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February - March 2002 Edition
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Letters to the Editor
Kindergarten Changes (See Education Articles) I
think a full day of Kindergarten would be beneficial to most children!
I would definitely vote for this option and would not object if bussing
were not available in my area, I would gladly bring and pick up my
daughter at the Edison school each day myself. Madelyn Schor I
think a full day of kindergarten would be beneficial both to the children
as well as to working parents. Often
a private school is considered for the benefit of a full day of education
as well as eliminating the need to bus these small children to another
school for childcare after the 1/2 day of school is completed. I have a ten year old son at Forrest School and could not be
happier with the instruction and care that is placed into these children's
small minds. "Excellent"
does not even begin to express my gratitude for the education offered
there. I also have a three
year old daughter who I will be forced
to put into a private school if a full-day of kindergarten were not
available at the time of her school enrollment (September 2003). Susan Nogueras Full
time kindergarten would be great. I am one of those parents you mentioned
in the article that will probably be sending my child to a private
kindergarten. If Fair Lawn started full time kindergarten I would
definitely make the switch. Have to get it started by September 2002. Parent Full
time kindergarten would be great. I am one of those parents you mentioned
in the article that will probably be sending my child to a private
kindergarten. If Fair Lawn started full time kindergarten I would
definitely make the switch. Have to get it started by September 2002. Another Parent Don't
centralize kindergarden. Kids
need exposure to what’s ahead. Re-open
edison school Jersey
Boy I
think that using Edison school as an Early Childhood (Kindergarten) Center
is a great idea. That would free up more space in the elementary
schools and centralize the Kindergarten program.
Full day classes will be a bonus for these children AND their
parents. I don't think moving the 8th graders from the middle
schools into an already overcrowded high school is a sound idea. Our
school-age population is increasing quickly, but it is possible that a
decade from now we might see a decrease. Would it be a possible
alternative to utilize space in one of the buildings in the industrial
park for a third middle school - and all three middle schools could
include grades 6 through 9? That would give all the schools some
much needed breathing room. AOL
User Council
Meetings on Channel 66 It
is, in my opinion, truly a valuable use of FLTV resources to air Fair Lawn
council meetings, "live and un-edited". The leaders of FLTV were
asked recently at a council work session if they were able, and willing to
do so, to which FLTV President Stuart Pace, and other members of FLTV in
attendance indicated that they were. So far, in regard to council
meetings, what they have produced is poor. Again,
IMHO, it doesn't matter if there is only one person watching the meetings,
FLTV should want to put the same resources, talent and energy into it to
produce a good professional product. Ron Lotterman, FLTV informs me that
he is trying to determine how many people actually watch the meetings, to
determine how much energy they put into the process. That should be of no
concern to him or to FLTV. He
goes on to tell me that if they were getting several hundred people
watching, then his opinion might differ! Shame on you Mr. Lotterman! I
have seen other towns do the Council meetings with one camera, and they
also are very poor. 2-3 cameras are needed at these meetings, so that the
viewing public gets a complete "picture" of what is taking
place. I am so glad that FLTV
has received some positive feedback and compliments from doing other
events. It is well earned. The Halloween parade, Senior Center Party,
Borough Hall Holiday Lights Ceremony etc.were well done.
But, they should not expect to receive the same kudos for airing
council meetings. The council meetings clearly need more focus and effort
from FLTV. Whether there is
only a dozen or a thousand people watching council meetings, the number of
people watching should not determine the resources spent on the
production. Channel
66 is for Fair Lawn Citizens. Paid for from money from Fair Lawn cable
subscribers. The Mayor and
council have pledged to air council meetings, live and un-edited , to the
residents of Fair Lawn. Like it or not, you could say FLTV works for me,
and I, like others, want my money's worth.
The FLTV group, should want to produce a quality show for us to
watch and hear. If they can honestly state that they are happy with the
current product that they put out from council meetings, then they should
leave that responsibility to another group. How about Fair Lawn Creative
Cable? Keith
Brown Improving Communication with Council (See Lloyd's Article) Lloyd
P. Dorfman's proposal to utilize email for reaching out to Borough
residents is a superb idea, and regrettably met the sort of resistance
that is all too common to proposals for change of any kind.
The objective, I believe, of his proposal is not to use email to
REPLACE establish, governmentally sanctioned means of communications, but
to AUGMENT it. To allow
people who request to be on the email distribution list to automatically
recieve "info/updates" and be able to send their comments for
council/committe consideration as one more input into physical meetings.
Great idea... I hope that some well meaning governmental people
will try to figure out how to improve our systems with this new
technology, and not how to bury suggestions for change that might involve
more people in our communities affairs. Richard Michaelson School Changes (See Education Articles) I
think the High School Academy idea is a great one. It comes at a time when
we need to infuse our educational system with new ideas to keep kids
excited and interested in learning. And when there is so much enrichment
going on outside of the classroom, it is important to recognize that by
the time kids have reached high school age, they have developed their
abilities in very distinct areas. By drawing on the strengths of each
student, we can anchor their studies in related and unrelated disciplines
to areas they love. I hope the program is in full swing by the time my
child gets to 11th grade in Fall 2006. Ilene
Kahn How
much money has are broad wasted moving offices from T.J. to Edison.
Turn class rooms to offices back to class rooms.
The board of education should once act like a business.
The country is in a recession. Everyone is down sizing.
Do we need all the staff at the board offices? Down size your staff
give the taxpayers a break. Fair
Lawn Taxpayer Fair
Lawn school district's administrative offices have moved around so much
that it is hard to keep track of them. The cost of remodeling
classroom space to provide office space for the administration adds up
with each move. Wouldn't
it make sense for the administration to rent space in the industrial park
on 208? These buildings are already set up as office space, and with
the administration working there, instead of in a school building,
valuable and necessary classrooms can be freed up for our students! The
cost of moving and renovating will be eliminated. There would be
plenty of parking . . . the administration would be right in the center of
town . . . makes sense to me! AOL User Regarding Gum Wall (See Gum Wall) I
think the gum wall has got to go. Unfortunately there will be some sick
people who will miss it and try to replace it. Ilene
Kahn Simply
said, IT'S DISGUSTING!!! Anonymous This
gum wall is gross. AOL User Fair Lawn Civilian Police Academy I
recently graduated with 30 other citizens in the first ever Citizen's
(civilian) police academy class, held by members
of the FLPD as well as other guest lecturers - held throughout the
Winter. Classes were held at
the Senior Center every Wednesday night. Under the leadership of P.O. Glen
Callons, who organized and got this class started. I
can't thank Glen enough for leading the classes and volunteering all his
time every Wed night for the past few months. It has been inspirational as
well as educational and I hope more programs like this continue in the
future in Fair Lawn. It was a real eye opener. All
were terrific classes with a unique speaker/lecturer. A certificate was
awarded to classmates at graduation as well as a ceremonial celebration
with local officials present. As an alumni member now, hope to make
an appearance in future classes and events. Jerry Schranz Copy
of letter sent to Mayor As you are aware from this weeks council work session, I was present at the meeting Warren Point School regarding the possible rezoning of the northside of Broadway. As I stated at the council meeting IMO [in my opinion] the meeting wasnot in fact run facilitator, and she should not be paid. The meeting was I believe run by the Borough Manager. Neither Ms Gruel or Ms Sacks made no attempt to explain the BAC recommendation regarding a change to the zoning ordinance. And, as I stated on Tuesday, Ms. Sacks, did question the audience about how many of them would like to" LOSE THEIR HOMES!!!!" This statement, and others made that evening, mischaracterized and distorted the BAC recommendation.
The meeting became a shouting match, and no way was it ever a discussion led by a "professional facilitator". The borough Manager said that you and the Council want to meet with people in the Broadway corridor. Here we go again! More time wasted with nothing being done! Parking still is a serious problem on Broadway and something has to be done, and fast!! As a member of the BAC and resident living in the area I demand an answer on how the M/C will address this and the other issues and recommendations of the BAC report.
I read with interest a front page article in the Shopper for this week. It states that Ms Sacks has stated that the council will do what the public wants in reference to re-zoning on Broadway. Now I find this very interesting. How did she know this considering that the paper was printed before she reported back to the council at the work session on Tuesday? Also, I was at the council meeting and the council took no vote. In my opinion, the Borough Manager has spoken out of turn, yet again. The article also goes on to say that you and the council have done many things to improve Broadway. This is a lie. Except for new green garbage cans, which Ron Lotterman needed to order anyway, and a few trees at the front of Warren Point School you have done nothing. NOTHING! Yes, she sent a letter to the NJDOT asking to reinstall the left hand turn onto Midland, as well as other requests, but she has told me that this is a dead issue, but in the article she says that this is something that she is pursuing. Another lie? She also goes on to say that" you" have saved the Broadway Station. Yet another lie ! As far as I can recall, no official decision has been made by NJ Transit regarding the Broadway Station. Unless there is something going on here that you are not telling us?
One
other thing. The verbal attack I received from Deputy Mayor Etler the
other evening was a complete disgrace. He has a well earned reputation of
being loud mouthed, rude and obnoxious. But he doesn't scare me one bit! I
am so glad that the council meetings are being aired on Ch 66, live and
unedited, so that people in this town can see what Deputy Mayor Atler is
really like! You as Mayor should keep a stronger control of the council
meetings, as he should be called out of order. Also the questions from the
Borough Attorney were IMO also out of order, as he is not there to comment
on things but to offer legal advise to you and the council when asked, or
needed. I still plan to attend council meetings and speak on issues that I
feel need some comment or clarification. Keith Brown
What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.
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