A group of parents and residents is urging the school board to postpone approval of the strategic plan until more information is presented about its specifics.
The board is set to adopt the strategic direction and action plans at its meeting on Monday. See that agenda HERE.
The group this week posted a petition seeking signatures that states in part:
We, the undersigned, ask the South Orange-Maplewood Board of
Education to delay approving the Strategic Plan and associated Action
Plans until more detailed information, including projected costs, are
provided to the public. We appreciate the work of those who
participated in this process, and we believe it would be irresponsible
to move forward immediately, particularly in light of the projected
multi-million dollar budget deficit facing our district. We should not
approve sweeping changes to our school system without providing the
public with basic and important information such as the projected costs
for each action plan. We need to know what programs and resources, such
as teachers, classes, and support programs, will need to be eliminated
in order to fund these plans.
The public has been promised repeatedly that the action plans and
their supporting documents would be presented in detail at the end of
the nine month process, for the public to assess and vote on.
Unfortunately, the plans do not contain any details as to projected
costs, how to implement them, or how to pay for them. Many of the urgent
needs that parents and district employees have been concerned with are
not addressed by the Strategic Plan or the Action Plans. How does one
prioritize these disconnected action plans without taking into account
our foundational needs, our resources, and our limited budget? We have
been told by Dr. Ramos numerous times not to worry about implementation
and money; that these things will be addressed later in the process.
Well, our history shows that we are not particularly good at
implementing even one idea (IB, for example). Implementing over 40 ideas
is essentially absurd, an almost impossible task for even the most
well-functioning and funded district.
Read the entire petition HERE.
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