Holmdel BOE President: A Staffer's Second Job Was Subject Of Board Investigation

Board President Barbara Garrity issued a statement Monday morning stating board policy was not violated.

The following statement was issued by the Holmdel School District on Monday morning, around 9 a.m. A number of parents have expressed their concern about the nature of a recent investigation involving a school staff member.  The matter came to public attention following comments made by two members of the Holmdel School Board, which included a reference to recent controversies involving Penn State and Brookdale Community College.  While aspects of the matter remain confidential because it involves personnel, I can share a few important facts.   First, school district policy allows staff members to pursue outside consulting activities on their free time outside of their normal business hours.  When the Board of Education learned that a …

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Holmdel School Board President Says 'Bullying' Allegations Are False

In a statement issued today, Board President Barbara Garrity responds to comments made at Wednesday's Board of Education meeting by two of its members.

Recently, two members of the Holmdel School Board, Ana Vander Woude and Dennis Pavlik, issued public statements claiming that they had been “bullied” when they raised a “serious” issue involving school personnel in October. They claimed the school board, school attorney, and school administration attempted to silence them with threats of potential legal action and ethics violation charges. These claims are completely false. No one is deliberately hiding anything.   They were never “silenced.” They know there are rules involving personnel matters that require confidentiality. They also know the board responded rapidly to the issue they raised, and it has been thoroughly investigated to the satisfaction of the majority of the board’s …

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Look For “School Elections” On The November 6 Ballot

Moving the Board of Education candidate election from spring to November is expected to increase voter participation.

For the first time, this fall the Board of Education elections will be included in the November 6 general election ballot rather than in the spring election as has been customary in the past.  The Board voted for this change in the hope of increasing voter participation and to reduce our elections costs.  While our election costs are sure to decline, we would be disappointed if confusion over the school election date or where to find the races on the ballot reduced voter turnout for these important choices. Board of Education elections are non-partisan, and so are separated from the partisan races on the ballot.  According to an early sample ballot provided by the Monmouth County Board of Elections, our BOE elections will be in a separate …

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Letter: Holmdel Board Response on Ramapo Ruling

Holmdel BOE President Barbara Garrity responds to discussion over the recent state Superior Court of Appeals ruling on the Ramapo Indian Hills BOE conduct policy.

While I appreciate Mr. Collins’s discussion of the most recent Ramapo ruling, I don’t agree that decision invalidates our existing district policy and Code of Conduct.  Under the Ramapo decision, the language of our policy is fine.  The key will be how it's applied on a case-by-case basis. The first Ramapo ruling came down when Mike was still on the Board.  As we discussed the Code of Conduct then, the issue was that some Board members wanted to eliminate completely our right to impose on-campus consequences for ANY off-campus misconduct.  They thought such misconduct should be addressed only by parents and law enforcement.  However the majority of the Board felt that we should keep this discretion, permitted by statute and regulation, …

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Jennifer

9:49 am on Saturday, August 11, 2012

Not nothing. This policy will not catch every case of bad driving, but it will do something. At least it will be a red flag, and if someone's racking up that many moving violations, chances are at least some of them will be close to home, in the students comfort zone and most frequented area. Even if they don't reach the point of a suspension, meeting with an officer might make them a little more…   more ›

Guest Column

Guest Column: Holmdel Schools Mid-Year Progress Report

Board of Education President Barbara Garrity reports on how the board is meeting its goals.

With second semester beginning, we review our progress to date in meeting our 2011-12 goals. Each goal – World Language program enhancement, Technology improvement and integration into instruction, Character Education, Differentiated Instruction, and Financial Enhancements – builds on prior years’ efforts, although this report focuses on current accomplishments. At Village School (VS), Spanish classes are now longer, allowing more to be accomplished in each session. Teachers conduct lessons in Spanish, with students responding in kind, as much as possible.  Fourth and fifth graders at Indian Hill (IH) now have Spanish weekly. As students become more proficient comprehending and speaking, reading and writing in Spanish are added to their …

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