Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

FAIR HAVEN: SCHOOLS HEAD UNDER FIRE

fh-schools-2-042814-500x375-3330968Superintendent Nelson Ribon, center above, fielded pointed questions from parents, including one, below, who compared him to a CEO who had lost the respect of his employees. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

fh-schools-1-042814-220x165-5868992Fair Haven school Superintendent Nelson Ribon found himself in the crosshairs of about 100 mothers and a handful of students Monday night.

Joined by about a dozen men, the women and kids challenged Ribon and the school board over the possible elimination of two full-time kindergarten teaching jobs, a plan to expand the half-time kindergarten program next September, and pending decisions on the jobs of more than two dozen teachers.

“Teachers are afraid to talk,” a woman who has four children in the district schools told Ribon during a two-hour Q&A at Knollwood School. “They’re fearful for their jobs, and that’s not what Fair Haven is about.”

“We’re asking you to reconsider” a plan to replace the two kindergarten full-timers with four part-timers, said another, echoing a sentiment voiced several times.

nelson-ribon-042814-500x375-9342650Ribon pointed to an unusual confluence of key decisions as the source of “many emotional statements” made in recent days. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

Structured as an informal “community Q&A,” the event began with Ribon trying to quell what he said a “a lot of emotion going on in the community right now,” some of it fueled by what he suggested was misinformation about staffing.

For example, some teachers whose jobs were rumored to be on the chopping block are in fact replacements hired for specific terms. They are free to apply for regular employment when their contracts end, he said.

He confirmed, however, that about 26 of the district’s teachers are non-tenured and subject to evaluation that could end their employment. The number is unusually high, he acknowledged. But he declined to confirm an assertion that 9 or 10 teachers are to be let go.

Why, one woman asked, was the same board that hired those teachers now letting them go? “What is the problem with the hiring process, and what’s being changed?” she asked.

“When you hire, you only have so much information to go on,” Ribon replied, and it’s only after a teacher has been observed over time can his or her effectiveness and growth be gauged.

“We take it very seriously,” board member Katy Frissora said of the decision whether to keep a teacher after three years. “It’s the only profession where on day one of your fourth year you have a job for life.”

Several students defended their teachers.

“When you talk about these flaws, we don’t see them,” said one girl, “and we’re sure a lot of other people don’t see them either. At least some of us think if these teachers leave us, we don’t know how we’re going to adjust.”

Some of the most heated criticism surrounded changes to the kindergarten program. Ribon said that as part of a transition to full-day kindergarten, not expected to kick in before the 2015-’16 school year, the district plans to expand the current program from three hours to four in September, leading to the possible elimination of the two full-time teaching slots, which would be replaced by four part-time posts.

That prompted an outpouring of support for one teacher in particular, Kerry Kennedy, and complaints about a lack of community input into the process.

“No one said, ‘fire Mrs. Kennedy and hire four 22-year-olds,'” said one woman.

“I want quality over quantity,” said one woman.

“As the ‘CEO’ of this company, your staff is coming to work with heavy hearts, concerned about their livelihoods,” said another.

The anger follows a recent decision by the board not to renew the contract of Sickles School principal Susan Alston based on evaluation criteria – she remains in place through the end of the current school year – and a meeting held on short notice to move a teacher from one school to another, under order from the Monmouth County Superintendent of Schools. The reason for the move was not disclosed.

The frustration is also rooted, said board vice president Claudia Brasch, in the fact that the teachers’ union hasn’t had a contract for two years. She and Ribon said a fact-finder’s recommendation was given to the union Monday and is scheduled to be discussed by the board shortly.

“This just a lot of change going on at once,” Brasch told redbankgreen.

The board is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Knollwood School.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...
WHAT? NO redbankgreen NEWSLETTER?
Apologies to redbankgreen newsletter subscribers: the daily email hasn’t gone out for two days because of technical issues.
RED BANK: TIRED OF SKEETERS?
RED BANK: Tired of mosquito bites every summer? Monmouth County has a free program to help eliminate skeeter breeding grounds.