A Decade of Middle School Noise - Even When No One's There!

[just watching]

You don't get it.  They just don't give a rat's a_ _ about the residents and businesses in the neighborhood. 

Whoever is in control of that switch, their job is just a job. They care about coming to work on time, doing their job with as few issues and interruptions as possible, going home without staying overtime for one minute, and of course getting paid and getting the lush benefits afforded by work in the public sector. Whether or not children get the best education also is not their concern. 

It's all about doing their job duties with the minimum possible personal effort needed to keep from getting fired, and then getting paid every two weeks.  Nothing else matters. You don't matter, 430 Union Street doesn't matter, the Gentile Funeral home doesn't matter, nor do all the houses and apartments on Park Street.

That's what they care about, themselves.  All they have to do is flip a switch, and then turn it on in the morning of the next school day.  But that's just not part of their job or their concern.  And unless someone in a higher position of authority reads them the riot act, this problem will continue unabated.

[Homer Jones]

Continuing with that line of thought; Hackensack has an elected Board of education. Theoretically they are the highest position of authority. That being the case the neighbors including Messrs. Leafe and Gentile have to go on record by attending a Board meeting; bring it to the Board's attention; and if the Board doesn't act accordingly, popularize it as a political issue. That should get the candidate's attention prior to the next Board of education election.

You hate to politicize things; but, sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get results.

[BLeafe]

I agree with both of you.

Rest assured that there is something in the works.



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[BLeafe]

I sent a Certified letter to the Board of Ed. last week about the noise. I still hadn't gotten the return receipt today, so I went over the BoE meeting and spoke to two members before the meeting started to see if the letter arrived. I told them my name and the subject matter.

One of them told me that someone writes about Middle School noise on a Hackensack site .  The other said the letter got there this morning and the problem's been taken care of. Someone spoke to someone else and the bells won't be heard on holidays.

I didn't mention that I've heard that before, but I was given a phone number of one of the members to call if it ever does happen again.

Because the meeting was about to start, I didn't get into the issue of the day-long neighborhood noise that needs to stop, so I'll probably be using that number very soon.

It's a start............



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[BLeafe]

I didn't hear any bells yesterday - Presidents Day - so I thought maybe they got their act together. Then I remembered that I didn't hear any on Friday either, so I checked their calendar.

There was no school either day - Winter Recess - so the bells were off anyway.

But there was school today and, of course, bells.

I was taking snow pictures in the neighborhood today and was on Passaic St when I heard the 2:42pm bells go off. I had previously only recorded the sound from a block and a half away and 7 floors up, so here was a chance to record the 2:45pm bells from a lot closer.

OMG!


View My Video


This is a full-frontal assault on The First Presbyterian Church, the E.nopi Learning Center, and the residents of the apartment building at 40 Passaic St.

How do they stand it all day long?



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[Homer Jones]

Time to bust their bells.

[itsme]

Next Board of Education meeting is Tuesday, February 23rd at 7:30 pm in the Middle School auditorium.  I suggest you stay for the meeting and have your request placed in the minutes.  Bring some of your friends and business representatives from the neighborhood.  There is strength in numbers.

[BLeafe]

SUCCESS!!

Not a single bell was heard this week! (and school was in session).

I was hoping that it was the result of something good that someone had done, but was expecting to hear something like "storm damage knocked them out", so I called Fred Martens - the helpful Board of Education member whom I had met 2 months ago - to find out.

He wasn't available, but I got a call back from John Doller, the Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds for the BoE. He said he had only recently been presented with the problem and found a way to cut off the external blasts, saying that the only time they will ever be heard outside is if the Middle School is in lockdown for some reason.

Hallelujah!

And it only took a decade.



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[just watching]

If the noise comes back, I've got a great idea.

Since the State is going to be cutting millions in funding for Hackensack, the city is going to have to tighen it's belts and lay off a lot of employees.  So why not start with whoever allows that bell to ring at inappropriate times ?

[BLeafe]

You're not gonna believe this.

After 3 1/2 years of neighborhood peace, I was jolted out of my chair last month by that dreaded sound that I was told would never be heard again unless there was a lockdown - those stupid, mother-jumping bells!

Must be a test to make sure they still work in case there ever IS a lockdown, right?

Well, the "test" has been going on every day since!

Perhaps the new principal at the Middle School - Corey Jones - wasn't aware of what transpired before, so I wrote him a friendly email on October 1, congratulating him on his new job and telling him what transpired over the last couple of decades and the resolution.

To illustrate my point, I included an A/V clip of the bells from several years ago. I then thanked him for his anticipated assistance in the matter and wished him well in is new position.

He replied on October 3 in an appropriate manner:

"Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention.  I will certainly look into rectifying this issue.  As soon as I am able to get feedback on how or when the outside bells can be reconfigured I will provide you with followup on the situation."

The bells continued.

One of the more idiotic aspects of the previous bells problem was that no one at the school had the sense to turn them off before holidays. You've read what I posted in this thread when the bells sounded all day long on Christmas and other holidays.

I again experienced that staff thoughtlessness this past Monday, October 14 - Columbus Day  (no school) - when the bells started sounding off to no one but local residents. That and the fact that no one could find the off switch in the two weeks since my original email to Mr. Jones, made me think that perhaps no one had any intention of fixing the problem.

So, knowing when the bells would go off next, I walked over to the school and took a video with the aging flip phone that captured the sound while showing an empty employee parking lot (in a tiny picture that YouTube blew up). You can see/hear it for yourself:





That day, I wrote Mr. Jones again, sending him the video and the link to this thread, so he would know exactly what transpired prior to his appointment as principal. I also expressed disappointment that no one was able to locate the "OFF" switch in the previous two weeks nor did anyone bother to turn the bells off for the holiday.

I was hoping this SIMPLE matter could be resolved without going through the BoE and its Buildings and Grounds supervisor, but I'm beginning to have my doubts.

He replied early this morning:

"The bells will now be turned off on all weekends and holidays.  However, we do need the external bells on during the normal school day so that they can be heard by students and staff who are outside during recess and PE."

I guess I'm not getting through. Time to increase the volume (hey - turnabout is fair play, right?).

My immediate reply:

"This is not a solution. It brings us right back to the original problem. Most of the time, no one is even outside. Why must the neighborhood be subjected to that again at such volume?

Your "need" is for a sound that covers only your property - why must it be heard blocks away? If you know what light trespass is in light pollution, you also know that this is sound trespass - sound pollution. Do educators not understand that?

Have you considered at least toning it down? Didn't a volume control come with this system? Hundreds of your neighbors don't need to know when every period begins and ends.

Have you considered placing speakers on your periphery and aiming them inward toward the people that need to hear them instead of using the outward overkill system that exists now?

Have you considered ANY option that shows some consideration for all the residents and church and funeral services within earshot of these unnecessary blasts?

The 9:32am blast just went off...............no one is outside."


He just wrote back:

"I am currently exploring the option of turning the volume down on the external bells.  I understand your concern and consider your request to be reasonable.  However, it is imperative that I ensure that any modification to our bell system does not have an adverse impact on our operational procedures.  I will be in touch once I receive feedback on adjusting the volume."


Stay tuned.

By the way - when the next blast went off at 10:22am, no one was outside.

[BLeafe]

Time for an update, as lots of things have transpired over the past year.

The morning bells continued for the entire 2013-2014 school year. I was looking forward to the relief that summer would bring, but there was none. The bells continued every day although no one was there.

At that point, I had HAD IT with the bells and the BS, so I wrote to BoE member Frank Albolino, who had helped get them turned off in 2010. He forwarded the letter to Karen Lewis, the schools superintendent.

A few days later, the bells were off. I spoke with Ms. Lewis on the phone and thanked her profusely.

I had mentioned in my letter that one of my fears was that, if left unchecked, Middle School principal Corey Jones would escalate things when school resumed in September and return the bells to being heard all day long. He got away with morning bells all last year, so this progression was a distinct possibility.

Guess what?

When school resumed in September, everyone in the neighborhood - once again - knew when every period began and ended all day long at the Middle School, albeit at a slightly reduced volume. And - true to form - Mr. Jones did not turn the bells off for the Columbus Day holiday - not a good omen for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and winter break.

I wrote again to Mr. Albolino and Ms.Lewis and let them know that it was pre-2010 all over again. You may recall from a previous post in this thread that the agreement was that the bells would never sound externally again unless the school was in lockdown.

How could the new MS principal unilaterally decide to ignore that?

I haven't heard the bells during the last two weeks, so maybe he can't.

We'll see.