Holy knife in the back! Time for a new superintendant already?

Ray Gonzalez and Joihn Maso must be trying to destroy Wayne's youth sports programs.

Either that, or the BOE intends to start elementary and middle school sports teams...and pick up the tab.

Town Council cut 1.7 million from last years 126.6 million budget. PAYBACKS A BITCH!!! 410 thousand dollars just for the boys club to use the fields if this was in place.The RAY AND JOHN HORSE AND PONY SHOW MUST GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not understand why anyone would be against having outside organizations help foot the bill for cost associated with THEIR use of school buildings and grounds. My kids do not play sports. Why should I pay extra to maintain excessive use? I am sure we will learn that the BOE wanting hundreds of thousands of dollars is not correct.

As a parent of a child who partakes in sports, this decision is horrific! I am appalled that the BOE would make this sub par decision. The BOE needs to be replaced with competent people that can make educated decisions. Their demeanor during these meetings are atrocious. November can not come fast enough!

Jonathan,I Don't have kids in school. Should i pay school taxes? The BOE NOT WANTING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS! THE HORSE AND PONY SHOW IS COMING TO A SCHOOL NEAR YOU!!!

Jon, The meetings should be televised on AMERICAS FUNNIEST VIDEOS!

Dude, If i remember correctly,the 126.6 million dollars is included in that BUDGETED ITEM!

I guess this means that the PAL Fireworks Tickets will no longer be just $10.00 per family? Many stopped attending when the location was changed to Wayne Hills. It has less parking availability (Valley had more side streets to park on), access to and from Hills is limited (as compared to Valley) in case of a major emergency, viewing is also limited (as compared to Valley). This change was the brainchild of a past superintendent and it was never changed back. I would never insure this event as it is a horror from a loss control risk standpoint.

Don't say I didn't warn you about these outsiders. The new Super say's he trying to save money but he has had no problem giving some friends from Paterson six figure salaries, a new law firm, a PR firm etc etc. The entire BOE needs to go. They are destroying this town and now they are going to destroy fianancially several good community organizations also. The people who run and belong to these groups pay taxes also. I can see a fee for out of town groups but not groups that are Wayne based. These groups do alot for Wayne and its children. How about the BOE living within its budget? Is that so hard? I guess its easier to spend, spend, spend. Whats next? A per person fee for walking around the track at Wayne Valley? "Hey Wayne BOE" Stop the spending and the hiring of your friends and live within the budget. Stop screwing the taxpayers to take care of your buddies.

Just keep telling yourselves how great our school system is. It will help absorb the pain. During the healing process ask yourself little questions like: Why does Wayne Valley Girls softball get to use the township owned Bourber Pond fields for free, or why the township doesn't sub divide the school's from their enormous fields and turn them over to Parks and Rec.
There is no law that requires our publically owned schools to have there own athletic fields...so take them away. This puts the burden on the schools to charge their students to play and forces the township to collect the permit fees for field use. When the fees exceed the budget, the BOE pleads to the voters to raise the school tax and that's when we vote it down- forcing them to make cuts to their own administration/regime. It's time the BOE was held accountable for their own hiring policies and it's the start of stopping them from living off of our dime.
Holding our excellent youth programs over our heads is no different than the Nomads holding a baby over the fire. What's next- the caliente battle cry ?

Fyi-this is not just limited to boys and girls club. It also affects things like girl scouts. They want to charge $75 PER HOUR for a minimum of 4 hours a time. That is ridiculous!! I have no problem paying a little extra for the use of the fields or gym as a way to balance the budget, but where in the world did they come up with these figures as reasonable?! Do we look like Franklin Lakes? Let's remember that these teams and clubs are benefitting our children. These clubs simply can't afford these outrageous fees and stay active.

Terrible decision.

But i wouldnt be surprised if this wasnt a public relations stunt. Theyll hit you with the bad news and then theyll reconsider and charge a "reasonable" one time figure of $500 or $1000 to some larger groups and probably a lower amount of $100 or so for smaller groups.

Who is going to bill and collect this money? The BOE any even collect money and pay bills on time right now. Are we going to hire another crony to do this job? Open your eyes- this is just a shell game.

I agree with Wayne Mom. There's something fishy about this whole story. These figures don't even make sense.

this new policy is outrageous...the fees are exhorbitant....for example, to use a grammar school gym for four hours (the minimum the will rent it for) will cost $300 per night. The janitors are already working that shift during the evening hours so there is no out of pocket labor cost to the BOE....maybe a small costs for the lights, not $300 worth....and heat?...I have been in these gyms in the evening hour when it was 65 degrees out and the heat was pouring out of the raditors making it blistering inside...nice waste of money there...so we already have taxes out of sight, because of these new policies a lot of programs will have to go by the wayside because the will not be economically viable...time for the BOE to wake up and the Council to stick their noses into it as well ....

The lion's share of the people who will absorb these charges (or should I say lose the programs they participated in because the rates are so high they are not absorbable) are Wayne residents. I can understand if the BOE wants to charge such high rates to out of Wayne organizations (or for profit orgs) that come to Wayne and want lease a facility, but not Wayne not for profit organizations. It is tough enough for these groups to get volunteers, donations sponsor, etc, now slap a $100 per hour cost on them???

The so called "Board of Ed" is atrocious, shocking, terrible, violent, offensive, appalling, cruel, savage, horrible, beastly, horrifying, vicious, ruthless, infamous, disgraceful, scandalous, wicked, barbaric, unspeakable, inhuman, diabolical, heinous, flagrant, egregious, abominable, infernal, fiendish, villainous, nefarious, iniquitous, execrable, godawful (slang), hellacious (U.S. slang)!

This will affect the whole community! What will all these children to with their free time when the Boys & Girls Club & PAL fold? Where will the Girl Scouts & Boy Scouts, etc. meet?

We as a community need to show up at the board meeting Thursday & be heard "Load & Clear".

Kitty, Tell us how you really feel. Next the BOE will install TOLL BOOTHS, so when you enter THEIR PROPERTY you will have already paid for EVERYTHING!!!

The OVER/UNDER on the New superintendent staying at his position is 18 months, whaddya think over 18 months or under 18 months...Same holds true for ALL the members of the BOE

Its about time! The BOE has been giving space away for years, its only right that groups should pay for use of space since the BOE has to pay their staff to set up and clean up after the events, weather outside the school buildings or inside of them. Maybe they are starting to really think of ways to save money and stop having the homeowners of this town flip the bill for their lack money sense. EVERYONE ELSE charges fee for pay to play.

wonder why everyone is MOVING OUT !!!! Oh it must be all the snakes and politics

The staff setup/cleanup argument works for indoor activities, but not for the sports fields. There is no one involved from the school in the usage of the sports fields. My son plays soccer at Schuyler at least 6 hours per week and there is no access to the school, nor do you ever see school personnel doing anything to the field. I'm assuming the contractors cut the lawn, but since the school system owns the property, they'd have to cut the lawn anyway. I'm not sure how they can possibly justified additional fees for the use of the grass fields.

I spent my morning asking the local business's @ the A&P shopping center to post the letter from the Boys & Girls Club.

BTW Scondo I like spending my time with my children participating at the Boys & Girls Club, etc., as well as, activities at home.

Participation in Sports Teams Among Children
Did Not Participate in Sports Teams 41.4%
Did Participate in Sports Teams 58.6%

Percent of Children Who Participate in Sports Teams or Sports Lessons, by Sex
Male 62.1%
Female 55.0%

Percent of Children Who Participate in Sports Teams or Sports Lessons, by Age
10-11 Years 61.5%
12-14 Years 61.6%
15-17 Years 53.4%

Percent of Children Who Participate in Sports Teams or Sports Lessons, by School Type
Public School 57.5%
Private School 74.2%
Home School 45.0%

Scondo,I can only imagine WHERE you pulled those numbers out of?

Eyes, Must live in PINES LAKE or HORIZON HEIGHTS!

Before everyone goes off on this policy, find out if this is a requirement of generally accepted accounting principles mandated by some department of education regulation. And then ask the following questions: Does the township of Wayne take general revenue funds and pay them over to Boys&Girls Club, PAL , Packanack Lake, Pines Lake to run soccer programs ? Does the Township of Wayne collect recreation fees for the use of Township (not BOE) facilities ? What is the $766,000 recreation fee figure in the budget for, under the revenues section. Look at the Department of Recreation expenses under other $446282. That is other than salaries and wages of 327 882. Is the 446282 paid to outside vendors who then in turn pay for use of facilities ? The BOE pays $166000 to the town for police services.
Fees and permits pays 27,000 for ballfield maint. Look at how much the town is paying for field improvement project. So before anyone gets too riled, maybe they ought to study what all is involved. And understand exactly how much it cost per hour to open the door on a school . It is a lot more than you think.

@Josie Wanna

@Josie Wanna, When I was on the field coaching my children's teams I could arguably say that I was spending time with my children but was I really? That was 3 seasons for each. When I was on the sideline with all the other parents I was actually spending time with the other parents.watching them play . That was many years for both. They enjoyed the idea that we would attend every game, but it was not spending time with them it was watching. When I went hiking with my daughter I was spending time with her, when I went biking with my son I was spending time with him. Now you see what I am talking about we tend to equate sports participation, they play we watch, with spending time with our children. It is not an equivalent it is a substitute. I realize that this highly conceptual view would not be grasped by some, but others have come to embrace it as they eschew the constant run from game to game and limit their seasons and forego the travel team. But to each his own.

I still say more emphasis should be on the arts and not sports. It is unfortunate that so much is placed on sports that does not include everyone, whereas the arts is much less discriminatory towards gender and other factors. Maybe parents wouldn't delay putting their children in schools so that their "child" would have the advantage. My opinion that a society that is so "win" oriented (as it can be in sports) will leave the weaker members behind. Not a good thing, imho.

Eyes, NOSE many people in PINES LAKE AND HORIZON HEIGHTS paying 20,30,40 Thousand DOLLARS!! in TAXES!! Not many houses in the valley EXCEPT MAYBE red barn estates off Valley Road pay that much.

As a rule I am opposed to 'user fees' but when there is a 34 mil deficit here, then I will compromise. Besides when times get better? The fees can be dropped. though I am not so sure the BOE can withstand the heat on this. Till then the anointed ones in sports are going to have to pony up, all we owe the students is a school.

http://citiesandschools.berkeley.edu/joint-use.html

N.J.S.A. 18A20-34
N.J.S.A. 40:61-5

Looks to me as if it is not only permissable, but seems to be the way it is being done throughout the nation. Oh, well.

You need to understand that we have an obligation to pay for the 5 to 9% increase that the Administration has earnd over the past year. We also need to fufill our obligation to the State in order to profide prosperity for all through the enlightenment or our glorious Leaders. Those who resist does so to the detriment of our children and there future.

Also remember the athletic fee that was imposed upon our poor over worked staff at the schools? Thankfully it was removed to take some of the burden off the staff to allow them to perform there truely glourious work of enlightening our children.

In order to continue there glorious enlightment and progress our educational system to new heights it was nessesary to extend the stay of several of our board members beyond there elected tenure there by releiving our citizens of the burden of decision.
Voting is not for the masses and should be left for those who understand the workings of our system, our glorious and enlighted ones of the board.

We already pay for the maintenance of the Wayne Athletic fields by virtue of our property taxes. We are being taxed twice for the same item.

This was never brought up during the budget process before the public. This was not discussed as a possibility at a BOE meeting. The budget has been approved and passed. Why do we suddenly need new revenue? The town sports programs should be allowed to use the fields. The fields belong to the community. They are paid for with property tax dollars.

Something you can raise at the board meeting tomorrow night. Or ask your friend on the board, Hutchison.

Simple,MAYBE i'm missing something, But WHEN was the last time you heard ANYBODY(EXCEPT THE POLICE) get a 5 to 9% RAISE?

This current Board of Ed in Wayne has made a mockery of our town! Their incompetence has made us the talk of the state! Their arrogance is one that needs to be stopped! This new Super has been a disaster in a very short time! In case you’re not paying attention he is in the process of bringing many of his colleges from Hackensack and Paterson to take the leadership positions in Wayne! Wayne was recently ranked in the top 50 of schools! Hackensack was 198, Orange was 320, and Paterson 290! I guess those districts have been the model of success! He has narrowed his choice of the Wayne Hills Principal position to the Hackensack HS principal who was recently let go and a Middle School principal from Orange! He never even considered the qualified VP’s in the district with the exception of token 20 min interviews. Now some of the great VP’s that are being passed over from the district are looking to get out! Who can blame them! Do you know he just hired an IT director from Paterson’s district who was recently working at Best Buy! Are you kidding!

If you are ok with him hiring an assistant super, who was a friend of his in Paterson for big money, replacing principals because board members don’t like them with political favors from failing districts, replacing the board attorney to put in his former colleague, reorganizing our athletic departments in a way that has failed in 3 similar districts over the last couple of years and finally, and hired a PR firm that he apparently doesn’t use, then just sit back and do nothing!
The fact is, if we sit back and do nothing, our kids are going to suffer, our taxes will increase, and the value of our homes will decrease! It was not long ago that our school system and programs were the model of what others aspired to be! It is why many of us chose this town and moved here.
If you are fed up and want to put an end to this you can! Attend tonight’s, May 17th Board of Ed meeting and tell them to end this crusade of destroying this district! We all have the power in November to begin the process and get qualified board members, however, look at the damage being created before then. Remember they control and spend 100's of millions of dollars of our money, and yet they walk out, hide behind the new lap tops we all bought them and don’t even pay attention when citizens get up to speak to them at a meeting!! Stand up and demand your voice be heard before its to late!

So what is it that we are fighting. Are we fighting a BOE that will attempt to secure additional dollars that can be applied to the overall budget making more money available to fund educational pursuits ? Or are we fighting for the private organizations to have the right to use public resources at no cost to them ? We should define what we are fighting for. If we are fighting for the latter, I want in on that deal. I want to use the Wayne Valley auditorium to run hypnosis for smoking cessation programs , a worthy public goal, and something that benefits many.

Fight Now for Wayne Schools,
Your are absolutely correct. This guy is bringing all his buddies in to feed on our tax dollars. His Asst. Super was here a week and she offered a job to someone I know. The BOE has a very poor record when it comes to hiring school superintendants. Then when they leave with tons of our taxpayers money the BOE lies to us and like the last one they say he retired. He left with alot of money after only nine months served under his contract. Funny he is working in a neighboring town. Doesn't seem retired to me. He laughed all the way to the bank. The new Superintendant's former districts are rife with nepotism, illegal contracts, outright theft etc etc. We are going to get what we deserve from these two. Believe me this is all about creating job's for connected friends. As fast as the money comes in they will spend it. All the work that the Boy's & Girl's Club, the Scouts and the PAL also in a direct way help our school district succeed. So what doe's the BOE do? They are going to charge them user fee's. What BS. Stop spending and wasting money and all this will be unnessacary. Look at the huge raise's they just gave out to Administrator's and staff. They need to be fiscally conservitive. They are destroying this town and it's reputation. Fee's are just another word for hidden taxes. What's next are they going to charge children to use the playground? Adults to use the track at Wayne Valley? The BOE and these two newbies need to go and go ASAP.

Scondo,maybe you can run hypnosis on our board members to stop WASTING our TAXPAYER MONEY!! Pad,The curtain must close and the show MUST end.Send them BACK to the city where they belong!!Let's not turn the TOWNSHIP OF WAYNE into the CITY OF WAYNE!!

If you don't have children in school, you should be exempt from paying school taxes only!