Absentee BOE?... Lets See?

[Fibor is good for you]

I might find time and this hearing, however.....

Does this hearing appear to be important?

Is this hearing just another ineffective nothing event for a smoke and mirror state agency?

Should the Superintendent or the President of the School board attend (see below) this hearing?

What would you want to have a FB BOE representitive testify about on behalf of our desperately needy school distinct?

For More Information Contact the Public Information Office:
Kathryn Forsyth, Director
609-292-1126
For Release: December 12, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
News Advisory
DOE Schedules Public Hearings on School Costs Report

The New Jersey Department of Education has scheduled three public hearings to be held on Monday, December 18 to discuss the Report on the Cost of Education which was released by DOE today.

The purpose of the report is to calculate the costs that New Jersey school districts face in meeting state performance and accountability standards. A copy of the report is available on-line here: www.state.nj.us/njded/news/2006/report.pdf

The hearings will be chaired by Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy, who noted that additional hearings will be scheduled in January.

“This is just the beginning of the process designed to enhance understanding of the department’s work on a new school funding formula, and we are seeking as much public input as possible,” the Commissioner said.

Each hearing will include a main site and a remote site, which will allow people to offer testimony via videoconferencing. Each organization will be limited to one speaker per site and all speakers will be limited to five minutes each. If any time remains at the end of each hearing, people may be able to speak a second time.

People who wish to testify must register in advance and sign a release that will permit their voices to be recorded and broadcast on line. A registration form is available on-line at education.state.nj.us/sff/sff.php. People may also register by phone by calling 609-292-6038.

Here is the schedule for the day:

9:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon Main Location: Enterprise Center of Burlington County College, Mt. Laurel
Remote Location: Alton Auditorium, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona

3:45 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. Main Location: Room K-127, first floor, Kean Hall, Kean University, Union (Union County)
Remote Location: Cohen Hall, Room B-111 or Emeriti Hall Room D-204, County College of Morris, Randolph

7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Main Location: Room K-127, first floor, Kean Hall, Kean University, Union (Union County)
Remote Location: Twin Lights 1, SLC 106, Donald D. Warner Student Life Center, Brookdale Community College, Lincroft.

Those who would prefer to submit written testimony rather than attend the hearings in person may send that testimony electronically to [e-mail] or fax it to 609-777-2077. The deadline for submitting written testimony is 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 28.

The hearings will be webcast throughout the day. They can be viewed using Windows Media Player (download the player from
www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/AllDownloads.aspx?displang=en&qstechnology

View the stream at www.njedge.net/doelive

Archives of the stream will be available from the NJEDge.Net website (www.njedge.net) or the Department of Education Web-site (www.state.nj.us/education) beginning Wednesday, December 20, 2006.

The videoconferencing and webcast of the hearing are being coordinated by NJEDge.Net, New Jersey’s Higher Education Network. NJEDge.Net is a non-profit consortium of the Presidents’ Council that was created to enhance instruction, research and public service at the state’s colleges and universities through a broadband statewide network. One of the network services is the NJEDge Video Portal, which is a large scale videoconferencing system capable of delivering several hundred videoconferences with multiple participating sites.

Directions:

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey: intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=94&pageID=4 Parking available in Lot 1.

Burlington County College: www.bcc.edu/pages/134.asp Parking available

Kean University: www.kean.edu/directions.html Parking available only in the white lines

County College of Morris: www.ccm.edu/visitor/traveldirections.shtml Parking available in Lot 7.

Brookdale Community College: www.brookdale.cc.nj.us/content.php?ID=114
Parking available

[Fiber is good for you]

Have we applied for this GRANT? Would be timley!

Mathematics and Science Partnership Program

Division: Educational Programs & Assessment
Office: Academic & Professional Standards

View Published NGO Document (Microsoft Word)

Purpose: The New Jersey MSP program is designed to provide all mathematics and science teachers in grades 3-8, including teachers in general education, special needs, bilingual, and gifted and talented programs, opportunities to enhance their content knowledge in mathematics and technology and science and technology (Technological Literacy standards 8.1 and 8.2); meet the NCLB federal definition of Highly Qualified Teachers; and/or receive undergraduate or graduate hours of academic credit toward the attainment of the New Jersey Teacher of Elementary School with Subject Matter Specialization certificate.

Eligible Agencies: Eligible applicants must consist of the partners as outlined in the Notice of Grant Opportunity.

Approximate Number of Awards: 6 Grant Program Type: Limited Competitive
Total Amt. Available: $3,510,000 Application Due Date: 1/18/2007

[MB]

fiber

Good work, now if you want ot know the real answer why don't you follow up and ask the school.

They have been very good at getting grants, about $1M per year for the last few years.

[Fiber is good for you]

Wow MB, $1.mil in grants, truly impressive and something to be proud of, Be nice to see these awards posted on the Boro BOE web Site, an not just a mention here as a response to a barely read POST!

I am sure your not referring to the $400K award by the Dept of Home Land Security for retinal scanning. What is the utilization rate, I am lead to understand that this $400k systems was out of commission for most of last schools year and that it is very much underutilized by parent's, students, faculty and staff, but looks nice and modern mounted on the buildings. As I understand it, the awarded contractor made out HANDSOMELY for installing three scanners, three Work Station Class PC-Servers, a bunch of SW and a service contract all casting the tax payer just under $400, 000.00.

This has no Academic Value to our kids, and the argument that this makes our school the safest in the nation is no consolation for the rapidly failing English and Math scores, Academic performance IS THE most thing to fix, and stat!

Will a potential home buyer retinal scanning over a districts academic performance?

A Home Buyer may consider it a big plus, to see a progressive District that works hard on getting $1.M+ Academic Grant money.

These awards need to be posted with complete details, on the Boro BOE web site, not here as a reactionary posting.

But Academic Grant awards to the Boro, in the amounts you mentioned is GREAT NEWS.

Thanks
FIGFY

[MB]

Fiber

You are 100% right, the web site does a poor job of bragging about the school. I was talking about $750K for the 21st century grant all educational (I think it is the 3rd year for this amount), and over $300K for the CSR grant, again educational (state Grant). The IRIS scan grant is old news.

[fiberisgoodforyou]

MB said:

Fiber

You are 100% right, the web site does a poor job of bragging about the school. I was talking about $750K for the 21st century grant all educational (I think it is the 3rd year for this amount), and over $300K for the CSR grant, again educational (state Grant). The IRIS scan grant is old news.

Hummm, don't most districts get 21st century grants? I's like to see our needy district go for corporate grants, the Apple, and Microsoft Grants.

Below are from a SIMPLE google search...how many of these grants has the Boro BOE applied for? The State grants are nice
(BTW this list was supplied in April 06, has there been any follow up, or action taken?)

www.siue.edu/~ababion/k12/k12grant.htm

www.eds.com/about/community/grants/

www.microsoft.com/education/default.mspx

www.microsoft.com/education/freshstart/freshstart.asp

www.hopeforeducation.com/cgibin/nabc/campaign/hfe/hfehome.jsp

www.sun.com/aboutsun/comm_invest/giving/foundation.hml

www.toshiba.com/tafstage/jsp/home/default.jsp

www.smarterkids.org/k12/nec/index.asp

www.annenbergfoundation.org/grants/grants_show.htm?doc_id=210575

directory.google.com/Top/Reference/Education/K_through_12/Supplem
ental_Funding/Grants/

Stanley S. Litow, IBM vice president of Corporate Community Relations
www.ibm.com/ibm/ibmgives/grant/education/programs/kidsmart.shtml

www.cisco.com/web/about/ac48/about_cisco_grant_programs_list.html

www.msdf.org/default.aspx

www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/foundation/en/open_grants?c=us&l=en&s=corp

FIGFY

[fiberisgoodforyou]

fiberisgoodforyou said:

MB said:

Fiber

You are 100% right, the web site does a poor job of bragging about the school. I was talking about $750K for the 21st century grant all educational (I think it is the 3rd year for this amount), and over $300K for the CSR grant, again educational (state Grant). The IRIS scan grant is old news.

Hummm, don't most districts get 21st century grants? I's like to see our needy district go for corporate grants, the Apple, and Microsoft Grants.

Below are from a SIMPLE google search...how many of these grants has the Boro BOE applied for? The State grants are nice
(BTW this list was supplied in April 06, has there been any follow up, or action taken?)

www.siue.edu/~ababion/k12/k12grant.htm

www.eds.com/about/community/grants/

www.microsoft.com/education/default.mspx

www.microsoft.com/education/freshstart/freshstart.asp

www.hopeforeducation.com/cgibin/nabc/campaign/hfe/hfehome.jsp

www.sun.com/aboutsun/comm_invest/giving/foundation.hml

www.toshiba.com/tafstage/jsp/home/default.jsp

www.smarterkids.org/k12/nec/index.asp

www.annenbergfoundation.org/grants/grants_show.htm?doc_id=210575

directory.google.com/Top/Reference/Education/K_through_12/Supplem
ental_Funding/Grants/

Stanley S. Litow, IBM vice president of Corporate Community Relations
www.ibm.com/ibm/ibmgives/grant/education/programs/kidsmart.shtml

www.cisco.com/web/about/ac48/about_cisco_grant_programs_list.html

www.msdf.org/default.aspx

www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/foundation/en/open_grants?c=us&l=en&s=corp

FIGFY

So while BOE members scan this message board looking to see what a SMALL number the residents are saying, these same board members can take the same amount to time on their computers and google for grant money, JUST LIKE I did in April, May, June...

21st Centruy money is nice to have, but thats what most districts recieve, and is realtivly easy money.

So the disrtict can spend the supers discretionalry money on a marketing servery, or they can spend this money to find more money through finding MORE grants, thats called an ROI!

FIGFY

[mb]

Fiber

You maybe confusing the 21 Century Grany with NCLB. VERY few schools recieve the 21st Cent Grant.

The Boro schools do not have a Grant writer on the Payroll or a fulltime PR person ( Granted they hired a PT PR firm for the survey) like the Regional. . Thats why the web site is lame. They have a very small staff and their primary focus is to improve the educational services the Boro delivers.

$1M on a $12M budget seems like a good track record, and they are trying to get more too. While it may look like it is easy to get money from these Web sites it is not. I do not know all the companys they are trying to get grants from, but I know they are working with Vonage and Verizon. OBTW, Vonage said STOP calling.

Did you offer your services to the School to apply for some of these grants on there behalf? The FB Ed Foundation is looking for members too, they could use your help to go after these grants too, you seem to be concerned about education, they need people like you to make a difference.

[fiberisgoodforyou]

mb said:

Fiber

You maybe confusing the 21 Century Grany with NCLB. VERY few schools recieve the 21st Cent Grant.

The Boro schools do not have a Grant writer on the Payroll or a fulltime PR person ( Granted they hired a PT PR firm for the survey) like the Regional. Thats why the web site is lame. They have a very small staff and their primary focus is to improve the educational services the Boro delivers.

$1M on a $12M budget seems like a good track record, and they are trying to get more too. While it may look like it is easy to get money from these Web sites it is not. I do not know all the companys they are trying to get grants from, but I know they are working with Vonage and Verizon. OBTW, Vonage said STOP calling.

Did you offer your services to the School to apply for some of these grants on there behalf? The FB Ed Foundation is looking for members too, they could use your help to go after these grants too, you seem to be concerned about education, they need people like you to make a difference.

Great to hear that FB was one of the lucky 24 Districts!

Let me put this in proper question format....WHY does the district choose to spend the supers discretionary money on a marketing survey, whose purpose is clear, re engineer and spin the verbiage in the budget to get more votes.... and hope you can get enough voters to say yes, so you don't have to back to the state and ask them, once again to over turn the vote, RATHER than spend this money to find more money through finding MORE grants, thats called an ROI? (Yes a run on question)

Maybe if they (BOE) HIRED professional Grant writer PART TIME, rather than a Marketing Company PART Time, VONAGE would maintain a dialog's, and your grant quest would be taken more serious by Corporations. But maybe I am wrong here too!

And please to not take me out of context, Its all about my kids, their schools, and how other people are spending my money on the school system.

I would be happy to invest time and effort KNOWING that this was part of a coordinated effort.

Tell me more about The FB Ed Foundation, do they have a web site, what grants have they presented, this too would be good news!

Let me tell you what I see happening on Long Island....School districts are working with Nortel, Avaya, and a few local Telcos' to scrap old district wide PBX Analogue Phones systems and rolling out VoIP systems and the savings are AMAZING!

Just as an example, are you asking Vonage for Grant money, or are you telling them you have an initiative were Vonage can participate, and their grant money will help?

Cisco, Avaya, Nortel are offering BIG discounts to School systems for the HW and conversions, Verizon and I believe Sprint too are aggressively looking for school districts for sell discounted services too.

Where the Boro can get even more bang for our buck is by undertaking a VoIP initiative (I bet telco, and datacom is costing us A Lot) as a cooperative shared service with Freehold regional, of maybe even through the county Dept. of Ed offices, and roll in as many county BOE systems as they can...THIS IS A BIG RIO Y/N???

Looking over large outdated cost centers, that have a common string through our the County (or state, but if you go down that road, nothing will ever happen) like Telco, Datacom, Broadband, Broadcast, etc...

Verizon just finish lighting up the Boro with FIBER OPTICS, (we are very lucky!!! OK thats were I get Fiber is good for you from too ;D..)

We are very well poised to take advantage of this incredible opportunity to lower a MAJOR operating cost! There should be grants specific to deployment of this technology.

What I discuse here are real Edu trends deployed by Disticts large and small throught out the US!

FIGFY