Author Topic: Maywood no longer sending to HHS  (Read 42436 times)

Offline Editor

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Offline ericmartindale

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Re: Maywood no longer sending to HHS
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2018, 12:28:57 PM »
I relocated to Maywood on January 1st, and I have a step-daughter who just enrolled in Hackensack High. If you polled Maywood folks, I'm sure most would prefer Paramus over Hackensack, even if the entire town (not just 1/2 of Maywood, as now) would need to be bused. And that's a big cost. However, I think the chance of Paramus taking Maywood is ZERO. Paramus looks at Maywood as being a lower-income town, and they in Paramus want to preserve their own snootiness. Paramus is already a large school, and they would additionally feel that adding more students will increase enrollment. They would prefer a more close-knit school, and already feel the enrollment is too high. It's just not going to happen. Lodi has nothing to offer, as Hackensack is clearly better. Bogota, where Maywood used to attend, is packed to the rafters with students. Saddle Brook?  Also a tad snootier than Maywood, they won't want Maywood. There's literally nowhere to go. Maywood is going to continue it's sending relationship with Hackensack.



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Offline Victor E Sasson

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Re: Maywood no longer sending to HHS
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2019, 11:28:02 AM »
HACKENSACK DROPS OPPOSITION TO WITHDRAWAL OF MAYWOOD STUDENTS

POTENTIAL LOSS OF $3.6 MILLION IN TUITION ANNUALLY

READ: https://thesassonreport.blogspot.com/2019/10/hackensack-school-board-drops.html

Offline ericmartindale

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Re: Maywood no longer sending to HHS
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2020, 10:59:17 AM »
Does anyone know how this was resolved.  I notice the advocates of Becton Regional are no longer talking about it on Maywood facebook pages and blogs.  That could mean it was denied.

I was able to determine that on October 21, 2019, Judge Moscowitz "sent it back" to the State Commissioner of Education, and said that he (Moscowitz) lacks jurisdiction to make a determination either way.

Offline ericmartindale

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Re: Maywood no longer sending to HHS
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2020, 10:19:17 PM »
Evidently the State Commissioner of Education is still deciding Maywood's application.  His name is Dr. Lamont O. Repollet, and he was appointed by the current Governor, Phil Murphy. He's a minority and a Democrat, so my guess is it's going to be a tough sell to convince him to let a suburban town leave an urban school district.

One serious obstacle is that State Senate President Sweeney has announced a plan to consolidate local Boards of Education, and Maywood along with Rochelle Park and South Hackensack are all targeted for elimination and consolidation with the Hackensack Board of Education to make a Hackensack Regional Board of Education.  Maywood would effectively gain partial ownership of a major asset that it didn't pay to build, which is the high school. And that is in the best interests of Maywood.

I have to wonder openly if the municipalities will be consolidated next, based on having a common Board of Education. That could be 5 or 10 years out, it's entirely possible. The politics seems to be moving in that direction. So a lot is at stake here, and I feel that our Hackensack elected officials haven't thought this through thoroughly.

If a municipal consolidation ever happens, I think each town should "come in" as a unit with it's own Neighborhood Council with significant decision-making authority. And then Hackensack should be divided into several Neighborhood Councils, one for Fairmount, one for the hill south of Passaic Street, one for what is traditionally called "the first ward" up to Essex Street and Green Street, and one for Central Hackensack. So there would be a strong sense of community for each area and lot's of local decision-making, and maybe even a Zoning Board for each. And then there would be a regional Mayor and Council elected for all of Hackensack, Maywood, Rochelle Park, and South Hackensack. And one regional Planning Board.

Really a lot is at stake, and for Maywood to leave the high school jeopardizes a whole lot more than people realize. It's like the future is being decided now, and everyone is asleep at the wheel.

I am aware of no official call for public comment on the school secession plan, but I did send a long and detailed letter to Dr. Repollet in opposition to the proposal.  I didn't mention anything about any possible municipal consolidation.

The only other news on this is that the Borough of Maywood passed a Resolution in favor of severing the sending relationship, based on it saving Maywood about a million dollars a year. To Maywood, that's a lot of money. I did the math, it comes to less than a dollar a day to the average homeowner. 

I live in Maywood, and my goal is to make $100 or more a day buying and selling stocks. Does anyone think I care about a dollar a day on property taxes???  Even if I owned a house and wasn't renting, it's peanuts compared to $100 a day. It's not even worth thinking about. It's a small-minded concern, and I'm far more concerned about how much time Maywood kids will spend on buses travelling so far. And how I will have to jump through hoops to get my child to school, or to home, if she misses the bus ride either way. 

And I have a longer view on what may happen with municipal consolidations.


Offline ericmartindale

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Re: Maywood no longer sending to HHS
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2020, 04:09:04 AM »
The decision needs to be appealed because a REGIONALIZED school district means that taxpayers in the sending districts will have to share in the cost to expand any and all schools in Hackensack. This is far more advantageous to Hackensack than the reduction of student enrollment at the high school if Maywood leaves.  The decision was made on March 3rd, and I believe there are 45 days to appeal before it's final. To follow are excerpts from my March 8th letter to the Hackensack Board of Education.

"The Hackensack Board of Education is overlooking an enormous financial incentive to keep hold of Maywood as a sending district.

As you are aware, New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney has prioritized merging school districts and sending districts into regional K-12 Districts.  The Maywood, Rochelle Park, and South Hackensack Boards of Education are specifically targeted for elimination.  If this happens, there will be ONE school district and ONE elected Board of Education covering Hackensack and it’s sending districts.

Economically, this would be very advantageous to Hackensack taxpayers because the cost of expanding any school in Hackensack would be spread out among the property owners in the city AND it’s sending districts.  Therefore the portion paid by City of Hackensack property owners will be dramatically less. This is true not just for expanding the high school, but for expanding any of the city schools. While it is theoretically true that school expansions in the sending districts would be largely paid for by Hackensack taxpayers under Sweeney’s merger plan, the reality is those schools are not in need of expansion, and there is scarcely any residential growth in those towns. 

It is extraordinarily short-sighted to let Maywood go, when there is so much pending school expansion in Hackensack that will need to be paid for.  Hackensack taxpayers cannot afford to let them go.

I ask the Hackensack Board of Education and the Mayor & Council of Hackensack to promptly seek an opinion on this from the city’s Tax Assessor. He could give a percent of future school expansion costs that would be absorbed by the other communities, based on property tax ratables in all of the communities. Unsure to include Teterboro?

When new facts are brought to light, public policy has to change in response.  In light of this economic perspective, the Hackensack Board of Education would be prudent to re-evaluate its position on Maywood leaving. It is not too late to appeal the decision by Lamont Repollet, State Commissioner of Education."