In Your Opinion: School District Needs New Superintendent

By Monica Hines, Angela Barkley, Bernadette Kelly, De Sanders, Cynthia Burwell-Alston, Shanel Y. Robinson and Donna Blackmore.

We are Community for Change, an organization comprised of a diverse group of active community members.  At the September 26th Board of Education meeting, we outlined facts as to why we believe that Mr. Ed Seto’s contract should not be renewed.  We cited reasons such as: Lack of Educational Progress, Lack of Fiscal Accountability, Ineffective Human Resources Management Style, Poor Leadership Management Style, and also Costly and Ineffective Management of Special Education Issues.

While the great majority of the public spoke against renewing the superintendent’s contract, it was the board who ultimately voted.   A handful of Seto supporters at the meeting were disappointed in the board’s decision of non-renewal, while the majority agreed with the decision, which was evident by the applause from the audience when the 5-1 vote was announced.

Citizens from the community provide us with information, that we vet, and then we share our findings with the community.  Any information brought forth by Community for Change (C4C), good, bad, or indifferent, we expect the board members, our elected officials, to do their own research, so that they can make informed decisions when they vote on issues that ultimately affect the future of our school district and our students.  We also encourage parents and community members to do their research and to stay involved, so that they can make wise decisions when electing officials to serve our community. It is not about Community for Change(C4C), it is about our students and holding our elected board members accountable and responsible.

Our purpose is to provide the public with a conduit to gather information and to explore proper channels to bring about positive change for our community and our schools.  We are of the opinion that our community and our school district can not move forward under the direction of our current leadership, Mr. Ed Seto.

We encourage members of the community, especially those who are still in support of Mr. Seto, to analyze the data that illustrates the direction that our current leadership has taken us during his tenure.  Mr. Edward Seto started as Superintendent in our district September 2007.  In September 2008, our high school ranked 150 out of 316; in 2010, we ranked 201 out of 322; in 2012 we ranked 263 out of 328 (Njmonthly.com/topschools). These numbers are evidence of a steady decline in educational progress under the leadership of Mr. Seto.  Some supporters may say that they have seen results, and that results are slow, and that change is happening. Yes, change is happening, but it’s not positive change.  Numbers don’t lie …

Your Thoughts

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