It is no secret that I have a child at Fredon School who will attend Kittatinny one day, I have 2 more small children who will follow, and I was a teacher at another local school before the budget cuts.
I know schools and teachers, and I know we are very fortunate to have some of the best in the country among us in our area.
I also acknowledge that we pay heavily for these benefits. There is an elephant in the room that the constant state budgets cuts might be pushing the elementary schools in the Kittatinny District to consolidate one day. If done right, taxpayers can save money, the very best employees can be retained, class sizes can be reasonable, and our students can benefit with more services, activities, and course offerings. If the time does come, we have a strong chance for a win-win if we collaborate civilly.
In the meantime, do our current public schools have room for improvement and savings? Of course! Any institution does, and our schools and teachers continually seek to make themselves better and find ways to do more with less.
Do public schools need to be eliminated or rebuilt from the ground up? No. They need civil input from us all to guide their priorities and school employees need citizens to understand the heavy expectations they carry for us all constantly.
Each day, school employees locally in our districts - not just in cities far away - suspect a child has a terrible home life and have to report it. They hear a racist comment in the hallway and are obligated to address it. They sneak bags of food to students to bring home for the weekend without other students who might judge them noticing. They hide in a corner without knowing if it is a drill or a real lockdown. They get coughed on and handed a bloody tooth without knowing who has a bloodborne or airborne illness. They make sure to follow accommodations for students with disabilities to ensure academic access and success.
They are also advocates for the kids who don’t have parents advocating for them. When others at home are not supportive, students confide in teachers and counselors during mental health crises, the discovery of their identities, and the accomplishments of personal goals.
I know we all wish school wasn’t this complicated, but only when children feel safe and their basic needs are met can they really focus on learning reading and math.
For these reasons and so many more, school employees sometimes need legal safety nets, mandatory diversity and inclusion trainings, a say in school policy, a higher level of government oversight than we can provide at the local level, and, again, our support.
One way to support our local schools is just to go easy on them online and off by sharing your opinions (and frustrations at times) directly with those who make the decisions and mandates.
This is why I am urging Fredon residents and parents to contact the New Jersey Department of Education and the State Board of Education directly when you are upset about state budget cuts, learning standards, and health mandates out of the local district's control.
Email Fredon and Kittatinny School Board members directly and ask if you can have input on local curriculum implementation and policy decisions and then collaborate with them on solutions.
Reach out to school leaders and teachers directly instead of posting public criticisms about them. Because of different school policies and Code of Conduct expectations, they can’t fight back online. Plus, many of them are our own hard working neighbors in Fredon and deserve the courtesy.
Please also try to remember, it has been a difficult few years in education. We can’t run our school leaders and staff out of town or burn them out more. We are dependent on them to help us heal and catch our students up academically. I hope they can depend on us for civility and support in the coming years too.
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