Concerns should arrive at board in letter form.
By: Lea Kahn
High turnover among special education program staffers, placing limits on middle school students’ ability to use the bathrooms, a lack of administrative leadership and claims that these complaints fall on deaf ears.
Those comments and complaints have been repeatedly aired at Lawrence Township Board of Education meetings over the last three years even as recently as the school’s board’s March 10 meeting.
While school board members have listened to those comments quietly, board President Mary DiMartino last week told the audience that she took exception to much of what was said at the meeting.
"Put it in writing," Ms. DiMartino said to the audience. "Bring forth what is most critical for us (to consider). There are concerns that need to be addressed. What we are trying to do is to gain your trust."
But as of Wednesday morning, Ms. DiMartino said, she had not received any letters from the parents who appeared at the March 10 meeting or from anyone else. She said she had just called the school board office to find out whether any letters had been received.
After the March 10 meeting, Ms. DiMartino said the public’s comments do not fall on "deaf ears." The board listens to the public’s comments and, if it does not have an answer immediately, it asks the administration and Schools Superintendent Max Riley to follow through and provide the answers.
"Just because we don’t have an answer that evening does not mean the question was not heard," she said. "We direct and expect the administration to follow through and address the concerns."
The school board views parents and the community as partners in public education, she said. The board meetings serve more than one purpose. They allow the board to conduct business and make decisions regarding schools, and also offer a chance for the public to come, raise concerns and ask questions about programs and agenda items, she added.
That’s the reason that the school board agenda lists three opportunities for the public to comment, she said. The board also does not place a limit on the length of time that a member of the public may speak, she said.
"From the board’s perspective, the way to achieve balanced policies is the discussion of different opinions and perspectives," Ms. DiMartino said. "When concerns rise to a higher level, it becomes all the more important to us as a board to understand the basis behind the statements. That’s the reason why I asked the parents to put their concerns in writing.
"My approach, as an elected official, is that every complaint is valid," she said. "People have the right to raise concerns to those who represent them. My job is to hear it out. The more specific people are with a complaint, the easier it is to identify the issues. That’s one of the reasons why it helps to put it in writing."
The school board is responsive, Ms. DiMartino said. For example, it took the unprecedented step of forming a special subcommittee to review the high turnover rate among special education program staff members last year, she said.
"A great deal of board attention and energy was spent on looking into the turnover rates," she said. "We issued a report with recommendations, and we remain focused in that area. We have been trying to move forward from the time we issued that report."
The school board already had plans to replace the roof at the Lawrence Intermediate School when a group of LIS teachers presented their request at the March 10 meeting, Ms. DiMartino said. It was in the budget even before the staff expressed concern last week, she said.
Ms. DiMartino also pointed to the board’s decision to implement a lacrosse athletic program at Lawrence High School a request that was made to the school board two years ago. The board does listen, she said.
Asked how the public can be reassured that its concerns are taken under consideration, Ms. DiMartino said, "The best reassurance I can give is my word, and to look to examples where concerns were raised and responded to."