Angelo Scialfa, of Robbinsville
After reading the article on the 5-cent hike in the school budget I was a little upset by the comments made.
I understand that space in the schools is tight. However, we need to take a hard look at what is taking place now and more importantly what could happen in the future. Before we build anything else, we must be sure 15 years from now that space will still be needed.
I know teacher lounges are now classrooms and teachers are forced to eat at their desks. Guess what? Most Americans eat at their desks.
As for temporary class rooms, that has been in existence for many years around the country as well as teaching from carts, which has been going on in Robbinsville since we came to the district 13 years ago. Working from carts or in temporary classrooms is never ideal but it’s not the end of the world. A good education does not come from a building but the quality of teachers in the building.
The consistent asking for more money each year from homeowners, and comments of how horrible the conditions are is too much. I would like to see the district put this much time and energy into: increasing the test scores, fixing the Everyday Math program that has turned out to be a disaster; and taking more time with hiring new teachers who are not doing inappropriate things with students (I believe we are up to four teachers who have been fired due to this behavior).
There is no one more supportive of district teachers than my family. We work with the teachers to better the experience of my kids, help supplement at home what they do in class and always ask for their help in helping my kids. We stay in touch with them monthly to see what we can do for them in teaching the kids. However, this is not about the teachers; this is about how we run the district, spend money and make decisions.
I would encourage everyone to take a look at alternatives to class space for the next three to five years and let’s see where the population goes before we start building again. I have seen districts use temporary space for years and then find out the school population goes down. The bottom line is this: Tough times call for tough measures by everyone including parents, students and teachers.

