Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards

These arguments, this dispute, ask Salkin and Albolino to resolve themt.  One either wrote or approved the original contract.  The other one approved the contract and did not question why it was not in the budget for 10 years.  Again, the people who can answer are sitting right in the midst of this.  Albolino, back up all of those yes, yes, yes votes by admitting that you did not read the budget or the contract.

I wonder where in New Jersey this poll was taken.  Growing up in Hackensack, I have only ever called it Cabbage Night.

 Cabbage Night

I don't think that anyone opposes the SRO.  Detective Furcal was not an SRO.  He was not certified as an SRO.  Detective Martin was trained.  Hackensack Police Director, Mordaga indicated at a Board meeting that an officer has been scheduled for training.  He also suggested that both the high school and middle school have an SRO.

I am both a parent and taxpayer, and have to budget my money to cover all things that I need as does the school board and city council.  The question is how many times should I pay for the same service.  Hackensack taxpayers have paid twice for this service while our sending districts have paid once.   Our taxes are split into three parts.  The school budget gets the majority of those taxes.  The city and county get their prospective portions to cover their budgets.    Because the school did not pay does not mean they should not pay. 

A woman at the meeting commented that if the fire department responded to an alarm at the high school, would the school have to pay.  If the fire trucks responding to the school were permanently placed there, I would say that they should. They are not.

School board of education member, Albolino, indicated that the school only budgeted for this security for the first three years in question.  Mr. Albolino has been on the board for almost 20 years.  Many of those years he served as President.  Why did he not question why the monies were not paid?  Why did he not question why the item was not budgeted in the more recent years?  The school board attorney for the past seven years, was the city attorney before that, he knew from both sides of the coin that payment was due.  Why did he not question it?  Detective Furcal was not invisible.  They used the service.  To simply say that the board never got a bill does not fly.  Bills at the school have been paid without invoices for years.  Only a few board members have questioned it and they were always ostracized for asking questions about those situations.  A woman at the meeting indicated that she learned that the school district had routinely paid truancy and residency officers for years without invoices.  What makes this different.  It was not until the new Police Director came along and audited his departments budget did it come to light.  He is right in seeking this money back.  Hackensack is extremely short on police officers. This officer, who is not a trained SRO,  is being paid by the city while the city police department cannot schedule him for duties to the city.  Despite that, the Police Director has provided security from day one of this school year on the perimeter of the building.  In fact, and in addition to that officer, he has scheduled patrol of the area by additional police officers.  Any intruder entering the building is less likely to gain admittance from the outside than ever before. 

The school district should do right.  Pay the bill in full and admit that you are wrong.  Then, get a properly trained SRO in the school.  Mr. Salkin suggesting that if the city wanted the money, they should sue the school board.  wouldn't he like that to happen?  After all, he would benefit twice.

I viewed the video of the most recent City Council meeting.  Angel Carrion spoke on behalf of ICAL with regard to the issue of the use of the Civic Center by the nonprofit organization.  From my understanding, ICAL was given total use of the Civic Center and have been charging other groups to use the taxpayer owned building.  How can a nonprofit group have total control of a city owned building?  How can ICAL remove a group that has used the facility 3 nights a week to teach dance to our children because they have not paid ICAL?  Carrion indicated that the use of the civic center by Dance Evolution has caused the nonprofit a loss in profit. How can ICAL charge anyone?  Does the city receive any of that money? I ask these questions so that I can get a better understanding.  ICAL appears to be a good organization and so does the dance program Mrs. Manning provides to our children.  Apparently, ICAL has had control over this building for many years before the current administration was elected and installed.  Anyone have any answers?

I am not surprised that the high school has been designated as a Focus School.  While testing of special education and ESL students are credited as being the cause of the determination.  There has consistently been a large achievement gap between whites and all other subgroups .  The schools website list a report which has not been updated since 2010 reflecting HSPA scores.   It is clear their has been this gap for years.  Each year, the Board sets a goal to close the achievement gap but obviously has not achieved that goal.  If it had, the high school would not be a Focus school.  Success for all groups is a success for Hackensack children and taxpayers.  People move to a district where the schools are excellent.  People move when it is not. 

The website should include an update to the report posted in 2010. Then an accurate assessment can be evaluated.   See, http://www.hackensackschools.org/files/312601/2009-10%20state%20assessment%20report.pdf. 

Thank you for providing the location.  I was wondering where the park was located.