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ROBBINSVILLE: School dumps SAFE child care

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   ROBBINSVILLE — The school board last week hired a director for its new in-house before- and after-school program, Robbinsville Extended Day, following a barrage of questions and criticism from about a dozen parents for not renewing the contract of the current aftercare provider, SAFE.
   The Board of Education voted 9-0 March 22 to hire Pam Elmi as the director of the district’s new RED program at a salary of $65,000 a year. Ms. Elmi’s contract runs through June 2012 and provides a salary bonus of 5 percent of every dollar in net profit over $100,000 the district realizes from RED.
   A certified teacher who lives in Hamilton Square, Ms. Elmi is executive director of Young Princeton Achievers, a nonprofit that provides after-school homework support and academic enrichment activities for 90 low- and moderate-income Princeton students in community learning centers. Prior to joining YPA in 2007, she was director of program development at the Princeton YMCA.
   Ms. Elmi said Monday she was excited to be part of this “important step forward for the district” and would “hit the ground running.”
   Schools Superintendent Steven Mayer said Ms. Elmi would schedule several opportunities to meet with parents prior to her official start date, April 18.
   ”We are thrilled to have found Pam through our search process and believe that she will bring exactly the expertise and skill we need to ensure that the RED program is best equipped to meet the needs of our community,” Mr. Mayer said Friday, adding she was “exceptionally well-qualified.”
   Mr. Mayer has said the district-run RED program will be a separate self-funded extended day and community education enterprise that also will generate revenue for the district. Mr. Mayer said no tuition increases are planned for next year, and working parents who use the program for their children would see a “seamless transition” when enrolling their children for summer or fall programs.
   Board President Michael Reca said RED would provide the same quality care parents had come to know at SAFE “as well as new initiatives to provide enrichment experiences, academic support, summer camping and adult education, all of which are designed to meet broader needs in our school community.”
   The Robbinsville school board decided Feb. 22 that it would not renew the contract with School-Age Fun and Enrichment, the private company commonly known by its acronym SAFE, which township resident Marci Rubin founded 12 years ago. SAFE leases space in Sharon Elementary School and Pond Road Middle School for its before- and after-school programs used by about 140 students.
   Ms. Rubin, SAFE’s director, and her husband, Paul, a local attorney, attended the March 22 meeting with their supporters to criticize the school board’s earlier decision to switch to its own program. They requested the board postpone plans to hire a director for RED and give SAFE the opportunity to make a business proposal to the entire nine-member Board of Education.
   ”We recognize the importance of higher revenue in this environment; we get it,” Mr. Rubin said. “What the board has lost sight of is that the potential of higher revenue is not worth the risk of jeopardizing the quality of the program.”
   Mr. Rubin said the school board had made a business decision “based on a flawed process,” alleging he and his wife were never given the “access and opportunity” to make their case to the entire board before the decision was made. SAFE’s proposal for a new three-year contract was “filtered” through the superintendent, and that put SAFE at a disadvantage, he said.
   Board of Education member Carol Boyne, who chairs the school board’s three-member Facilities, Finance and Transportation Committee, disputed Mr. Rubin’s statement.
   ”We have met twice at FFT with SAFE representatives,” Ms. Boyne said. “And when there was a failure to provide documentation in a timeframe, despite months’ worth of extensions — that’s really when negotiations broke down.
   ”I also think it is important to be clear that not all negotiations were with only the superintendent — and anything the superintendent did was acted upon in full consult with the board and at the board’s direction,” Ms. Boyne added.
   Some parents at the meeting were holding letters on SAFE stationery signed by Ms. Rubin, which apparently were distributed earlier in the day when they picked up their children. The letter asked parents to come to the meeting and ask questions because it may be their “last chance to keep SAFE in the district.”
   Parent Doreen Pierson, of Woods Edge Lane, asked where the money was coming from to hire the RED director when the self-funded program had not yet begun and, therefore, had not yet collected any tuition revenue from parents.
   Mr. Mayer said RED would be receiving an “inter-fund loan” from the school budget’s general fund, but that loan would be repaid as soon as the program was operating and collecting tuition revenue from those who use it.
   When Mr. Mayer said later that longtime SAFE employees who work at school sites would be offered jobs with RED, parent Jill Steele, of Hillside Drive, asked if that meant pay cuts for the employees.
   ”We’re not intending to reduce compensation,” Mr. Mayer told Ms. Steele.
   Ed Roskiewicz, of Jared Drive, said he was concerned because the district’s motives for taking over the extended day program were partly financial.
   ”I hope that you are not biting off more that you can chew,” Mr. Roskiewicz said.
   Michele Corcoran, of Chestnut Drive, said the timing was disappointing. She noted SAFE always had offered a summer camp program that took kids on various day trips around the state, but RED may not be able to put that together in time if the director is only starting work April 18.
   Ms. Corcoran said the travel camp was popular with “tweens” such as her son, who didn’t enjoy the sports-oriented summer programs offered by the township Recreation Department.
   Mr. Mayer responded that the district would do its best to try to put together a travel camp, but if that cannot be done for summer 2011 due to time constraints, then travel camp would be back next summer.
   Ms. Rubin came to the microphone later on in the meeting to warn the school board after-school and community education programs are not the moneymakers the board is banking on.
   ”You’re taking away something because you think you’re going to make money, but you’re really not,” Ms. Rubin said. “There’s so many hidden expenses that you don’t understand.”
   Ms. Rubin also complained that the hiring of the RED director was not listed on the published agenda for school board meeting. The hiring resolution was on a separate agenda addendum, but most people who came to the meeting in the middle school cafeteria did not see the addendum, she said.
   ”The person you’re appointing tonight is not on the agenda,” Ms. Rubin said. “People that were here before left because it wasn’t on the agenda.”
   ”Marci, there’s nothing being hidden here,” Mr. Mayer retorted. “The process is for me not to post it on a public agenda before the board has the opportunity to interview a key employee. After the board has the opportunity to interview the candidate (in executive session) — it is done as an addendum — I’ll hand you the addendum right now.”
   Ms. Rubin responded that she didn’t want it, but Mr. Mayer walked across the room to where she was standing and handed it to her anyway.
   Mary Caffrey, of Lake Drive, also urged the school board to postpone action on the hiring resolution, pointing out most of the public had gone home after the school budget presentation at the beginning of the 3½-hour meeting without ever seeing the addendum about the hiring of the RED director.
   ”People came here looking for it,” Ms. Caffrey said, referring to the addendum. “I’m not saying it was intentional, but people didn’t see it.”