Field money could have been better spent elsewhere
While year after year, I have voted against the school budgets, I did this proudly as a taxpayer, parent, father of school-age children and the husband of a special education teacher. Why would the parent of a child in the Matawan-Aberdeen School District vote against the budget that helps educate his children? I did this proudly for all of the taxpayers without children and for those who cannot afford to live here due to the out-of-control school costs that are 65 percent of our tax bill.
On March 27, I attended the Board of Education meeting where I stayed just long enough to know that no matter what question I asked or statement I made as a taxpayer, resident or proud graduate of this same school district, the deck was stacked against fiscally responsible decisions. The overwhelming presence of athletic parents and intramural players, in their uniform shirts, was touching and an excellent pressure tactic.
The money to be spent in this district on a football field does not educate, and will similarly not increase our test scores, not stop or prevent school violence, not fix the computers that do not work properly or explain away the math scores, which have our school district now ranked below the state average. The $1.4-plus million dollar football field improvements were voted on improperly and under a fraud perpetrated on the taxpayers of Matawan and Aberdeen. This will be money spent without a full and complete explanation of the construction, possible hazards or future maintenance costs to even those board members who blindly approved it.
Irresponsible financial decisions have been prevalent in our district in the past with no official accountability. Let us review just a few examples - no one was held accountable when the restroom/snack bar at the high school football field had cost overruns, which brought the total of a seldom-used building to $500,000. When the 1993 referendum of $8 million tax-dollars funded only 75 percent of the proposed and promised renovations and programs, nobody knew because the board and both town councils kept it a secret from the public. Who approved a school name banner with columns at the front of the high school, which cost taxpayers $80,000? I am certain there were many such expenditures and vast monies wasted that, if properly checked, could have installed a new high-tech field at each and every school in the district.
If this Board of Education wants to keep up appearances with other districts, they should start with improving the test scores first.
Joseph P. McAleer
Aberdeen
While year after year, I have voted against the school budgets, I did this proudly as a taxpayer, parent, father of school-age children and the husband of a special education teacher. Why would the parent of a child in the Matawan-Aberdeen School District vote against the budget that helps educate his children? I did this proudly for all of the taxpayers without children and for those who cannot afford to live here due to the out-of-control school costs that are 65 percent of our tax bill.
On March 27, I attended the Board of Education meeting where I stayed just long enough to know that no matter what question I asked or statement I made as a taxpayer, resident or proud graduate of this same school district, the deck was stacked against fiscally responsible decisions. The overwhelming presence of athletic parents and intramural players, in their uniform shirts, was touching and an excellent pressure tactic.
The money to be spent in this district on a football field does not educate, and will similarly not increase our test scores, not stop or prevent school violence, not fix the computers that do not work properly or explain away the math scores, which have our school district now ranked below the state average. The $1.4-plus million dollar football field improvements were voted on improperly and under a fraud perpetrated on the taxpayers of Matawan and Aberdeen. This will be money spent without a full and complete explanation of the construction, possible hazards or future maintenance costs to even those board members who blindly approved it.
Irresponsible financial decisions have been prevalent in our district in the past with no official accountability. Let us review just a few examples - no one was held accountable when the restroom/snack bar at the high school football field had cost overruns, which brought the total of a seldom-used building to $500,000. When the 1993 referendum of $8 million tax-dollars funded only 75 percent of the proposed and promised renovations and programs, nobody knew because the board and both town councils kept it a secret from the public. Who approved a school name banner with columns at the front of the high school, which cost taxpayers $80,000? I am certain there were many such expenditures and vast monies wasted that, if properly checked, could have installed a new high-tech field at each and every school in the district.
If this Board of Education wants to keep up appearances with other districts, they should start with improving the test scores first.
Joseph P. McAleer
Aberdeen
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