Statement from Speak Up Summit on the Five-Year Facilities Plan
Summit has not seen any proposal like the five-year facility plan in about a decade. The last time we made such a huge investment in the future of our schools was the $23 million high school renovation project. That investment was not one to make our high school “state-of-the-art” or “futuristic,” but merely one to keep it competitive with the schools in the surrounding communities.
Getting that proposal passed was no easy feat. The Board of Education and Speak Up Summit, then with Ann Bushe at the helm, worked tirelessly to ensure that the school community was heard. They helped spread the word that investing in our schools was an investment in the future of Summit.
Now, it is time to act again. The proposal which will come before the Board of School Estimate next week is critical to the success of our school district. There are parts of the proposal that do no more than bring our facilities up to safety minimums. The BOSE has a responsibility to the children of this town to pass the five-year plan. Read more...
Speak Up Summit has issued previously a statement supporting full-day kindergarten. That decision was not made in a vacuum; we weighed all of the economic considerations with the proven benefits of investing in early education. We determined that committing to an all-day program is the right thing to do at this time for our community.
Even though the proposal would increase our taxes, the quality of our public schools is what continually draws people to Summit. Investment in our children’s futures will reap benefits for the long term educational and fiscal health of our town. A growing number of similarly rated schools (the I and J districts) are adding FDK, so we need to develop programs that allow us to stay competitive with our fellow schools. FDK, as part of this five-year program is critical to maintaining our excellence.
We are disheartened by the haste in which Common Council discounted FDK as an option. Council and the Mayor were publicly unsupportive of the FDK option even before the BOE held its community forum. We are respectful of the necessity to consider the additional burden on our taxpayers; however, FDK is a prospect that will better our community. Many parents are now paying to enroll their children in a full-day program…they know the benefits. It is the most at-risk kids that are not being included in longer curriculum-based programs. For several cycles now, the BOE, after many community-wide sessions with key district communicators and stakeholders, has identified focus areas that point to closing the achievement gap. A FDK program is one of the keys to closing the gap.
There are other issues on the table now that are unquestionably necessary and really should not be up for much deliberation. For example, the portion of the project that addresses problems at Jefferson School. A great concern by the Jefferson PTO is that the BOSE does not have an adequate understanding of the perils at the facility. Currently, the conditions at Jefferson School are abysmal. There is a dearth of bathrooms, grade issues, an on-site electrical transformer located next to the playground, lack of instructional rooms, and even a spreading sink hole. Clearly, these are not luxury items.
The Jefferson campus upgrades have nothing to do with the decision to move forward with full-day kindergarten. In actuality, the upgrades are for the elementary school, not the primary center which would need to be improved separately to house a full-day program.
Our middle school auditorium, a feeder program for our award-winning high school theater department, is an embarrassment in its current state. The seats are torn and filthy; health and safety regulations are certainly being violated. The auditorium is a beautiful room, with classic architecture deserving restoration.
No school remains without concern. Our schools lack some ADA requirements, have sub-par fire alarm systems, and security flaws allow access to people who can be buzzed in to roam the halls before approaching the office. Business Administrator Lou Pepe says that the mortar on the bricks at LCJSMS is deteriorating to the point where bricks could dislodge and strike someone below. A boiler needs replacing at the high school. Franklin students are learning in trailers. We need roof work, intercom work, siding and paving work. Again, these are not luxury items.
Yes, interest rates are at historic lows. Yes, labor is more affordable right now. Yes, we can make smart use of debt. And, yes, a multitude of school ranking reports have been published which show Summit’s room for improvement. Clearly, the time to invest in our schools is now. In our teachers, in our curriculum, and, this week, in our facilities. Without these improvements, in this competitive environment, Summit will not be able to keep up.
Mayor Dickson and Councilmen Bomgaars and Rubino: you and Council cite that 65-70 percent of Summit’s families do not have children in the public schools and therefore it is more fiscally responsible to consider the needs of this majority of constituents. But you need to consider further the importance of investing in our schools. We know that you are well intentioned, and are approaching the matter as fiscal conservatives as you look out for those with limited budgets and on fixed incomes. But your message needs to be that an excellent public school system is vital to the financial health and livelihood of everyone in the Summit community, whether or not they have children currently using the public schools. Tell your constituents about your willingness to invest in the infrastructure, curriculum and personnel of our schools. Please vote with the future of our schools in mind. No one is saying that the price tag is not high; it is always difficult to make a decision to spend more money. But, we cannot go forward without investing in our schools. We must trust that our BOE has made thoughtful and necessary recommendations. Sometimes you have to look at more than cost. This is a valuable investment in the future of Summit: our schools and our community. Please be open minded and consider what will truly be most beneficial for the vitality of all of Summit in the long term.
SPEAK UP SUMMIT ISSUES STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN
By Speak Up Summit President Melanie S. Wilson
February 1, 2013
Speak Up Summit is a community advocacy group designed to promote excellence in Summit public schools. Two parts of our mission statement are to provide independent oversight of the schools, the board of education and the superintendent’s office to ensure that our schools are providing the best educational experience possible, and to speak up on those issues affecting our children’s ability to receive an excellent public school education.
To that end, Speak Up Summit is endorsing the addition of Full-Day Kindergarten in our district. Read more...
We have a responsibility to our students, and based on the facts that have been presented, from an educational perspective, there exists enough data to support that FDK would be beneficial to the students of Summit. FDK sets our students up for a lifetime of academic learning.
Even though the proposal would increase our taxes, the quality of our public schools is what continually draws people to Summit. Investment in our children’s futures will reap benefits for the long term educational and fiscal health of our town. On the flip side, a growing number of similarly rated schools (called I and J districts) are adding FDK, so we need to develop programs that allow us to stay competitive with our fellow schools. FDK, as part of an aggressive five-year program which looks at facilities/space enrollment needs, curriculum changes and personnel is critical to maintain our excellence.
We are disheartened by the haste in which Common Council has discounted FDK as an option. Council and the Mayor were publicly unsupportive of the FDK option even before the BOE held its community forum last week. We are respectful of the necessity to consider the additional burden on our taxpayers; however, FDK is a prospect that will better our community. Many parents are now paying to enroll their children in a full-day program…they know the benefits. It is the most at-risk kids that are not being included in longer curriculum-based programs. For several cycles now, the BOE, after many community-wide sessions with key district communicators and stakeholders, has identified focus areas that point to closing the minority achievement gap. A FDK program is one of the keys to closing the gap.
FDK and continued facilities upgrades should be part of our Bigger Plan. Council argues that 65-70 percent of Summit’s families don’t have children in the public schools and therefore it is more fiscally responsible for them to consider the needs of this majority of constituents. Speak Up Summit urges the BOE and the administration to remain diligent in its pursuance of FDK. The onus is on you to prove continually—both to the community and to Council—that the benefits are there for everyone in the Summit community, whether or not they have children currently using the public schools. And Speak Up Summit urges Council and Mayor to be open minded and consider what will truly be most beneficial for all of Summit in the long term.
Speak Up Summit Year in Review
2011-2012
Speak Up Summit was formed in 1995 to provide a unified voice in supporting the quality of our town’s public education. As a well-informed group that communicates what it learns to others, it speaks up on issues that affect our children’s learning. Membership is open to everyone who believes that an excellent public school system is vital to community well being.
This year, Speak Up Summit hosted two major events that kept the community informed. In October, in conjunction with the League of Women Voters, Speak Up Summit hosted a standing room only audience at the Summit High School media center. The forum was divided into two separate events, with the first being a debate between the three candidates for mayor, and the second between the six common council candidates. The discussions focused on issues facing Summit public schools, such as what criteria would be used for school board appointments, questions about school vouchers and charter schools, and what could be done about unfunded mandates like the anti-bullying laws. The discussion also Read more...
addressed issues faced generally by the city of Summit, such as how council would work together more cohesively, downtown improvements and communications issues.
Many steps were taken to get this important forum taped, and then edited and broadcast every day and night during the following week, which led up to Election Day. But, as the snow started to fall during the candidate’s closing statements, Mother Nature had other plans for the usability of Summit High School and the local broadcast media that fateful Halloween 2011 week.
Better luck was found for the taping and subsequent broadcast of the Speak Up Summit “State of the District” meeting with Dr. Nathan Parker and Mrs. Julie Glazer, held in January. The administrators and Speak Up Summit discussed test scores, legislation, budget, changes and improvements to the district’s curriculum, problem-based learning, common core standards, personalized instruction, diversity, focus areas, professional development, learning communities, facilities improvement, food services, partnerships, full-day kindergarten, working with Common Council, charter schools, school uniforms, teacher contract negotiations and special education. The program was well attended by parents and community members, and had representatives from Common Council, the Board of Education, teachers and administrators. Summit Hilltopper TV broadcast the meeting regularly throughout the winter and spring.
The Speak Up Summit web site www.speakupsummit.org continues to evolve. The web site posts articles of general educational interest from local and national media, information on pending legislation, recently enacted laws that affect Summit, budget news, meeting dates, useful links, and guest columns. The goal is to fill the pages with timely information, and analysis thereof so that members can make informed decisions. The site has policy statement reflecting the viewpoints of Speak Up Summit, interesting “Did You Know” tidbits, and important links to online news stories of local, state and national interest.
As advocates for the city’s public schools, Speak Up Summit believes that an excellent school system is central to maintaining property values and to preserving our city as a superior place in which to live, work and raise a family. We work to help ensure that our public schools remain competitive with the best districts in the state in terms of key educational benchmarks, including facilities, class size, classroom technology, curriculum development, extracurricular activities and, in turn, scholastic achievement. We believe that public school excellence can and must be maintained in a financially responsible fashion. This education must be provided for the children of all residents; the diverse student populations our schools enjoy should be reflected both in our curriculum and in the educational support services provided.
Speak Up Summit will continue to explore the issues and their potential effects, and will work with the PTAs/PTOs, Board of Education, Common Council, the Garden State Coalition and other local and state organizations to lobby for funding and legislative improvements in Trenton and right here in Summit. Speak Up Summit works to help drive public policy to benefit our community. We will continue to identify opportunities for public input, and will remain vigilant in our concern for the quality of our public school education.
Speak Up Summit Year in Review
2010 - 2011
On May 16, Speak Up Summit will be recognized by the Board of Education at its annual reorganization meeting for its efforts in preserving excellence in Summit’s schools during the 2010-11 school year.
Here are the highlights of our year.
Our big achievement of the year was the launch of this new web site www.speakupsummit.org which we hope evolves into the go-to place for education news and information. The web site posts articles of general educational interest from local and national media, information on pending legislation, recently enacted laws that affect Summit, budget news, meeting Read more...
dates, useful links, and guest columns. We rely on input from our members, so if you read an article of interest that you think would be helpful to our members, please send me the link to post. Similarly, let me know if you would like to pen a guest column.
In November, Speak Up Summit members traveled to Rutgers for the Garden State Coalition of Schools conference investigating how the teacher’s union, the state, special education interests, charter schools, school administrators, and school boards could collaborate. The goal of the conference was to investigate how these divergent groups could “stay focused on quality education in the face of a host of challenges.”
We hosted a well attended community conversation on a Saturday morning in January, with Superintendent Nathan Parker and Assistant Superintendent Julie Glazer. This was attended by parents, community members, district administrators, teachers, department heads, and members of the Board of Education and Common Council. Discussion included curriculum updates, budgetary concerns and a general “state of the district.”
Currently we are making plans for another set of Candidates’ Forums, one for the mayoral race and the other for Common Council candidates. Co-sponsored by The League of Women Voters and The Alternative Press, the October 29 events will be an opportunity for candidates to discuss and debate educational issues and other matters impacting Summit.
As advocates for the city’s public schools, Speak Up Summit believes that an excellent school system is central to maintaining property values and to preserving our city as a superior place in which to live, work and raise a family. We work to help ensure that our public schools remain competitive with the best districts in the state in terms of key educational benchmarks, including facilities, class size, classroom technology, curriculum development, extracurricular activities and, in turn, scholastic achievement. We believe that public school excellence can and must be maintained in a financially responsible fashion. This education must be provided for the children of all residents; the diverse student populations our schools enjoy should be reflected both in our curriculum and in the educational support services provided.
Speak Up Summit will continue to explore the issues and their potential effects, and will work with the PTAs/PTOs, Board of Education, Common Council, the Garden State Coalition and other local and state organizations to lobby for funding and legislative improvements in Trenton and right here in Summit. Speak Up Summit works to help drive public policy to benefit our community. We will continue to identify opportunities for public input, and will remain vigilant in our concern for the quality of our public school education.
Please join us on May 24 at 7:30 pm in the Summit High School media center for our own reorganization meeting.
Did you know?
There is a new 8th grade social studies curriculum at LCJSMS that focuses on Government and Citizenship;People, Politics, and Issues that Shape our Society;Law and Justice; andEconomics and the Connected World.
The SHS Cross Country teams secured the 2012 Union County Championship. The Varsity and JV Girls as well as the JV and Freshman Boys teams all topped their competition to bring the title to Summit High School. This is the fourth consecutive title for the Varsity Girls and the third consecutive title for the JV Girls.
Sophomores from health classes at SHS took part in the inaugural “Drunk Busters” Program, which was purchased jointly by the Board of Education and the Summit Police Department. The program, which has students drive a pedal car while wearing goggles that impairs vision shows students the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. All SHS sophomores will take part in this program, The program will also be given to SHS juniors and seniors this spring prior to proms.
The Rotary Club of Summit and New Providence honored eight Summit students at their “Red Ribbon Day” on Monday, October 22nd. The luncheon, held at the Grand Summit Hotel, celebrated the creative work of fourth and seventh graders from the district who were chosen to present their pieces on the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
Franklin fifth grader, Eric Wei, participated in Bergen County Academies Annual Math Competition on Sunday, October 14th and won first place in grade five competition.
The district guidelines for determining class size are as follows: The class size for primary grades (K-2) shall generally not exceed 22, and in the intermediate grades (3-5) the class size shall generally not exceed 24. At the secondary level (6-12) class size shall generally not exceed 25.
Summit High School now offer AP Computer Science
The student staff members of Spotlight, Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School’s yearbook, on October 17 received tips from yearbook expert Stephen Kent at an afterschool workshop. Kent visited LCJSMS meet with the students who compile the yearbook and their advisor, English teacher Tara Cooper Weiss.
Summit High School students and teachers held an “Ultimate for the Cure” Frisbee tournament at Wilson Park on October 23. Co-hosted by the Susan G Komen for the Cure and the Outdoor Earth Clubs, the event raised funds to help in the fight against breast cancer. With the support of local businesses, the Summit Boosters, the Gargiulo and Cobern families, as well as Summit High School staff, the clubs raised over $1,000 for the Susan G Komen Foundation.
More students in the Summit High School Class of 2011 are attending the country’s “most selective” colleges than in the entire history of the school district.
Of the 19 students who took BC Calculus AP exam, 18 received a 5 - the highest score on that exam, and over 87% of our students scored 3 or higher on their AP exams. We’ve never had a higher proportion of kids taking the AP exams than we had this past year.
At the high school, student failures dropped significantly. In 2006-2007, 84 students failed one or more courses. This past year 52 students failed one or more classes.
Scores on the Biology Achievement Test given by the state, jumped from 64% passing in 2009 to 87% passing in 2011. Many of our students received perfect scores.
For the first time, Mandarin is being offered at LCJSMS, starting in 6th grade. Soon the district will have a comprehensive 6 -12 Mandarin program.
Computer Science is now again being offered at SHS.
Erik Parks is the new assistant principal at the middle school. He will focus on curriculum and instruction.
The safety and functional renovation of the High School auditorium is scheduled to be complete midyear.
The Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School now has a new concrete entry so no longer will you have to squeeze through the bushes and slog through the mud.
The district has hired 35 new teachers, 14 classroom aides, 4 custodians, 2 behaviorists, 2 instructional facilitators, 1 nurse, 1 guidance counselor, and 1 new administrator.
The Summit Educational Foundation raised over $350,000 last year and over the last 3 years raised over 3 million dollars in pledges for an endowment.
Summit Kindergarten Teacher Suzanne Shire has co-written an article, Strategic Teaching: Fostering Communication Skills in Diverse Young Learners, published in the March 2011 issue of the Journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Brayton parents Andrew and Christine Gotesman have donated $100,000 in grant money to the district for the creation of early childhood and college scholarship programs for Hispanic students to help bridge the Achievement Gap. While 21.9% of non-Hispanic Summit students scored partially proficient on recent NJ ASK tests, 48.9% of Hispanic students did so.
During the first marking period, 42% of LCJSMS students earned made 1st Honor Roll. For the 2nd and 3rd marking periods, when the requirements were updated to include only those earning grades of A or A- in all classes, the percent of qualifiers dropped to 18 percent.
HCM, (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy) is responsible for 40 percent of sudden cardiac death in young athletes. The Summit Boosters Association, working with the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation, is working to raise awareness about the need for AED’s (Automatic External Defibrillators) on our playing fields.
Summit High School Senior Mark Jones made history January 2011 at the State Relay Winter Track Championships by clearing 7 ft. in the high jump, only the ninth athlete in state history to accomplish that feat. Jones is currently ranked second in the nation in the event.
Of the 40 Sports Awards for Coaches, Athletic Directors and Trainers chosen December 2010 by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, Summit was the only district to earn more than one Award, with honors going to Football Coach John Liberato, Boy Lacrosse Coach Jim Davidson, and Athletic Trainer Karen Minista.
Jen Schwarzenbek, SHS Varsity Field Hockey coach and first grade teacher at Franklin School, was inducted November 22 into the Westfield Athletic Hall of Fame, which honors Westfield High School’s outstanding alumni athletes.
The stability of the student body over 13 years of schooling remains extremely high: 55% of 2010 Summit High School graduates began their Summit education in Kindergarten?
The performance on SAT testing remained significantly above state and national levels, but with a major shift from SAT to use of the ACT as a college admissions “test of choice.” Over the past five years, the number of students utilizing the ACT has increased 300%?
New Jersey ranks 46th in the nation for the amount of education funding from the state (correspondingly driving up local property taxes)?
School taxes, as a percentage of municipal taxes has remained constant over the past 15 years?
There are currently 73 charter schools in the state - the staffs in 10-15 of these schools are represented by teacher unions?
Teacher health insurance costs and extraordinary costs for special education are exempted from the 2% tax cap?
Real data (e.g., from test scores) that can be used to evaluate teacher performance is available for only about 20% of the education staff?
State average per pupil costs for students in charter schools is slightly higher than the average per pupil costs for students in the regular public schools?
Did you know that Summit High School graduate, Beth Kowitt, class of 2003, is the youngest writer ever to have a cover story at Fortune Magazine?
