It took me a few days to process through the propaganda at Monday night’s RIH BOE meeting and try to clarify my thoughts around the reality. If you watched the meeting, you know it was a carefully orchestrated affair, and the propaganda came from the board table, and from audience members who were spinning a narrative with no basis in fact. Just because they say it, doesn’t make it true.
So, I will try to be factual, because there were some interesting takeaways from the meeting.
The Board was an hour late to the public meeting.
Block Scheduling
The Superintendent plans to bring Block Scheduling up for a board vote in December. This is exciting news for our schools, who are well behind the rest of the lighthouse districts in implementing this. (Bergen County Academies, who has used Black scheduling effectively for many years, was just named the #1 public high school in NJ, according to Niche).
In Oct 2023, former Superintendent Dr. Dionisio had planned a presentation and vote on block scheduling, as per his strategic plan, but it was suddenly pulled from the agenda at the last minute. Dr. Dionisio explained during his update that he pulled it to provide more time for the district to plan for the initiative. Marianna Emmolo gave a different story, stating that it was discussed in the Negotiations Committee, and that the proposal was pulled due to 'divergence of opinion within the Board', and that her committee members (Sullivan, Ansh, Emmolo, Mariani) needed more information such as detailed financial and legal analysis. (See my post from October 18, 2023.)
It was incredibly disappointing that all the conversation about Block Scheduling last year happened behind closed doors. Who lost out? Members of the public who didn’t get a chance to hear the proposal recommended by the Strategic Plan OR the Board members questions, and ultimately the students, for whom new ideas for improving academics were shot down before they even saw the light of a public presentation.
I hope Ms. DeMarco will be successful in overcoming the opposition that Ansh, Emmolo and Mariani and Sullivan used to thwart this implementation a year ago, and that Ms. DeMarco will engage the community through public presentations as Dr. Dionisio had intended last year. Transparency and community input are essential in implementing an initiative like block scheduling, which has the potential to significantly impact our students’ academic experience.
As a refresher, here is a Basic description about block scheduling: https://www.aasa.org/resources/resource/the-effects-of-block-scheduling
Online classes
Last month there were questions about the number of online classes that were being taught, which the Superintendent and Curriculum Director could not answer. It should be noted that even when we are paying for online instruction, we also pay to have a teacher sit in the room and watch students learn online. Does this seem crazy? I agree! Tonight, there were many “6th period” assignments on the agenda, which means current staff will be paid to teach an ‘extra’ class to reduce the number of online classes. Ms. DeMarco also announced that Supervisors will be temporarily put into classrooms to address the online learning issue. (Remember when Dr. Quackenbush did a costly restructuring of the Supervisors in April and pulled them all out classrooms? Dr. Tarchichi planned to reverse her top-heavy plan immediately, but unfortunately his contract was rescinded). So now the Supervisors will be used temporarily to address classroom coverage. Will they also get paid stipends to do what they were already doing as part of their job prior to the restructuring? It seems to me it is the same curriculum being delivered as last year; it’s just costing taxpayers more money to deliver it. What do you think?
$2.7 million plus in Capital Expenditures
The Interim Business Administrator did a presentation, which was not on the agenda, to defend the spend of $2.7million to renovate the athletic training room and boys’ locker rooms at Ramapo (one of my readers thinks that comes to about $2,000 per square foot. I don’t have the square footage to check). During the presentation, Ms. Zeno justified the spending by stating “our students deserve better” and “the tile is just not appealing”. This expenditure comes directly after the decision to spend $2.2 million on the snack stand at Indian Hills. As a taxpayer I would like to be informed about the overall Capital Reserves, and how much our Interim Business Administrator and finance chair Marianna Emmolo have spent them down in the past year and a half.
Ms. Zeno and Finance Chair Marianna Emmolo were quick to emphasize that these projects were funded from capital reserves, not the operating budget, and that the capital reserve fund remains "very healthy." But without providing specific details about the current balance or the district’s long-term capital improvement plan, these statements seemed designed to offer reassurance without addressing the bigger picture. Simply stating that funds come from a separate budget doesn’t tell the community whether those funds are being used wisely or whether there is a sustainable plan in place for the future.
Some questions worth asking:
How do these major renovations fit into the district’s overall plan to upgrade its facilities, many of which are nearly 70 years old?
Are other critical areas or maintenance needs being neglected in favor of these high-cost projects?
What is the current balance of our capital reserves, and how does the board plan to maintain adequate reserves for future needs?
How much has been spent from capital reserves in the past year and a half, and what is the projected balance after all these ongoing projects?
It’s concerning that the Marianna’s Finance and Facilities committee report and updates focused so heavily on project-specific details without addressing these crucial questions. When discussing fiscal responsibility, the community needs to hear more than just updates on individual projects. We need clarity on the district’s overall financial strategy, its ability to sustain capital reserves, and how the board plans to prioritize and balance the many upgrades that will undoubtedly be needed in the coming years. What are your thoughts?
Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) Gun Detection Software Contract
The Board approved a $380,000 5-year contract for Zero Eyes, an AI Software company, to detect guns around our schools. This had not been publicly discussed until this meeting when it was suddenly on the agenda. The Board had a presentation from Zero Eyes, behind closed doors, during their Executive Session before the meeting.
Security issues CAN be an executive session topic if it will compromise our schools' security, however I think hiring an AI gun detection software company is something that should have been thoroughly discussed in public long before voting on it. Most members of the community didn’t even know it was up for discussion. A Franklin Lakes Town Council member present at the meeting brought forward privacy concerns and asked that the Board considering tabling it.
I was not at the meeting to ask questions but wondered why this was suddenly a priority when we just put armed officers in our schools, whether there was a bidding process for this contract, whether grant money would be available from the state of NJ that would be worth waiting for. This is also very new technology, and there is little competition in the market. Likely the pricing will go down significantly in the near future.
What’s more troubling is that Board members were essentially pushed into deciding on the spot, with Kim Ansh justifying this urgency by mentioning a "back-to-school" or introductory price that had already been extended multiple times. When a vendor pressures a public board with last-minute pricing tactics on a nearly $400K contract, it seems less like thoughtful planning and more like a high-pressure sales pitch.
Marianna Emmolo said the district's director of facilities recommended this software and “I trust him’. (This is the same director who cut down trees without a permit and erased evidence of a hate crime before calling the police). Doreen Mariani said, “I had questions, and they were answered”, but she didn’t say what the questions and answers were. Kim Ansh said, ‘had you heard the presentation, like I did, maybe you’d vote for it.’ And maybe we would, except the public was not given the respect and transparency it deserved before the Board voted for it (kudos to Kiel and Souders, who criticized board leadership for springing this on them just before voting and abstained).
While I am in full support of providing security for our schools and understand security upgrades are crucial, rushing into decisions about a new, rapidly evolving technology without allowing public scrutiny is not the most collaborative or transparent approach. On top of that, in her committee report, Marianna Emmolo went into great detail about other ongoing security measures, like key columns, swipe cards, and the number of cameras. Sharing this kind of specific information in a public setting potentially compromises the district’s security and seems more aligned with supporting her re-election campaign narrative than truly enhancing student safety.
As it wasn’t explained, if you are interested you can download an overview from the company’s website here https://info.zeroeyes.com/zeroeyes-monitoring
Other Items
Marianna Emmolo announced that her committee had to have extra meetings with architects due to all the projects going on. In the 12 years that I sat on the FLK8 BOE, I don’t recall ever meeting with the district architects (unless they came to do a public presentation). Supervising projects and meeting with the architects is the district administration’s job. Marianna Emmolo and Kim Ansh are way to deep in the weeds of our district’s day to day operations.
Melissa Kiel made a comment that ‘it has long been a long-standing practice of the Board to support the Administration’. That SHOULD be the case. As I have said repeatedly since January 2023, DISRESPECT AND MICROMANAGEMENT DRIVE OUT TALENT.
Remember when the Superintendent, Business Administrator, Curriculum Director and legal counsel ALL left last year? Does anyone wonder why?
Don’t be fooled by the pre-election spin doctors. Our district has taken a beating in the past 2 years and it’s time to get it back on track. Vote Supporting our Students.
Follow and join the conversation on my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/RIHBoardWatch/posts/pfbid02rTQrB3TDojibwppV1FYffBn9MYSpyXnjwvAWiFGSPxDLDz2EsZLUbfktSdFLDyv7l