to hire three expert Educational Consultants to provide support to the District teaching staff. The feedback from the teachers has been overwhelmingly positive.
As for the Audit, Mr. Carter indicated that the 24 separate violations found in the random audit were also “never going to happen again!”. He has already begun to implement his Corrective Action plan to eradicate some of the violations from the past years, which included, funding up to $1.6 million dollars in Administration costs from Instruction funds, stipends to those not working, reimbursing students for missing personal Ipods from Student Activities Funds and overtime approved by consultants not District employees. The Audit also revealed a one million dollar deficit under the previously negotiated food service contract. This contract will be completely reviewed as we move forward. If necessary, some individual incidents may be directed to the Prosecutors office for review.
November saw the resignation of the in-house attorney, the tenured Business Administrator and a Board Member. A new, highly experienced Interim Business Administrator was brought on board. The previously contracted legal firm will remain on until the end of the current school year their contract. The tenured Board Secretary also resigned at this meeting. The BA will assume the Board Secretary duties, as is common practice in most every other District in New Jersey
In December, we were pleased to add long time community leader and District volunteer Irene Sobolov to the Board! She will hold the seat until the election in April 2010. KF is confident she will continue to advocate for fiscal responsibility and fairness, equality and excellence for every student in the District.
So….. the New Year is here. In January the board will continue the process of searching for a new permanent Superintendent. We received 21 applications and the interviews began soon after. The process included public forums as well as those focused on teaching and administrative staff. The tentative timeline to hire is in February 2010.
Then…of course….comes March and April. The next School Board election. There will be four seats up this year. Every year three seats become available for three-year terms. This year there is another one-year term, the remainder of the term vacated recently and currently held by Irene Sobolov.
We will need your help and support again in the next few months!!!! I hope you are excited as we are by the enormous progress made in these 9 months!! Think of how much can get done in the next year with a new Superintendent and two new Kids First members on the Board!
Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy update..but there was so much good news to share!
Happy New Year!!!
Kids First Team
Editor's Note: I had orginally placed a parody/political satire photo by me done up top. I have simply moved it to another post that will show up shortly to avoid any confusion. The photoshop again was done by me and in now way was initiated by Kids First. I have apologized directly for my editorial gaffe to a Kids First Board Member and she has accepted my apology. ◦
