Guest Column
Joseph McAleer
What is wrong in the Matawan and Aberdeen school district?
The number is out and the number is monumental for the taxpayers of Matawan and Aberdeen — $38.5 million. As the most taxed communities in Monmouth County, we cannot afford a referendum of this magnitude when there are other tried-and-true alternative solutions that would still adequately provide the children of our communities with the education parents expect and pay for, a cost for each student which is very high and not with similarly high educational results.
Tried-and-true solutions are as simple as redistricting, grade-specific schools, and split sessions. While such solutions come with a minor inconvenience at first, it will be far less of an inconvenience than to pay the additional and only estimated cost of $200 for the referendum, plus the 2002-03 school budget, plus the budgets in years to come to put teachers in all of these classrooms to be built with the $38.5 million, referendum funds, which won’t pay for teacher salaries, health care, pensions, etc., per year added to the school tax of every homeowner in our area. In a very short time, we taxpayers could easily be looking at an annual increase which could quickly add $800 and rising. This is a scary reality for every resident due to one simple fact: 90 percent of parents of school-age children don’t know what their taxes go for. Most parents’ main concern is that little Johnny or Mary go to school and learn. It is not that simple, and every parent needs to get involved and learn every detail about where the money goes.
Much has been printed over the years about the last school building and improvement referendum in 1993, which was approximately $7.7 million. It was accidentally found out the money and projects budgeted during that referendum did not go as far as was publicized due to improper and almost criminal negligence by construction engineers and estimators. One example would be the situation brought up publicly by Kevin Mandeville, former Matawan councilman, who was concerned that money for this referendum would be misspent as in 1993, giving the example of a gymnasium that engineers and estimators indicated repairs and improvements would cost $500,000. When all was said and done, the actual costs for that one gymnasium repair was $1.2 million. A $700,000 overage; according to the state of New Jersey, any overage on a construction project funded with tax dollars more than 10 percent must be reported. Ask yourself if this 140 percent overage was properly reported to the state. This was not the only example Mandeville had for improper estimations, that ended up taking funds from other projects, programs and curriculum.
Now a school board divided amongst itself with inner power struggles, caused by members recently moved aside due to their public arrogance and mistreatment of their fellow school board members and the public, are working behind the scenes to again regain power and influence to satisfy their own egos. This must be stopped, and unfortunately this arrogant duo will stop at nothing; they will even improperly and illegally use the PTO organizations during this school board election, as they did during the last mayoral election, when PTO members called school parents in Aberdeen, asking they not vote for Mayor David Sobel. That was a situation that was supposedly corrected by school administration personnel.
I have the greatest respect for the PTO organization and those who give tirelessly in the interest of the children/students. But when the PTO organization turns political and is used improperly, almost blindly to support arrogant and egotistical power hungry individuals who put their power before our children, and whose pressure tactics and who improperly micro-manage administrators, it is time to speak out.
Parents should ask these PTO organizations to explain the tens of thousands of dollars they have in certificates of deposit, some purported in Matawan and Aberdeen to range as high as $40,000. Years ago the PTO organizations had to be at a zero balance at school year’s end. While that may have changed, tens of thousands of dollars in CDs should leave many parents wondering why that significant amount of money sits collecting interest, rather than being used for the children who very often raised the money. How much money will your student’s PTO spend on this school board election? It is your right to know. I, for one, want to know why the school board sits in a building built as a school, and some of our children are learning in a trailer. It is time that our schools be used for school, and our school board seek other space — in trailers perhaps.
Finally, I watch the school board meetings on Channel 71 and know it is divided. We are left to look to Maureen Camillary, Janice Gallo, Art Fumarola and school board President Gerry Donahue for the dedication and leadership our children can be proud of.
Joseph McAleer is a resident of Aberdeen