Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards
General Category => Hackensack Discussion => Topic started by: BLeafe on November 27, 2009, 04:47:02 PM
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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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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.
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I'm wondering just how insensitive they are.
Are they on during weekends. Are they on during summer break ???
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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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Did you try calling the Superintendant's office?
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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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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.
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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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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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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:
(http://i46.tinypic.com/dblkco.jpg)
"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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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.
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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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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.
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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.
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I agree with both of you.
Rest assured that there is something in the works.
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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 :angel:. 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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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 (http://tinypic.com/r/55ms61/6)
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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Time to bust their bells.
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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.
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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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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 ?
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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:
http://youtu.be/Qu59GO89yd0
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.
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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.