BOE ADDRESS - October 13, 2008

At Last night's Board of Education meeting, the contract was approved by the Board with a 4-1 vote. The lone dissenter was Marc Schare, who claimed, "As for the money, I simply cannot, in good conscience, approve a status-quo contract without understanding what our strategy is for the long term and how we plan to mitigate the real risks...." For his full comments on the contract, you may click on the following link.

Prior to the vote, there were six public speakers. The first speaker was pleading to the Board to increase the compensation for the water polo coach and a request to add coaches to that program. The second speaker was Gary Tyack (former Board member) speaking in support of the contract. The third speaker was Pete Scully (WEA President) speaking in support of the contract (comments attached.) The fourth speaker was Cal Taylor (local business owner and resident) speaking against the contract. The fifth speaker was Abramo Ottolenghi (former Board member) speaking in support of the contract. The sixth public speaker was Arlene Resnick (local resident and retired teacher) who spoke against the concept of a bargaining team that consisted of employees representing the Board.

Thanks to all of you who attended and supported us through this process. I'm sure there will be a couple more weeks of blistering articles and letters to the editor.