BOE GETTING DIVORCED

[plainedge13]

Three board seats are up for election. I have been told that Rich Mallow is not going to seek re-election. Ralph Raymond's and Tom Dick's seat (held by Frank for the remainder of this year) are also up for election.
I have seriously considered running for one of these board seats, but after reading some of the posts to this website, I am not sure if I want to subject my family to this rancor.

[Go Plainedge!]

plainedge13

check your personal messages

[justfacts]

The meaning of three seats out of seven.


Some opinions freely stated;

As we know the proposition for a five member BOE was knocked down last year with strong support from the existing BOE to the Administration's desire. If it passed with just five members, that would have meant that the 3 new members this year could have exerted control through their new majority rule. This is a clue as to why some were so strongly against that proposition.

With the 7 member BOE retained, 3 new members are in the minority as yet. Unless one (or more) existing minority members join the "newbies". I believe there are at least two, possibly three existing minority members that might fit into that category. RR seems to be one of them.

I know of one person that very likely will run for one of the three seats. She seems to be very well qualified and in touch with the community. I have no idea of what you, plainedge13, are like as a potential candidate. But if your heart and head are in the right place, as shown by your few posts, I'd say go for it.

If you, RR and the other person each run for separate seats there seems to be a good likelihood that you'll be joined by another existing minority member of the BOE to make up the "NEW" majority. That makes four - and a new majority!

Then there'll be no rancor. And your family, friends and neighbors will be very proud of you and your courage.

It takes a BOE to run this District. To date, by default, we have let an Administrator do that job.

At least two "fresh heads" this year would soon be joined by at least two more during the next election. These four horse men could be the over-majority that returns control of the Plainedge District to the residents. It can't happen at all unless we have at least two "fresh heads" run each year!

GO for it! The rancor is going to be a thing of the past if you do!

The "heaviest" part of the job is going to be telling the administration which way to go! - and ignoring his posturing, stomping and blather! Believe me - while you control his money - he'll do what you demand. He's a very transparent bully that only controls you if you let him. Shewdness and dedication to keeping power he has - smarts he hasn't. Authority it what the BOE should have, but doesn't use as yet.

Please help to give power to that authority of the BOE, RUN for it.

Ed.

[techie]

PLAINEDGE13

Please go for it!!
We NEED people that will make the commitment to help our community.
We need people on the BOE that understand that THEY run the Administration, not the other way around.
Thank you. My vote goes to the "New Bloods".

[Go Plainedge!]

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

If you win, then we can say we knew you when..... ;D

[justfacts]

To anyone so inclined

IF you are considering running for a seat on the BOE, I will assist you all that I can with information about the petition process, filing, requirements to be a Board member, actual levels of involvement, and other "up front" information.

Hopefully we'll get to know each other better by that process. I'll not support you as much just because you're running.

If I find that you have a platform that consists of more than "I want to get that %&@#* out", I may even give you my further support - going around my area and getting signatures on your Nominating Petition, etc. One person in the past had no goal for being on the Board other than replacing someone he did not like. My response was I would not support him because he had no agenda past that point.

If I find you have the desire, a reasonable head on your shoulders and an agenda that is for the long term betterment of the Schools in this District, then I"ll lend much more support. Helping with creating, duplicating and distributing fliers and posters, promoting your ideas, etc.

The purpose of running for a seat on the Board is to make this a better than what it is School District. I'd also like to see a BOE that is more responsive to the community and stops this mad dash for "mo' money" as a solution to all learning problems - problems that are really rooted in the teaching methods, not the learning process.

That's why I'd like to see a school that stops using the 1900's techniques to teach our children - one that gets with adapting to the new devices that have been available to help students learn more thoroughly and faster the knowledge they will need to compete in their world! Which is and will be - quite different from my old world.

Just look at one example of my "Old World" techniques for learning that is still being used today - BOOKS. They have become much more expensive and "glitzy" and greater in number.

So much so that instead of my carrying just an armful of books to school as I had to do - the Children are now carrying overloaded backpacks of them every day. This has made School more of a physical chore than a mental one.[/b]

With the tools of today there is no excuse for them not to have a set of CD-ROMs with all that data on them! Even just one DVD can carry a couple of semesters worth of BOOKS in it!

At the present cost of reproduction - duplicate sets of "modern books on DVDs" can be both at home and at school - there is no longer any need to "carry books". Adequate License fees can be negotiated that satisfy the School Book Publishing industry such that they need not worry about loss of income.

And, because of their low cost, the data can be retained by the Children to build up their own library of the "books" they learned by. These could be helpful in college or later life as "learning refreshers".

Networks have been put into schools with the aid of State and Federal funds - and other grants. But as to date - they're used more as toys and for showmanship than as routine teaching aids. I know of several advanced teaching groups that are developing internet lesson plans and interactive CD training systems on a volunteer basis in France and the Orient - these systems make our present methods look like the "Little House on the Prairie" level of schooling.

It may be comfortable and easy for administrators to hang on to our older, less effective schooling methods, and to complain about having to do "mandated testing" - which is the Federal & State way of checking up on poor teaching effectiveness - testing that was implemented because of the known troubles, unfairness and defects in the present teaching process for many children.

But testing the effectiveness of present teaching methods is not getting the "best bang for the buck" in giving our children the know-how they'll need to live and compete in the 21st century. The teaching methods must change from what they were, to those that work better than what we had - and all this can be done by redirecting the money we have rather than just adding more money to the pot.

These are but a few of the thoughts and directions I'd like to see from potential candidates - even if such plans cannot be implemented in a term or two or more - at least it shows that one has the foresight to not be satisfied with the status quo - the "that's the way we always did it" mentality. The mentality that has converted a child's walk to school into a pack-horse event.

That's the type person that I promise I will give more active support to, both physically and financially, in their run for a seat on the BOE.

Ed

[boebustr]

I AGREE GOT FOR IT, MALLOW WON'T RUN HE HAS GOT NO CHANCE, THE KID HAS TO GO, GIARDINA HAS TO RESIGN OR WE NEED TO GET HER THROWN OFF BECAUSE OF HER BEHAVIOR. THE DICK IS GONE, FRANK SEEMS OK AND RAYMOND NEEDS TO BE RE-ELECTED. WE NEED A NEW SUPERINTENDENT, ONE WHO WILL NOT FRATERNIZE WITH THE BOARD OF ED. IN AN UNPROFESSIONAL MANNER, ONE WHO WILL LISTEN TO THE COMMUNITY AND ONE THAT DOESN'T MAKE 3X THE AMOUNT THAT THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK MAKES. THIS GUY IS A LIAR AND FRAUD AND AN ARROGANT BASTARD. WE MUST GET THE BOE TO END HIS RULE HERE IN OUR LITTLE COMMUNITY, HE LIVES IN ROCKVILLE CENTER AND COULD NOT GIVE A RATS ASS ABOUT US. HE HAS MADE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR WHAT HE THINKS OF US. THE NEW BUDGET VOTE WILL BE A DISASTER WITH HIM AND THE CURRENT BOARD IN PLACE. THE COMPETENCY LEVEL IS AT AN ALL TIME LOW. FLANAGAN SHOULD HAVE STAYED A PTA MOMMY SHE IS OUT OF HER LEAGUE. WE NEED SOME LAWYERS AND ACCOUNTANTS ON THE BOARD PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY WENT TO COLLEGE. I HOPE THE COMMUNITY VOTES WITH PRUDENCE AND GET THE TRASH OFF THE BOARD BEFORE THEY TRASH THE REST OF THIS COMMUNITY.

[delilah]

Boebuster, I hope you can hear me clapping, I could not agree with you more. The most important point being getting rid of the Rich-man. Our little community has been torn apart by this man and he will continue to do so as long as the current BOE lets him. I really think he spends a lot of time cajoling BOE members to his viewpoint.

In defense of the BOE members, when they have asked a good question he never has the information available. They need to keep at it and not stop until they get the information they need for better decision making.

The kids will continue to suffer under the current conditions. It makes me so angry

[boebustr]

DELILAH
I HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR, THANK YOU. 'RICH-MAN ' MUST GO, HE IS A NASTY ARROGANT MAN, WE THE PEOPLE MUST GET THIS BOARD AND IF NOT THIS ONE THE NEXT TO LISTEN, WE DO NOT WANT THIS GUY ANYMORE !! WE WANT TO HAVE HIM REMOVED. HE HAS BEEN DOING UNETHICAL THINGS WITH CERTAIN BOARD MEMBERS AND HAS BEEN COMPROMISING THE BOARD AND THE WAY THEY VOTE FOR FAR TO LONG. FRATERNIZING WITH CERTAIN BOARD MEMBERS IS MORALLY AND ETHICALLY WRONG BUT SINCE THIS GUY HAS NO MORALS AND HE DOES NOT GIVE A sheet ABOUT ANYONE BUT HIMSELF AND HIS PAYCHECK WE NEED TO GET HIM OUT. ;D THE KEY WORD HERE IS COLLUSION, THAT IS WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON AND WILL BE PROVED VERY SHORTLY. HE WILL BE IN FOR A RUDE AWAKENING. THE TRUTH ALWAYS PROVAILS AND HE WILL FINALLY GET WHAT HE DESERVES. STAY TUNED MY FRIENDS THERE IS MORE TO COME........WHEN YOU HAVE 4 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS CONSISTENTLY UP YOUR ASS AND HANGING ALL OVER YOU IN PUBLIC, FREQUENTING BARS ECT. WITH THE EXCLUSION OF THE SAME OTHER 3 BOARD MEMBERS THERE IS A BIG PROBLEM. THE PRESIDENT AND ALL THE MEMBERS WILL SOON HAVE TO ANSWER TO A HIGHER AUTHORITY. THESE ARE THE SAME BOARD MEMBERS THAT GIVE HIM HIS REVIEW AND RAISES.... HOW CAN WE AS RESIDENTS ALLOW THIS TO CONTINUE
THE SAME 4 MEMBERS SAME 4 VOTES IT IS ALWAYS A LOCK.... WAKE UP PLAINEDGE LET DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS BEFORE IT IS TO LATE....

HAS ANYONE SEEN WHAT THESE BOE MEMBERS ARE TRYING TO DISH OUT IN THIS YEARS BUDGET ?? CHECK THERE WEBSITE THIS IS THE PRELIMINARY #...LIKE 13% TAX HIKE FOR SCHOOL BUDGET. I FOR ONE WILL NOT ALLOW THESE INCOMPETENT PEOPLE BELIEVE FOR ONE MOMENT THAT WE WILL PASS A BUDGET LIKE THAT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. PLAINEDGE MUST SPEAK UP NOW BEFORE WE GET SMOKE SCREENED AGAIN....CAN YOU SAY "CAR WASH" I DON'T THINK SO.. ;D

[Go Plainedge!]

13% wouldn't be so terrible if it REALLY went to the kids. Obviously, based on the "draft budget" that was conveniently released, it doesn't go to the kids.

The second part is the fact that they WENT OVER the approved amount last year. So the increase that we approved was EVEN MORE....does anyone realize that!!!?!!! Whats wrong here?

So who's to say that after this 13% gets approved it won't settle in at 15% come the end of 2007?

There needs to be a system to get these things in place. It's supposed to be a BOE that checks these things, but it's not working. I will say it again, we need a letter campaign to our BOE members and administration stating our intentions and goals for OUR district.

Car washes won't work again. There is strength in numbers....6,000(+) people strong.

[patriot2415]

People..people..People... everyone loves to complain, everyone has a opinion. So run for the board, come to community meetings hosted by residents, go to board meetings. No matter what you feel about the supperintendent, you can't get rid of him, we would be on the hook for his compensation package. So take that energy and become involved. Only by getting involved can we keep informed, make informed decisions and have constructive conversations with the BOE. Are there issues with them ...yes..but guess what WE voted them in. At last years meet the candidate night there were about 20 residents there, the last 2 board meetings had record crowds of 16 and 18 residents. GET INVOLVED !!!!!!!!

[justfacts]

Go Plainedge! & Patriot2415

You are both so right on. The involvement by the community before there is a Final Budget is what is needed - not protests after. And the Final Budget should show that as much as possible is spent on the Programs portion of the Budget - not on Administration and Capital costs.

In other words - make sure the plan for the money is - it goes to the kids.

And the Budget that we push for this year should dramatically say - NO!

NO cuts for the varsity sports,

NO cuts for the clubs and

NO cuts for all the Program items that benefit the children!

The proof of the pudding with last year's "Contingency Budget" was that there was enough taxpayer money gathered to have paid for the varsity sports and still have a Million or more left over.

Let's get the message across to the current Budget makers that we will not put up with that again this year!

Go to the meetings, no matter what effort it takes, and tell them you won't accept a budget that cuts into the Programs for the Children.

Nor will you stand for a Contingency plan that cuts out the varsity sports anymore!

This year's operating costs proved that the varsity sports cuts could have been avoided - don't ever pull that threat on us again!

Be vocal about that - not among yourselves - but at the Budget Meetings before the vote.

Ed

[thewildrover]

Facts,
Now your talking...If I may, I would like to suggest you send your past two posts to that other site. It would greatly reduce the aforementioned misperceptions and would help galvanize this movement towards the goal of a fair and reasonable budget being put forth to the residents of P-Town. I will be glad to show copies of your posts to the sports parents at tonight’s coffee hour to "clear the air" somewhat. It would an excellent step in the right direction. As I have stated before, WE need to find the same rhythm to march to. One that is loud and clear and delivered to the ears of Dr. Richman and the Board. A rhythm with this as a verse “Present a fair and reasonable budget” and this as the chorus: “Be responsive to your community”!!!

See you March 14th!

IT'S ABOUT THE KIDS

[justfacts]

Wildrover

Although we may each walk a different path - we are all walking to the same goal.

That is something I have known for quite some time.

For a couple of years in the past I tried the meeting route to clear up what were very poor budget presentations. My physical presence seemed to offer personal challenges to some Board members, with no net Budget progress being made - so I walked a different path, one that seems to work better.

Also, many mistakenly believed I spoke for another entity - when all along I was speaking for myself.

But that doesn't mean I don't seek the same end goal as many others I've seen on these Forums.

The community's task is to ensure that the Budget put up for vote is one that will pass - because it reflects what the community wants most - the best deal possible for the children.

The Plainedge people have to pressure the BOE enough that they begin to control the Administration.

As you suggested, the posts here were also sent to

plaintalkonline.com

For those of you that haven't visited that site yet, I suggest you do so.

Ed.

[justfacts]

Sorry Folks - I must amend that last statement!

Change it from:
"Although we may each walk a different path - we are all walking to the same goal."

To:
"Although we may each walk a different path - most of us are all walking to the same goal."

There are those that post here that like to challenge and mis-direct information that hits too close to home. In light of the information given here from State sources they might have to drop old sayings like "We cut the number of Administrators from 25!" So they dispute the State info by making minor twists and turns on the info - often with errors of their own. Like rating where Plainedge stands on the list - while acknowledging the list is incomplete!

They also try to change the topic from a reliable school district budget, which seems to be the prime focus of most of us, to other areas.

And they question extracts from State derived reports as being in error or providing misinformation. Well, I do extract some of the data to make it clearer and shorter - but with no hidden agenda to deceive or to defame.

For those that want to see or work with the 2004-2005 Budget dollars per pupil information for the whole of Nassau County - I suggest you go to the State site yourself. The title of the document is: "2005-06 Budgeted Property Tax Report Card".

Of course, you'll have to extract the Nassau figures from Suffolk's figures - And by the way you'll also have to pull them out of all the School District figures in New York State! For that is the way the source data is prepared. It is a 745 Kbyte HTML file! Have fun working with it!

It's a lot more work - but if you're a stickler for accuracy - go ahead and do it! Let us all know your results. By the way you could also include the 2005-2006 planned spending by District in your results - it's lots more work but might keep you busy with something productive!

While you are at it however, since one of you seem to have more intimate knowledge of School District workings than many of us that post here - Would you share some information as to why the 2004-2005 budget spending exceeded the voter approved Budget spending level of $55.3 Million dollars?

Why did spending even exceed the initial rejected Budget level of $55.8 Million and end up at a spending level of $55.9 Million?

Doesn't State Education Law "Section 1718 - Limitations on Expenditures" clearly state that "No Board of Education shall incur a district liability in excess of the amount appropriated by a district meeting . . ."?

Let's stick to the primary goal in future posts - making sure the children get the most educational benefit from the upcoming budget!

And remember - the District voters have clearly said to the BOE:
"Programs, Music, Sports and Clubs are no longer on the outer ring of the Prime Cuts platter this year!"

Bring under control those obvious excesses contained in your initial Draft Budget for Administrative, Transportation and Capital costs. Administrative salary increases of 7.4% per year for five straight years will no longer fly in this District! They are the Outer Ring Items this year![/i][/b]