Stunning negativity in "Stunning Negativity"

I want to assure board member Diane French and the community that I do not believe Nick Troiano or I or anyone else has second guessed the amount of work she and the other board members undertake. I think we all can agree we see the outcome of the work by her - and of course by many others, too - and we appreciate their efforts.

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Mrs. French lays out a list of the board's accomplishments since last November, and I am unsure why she took this defensive approach. I do not think Troiano's letter at all attacked her or the other board members for what they have contributed over the past year. I sure have not. What I think Troiano and I and many many others have raised are concerns about how the vacancy was handled (one of which Judge Chelak agreed with yesterday) and concerns about the letter her fellow board member John Kupillas wrote in last week's newspapers and the "stunning negativity" it casts upon the very people that attend and have graduated from Delaware Valley.

I believe Mrs. French knows I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have the phone interview on Oct. 2. While I believe it was within my rights to request it, I could not say enough that evening to express my gratitude to the board for accommodating me.

Unfortunately, I think Mrs. French may misunderstand my intentions. I fully agree with her that the position is "not a summer joke or a way to make headlines." I expressed complete sincerity to the board about this position, and I still am completely sincere in my intentions to offer Mrs. French and her fellow board members a helping hand and to give back to the community and school that raised me. I never once requested that the board adapt to fit into my schedule. In fact, I offered to take on extra work if I ever missed a meeting. I never once mentioned a "social agenda" nor did I say it would ever supersede board duties if I was selected.

I was indeed upfront and admitted I may not be able to make all of the meetings in the fall if selected. Ironically, the candidate Mrs. French backed instead, Bernard Marasa, is in Florida and will not be at this week's meeting, at which she planned to vote for his appointment.

If I do not exemplify the seriousness, the time commitment and the passion that Mrs. French writes are necessary to make our school district the best, I don't know who does.

I hope she realizes my intentions are sincere and in the best interest of her, the rest of the board, the taxpayers, students and their parents, and everyone in the community – and that my interest in the vacancy only demonstrates how thankful I am to the school district and how serious I am about giving back to it.


Quick fact checks:

• “... we kept our word and did not raise taxes or cut programs.”
  

True, taxes were not raised, though the zero tax increase was caused largely by increased state funding from the gambling money that Mrs. French mentions, which is more luck than action by the board. Whole programs have not been cut, though many budgets, both academic and co-curricular, have been under scrutiny and have been tightened, according to teachers and club advisers I’ve spoken to.

• “... we are working diligently to provide a better quality education for all students from special education to the advanced programs.”
  

A broad statement that is lacking justification. How have they worked diligently to provide better quality special education? The special education chair, John Wladar, has resigned. He did not attend a meeting nor hold a special education committee meeting for the past six months. When he was first appointed chair, Wladar did not know what an IEP was and wanted to discuss confidential special education student matters in public.
In the past year, the special education subgroup at DV High School failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on the state PSSA tests. On the other end of the spectrum, Mrs. French has publicly spoken out against increasing the number and enrollments of Advanced Placement classes.

• “These changes will have an impact on the improvement of SAT and PSSA scores ...”
  

This improvement has not yet been measured. The only indication available now is that since Taxpayers United claimed a board majority, DVHS has fallen onto the state’s warning list for low PSSA scores among special education students. No improvement so far.

• “A sex education program was developed because of the lack of a sufficient program for years.”
  

Only after a major public controversy arose over it. This action was not initiated by the Taxpayers United members and was unanimously agreed upon.

• “Finally, the water tower will be completed and plans have been started for the elementary school in Milford.”
  

The water on the Dingman Delaware campus has already been meeting all standards and the primary school well has been producing pristine water. On an opinionated note: The costly water tower has nothing to do with the quality of education. This may be nothing more than a huge, expensive water storage facility that the taxpayers are footing the bill for - with money that could have been used directly on education.

The previous board had already initiated the new elementary school plans on the Westfall campus in *Westfall. The current board has stalled on getting anything done and is backing a plan that requires the demolition of the administrative offices, the current elementary school, the playground and a practice athletic field. The construction will disrupt the educational process and consume field space and limited parking spaces on the campus. The final proposed building will not solve any of the serious safety and traffic problems caused by overcrowdedness on the main DV campus. The project will cost as much as or more than the previous board’s original plan, which included new land to build a safe, separate elementary school campus.

• "Sue Casey, the previous board president, suggested we take a poll as to whether we would have a consensus as to the candidate."
  

Is this an attempt to pass the buck? Bob Goldsack is the president now: Where was his leadership? Mrs. French went along with it, too, and now is publicly denouncing it.