Author Topic: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!  (Read 19149 times)

Offline BLeafe

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A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« on: November 27, 2009, 04:47:02 PM »
You don't expect an educational institution to engage in willful, useless noise pollution, but that's exactly what the Hackensack Middle School has been doing for at least a decade.

Inside a school, it's normal for some sound (bells) to go off to signify the beginning and end of class periods. It's also normal to hear something similar outside when students are there, such as lunch periods.

The Middle School doesn't want to be normal or even be a good neighbor. It has loud electronic bells that go off outside for the beginning and end of EVERY period..........even holidays! The sound is akin to that of a much-higher-pitched Queen Mary foghorn.

Why is this a concern of mine? I live almost two blocks from the school and 7 floors up and I've gotten unnecessarily blasted by them for ages. So has my entire neighborhood.

Have you ever gone to a wake for a departed loved one at the Gentile Funeral Home across the street from the school when classes are in session? I have. And right in the middle of a silent prayer/contemplative moment for the friends and relatives of the deceased, the Middle School foghorn goes off - with no students outside - and ruins everything.

The sound is always unnecessarily loud, but I've noticed it sounds louder up here than it sometimes does at ground level. Perhaps the school's outside loudspeakers are mis-aimed. The school is aware of this and does nothing. It would make much more sense to put their speakers on the school's periphery and aim the sound inward at the people for whom it's intended. The entire neighborhood doesn't need to know when every period begins and ends all day long.

ONE of the many Middle School principals employed during the last decade told me that there is no reason for any electronic sound to emanate from the school when there are no students outside. Unfortunately, that sensible principal is no longer there.

Leaving the bells on during holidays or over holiday periods - including the current Thanksgiving break - has become a more frequent problem. You would think that intelligent people would know enough to turn them off when no classes are in session.

You would be wrong.

I even called the school an hour before they left on Wednesday to ask that they turn them off. On/Off switches are so tricky.

So, I've be woken up the last two mornings (and countless others) by bells meant for students who were home sleeping. As usual, I documented the audio infractions on video, but the wind today played havoc with the microphone, so - since I have so many other videos of the problem - I picked out a couple of windless recordings from the past that you may find eye- ear-opening and cell-video'd them off the TV.

This one was from a windless Martin Luther King Day in 2007:

http://xrl.us/MSchMLK2007


This one was shot at 12:43 AM(!) during a bells malfunction in 2006. Perhaps this still-of-the-night event might be the equivalent of an interrupted contemplative moment at Gentile's:

http://xrl.us/MSchMidnight2006


Anyone else ever hear these things? A TEACHER once told me that she heard them from as far away as the Sears parking lot!

But even when the annoyance is pointed out to them - repeatedly - the Middle School doesn't see/hear the problem and won't lift a finger to fix it by hitting "OFF".

I guess I ask for too much.

Perhaps the YouTube community would enjoy these videos.



BTW - If the video links don't work for you, try the download links below.



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« Last Edit: December 01, 2009, 10:10:11 AM by BLeafe »


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Offline Homer Jones

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #1 on: November 27, 2009, 07:43:28 PM »
In the words of John Donne many, many long years ago: (Before Metallica)

For whom the bell tolls

It tolls for thee.

Might be a good ending to an impassioned plea to the elected Bd. of Ed.

Offline just watching

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #2 on: November 28, 2009, 02:01:55 PM »
I'm wondering just how insensitive they are.

Are they on during weekends.  Are they on during summer break ???

Offline BLeafe

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #3 on: November 28, 2009, 06:55:03 PM »
I'm wondering just how insensitive they are.
Are they on during weekends.  Are they on during summer break ???

They're not on during weekends or summer break (thank God!), so I guess that was the original programming. But they're apparently too lazy to bother programming them so that they're not on when no students are outside or when holidays occur, so they're still incredibly insensitive, because they've been told countless times about this and have done absolutely nothing to rectify the situation.

Believe it or not, it used to be a lot worse! They used to broadcast all their internal announcements outside, so if some poor girl got called to the nurse's office, everybody in the neighborhood knew about it. I'm sure the girl would be appalled if she knew.

Even worse was a couple of years ago when the after-school CASA program was in effect there. That extended the bells and announcements until 6pm.

Those people set the volume to 11 with their announcements. The neighborhood used to hear about such earth-shattering educational things as pizza and contest winners and lots of long-winded LOUD speeches that belonged strictly internal.

I have a video (posted below in Reply #7) taken on a late winter afternoon when it was cold and dark out and no students were outside and the guy in charge was unwittingly broadcasting his announcements to the neighborhood - MUCH louder than the day people did.

I called when I heard the pizza announcement and the woman who answered said, "You heard that?".

That stopped the idiocy for about a day.

The Middle School needs a major overhaul on their external announcements policy, some serious reprogramming and a big volume decrease of their external bells, and better placement of their speakers............sometime in my lifetime, hopefully.



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« Last Edit: December 01, 2009, 01:08:22 AM by BLeafe »
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Offline itsme

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2009, 12:34:35 PM »
Did you try calling the Superintendant's office?

Offline BLeafe

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2009, 02:31:03 PM »
Initially, I met with every principal but the current one - and nothing changed. I then had an appointment set up a couple of years ago with the current principal. Just before the meeting, I was told by the Middle School that the meeting was canceled and that I would have to approach the schools superintendent instead.

Unbelievably, the superintendent's office told me I had to take it up with the city manager! I did.

I had no idea that turning off a switch was such a complicated matter.

On April 18, 2007, the city manager emailed me that the superintendent informed him that "certain changes would be made".

I took that to mean that reprogramming of the bells would occur over the summer. When the new school year started in September, it was clear that nothing had changed, so I sent a video that reflected that to the city manager.

On October 18, 2007, he emailed me that he again had spoken with the superintendent and that bells would be shut off on holidays.

Not only hasn't that happened, but one of the school's "solutions" was for me to call them the day before a holiday to remind them to turn their bells off. I have no idea why that should be the responsibility of a neighborhood resident instead of school employees, but apparently I'm not very good at it. Even when I call, the bells stay on.

When that happens and there's no one there to call on the holiday, the only recourse is to call the police, who get in touch with the school custodian (I think) and the bells get turned off. So the school's inability to turn off their own bells not only inconveniences the neighborhood, but also their own custodian.

I hope they're paying him double-time for working on a holiday.



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Offline Editor

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #6 on: November 29, 2009, 08:23:13 PM »
Frustrating.  We're just talking about turning something off.

Who needs more noise?  Car alarms, jet noise, leaf blowers, barking dogs are all very annoying but at least these offenders serve some purpose that arguably make them tolerable.  That cannot be said of a buzzer that serves absolutely no purpose when students aren't there to hear it. 

To some this might seem a minor issue, but I feel for Bob and those in this neighborhood. It must be terribly unnerving to have this loud buzzer constantly going off.  This is a significant quality of life issue that should be very easy to remedy.   




« Last Edit: November 29, 2009, 10:07:43 PM by Editor »

Offline BLeafe

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2009, 10:55:40 AM »
This is a significant quality of life issue that should be very easy to remedy.

You would think so.


I found an interesting video of the above-mentioned CASA after-school program announcements (and more bells) that was taken between 5-6pm on December 14, 2005. Pay attention - there's important stuff about baby-sitting here.

As you'll also hear, students were constantly being called to the office...........maybe those in charge thought the students were hiding out in neighborhood homes, because it certainly was loud enough for all to hear (even low-flying overhead jets couldn't completely drown this guy out............and listen to the sound of the disconnections!):


http://xrl.us/MschCASA2005


How's THAT for a cacaphony!

(and how's that for a perfect word: "caca-phony")


BTW - if the video link doesn't work for you, try the download link below.



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« Last Edit: December 01, 2009, 10:08:09 AM by BLeafe »
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Offline Homer Jones

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #8 on: November 30, 2009, 11:28:02 AM »
That's outrageous! There are ordinances and regulations on the books protecting the public interest from landscapers, contractors and loud music etc. There is no reason why the Bd. of Ed. can't and shouldn't be held accountable to these same regulations.
There are accoustical engineers who can come in and assess the noise generation coming from the school and develop a plan to ameliorate the problem. The Bd. of Ed. must have a few bucks stashed away in their budget to at least hire a consultant to look at the situation and issue a report on their findings.

Offline itsme

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #9 on: November 30, 2009, 12:04:41 PM »
It is ridiculous that something so simple cannot be corrected.  However, I am amazed that the school system referred you to the City Manager.  They are supposedly autonomous governing bodies.  In this case, I believe the buck stops with the superintendant who is the boss over all employees from the principals to the custodians.  The schools have a capital improvement fund.  The Board found 1.2 million to complete the Padovano building after the County Special Services backed out on their use of the building.  I do not see why they cannot find the funds to evaluate and correct the problem.  It could be even more basic than that.  They can just make it routine that the bells, and sound systems are listed in things to lock and shutoff when school is not in session.   I suggest you go to a Board of Education meeting where your request can be placed on the record in public.  Possibly, you may get results.

Offline just watching

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #10 on: November 30, 2009, 02:06:42 PM »
That's right, go to a Board of Education meeting.  They will not be happy that the Superintendant referred you to the city manager.  The Board does not want concerned citizens to be treated like garbage, to be sherperded and herded from one agency to another, for something so simple.

I also suggest you contact the Gentile Funeral Home and the Jewish one next to it, get some support there.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #11 on: December 24, 2009, 04:21:32 PM »
Well, the Middle School Grinches have struck again! It's starting to seem a bit willful too.

Remember when I mentioned above how I had called them the day before Thanksgiving to remind them to turn the "bells" off and they rang on Thanksgiving and the day after anyway? I thought that someone had come in on Thanksgiving after I had called the police that morning because the sounds stopped around 12:30pm. That's why I was so surprised the next day to hear them start going off again at 8:12am, but those also stopped at 12:30pm.

I couldn't figure out why this happened...........until I spoke with an office worker when I called yesterday to ask them to PLEASE not repeat that mistake over the long holiday break.

She told me that the bells were set for a half-day schedule that day before Thanksgiving. That means they did absolutely NOTHING after I called that day and the bells continued to ring on the half-day schedule on Thanksgiving and the day after.

It gets worse.

After promising me yesterday that the neighborhood wouldn't be subjected to this annoying electronic bleating over the holiday break, guess what?

Yes, that was loud cursing you may have heard emanating from my building at 8:12am today when these damn things woke me up yet again on a no-school day. I video'd it 20 minutes later and called the police again. The desk sergeant was very nice and said he understood and would try to help get them shut off.

Unfortunately, he wasn't successful. But here's the worst part: the bells were on a half-day schedule yesterday. If the Middle School people merely "forgot" again, the bells would be on the same half-day schedule again today. They weren't.

This means that after I called them pleading with them to turn the bells off for the break, someone not only didn't turn them off, but actually set them to run for the full (no)school day! They rang all day long - every class! I don't know how I can NOT begin to feel like I should take these repeated "mistakes" personally.

I called the desk sergeant again, asking him to PLEASE find somebody to turn these things off before we have to hear them again all day on CHRISTMAS! He was very sympathetic and said he'd sure try.

I'll let you know tomorrow if he was successful this time. The only bells I wanna hear tomorrow are jingle bells.

Since the school may try to deny that they switched the bells yesterday from a half-day schedule to a full-day AFTER I asked them to turn them off, I taped today's noise at both 8:33am and 2:45pm.

Here are those videos. Again - today's incompetencies were videotaped (VHS) and then shot off my TV screen during replay with my cellphone:


http://xrl.us/MSchDec24AM2009

http://xrl.us/MSchDec24PM2009


Whether anything happens tomorrow or not, you can bet that the superintendent will be made aware of this thread. I've had it with this idiocy.



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« Last Edit: December 24, 2009, 04:24:17 PM by BLeafe »
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Offline BLeafe

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #12 on: December 25, 2009, 03:40:15 PM »
You knew what was gonna happen, right? Yep - the Middle School Christmas Grinches struck again today, loud and often.

Of the 346 zillion nominees, the callous bunch in this office came in dead last in the No-Bell Peace Prize balloting.

I'm not even sure if tomorrow (a Saturday) is safe now.

One more wrinkle: 5 minutes after I posted yesterday, the bells went off once for no apparent reason at 4:26pm (they're usually over by 3pm) and weren't heard again until the ridiculous 8:12am reveille call that no one in the neighborhood wanted to hear on Christmas Day.

Here are today's offerings for your viewing listening displeasure - the first one's a twofer (8:30 and 8:33am):


http://xrl.us/MSch2onChristmasAM2009

http://xrl.us/MSchChristmasPM2009


I suppose I could have gone for the quartet of blasts at 2:42-2:45-2:50-2:55pm on the second one, but you get the idea.

You also now know when to never schedule anything at Gentile's.


Hey - I've got an advance copy of an album the Middle School is making about their holiday bells:






"Eleven", by the way, is a Spinal Tap reference to the fact that volume settings only go up to 10. ("It's one louder, isn't it?")


And so, Hackensack Middle School office personnel, thanks for ruining Christmas (and every other holiday).  >:(



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Offline itsme

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #13 on: December 29, 2009, 05:23:33 PM »
The next School Board meeting is January 26th at 7:30 pm at the 5/6 School.  Take your opportunity to air your complaint directly to the Board.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!
« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2010, 04:21:03 PM »
Since today's a holiday and there's no school, it's time for another exciting video. Let's see if the Middle School crew became hackensacknow.org visitors since last time:


http://xrl.us/MSchMLK2010


Apparently not. Oh well - I think they may become visitors real soon.

I've gotta admit - there's something to be said about this type of consistency. However, I don't believe in using such language in mixed company...............even online.



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anything