From the July 26 edition
It’s up to parents, not the school
To the editor:
At the June 18 UFRSD School Board meeting, it was a pleasure to witness the results of the Christopher Nagy administration action plan to marginalize the risk of the growing problems related drug abuse and the real life concern of gang activity on our doorsteps.
Through several PowerPoint slides, Dr. Nagy, Connie Embley and Brian Myslinski outlined the year-end statistics of drug related activities, arrests and subsequent punishments. In an almost off-the-cuff comment, Mr. Myslinski mentioned that the first pass of punishment for a first time drug offense was a five-day out of school suspension. This was met with head-nodding approval from the gallery present. But then the proverbial other shoe dropped and it is appalling.
It appears as though this trial five-day, out-of-school suspension was met with some reservation by a parent who’s child was subject to the penalty. The parent complained that five days is too much; that they work and can’t take the time off to be with him or her if they are out of school; and that the school had to take the child.
As I was picking my jaw off the floor of the media center, the translations and questions began to go through my head: "Your kid is taking or is dealing drugs. Hello! You take the time off from work and be the parent."
The school confines are an institute of learning and growing. Daycare ended when we registered our children for the first grade. Dr. Nagy, Ms.Embley and Mr. Myslinski are not care sitters and have jobs that far outweigh any of ours in terms of responsibility and accountability. They have almost 1,000 young men and women that need to have their and educational growth looked after. Any parent thinking that they should act as constable and warden should have their parental rights striped. The Allentown High School and its administration do not run a babysitting service between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The sitting school board must take this seriously. It must take those PowerPoint slides and the hour long discussion to heart and consult their retained attorneys and perform the due-diligence needed to protect our children from the dangers of drug abusers and dealers that are obviously within the walls of High Street (yes, the irony there is noted).
But we as parents need to be diligent and recognize the warning signs and not just talk to our kids, but take the actions necessary to prevent them from falling prey to this plague. The school board needs to take the summer months and come up with a plan that takes a stand that will not only supports the efforts of Dr. Nagy, Ms.Embley and Mr. Myslinski but acts as a deterrent to those who fancy themselves smarter and slicker than everyone else. The school board’s new superintendent needs to make this job-one for his agenda and firmly put the zero-tolerance hard line onto effect.
Bruce Novozinski,
Upper Freehold

