WR “SPECIAL” MEETING REGARDING INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT.

As the citizens of Wood-Ridge continue to be held in the dark regarding the position of Superintendent Dr. Beth Ebler, the Board of Education called for a special meeting on June 7th, at an interesting time of 3:00 PM.  The meeting, open to the citizens of Wood-Ridge, seemed to proceed like a circus gone terribly wrong, or a rehearsed play, but with everyone forgetting their lines.

With many parents arriving late due to the 2:55 PM dismissal of their children at Doyle elementary school, they began to voice their opinion for future meetings to be held at a more reasonable and convenient time.

At first, the BOE of tried to blame the inconvenient time on reporters and the newspaper’s need for 48 hour notice.  With a shocked reporter sitting nearby, a parent stated 4:30 could have worked, and that reporters are able to cover night sporting events, the public got a reply that could only be expected.  A reply that brought eye rolls and deep laughter.

“The reason why we chose 3 PM…some people drive down the shore, and I don’t know if anyone else had plans for the weekend coming up, so I wanted to be considerate,” Mr. Albert Nieves stated in all seriousness.  Maybe he didn’t read the weather reports for the approaching hurricane this weekend.

In a prior BOE meeting dated May 15, 2013, suspicions regarding Dr. Ebler had arose, especially when she was not present at the meeting.  64 out of the 65 faculty members in the district of Wood-Ridge had filed a no confidence vote against Dr. Ebler, and word was getting out, maybe too fast for the BOE to handle.

Attendees were simply told with a shrug by Mr. Nieves that Dr. Ebler was on a vacation.  With her office absolutely cleared, this supposed “vacation” would last three weeks before the BOE dished out yet another disappointingly vague answer today. In today’s meeting, it was stated that the public will “never” find out what the exact issue with Dr. Ebler was.

“With regard to Dr. Ebler…[she] is on a leave of absence. She is utilizing leaves that she has under the terms of her contract.  Since this is a personnel and personal matter, certainly the board is unable to comment on that issue,” BOE Attorney Michael Gross stated.

In May 2011, Ebler was signed to a five year contract according to records.

Gross continued, “I know that is not an acceptable answer…I can’t answer nor will I ever answer rumors or gossip.”

One parent brought up that fact that anything over a five day absence period requires Board approval.  We were then enlightened to hear that the Board can give consent without it being open to the public.

“If she is not physically able to be in the district, are we paying her and somebody else? If we are, where is that money coming from, since we don’t seem to have any?” asked a parent.

With Dr. Ebler utilizing her leave days within her contract, she is entitled to her pay.  On top of that, an interim superintendent who will be working on an as needed basis, which is likely three days per week, will get paid as well.  With enough funds to sustain everyone right now, certain funds are being moved around, and assistance is being sought out.

“[Ebler] will not be in the district for a seeable future,” Gross said.

Things took an awful, yet not surprising turn when Nieves closed the meeting and began to recite resolutions for action.  The climax: prior to the meeting, they handed out the wrong packet with the wrong resolution.  Perhaps a coincidence, and with that, the meeting was opened again.

At this time it was made known that, within the audience sat Joseph C. Longo, the newly appointed interim superintendent.  With that, Nieves announced he had a little something for Longo, a welcoming Blue Devil football jersey.  He’s going to need shoulder pads and a helmet for what he is about to step into.

Feeding A Hobo Is A No No

Just an article I had to write for my school paper.

“Got me some spare change?” asks the toothless, haggard and deranged-looking man sitting on the dirty sidewalk with his illegible cardboard sign and pet rats as you stroll through the New York streets.  Now, I’m sure we all were able to envision this quite easily due to our proximity to the major city, and most of us probably even recalled instances where they have faced the exact situation.

According to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (Yes, the government actually funds this program as opposed to helping the homeless), estimates the annual number of homeless persons in America between 2.3 and 3.5 million.  More comforting, these numbers have seen a 12 percent increase since 2007.  As of March 18, 2013, a recent study by the New York City Department of Homeless Services reported a total of 48,471 homeless individuals.  Lucky for us New Jerseyans, homelessness in New Jersey has dropped 20 percent as stated by state Human Services Commissioner, Jennifer Velez.

So with these increasingly high amounts of homeless people roaming the streets begging us for five cents so they can buy cigarettes and some Jack Daniels, we often wonder how do we handle these panhandlers.  As someone who frequents the city and has parents who have worked in New York City for the majority of their lives, they always gave me some advice on dealing with homeless people.

First, as hard as it may sound, try your best not to make eye contact; this isn’t Ripley’s Believe It or Not. A peek or a glance is fine, but keeping your head down and avoiding full eye contact whatsoever is the key to saving yourself from getting sucked into their elaborate, yet fascinating stories about why you should give them money. Save yourself the guilt trip and the time.

However, if you happen to get involved in conversation with a hobo, try not to talk about family life or how he became homeless, this will only irritate him. (This statement was backed up by most hobos, according to hobo Larry “Stretchnuts” Haggerty).  When it comes to the topic of drugs and alcohol, if you have the nerve to mention this to a hobo without offering them these goods, you can expect a response such as “stop teasing me you little college &$@!” as Haggerty says.

If you want to do a good deed, handing a hobo a couple pennies or giving him your leftover, unwanted meal is a big no-no for two reasons. First, even to some hobos, that is a slap in the face; after all, they are human too and do not want your scraps or pennies.  Another reason is feeding them may be counterproductive because it may actually cause hobos in surrounding areas to come out from the garbage cans they were once lurking in. Next thing you know, you’re buying foot-longs for everyone.  Also when it comes to spare change, hobos have what we can call a sixth sense.  They can hear the ching and the chang of change in your tailored pockets from 10 Manhattan blocks away.  Throw a handful of pennies their way, and chances are they will be asking for quarters the next day.

If you keep on giving to hobos you may end up just like them.