Dear Editor:
As the 2017-2018 Parsippany School Budget will soon be finalized, I would like to shed some light on a line item budget cut that, in my opinion, will have a major impact on all elementary schools within the district. In order for the district to comply with budget caps, they are required to slash the budget. On the chopping block is the elimination of five elementary media secretaries. From an outsider looking in, it may seem logical to cut such a position. However, having observed the responsibilities of the individuals who work in our school first hand, I fear these cuts will have a major impact on our children’s educational experience.
As a proud parent volunteer at Intervale Elementary, I have spent seven years and countless number of hours helping as a library volunteer at Intervale. During this tenure, I have seen library times being adjusted from once a week, to every other week, back to every week with reduced library time. Having watched both my kids start off by checking out picture books when they first started school, as each year passed and their reading skills improved, so did their choice in reading materials. Luckily, they did not do this alone and had the help of some great Media Specialists as well as Media Secretaries. With a classroom full of students, it is not possible, or practical, for one person to assist all the students with their questions or concerns in a short amount of time. This is where the Media Secretaries in the district go above and beyond their job description and work with our children to ensure our kids go home with appropriate material.
The Media Secretaries are an integral part of the library and if these five positions are eliminated, my prediction is the elementary libraries will quickly fall into disrepair. While I have not had the privilege of meeting other media secretaries within the district, I can say with confidence that Mrs. Rodino, who has since retired from Intervale, and Mrs. Russell, Intervale’s current Media Secretary, have dedicated themselves to the district and have been a great asset to the district. Even with parent volunteers in the district helping out during library time, there is still a lot of work to do. Books must be ordered, books must be repaired, old books need to be taken off the shelves, books that have been put on the wrong shelf must find the proper home, overdue books have to be tracked down, books need to be checked in and out, books need to be put back on shelf once checked in, and children need guidance in finding library books. As one class leaves the library another class is entering the library leaving no time in between for processing and preparing lessons as it is. These are just some of the major responsibilities that a local elementary library faces. In addition to those listed, I am sure there are other things that also need to be done on a daily basis. It is my belief that the Media Specialist will be overburdened in trying to manage all aspects of the library. In my opinion, these added responsibilities will result in a decrease in library time for our students. I should stress that the Media Specialists and secretaries within the district are split between several schools and that they are only in any given school for part of the week. There is a lot of work to be done to have a successful library in the district. While looking to save money, the board does not realize what impact this will have. With these cuts, I can only predict that a weekly trip to the school library will be a thing of the past because the Media Specialists will be faced with more responsibility and will not have time to do their job; therefore. our children will suffer. With that, for those who are reading this with kids in Elementary school, I request that you ask your child about the media secretary in their school. I am confident that you will realize that the title assigned is anything but a secretary.
Eastlake – Mrs, Asaro
Intervale School – Mrs. Russell
Knollwood – Mrs. Huncken
Lake Hiawatha – Mrs. Bunk
Lake Parsippany – Mrs. Asaro
Littleton School – Mrs. Russell
Mt. Tabor – Mrs. Bunk
Northvail – Mrs. Magdits
Rockaway Meadow – Mrs. Huncken
Troy Hills – Mrs. Magdits
I urge you to reach out to those we elected and share any and all stories that you may have recently learned about these dedicated district employes. The next school board meeting is Thursday May 4th and the district needs to know that the decision to eliminate the five positions is wrong.
In addition to the topic I just wrote about, another crucial budget cut is the possibility of restructuring of the Reading and Writing Program within the middle schools. Brooklawn and Central having highly qualified teachers that provide our children skills that will be used for years to come. It is to my understanding that with the plan to restructure the middle school, the Reading and Writing classes will be eliminated and these skills will be drastically reduced. This will have an impact on our children and once the plug is pulled, there is no turning back the clock.
It is time for our voices to be heard. While we all live busy and hectic lives, please consider taking time to attend the next Board of Education meeting to let our elected officials know that these issues are concerns that we have. The Boards Members need to know that the proposed decisions are really not in the best interest of the district.
If you can not fit a meeting into you schedule, I ask that you at least express your concern by reaching out to the board members. For your convenience, here are the email addresses that you can contact them at. I’m sure they would love to hear from you!
President Frank Neglia – fneglia@pthsd.net
Vice President Andrew Choffo – anchoffo@pthsd.net
Timothy Berrios -tberrios@pthsd.net
George Blair – glblair@pthsd.net
Joseph Cistaro – jcistaro@pthsd.net
Alison Cogan – acogan@pthsd.net
Susy Golderer – sugolderer@pthsd.net
Nicholas Kumburis – nckumburis@pthsd.net
Judy Mayer – jsmayer@pthsd.net
I thank you taking the time in reading this and urge to let your voices be heard. Please help bring this matter by sharing this with your friends within the district to prevent the district from moving forward with the proposed plan.
Andy Sadowski
Parsippany
