They privatized the janitors, saved money and got a better product. Let's try privatizing kindergarten and watch the same thing happen again.

It also seems Bruce Watson Is playing loose with the facts. 11,930 households x $9 is $107k, $86m - $83 is $3,000,000. I know we have a corporate tax base, but its certainly not 90% of the revenue.

So is Mr Watson so deficient in math that he shouldn't be a teacher's aide let alone heading up our school system, or simply a LIAR?

again a very weak move by our bord. cut the bottom not the top. how many people does it take to run our school system? in the real world companys have cut at the top (bigger savings) and gave their work to others left. guess what the work is done the companys are running. we where able to share a staff menber with another school district he still does his fairlawn work guess he was working 8 hours with 4 hours work before we made the deal and was just given a pay increase by our board is the other town paying part of this?

the problem isnt the hardworking teachers making $40,000-$80,000 grand. the problem is all the massive six figure salaries they hand out. the amount of counselors and vice principals are excessive. and there should be a cap on how much a teacher can make, id say about $80,000. theres no reason a gym teacher or even a high school history teacher should make over $100,000 no matter how long they have been there.
my main issue is the salaries of the high up posistions, mr watson's massive salary is a good example. it becomes a point where it is just greedy. there are plenty of careers where greed is accepted and even celebrated. but not if your career is in education. an educators goal should be to make a massive impact on the children they teach while earning a healthy salary, you shouldnt be in education to become rich.

ESL costs should be paid for by the family of the child needing it. Watson will probably be gone once his contract is up. He falls into the 175K salary cap range in this district. I doubt he'll stick around.

http://php.app.com/NJpublicemployees11/search.php

Imagine finding out you just lost your job on : FAIR LAWN PATCH ??? Those custodians are in shock !!!! The brass keeps getting richer. Certainly, Unfair Lawn.

Now we know that Bruce Watson is a BoE's executive equivalent of one Andrew Golota - unmatched at hits below the belt !!!!!!!

@ Chris Antonelli
Chris, wake up and smell the kool-aid served by our (less than) superintendent !!!! Not only we had not expected this ( there was talk about a cuople of positions) but also we've found out how big of liar this moral-less person is. The problem is that nobody will take time and talk to teachers and staff about cleanliness of schools and, above all else, nobody will confront him about the supposed savings that BoE has made. And all one has to do is talk to custodians in town - they have exact numbers. I should know, I am one of the involved.
p.s. Shouldn't the above mentioned superintendent fall under scrutiny of our town's Mayor or some other power that be ? His claims are outrageous and should be confronted.

I'd like to thank everyone for kind words. It seems that as our country is NOT a society then our town is NOT a community. At least, not in the true meaning of that word.

Unmentioned in this article is the fact that there were three taxpayers at the meeting who spoke up to criticize the budget. They presented facts and figures to support the argument that Fair Lawn is spending more money than surrounding districts, while returning lower test scores. I don't have a problem with the board's focus on meeting the educational needs of the children of Fair Lawn, but it seems that they can't or won't recognize the fact that ours is a community of limited resources. If they want to add teachers in one area, maybe they need to cut down on their 21 AP classes. The board is there to make the tough decisions of which programs to fund and which to cut. Instead, it seems like they just shift the burden to the taxpayers who need to decide which bills to pay.

The $9 increase in monthly taxes is also patently false. It neglects to take into account the fact that every home in Fair Lawn has just been revalued and the entire tax rate will be changing.

You can't put a value on some things in life. The budget is what it is. The "savings" will show in the future...I just don't believe in any savings the way BOE is "saving"... They will save on custodians, but now they will hire people to install metal detectors etc. Look at what happened to Elmwood Park. They were pushing for the same savings, and look at what they have. Terrible schools. I would like to see Fair Lawn HS ranking post privatization, post "savings" ...

the people that our not going to have jobs should have been called to a meeting or Mr watson and their supervisor should have visted the school and talk to these people. to have to hear from a web site you lost your job is can not say what I FEEL LETS JUST SAY NO CLASS ON ANYONE FROM THE BOARD MENBERS TO THE PEOPLE RUNNING OUR SCHOOLS. great way you just showed our kids on how to treat people with respect!

Chris you are so misinformed.

The same people run for BOE each year, as the year before, and most of the seats are uncontested. And people wonder why nothing ever changes? The day Watson leaves, will be a day the district improves for the better - he's an overpaid suit, whose salary would pay to retain the hard-working staff. How much do we pay per call for the phone alerts that my family gets twice - and, yesterday, four times? No one can bother to remove duplicate phone numbers for families with more than one child in the same school? How much for redundant services that the town already uses? For classes that only a handful take at the HS level? Is our priority sports or education? Are there parcels of school property that could be sold to neighboring property owners, as was done by the town? There is too little thinking outside of the box going on, and the least paid, and often most loyal employees are being sacrificed by it.

We all complain about job outsourcing. We make jokes about calling Pakistan if we have a question about our credit card bill. We all agree that it is a bad thing. It’s bad for our country, and our economy. No question about it. Because of outsourcing, and because of pushing our jobs to countries where the same things can be done cheaper, our country is in the state it is in. In the 80’s factories were moving to Virginia and the Carolinas, in the 90’s our jobs were going overseas. This is happening in our own backyard now. Our loyal school employees are being pushed away without any loyalties. People who built their lives in this community, people who send their own children to our schools. They are our neighbors and friends. We are letting it happen. I completely don’t understand this.
Where are the savings? Instead of paying $25-28/h the new company pays about $13 to the employees. Who are those people? Does BOE have their criminal records on file? Who would do this job for $13/h? Maybe half of the job, but not the same quality, not the same involvement. Imagine being let go at your job, where you worked for many years, imagine learning about if from Fair Lawn Patch…imagine if someone else would do the same job for half of what you were making - how good would they do this job?

Mr. Watson will do what is best for him, and not what is best for our community. He does not live here, he does not send his children to our schools. There’s no reason behind this, accept maybe his own reason. He gives us figures that do not add up.

The custodians were in contract negotiations for such a long time. Just last Sunday they had a meeting where they were told that the new contract with many, many, many cuts will be signed. They had no reasons to suspect that it was just a play on the part of BOE to let them go before the contract will even kick in. 12 people will go (maybe 9, but that’s probably because a few are out already for different reasons).
We can no longer be compared to Glen Rock, or Ridgewood, we have to prepare to being compared to Garfield, Wallington, Elmwood Park. Ask people who live in those towns what the quality of education is there? How they score on tests, what colleges their children (if any) go to… This is the future of our own school system. No more Blue Ribbons. Please, check on the internet what happened to school systems where the custodians were already outsourced. See how the schools went down, see how people who value their children’s education moved out, see how the values of the homes went down, and how the taxes went up. Also, check what problems come from those companies outsourcing our workers. Check about theft, drugs, sex-crimes in schools where outside companies are contracted. Talk to the teachers in Memorial and TJ middle schools, and ask if they think the schools are cleaner since the 2nd shift has been outsourced.

@ Thomas, I need to let you know that my father lives in Fair Lawn for the past 24 years, since he got a job here....he has a house and pays the same taxes as all of us. His taxes pay for his salary, too. His taxes go up every year as well. See what I mean? Our friends and neighbors...No one has anything guaranteed, but why make the whole smoke and mirrors 2 Sundays ago, when all of the custodians had a meeting, where they were told that the new contract is ready to sign. They agreed to enormous cuts to save their jobs, and a little over a week later they are being let go....Toying with little men, because they are custodians. If the same would happen to Mr. Watson with all due respect, it would be national news....
Thomas, have your job ever gone to someone for half the compensation? How would you feel? Would you think that someone can do the same job for half the money?

Do not ever think that the custodians were over-paid for their work. Talk to the high school teachers, ask how they went above and beyond to make the school productions happen, to help with charities, even to clean after the policemen had their annual games - with no pay...for the good of the community. Did anyone write about that? As we chat, the custodians at one of the schools are staying pass midnight to clean up after a charity Treacky Tray with no pay....they are paid till midnight, they will stay for free till the job is done....folding 79 tables, cleaning the mess, so the school gets money to invest in our kids, programs, etc. A person has more value than their job title. If we don't look after the ones in our community, then we have no community. It's not only my father, it's many, many other custodians, some of them coach our kids after school, some are volunteer firefighters....

"Filthy floors. Unsanitary bathrooms. Strangers in the hallways. These were everyday conditions at schools in the Upper Freehold Regional School District in Allentown, N.J.. The culprit? Privatization.

For 15 years, private contractors employed by the Upper Freehold schools walked in and out and all over district contracts. They came and went and in their wake left a mess that others had to clean up.

“It was a revolving door,” says Warren Gessmann, president of the Upper Freehold Regional Education Association (UFREA). “Those custodians did token cleaning.”

It wasn’t always like that. The district’s custodial services were once performed by UFREA members who were well-trained, lived and voted in the community, and enjoyed working with students. The fiasco began in 1995 when a private company low-balled a bid to clean the schools. The district accepted the bid, believing, like many districts strapped for cash, that they’d save money. They didn’t."

"About 20 UFREA members under contract were terminated. At the time, if the district terminated a custodian it was required to pay the employee one week’s salary for every year of service. Some of the custodians had worked for the district for decades. The high expense of terminating all of them at once was thought to be enough of a deterrent for the district to decline any bids from privateers.

“We thought that made those jobs secure,” Gessmann says. It didn’t."

"Last year, district and UFREA officials finally came back together on the issue, thanks in part to contract language that UFREA had wisely and aggressively negotiated in 1995 before the former custodians were fired. “We fought to keep custodians in our contract in case they ever re-hired them,” says Gessmann, an economics and current affairs teacher at Allentown High School.

That long-ago commitment to custodians paid off last year, when—following years of complaints from parents, students, teachers, and education support professionals (ESPs) about the questionable health and safety conditions at Upper Freehold schools—the board of education and district officials decided to once again hire in-house custodians."

“We were thrilled,” Gessmann says. “But custodians’ salaries hadn’t changed in 14 years.” In addition to establishing new salary guidelines, contract language had to be updated to align the custodial staff with other ESPs represented by the 300-member local, including secretaries and technical services workers.

"The district is now phasing in the custodial staff, having started with 12 at Upper Freehold Regional Elementary School last fall. It is up to each new custodian whether to sign up with UFREA. So far, “They all chose to join,” Gessmann notes."

Another 15 in total are scheduled to begin at the middle school this fall, followed by the high school in fall 2011. The new arrangement is already reaping benefits. “The elementary school is immaculate,” says Gessmann. “We advertised, interviewed, and selected a great crew.”

Under the new contract, the district gains ESPs who view their work as a long-term career choice with benefits, job security, and the chance for advancement.

“This contract provides the opportunity for people to apply for decent jobs that hadn’t existed,” he says. “The teachers are thrilled for them, too.”
ALL FROM NJEA WEBSITE

According to "New Jersey Monthly", Fair Lawn High School ranked 76 in 2010.

http://njmonthly.com/articles/towns_and_schools/highschoolrankings/top-high-schools-2010.html

Many towns that ranked higher don't even come close to the taxes levied upon Fair Lawn residents. What's wrong with this picture?
You can thump your chest and say how wonderful the school system is. But you need to really look at the numbers.

The last time I went to the high school it appeared dirty, with urine stinking in the hallways and someone "beached" a turd on the outer rim of a toilet bowl, so if hiring new cleaning people fix this, I applaud it if its a true savings and they can keep the school clean. Bottom line is that this Board Of Education is not in touch with the town, none of them are breathing the same air Fair Lawn residents breath, this $86 million dollar budget is not sustainable, Fair Lawn residents cannot afford a Caviar school budget on Beer and Wine salaries residents earn! Time to vote every board of education member out!

If Fair School Funding was the law of the land in Fair Lawn your school system would have gotten an additional $38 million back from the state. That would have paid for all of your programs and given you all a 25% property tax cut, or more. You can thank Bob Gordon for all of your hard earned money going to waste in school districts like Paterson and Passaic. Fair Lawn has only itself to blame.

Thomas Paine:

You are right, it is just a tad under $33 million. I was going by memory from the last election.

You are right about the move to November for the elections. This was just a move by the politicans, including Christie, to take the power from the people to be able to vote on the only budget they can, school funding.

Another thing to take into consideration is that every school budget has to be "approved" by the county superintendent. It is just another example of how the people are having their schools taken away from them.

PACK THE MEETINGS! RUN FOR BOE!!!! GET OFF PATCH AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

ZAK
the people found out from patch first that their jobs where gone? no one from the board of education told their union this was passed or had plans to meet with their employees to tell them in person where they where at with or without jobs. could you post an answer on this THANK YOU.

thank you that would be great.

Those idiots from Aramark made a huge mess and cost
a ton of money in problems. Last summer At tj, they used a buffer without the pads, and destroyed the floors in several rooms. I have been in the middle schools, they are worse than the high school. The custodians are understaffed at flhs, they have been for over a year. At night there are not nearly as many People as needed. Our. Custodians also repair the schools, as well as mentor our students, as well as setting up for events, and volunteering there own time and money to assist the students have a better school . If there were the proper number of custodians, and equipment was given to them by maintenance (who bought thousands in brand new equipment for Aramark from BOE funds) , you would be able to eat off the floors at the schools. Blame administration and the head of
Maintenance for not making sure that they get basic cleaning supples like trash bags and bleach on a regular basis. This mess will cost the schools dearly in the long run. These people don't maintain schools, just clean. There English is terrible. Whoever said they are good for FL is crazy and should be fired immediately.

If you want to save costs, fire the company doing temperature regulation and don't have the schools so hot. There is a ton of money being wasted because of all the heat. Windows are open all the time at flhs because it is so hot in there

Our custodial staff are some of the most friendly and caring people I have ever met

When they knew
A couple of Sundays ago I was walking in front of a FL school when I saw a group of men leaving the school. I joked with them saying that it looked like a Custodian’s Convention. They told me that they were working on getting a contract with the Board because they have gotten talks underway between the Board of Ed and the Custodians and it appeared that they were operating in good faith and they seemed pleased. I know many of the custodians having children in the school system. They had been working without a contract for this past year. It was not until the Board of Education meeting that the FAIR LAWN PATCH reported that many custodian positions would be outsourced. Friends and relatives reading the Patch that morning called the custodians giving them their condolences. Only, NONE of them knew of this Phase 2 that would eliminate many of their positions. Can’t even imagine that. It has also been mentioned that if the economy did not get better next year, Phase 3 would remove all present custodians from our Fair Lawn schools and use the outsourcing firm (ARAMARK) entirely!! Why are the School Board members some of whom are teachers in other districts voting against the employment of fellow NEA members?

On another note, don’t most job applications ask about criminal histories? Well, the ARAMARK job application “did”, and also indicated that indication of any prior criminal history did not necessarily rule one out for a job. I saw this on a Website complaining about their services. ARAMARK’s latest job application has been altered. Now they do not include the question of addressing past criminal records at all! So, we could have felons in our schools!

thank you Rose for the information sounds like our board can be put in the same class of people who in DEC. 1941 where having a meeting in washigton dc to work out problems between their country and the untied states while their fleet was on the way to attack our fleet on DEC 7 1941. REAL CLASS ACT BY OUR BOARD AND LEADERSHIP. and to this day no one has been told sorry we had to cut your way to feed and support your family.