2017 BOE Elections
When I vote for BOE candidates, I look to see that the candidates can work together without being a rubber stamp, and that they might have more expertise in areas that other candidates do not. We do not need 9 clones of the same person.
I am not sure I understand the comment about Robin Baker being rusty -- as compared to an incumbent? or is the person saying they are not well versed in current issues (although the current problems do not seem to be much different than 5, 10 or 15 years ago.
Specifically: Robin Baker's response to one of the CCR debate questions about housing/steering was more related to how things were in 2000 than they way they are now. There were a few other instances where I wasn't sure she's been keeping up with the changes since that time.
It was totally lacking.
sprout said:
What is your take on the BOE's supervision of Ramos? (Asking seriously, as I either missed something obvious, or wasn't reading between the lines well enough to see the crux of this issue)
yahooyahoo said:
It was totally lacking.
sprout said:
What is your take on the BOE's supervision of Ramos? (Asking seriously, as I either missed something obvious, or wasn't reading between the lines well enough to see the crux of this issue)
This seems to be a consistent trend with every BOE going back for as long as I have lived in S. Orange (1986)
comes up every election.
That's because the board, fundamentally, does not have a supervisory role. It makes the hiring and firing decisions and sets policies and priorities, but it is not set up to do direct oversight or supervision of operations.
mikescott said:
yahooyahoo said:
It was totally lacking.
sprout said:
What is your take on the BOE's supervision of Ramos? (Asking seriously, as I either missed something obvious, or wasn't reading between the lines well enough to see the crux of this issue)
This seems to be a consistent trend with every BOE going back for as long as I have lived in S. Orange (1986)
comes up every election.
Ramos left well before his contract was up for vague, personal reasons. At least at the time, he didn't seem to have another position. He did collect nearly all of the performance bonus that he was eligible for. I assumed that this reflected the BOE's determination, possibly with his agreement, that things were not working out here.
I'm certainly willing to listen to dissenting views, but I do think they took the one real action that they could to address a superintendent who wasn't living up to expectations. It might have been a bit late, and you can definitely criticize the hiring, but as noted above, the BOE isn't there to act as a department manager for the superintendent.
This is from the district website:
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"Responsibilities of the Board of Education
The Board of Education is the governing body of the South Orange - Maplewood School District with responsibility for developing policy to ensure the proper care, management and control of District affairs. The Board consists of nine citizens elected at large by the voters of South Orange and Maplewood. Board members serve three year terms, with three members of the Board subject to election each year. In addition to setting policy, the Board hires the superintendent; approves staff hirings, transfers, resignations, terminations, and leaves of absence; approves expenditures; approves educational programs (curriculum); and otherwise ensures that the facilities and equipment are available to support learning and teaching in the District. The Board also approves the budget for the School District. However, the tax levy is approved by a separate entity, the Board of School Estimate, which is comprised of three members of the Village Trustees of South Orange, three members of the Township Committee of Maplewood and two members of the Board of Education. Every year in January the Board holds an organization meeting to elect officers (President and two Vice-Presidents), appoint committees and settle other routine business. There are four standing committees -- Engagement & Outreach; Excellence & Equity; Finance, Facilities & Technology; Policy & Monitoring -- that meet monthly to study specific issues and work on special projects as assigned by the Board, and make recommendations to the the Board as a whole."
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I'm not sure how you conclude the BOE is not responsible for supervising the Superintendent. If that's the case, then no one is in charge of the Superintendent and we have a much bigger problem.
The language you quoted is correct. The only reference to the superintendent is that the BOE hires him/her. Inherently, this also includes the power to fire and make annual salary/bonus decisions about him/her.
As part of their authority over expenditures, curriculum and personnel they can accept/reject proposals that the superintendent makes, though known rejections are probably rare because they publicly undercut the superintendent's authority.
But there aren't nine offices that surround the superintendent where each BOE member gets to chime in on day-to-day operations, conduct training, revise communications, consult on discipline, etc. Board members have the ultimate authority, but short of firing the superintendent (which, I believe, effectively occurred here), there' s not a whole lot that they are able or authorized to do.
It's mostly in the superintendent's hands, which is why the hiring decision is so crucial. It's more than fair to vote against someone because you believe they hired the wrong person or didn't take action against him quickly enough. However, I think the fact that the public is able speak directly to BOE members at meetings gives people the impression that one or more or them can go into the superintendent's office and say "Make it happen" the way that your boss or mine might be able to do in an office. That's not how it works.
jamie said:
Here's the PDF: http://www.maplewoodonline.com/BOE2017-CCR.pdf
Shannon Cuttle's statement to the Village Green was posted on Sept. 26:
https://villagegreennj.com/election/south-orange-maplewood-candidate-statement-shannon-cuttle/
The spreadsheet states: "Did not see a statement on Village Green". Can this be corrected/updated on the spreadsheet?
maplewoodsteve said:
jamie said:
Here's the PDF: http://www.maplewoodonline.com/BOE2017-CCR.pdf
Shannon Cuttle's statement to the Village Green was posted on Sept. 26:
https://villagegreennj.com/election/south-orange-maplewood-candidate-statement-shannon-cuttle/
The spreadsheet states: "Did not see a statement on Village Green". Can this be corrected/updated on the spreadsheet?
Dagnabbit -- It appears I sent Jamie my almost finished version, instead of the finished one. Will re-send to @jamie right now. Thanks for noticing that omission.
sprout said:
Dagnabbit -- It appears I sent Jamie my almost finished version, instead of the finished one. Will re-send to @jamie right now. Thanks for noticing that omission.
jamie and sprout -- thanks for the updates.
I, too, am a supporter and endorser of Shannon Cuttle for BOE, so much so that I serve as the volunteer campaign chair of their independent, grassroots campaign.
I have known and worked with Shannon Cuttle (pronouns: they, them, theirs) throughout their five years in SOMA. Their love of education, their passion for youth, and their twenty years in education (as teacher, administrator, educational policy expert, and respected nationwide consultant) would have served SOMSD well in recent years as SOMSD faced crisis after crisis under Dr. Ramos, often relating to educational equity issues (especially in regard to race and disability, as well as religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity). Many of the lawsuits now facing the district could have been avoided with the right leadership and experience in place.
Shannon is a great listener as well as a font of ideas, and they are experienced in working with all sides on an issue to bring about consensus and effect change. Shannon has reached out to and met with every single member of the current BOE, Maplewood TC, South Orange BoT, BOE candidate, PTA leader, and other SOMA educational and policy leader who would agree to meet with them, to share and discuss ideas related to improving the schools and providing every single student with the welcoming climate, support structures, and educational opportunities needed to maximize their potential.
Shannon is a born activist who eagerly takes action whenever presented with a challenge or opportunity. Over their lifetime, Shannon broke the gender barrier in their local T-ball league [age 6], led a student walkout in support of a custodian after he was punished for spending quality time with his beloved students [7th grade], stood up to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to protect their school's undocumented students and parents [as a school administrator], and expertly advised and served the Mayor of Washington DC, the Obama Administration, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Human Rights Campaign, and more on youth and educational issues. Shannon founded the Safe Schools Action Network, served as Managing Director of Garden State Equality's youth and anti-bullying programs, co-organized the SOMA Day of Decision Rally (June, 2013) celebrating the Supreme Court decision striking down the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, served as lead organizer of last June's LGBTQ Equality March in Maplewood, and was a speaker and co-organizer for South Orange's rally in support of transgender troops and raising of the transgender flag (August 2017). Shannon will put equal energy and commitment into assuring that every student in SOMSD gets the top quality education they deserve.
Anyone who would like to meet Shannon and discuss their candidacy can do so at Candidate Speed Dating, sponsored by PARES and SOMA Action, on Saturday 11/4 at 2:30 PM at the Maplewood Library. Shannon will also be holding Candidate Office Hours at Maplewood Starbucks (Friday, 11/3, 6-8 AM), Cedar Ridge Cafe (Saturday, 7-9 AM), and South Orange Starbucks (Sunday, 8-9 AM). [Note that daylight savings time ends early Sunday morning.] Polls will be open Tuesday (11/7) from 6 AM to 8 PM.
-- Steve Mershon
I was contacted by someone having challenges posting to this thread, and was requested to add this endorsement info for Baker & Baker:
In your spreadsheet, you list endorsers of the candidates as just those who have submitted letters to the editor of the Village Green. In the case of the Bakers, they also have a list of 200+ endorsers who agreed to let their names be used both online in various places, but also on the campaign postcard going out to every address in town (either delivered yesterday or should be today). You can see the list on the campaign website at: https://www.boe2017.com/list-of-endorsers.
There have been some pretty stark contrasts on the BOE votes between Elizabeth Baker and Donna Smith which make me believe that Donna Smith makes much better decisions. E. Baker voted to continue the IB program, from which my child learned nothing, and to eliminate the Accelerated English program, from which my child learned a lot, while Smith voted to end IB (the emperor really did have no clothes) and to continue Accelerated English.
Poor implementation of new programs, lack of communication and a failure to provide differentiated instruction have all plagued the district. I have much more confidence in Donna Smith's commitment to meeting the diverse educational needs of the students in the district than I do in Elizabeth Baker, who seems primarily interested in who is in the classroom rather than what learning is taking place for all students in the classroom. I also support Anthony Mazzocchi. I think it would be extremely valuable to have a former teacher and administrator on the BOE. I think a reason for the failure of the IB program was that it was a top-down initiative where teachers were not consulted.
I also think the BOE would benefit from a diversity of thought and opinion rather than having Baker and Baker join the other Steve Latz-backed candidates on the Board. I am undecided on my third vote and will attend the PARES candidate forum at the Maplewood Library tomorrow at 2:30.
Far be it for me to agree with Ska but the BOE is far too local for people to be running negative ads. I wasn't going to vote for Field's candidates anyway as I think they lack the experience needed for the job but I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole after seeing that flyer.
This really helped with my decision on who to vote for. My senior had a great experience with Accelerated English during his freshman year at Columbia. Very disappointed this is not available for my freshman daughter.
chalmers said:
There have been some pretty stark contrasts on the BOE votes between Elizabeth Baker and Donna Smith which make me believe that Donna Smith makes much better decisions. E. Baker voted to continue the IB program, from which my child learned nothing, and to eliminate the Accelerated English program, from which my child learned a lot, while Smith voted to end IB (the emperor really did have no clothes) and to continue Accelerated English.
Poor implementation of new programs, lack of communication and a failure to provide differentiated instruction have all plagued the district. I have much more confidence in Donna Smith's commitment to meeting the diverse educational needs of the students in the district than I do in Elizabeth Baker, who seems primarily interested in who is in the classroom rather than what learning is taking place for all students in the classroom. I also support Anthony Mazzocchi. I think it would be extremely valuable to have a former teacher and administrator on the BOE. I think a reason for the failure of the IB program was that it was a top-down initiative where teachers were not consulted.
I also think the BOE would benefit from a diversity of thought and opinion rather than having Baker and Baker join the other Steve Latz-backed candidates on the Board. I am undecided on my third vote and will attend the PARES candidate forum at the Maplewood Library tomorrow at 2:30.
Mr. Fields appears to be playing fast and loose with election ethics as the SOMA Black Parents Workshop distributes negative information about the incumbents while he's the campaign manager for two other candidates.
ska said:
Things take an ugly turn :
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/soma/articles/anti-incumbent-school-board-election-material-dee
I am looking for candidates who have expertise in areas for which the board is lacking. We do not have enough former or current educators, administrators, people with experience bringing grant money into the district, people who understand what it takes for both academic and cultural change to occur. I don't need every board member to have every skill, but we need people who are not just generalists -- people who understand how change happens. For these reasons, I am voting for Anthony Mazzocchi and Shannon Cuttle. I've had enough mission statements to last a lifetime. I believe Anthony and Shannon understand what work needs to be done, and who needs to do it, to have a Board recommendation implemented.
Elizabeth Baker is first, closely followed by Mazzochi. Robin Baker is several hundred votes back but seems safely in third.
97% of districts reporting
Elizabeth A. Baker -- 5,564 votes (20.66%)
Donna Smith -- 3,384 votes (12.57%)
Avery Julien -- 1,352 votes (5.02%)
Anthony Mazzocchi -- 5,345 votes (19.85%)
Lucas Calhoun -- 801 votes (2.97%)
Robin J. Baker -- 4,808 votes (17.86%)
Felisha George -- 1,140 votes (4.23%)
Shannon Cuttle -- 3,024 votes (11.23%)
Sheila Shidnia -- 1,460 votes (5.42%)
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@tbd : Thanks for that update.
As I look at the election website on Village Green, I see I missed including a number of other endorsements, especially ones written in the past few days.