Hack Board of Ed/Candidates
I see on the school website there was a special meeting this past Wed., 7/11. No agenda has been posted. Does anyone know what this was about?
TownFriendI sent an email to the Board Secretary and asked when the agenda was going to be posted.. The response I received is included below.
The meeting is only for the purpose of final interviews for Architect of Record for the district.
What happened with the Willow Grove Principal? Did he leave like Thompson? Why is Sosnovick still an "Acting Principal" of the high school, as if he was made permanent there has been no posting of that position.
I heard rumor that Mr. McQueeney left but do not see it on the website.
However, a quick Google search leaves me with this article. Https://www.tapinto.net/towns/sparta/articles/sparta-board-of-education-hires-new-assistant-sup
JL Mr. McQueeny resigned because he was hired by Sparta to be the new assistant superintendent for curriculum
Mommof3 
2 cents Rossi used to be on the Board of Ed in Hackettstown. McQueeny was a buddy of Mango's before they came here. Now, Mango is the only one still here. Is it true that the only foreign language offered is Spanish..... ? Geez.
Acl76 
ru How is Marie Griffin still an administrator in this town? I have heard she picks favorites among staff is not very nice and basically was demoted to Hatchery Hill out of the high profile Middle School Principal job years ago. What is she Ruth Bader Ginsberg and thinks this is life tenure? She needs to go.
I knew Thompson when he was a teacher and was a lot nicer when he was Willow Grove Principal than when Middle School Principal. Zero one on one people skills or friends to boot. He leaves a district that was paying him well and where he was for most of career to make less money at the school he went to in the town he lives in. Zero loyalty not to Mango, but to Hackettstown families. He is lucky he became an administrator in the first place.
McQueeney is another one who would rather do a boring curriculum job just because he gets the title assistant superintendent in front of it.
Awful administrators leaving the district and currently in the district. They should just consolidate schools now that McQueeney is gone and have one K-4 school in the district and Marie Griffin would actually have to do some work in her old age.
Wow resident, you bashed just about every administrator in district. I guess you like the high school principal, or your kids arent there yet!
I heard Mango had his house up for sale. One can only hope he goes far away. As crooked as they come and talk about a zero when it comes to personality. A bully if anything. The H-town BOE is a mess and always has been since I've lived in town. From what I've seen GM no better. Education is a mess in this state and this is what it breeds.
Don Mango- just USELESS, pay scale out of control for a useless person. He is thinking he is king of Htown. I think not. Everyone thinks he is a creep in one way or another!
Curious Scam artists. Those education doctorates are pure TP territory, sorry but the truth is the truth.
iJay IJay, I read what you always write, and I truly believe you should become a teacher. Sounds to me like you are jealous! LOL
Ziggy As I mentioned before, why is Griffin still in the district and has not retired? Mango is the pits as is the BOE. They hired a new Middle School Principal and did not promote the current Middle School Assistant Principal which is odd - must not be that much of a Mango crony or he will get the Willow Grove job, which is not even advertised yet.
How is Sosnovick the Acting Principal still? He is another one who had little teaching experience (just a coach which he think qualifies him for Principal) and has a horrible, snarky personality to boot.
Ijay - I get your points about education, but there are good teachers out there, unfortunately they are not in the Hackettstown district teaching or being an administrator.
Gus Bordi by the way, looks like and acts like Chris Christie. He is only on the Board of Ed. to elected to a hire political office (which he failed at last year in the Warren County Freeholder Republican primary) and just bullies everyone like Mango. He needs to be voted out of office when his term is up.
Resident08 Mr. Sosnovik wasn't just a coach, he was a math teacher at the middle school for a few years. Then he was promoted to assistant principal at the high school before becoming acting principal at the high school. as far as a snarky personality, I have never experienced that. He's always been Pleasant with me.
Mr. Beyer, assistant principal at the middle school, is now the principal of Willow Grove. Applications and resumes had to be submitted by June 30th, so yes it was advertised.
jrsemom 
Jill It's the scam, get promoted during the last 3-5 years of an education career and bump up the retirement pension. The system needs to be reformed NOW...
Lol, Anyone who had that opportunity would do that, why wouldn't you if you could? Um, Beyer isn't retiring anytime soon, he's in his late 30s.
Justsayin2 Jill, where was what posted? The job listing? It was on the district webpage under employment. I had heard a rumor that McQueeny left so I checked to see if there was a job posted as a form of confirmation. Or were you asking about Mr. Beyer taking over his job? Willow Grove and the Middle School's new principal's were announced at Wednesday's BOE meeting.
resident08...you are completely out of line regarding Marie Griffin! She is a wonderful principal who truly cares about her staff and the students!! She has fought to improve the physical quality of the school as well as the education provided to students. Not sure where you get your info from, unless it's from a disgruntled parent who didn't get their way. I'm so tired of parents immediately blaming the teachers or principal for things that happen instead of looking into who their children "hang out with" or what is being learned in the home. The only problem right now with Hatchery Hill is the overcrowding issue due to the way the Board of Ed redrew the line. If you have an issue with her, why don't you go talk to her yourself instead of bashing her on here??? Maybe attend a BOE meeting if you have issues as well.
concernedparent Thanks Ziggy. According to the BOE agenda from this past Wednesday, a new principal for the MS was listed to be approved. Her name is Sheena Delgaizo. Also, Mr Beyer was approved to become WG's new principal. They are now looking for a new MS Assistant Principal.
So Word has it that Mr. Mango has moved out of warren County. And is now living in Passaic County.
Are we tax payers paying for his Gas/Mileage express also.
Mike Rolls These (education Administrators) are a rare breed with hard to obtain doctorates that need excessive compensation, LOL NOT!
Looks like there was an appointment on the BOE agenda for the Aug 15 meeting for the Middle School Ass't Principal- Melissa Hall
Thoughts on Amy Cochran, Shawn Burke, Jami Cavanagh, and Gus Bordi?
I’m a young mom who doesn’t have any children in school yet, so I’m very much out of the loop as far as our public school system here in Hackettstown.
I’m in the process of filling out my mail-in ballot and am struggling to find any info on the Board of Education candidates online, other than it appears that Amy Cochran, Shawn Burke and Gus Bordi are currently on the board.
Anyone closely involved with the school system have thoughts on what each has/is wanting to bring to the table?
votingmama www.jamicavanagh.com
There is a BOD meeting on 10/17. If you can’t attend I believe you could view a recording of the meeting/s? That might help you learn more about the incumbent candidates and there views and temperaments....
Townies Does anyone know why the school board is changing our two K through 4 schools to grade based buildings? Hatchery Hill will be a pre-K through grade 1 school and Willow Grove will be a grade 2 through grade 4 school. What if parents have a child in kindergarten and a child in second grade? There is only one way in and one way out. Has a traffic study been done? Are we going to become a busing district? Seems like a lot of change that no one has been made aware of. Shouldn’t parents have a say in this? No one is talking to the community. Next Board of Education meeting is November 14, 2018.
hm102 hm102, this was discussed pretty thoroughly, over the past several years. I think this is the thread that should answer all your questions:
http://www.hackettstownlife.com/forum/633434#t633437
Rich I see and understand that this was discussed extensively in another thread. However, that thread runs from September of 2014 (4 years ago) to April of 2018 and includes outdated and incorrect information at this point in time. The community has a right to know, understand, and consider the new updates and changes that are being made at board meetings potentially without their knowledge. As a public forum, we should be able to discuss these matters at length so that everyone is aware and has a location to find any updated information they may need.
H-town Mama H-town Mama actually you’re right but they changed that at the last boe mtg. They do what they want ,and change what they want. If they don’t tell, we don’t ask? Seems like a lot of money to move two schools around just for a pre-k that Htown has enough of already. It’s a shame our community kids have to go through so much change. Prior line change, new administrators all over the place, mold, water damage. Enough already just leave our schools alone and fix the real problems that exist. The community needs to be made aware of all the changes and expense that’s going to come from this change to grade based buildings.
It was the other way around. However, The BOE just switched which grades will go to which school at the Oct meeting. Hatchery will be Pk-2 and Willow will be 3-4th.
Jim L If this is going to be done then bussing needs to be provided. People can't be in two places at once to pick up their kids if they have kids in each school.
Metsman by law they only need to provide bussing for kids 2miles and farther from their school. They will have to stagger the start and end of the schools to allow parents to get from 1 school to the next but I don't believe they are even discussing providing buses for all students, just the ones outside the 2mile radius.
So Brook Hollow kids would be bussed to Hatchery, College View kids would be bussed to Willow and everyone in the middle would be on their own to get the kids to school(s). So yes there obviously will be added traffic in town as parents race from 1 school to anther each day.
the avg cost of a school bus per year is $100k, so multiple that by the amount of buses needed and you can see how much our taxes would need to go up to bus all the kids in town.
So it's changing again? I was told (and wasn't sure if it was a rumor)...that all pre-k through 1st grade class rooms need to have a bathroom IN the classroom and that the schools do not currently support this (currently the 3 Kindergarten and 3 first grade rooms have in-room bathrooms, but since the schools will be combining, they will not have enough). I was then told that there is not enough money in the budget to add additional bathrooms and thus the school switch was not happening next year. Jim L....is there any truth to this?
Movingsoon A-11 Modification of Grade Base Model for Elementary Schools - BE IT RESOLVED:
WHEREAS, after investigating, reviewing and publicly discussing information
concerning the possible educational, financial and academic benefits of moving from a Neighborhood Model to a Grade Based Model for its two Elementary Schools, the Board took action at its March 28, 2018 Board meeting to adopt the Grade Based Model for its two Elementary Schools starting in the 2019-2020 school year;
WHEREAS, in preparation for the move to a Grade Based Model, the Administration
and the Board have been carefully reviewing the existing facilities, personnel and
grounds of its two Elementary Schools;
WHEREAS, as a result of that review, it has been determined that the proposed grade designations for the Board’s two Elementary Schools in the Grade Based Model should be modified;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that, upon the recommendation of the
Superintendent, the Board modifies the grade designations for its two Elementary
Schools under the Grade Based Model, which shall commence starting in the 2019-2020 school year, as follows:
Hatchery Hill Elementary School – Pre-K to First Grade;
Willow Grove Elementary School – Second Grade to Fourth Grade;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Superintendent is authorized to take the
appropriate steps and actions to implement this directive.
https://www.hackettstown.org/cms/lib/NJ01000669/Centricity/Domain/30/PUBLIC%20Agenda%2010-17-18.pdf
As far as I know the switch is still on for next year and yes they would have to add bathrooms to some classes to meet state requirements.
So the State requires a bathroom in each classroom? If true, what was the reasoning to make that decision. It sounds a little bit over the top in my opinion.
kb2755 Only prek through 1st grade require bathrooms in tye classrooms because kids 1. Have to go often and it becomes an emergency quickly and 2. Trusting them to walk to a hallway bathroom, flush, wash their hands and return to.the right classroom is a lot for 5 and 6 year olds. Hallway bathrooms begin in 2nd grade.
Do you really think the teacher is gonna let those filthy kids use their union provided private bathroom?
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