I'd like to give you a short report on last night's school board
meeting. Please note that I speak only for myself and not the entire
Board of Education. I must also apologize for the fact that at the
ten o'clock hour last night I did not feel well enough to stay for the
rest of the meeting, and I left at that time.
Vice-president John Figueredo chaired the meeting, which
began at 7 PM with a presentation by some of the Intermediate School
students who have been selected to have their poems published in a
national publication. They were introduced by their teacher, Mary
Beth Skeuse, who congratulated the students and handed out
certificates of merit.
There was a short presentation by the Assistant Business
Administrator on all of the referenda that have been passed by the
people of Asbury Park since the 1980's.
The State Monitor, Mr. Cowell, gave his report, stating among
other things that he "actually saw good things going on in the
classrooms" in his tours of the buildings.
After the board went over their agenda, five members of the
public spoke on issues of concern to them. The first person to speak
was Danny McKee, president of the Asbury Park Little League, who
voiced his frustration over the inability to proceed on making
improvements to the Little League field at the High School because of
constant bureaucratic, insurmountable roadblocks placed in the way.
The latest was a "Use Agreement" that nobody in their right mind (my
characterization) would agree to.
I proposed and moved a resolution to at least get phase one of
the project accomplished right away. My resolution was as follows:
WHEREAS, the Asbury Park Board of Education has previously voted
to enter into a joint agreement with the Asbury Park Little League
calling for the League to perform various improvements to the field
used by the Little League, and
WHEREAS, These improvements will be performed at no cost to the Board
of Education, and
WHEREAS, the lights for the field have already been purchased at
great cost by the Little League and are being stored in anticipation
of their installation, and
WHEREAS, time is of the essence in their installation and the permits
have already been let by the municipality,
Now Therefore Be it Resolved that, the Asbury Park Board of Education
hereby authorizes the immediate installation of the lights at no cost
to the Board of Education,
Be it Further Resolved that the Asbury Park Board of Education hereby
directs that there be no further input, advice, or demands made by the
Board of Education's law firm in the matter of the lights and that Mr.
Daniel McKee and the Asbury Park Little League are authorized to
install the lights as soon as they are able to do so. Be it Further
Resolved that, on the matter of the lights, no further "use agreement"
other than any that may have been heretofore signed is necessary in
order to proceed.
January 23, 2008
Initially, the resolution passed overwhelmingly over the
objection of the state monitor and the lawyer. The state monitor
publicly stated that this may be the first vote of the BOE that he
would overturn after consulting the Department of Ed. I said that how
sad that his first veto would be to deny the kids of Asbury Park a
decent Little League field.
Fortunately for him, he needn't have worried about that. That's
fortunate for him and unfortunate for the kids. I was informed later
that the vote to approve the resolution was rescinded by the Board
after I had left the meeting. The board retreated to the safety of
setting up yet another meeting of the Buildings and Grounds Committee
to "iron out" the use agreement. So Danny and the Little League are
in for another ride on the bureaucratic merry-go-round, a ride that
never ends.
Frank D'Alessandro
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