I don't know if Garrett is right or if Greg is right. I do note
that Greg's conclusion is based only on Asbury Park Press reports,
so I would want another source.
I thought the State was already calling the shots at the Board of Ed
as of late August/early September. Is that not right?
I think the decision to keep the schools opened or closed inevtiably
gets judged differently based upon whether something happened.
I don't know if it is true but I heard that after Pugh was shot some
other kids were running through the HS looking for revenge. If that
is true and they kept the school open and someone was shot there, I
have a feeling many people criticizing the decision to close it
would now be criticizing the decision to leave it open.
I think it is a dccision that is going to find critics either way,
and much of the criticism is based upon outcome, which is unfair to
the folks who have to make the decision beforehand.
20/20 hindsight and such.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "Fred" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> --- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "bluebishopdad"
> <bluebishopdad@> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> I knew he was full of it. It seems like the same old story with
this
> board they are not being told the truth. The State should step in
> right now, take over the Schools and the Board. I think all of
them
> are full of it they play follow the leader but the leader doesn't
> have a clue.
>
>
> Dear Group,
> >
> > As I read the comments on this group from Mr. Giberson, the
> decision to
> > close schools according to the Press was made by our Interim
> > Superintendent, Mrs. McDavid (who, by the way, receives a hefty
> salary
> > of $13,000.00 per month plus housing and expenses in addition to
> her NJ
> > pension) and our Board of Education. (Yes, Dr. Lewis is also
being
> paid
> > his full salary) On the television channels covering this
story,
> not
> > once did we hear that this decision was mandated by our State or
> County.
> > Our State and County Educational Departments "supported this
> > decision after they heard the reasons for it from Ms. McDavid."
I
> > do not think we are privy to our Interim Superintendent's list
of
> these
> > reasons, although once the confidentiality of this issue is
over,
> Ms.
> > McDavid's reasons should be made public. The State and County did
> > not MAKE or MANDATE this decision according to the Press.
> >
> >
> >
> > Hope Charter School and Academy Charter, which are not run by
our
> Board
> > of Education, remained open and handled this shooting incident
by
> taking
> > care of our city children, respecting each of them as caring,
> feeling
> > human beings. How scary and traumatic for our youth to be left
to
> fend
> > for themselves during such a troubling time. We should not be
> taking
> > actions that promote anger and disengagement of our youth. Mr.
> > Napliotani, AP Teachers' Union president, rightfully stated
teachers
> > felt it would be "safer for the children to be in the classroom
> > where there are teachers and counselors." He also said he "did
> > not hear that any teachers were going to call out." Asbury Park
is
> > lucky to have so many caring adults in our children's lives;
however
> > when our children needed these adults the most, schools were
shut
> and
> > children were unable to be consoled and counseled.
> >
> > Greg Hopson Sr.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Asbury Park Press, 10/21/06, Bill Bowman, Staff Writer:
> >
> > "
.Board of Education President Robert DiSanto said the
> > school board fully supported the decision to close the schools
for
> the
> > remainder of the week, which was made by acting Superintendent of
> > Schools Kathy McDavid. McDavid did not return phone calls for
> comment
> > Friday.
> >
> >
> >
> > "There's a lot of issues," DiSanto said. "We don't know what the
> > shooting was about, if it's gang-related, if there was something
> else
> > behind it. He was one of our students, so we didn't know if
there
> would
> > be any retaliation within our schools. And we're just not
equipped
> > enough right now to secure our schools."
> >
> >
> >
> > DiSanto said that the school administration was also hearing
rumors
> that
> > many teachers, nervous about the potential for further violence,
> were
> > going to call out sick Thursday and Friday.
> >
> >
> >
> > "We could have opened the schools, and the kids would have been
> there,
> > and we might not have had any teachers there," he said.
> >
> >
> >
> > John Napolitani, president of the Asbury Park Education
Association,
> > said he had heard from some teachers that they did not fully
> support the
> > idea to close the district. He also said he had not heard that
any
> > teachers were going to call out.
> >
> >
> >
> > "From what I'm gathering from some of the staff members, no,
they
> really
> > weren't 100 percent in support of (the district closing),"
> Napolitani
> > said. "There's two ways to look at it: You can be in the schools
and
> > it's not safe, or you could be in the street and it's not safe.
I
> think
> > their way of looking at is, I think they felt the kids would
> probably be
> > safer in the classroom, where there are teachers, there and
> counselors."
> >
> >
> >
> > In the end, Napolitani said, "that was a decision made by the
> central
> > office, and, of course, we have to support the decisions that
are
> made
> > by the central office."
> >
> > Monmouth County's superintendent of schools, Eugenia Lawson,
also
> was
> > brought in on the decision to close the district, as were state
> > officials, she said.
> >
> >
> >
> > Lawson said she fully supported McDavid's decision after hearing
the
> > reasons for it.
> >
> >
> >
> > "It was a very comprehensive approach to making that decision,"
she
> > said. "Certainly, after hearing all of the factors and the
> combination
> > of education and law enforcement decisions, certainly
> >
> >
> >
> > "I thought it was in the best interests to give them the
> opportunity to
> > prepare adequately for how they were going to continue."
> >
> >
> >
> > Lawson said she could not remember another time when an entire
> district
> > had been closed.
> >
> >
> >
> > The decision has been given a mixed reception by parents,
DiSanto
> said.
> >
> >
> >
> > "It's a lose-lose situation here because if we had opened the
> schools
> > and a gun happened to get into our schools, then everybody would
be
> > crying, "Why didn't you close the schools?' " DiSanto said. "So
we
> > closed the schools, and they're saying, "Why did you close the
> schools?'
> > Well, we had to make a decision, and we have the children's
safety
> as
> > our primary concern."
> >
> >
> >
> > The Hope Charter School, housed in Trinity Episcopal Church and
St.
> > George's Greek Orthodox Church, remained open after the
shootings.
> >
> >
> >
> > Peter Cheney, the school's co-director, said administrators
wanted
> to
> > give their 130 students "a place to talk about what their
feelings
> > were."
> >
> >
> >
> > He said that the school also serves as a day care center and that
> > closing it would have presented "another hardship to the
families."
> >
> >
> >
> > The school's staff was busy counseling students, some of whom
were
> badly
> > shaken by the shooting, Cheney said.
> >
> >
> >
> > "We had a couple of eighth-grade students this morning that just
> broke
> > down and were sobbing for 10 or 15 minutes," he said. "Then they
> went in
> > with the counselors, and the counselors had a talk with them.
Then
> they
> > came back out, and they're still grieving."
> >
> >
> >
> > Cheney said administrators believe the school community serves
as a
> safe
> > haven for students.
> >
> >
> >
> > "We felt that we have a security system here that keeps them
that
> way.
> > Plus the routine that they're in helps them to kind of move away
> from
> > what happened," Cheney said.
> >
> >
> >
> > "When they come in in the morning, they seem to be a little bit
more
> > sensitive because they've had time at home and they hear things,
and
> > they've had the TV and the radio on, and they hear adults
talking
> about
> > what's going on in the community. So they do come in, and they
have
> all
> > these feelings, and we kind of talk it through during our initial
> > contact with them."
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, GG518@ wrote:
> > >
> > > The decision to close the schools and cancel the meeting was
made
> by
> > the
> > > State Dept. of Education and also the County Superintendent of
> schools
> > along with
> > > the board. It made no sense for school to be open with no
staff in
> > them. So we
> > > did not cut any thing get the facts.
> > >
> > > Garrett Giberson
> > > Board Member
> > >
> >
>
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