Teaneck Today

Teaneck is a town with a unique and proud history. I’ve created this blog to provide a place to exchange ideas and share visions for how to solve the challenges facing the town in a manner that brings diverse groups of people together.  Contributors are welcome.

Please join us and help Teaneck live up to its promise.

I also created a Facebook Group where residents can bring up and discuss topics about the Township: Teaneck Today

Feel free to click the link, join and share with your neighbors.

Monday 3/18: Teaneck Schools Budget Presentation (2024-25)

Teaneck Board of Education SPECIAL MEETING for the Budget Presentation

Click to enlarge the slides:

2024-2025 Preliminary Budget Presentation

 

2023-24 Revaluation Trends for Teaneck

Revaluation 2023-24

Here’s some data from the preliminary numbers


Average Change Across Teaneck

Average Change in Assessed ValueAverage Change in Assessed ValueAverage Change in Yearly Tax paymentNumber of houses in category
$237,949.1262.08%-$51.3510,974

Check your assessments by taking a look at the links below.  Assessments are grouped by voting district.

(use the slider to see additional information)

District 1 District 2 District 3 District 4
District 5 District 6 District 7 District 8
District 9 District 10 District 11 District 12
District 13 District 14 District 15 District 16
District 17 District 18 District 19 District 20
District 21 District 22 District 23

Changes in Annual Tax Levy by Voting District

Voting DistrictNumber of PropertiesAvg. Change in Yearly Payment
1444-$113.46
2514$120.91
3508-$331.03
4566$23.19
5334$329.00
6413$46.37
7432-$0.89
8613$140.11
9548-$87.98
10591-$119.95
11492-$271.53
12544-$463.60
13474-$26.48
14619$56.20
15154$175.51
16332-$61.53
17543$125.47
18545-$60.58
19554$15.18
20366-$410.78
21571-$166.43
22408$127.88
23409-$25.13
Continue reading “2023-24 Revaluation Trends for Teaneck”

Kaplan v. Teaneck BOE

An open email to the Teaneck Board of Education and District:

BER-L-000121-24 Keith Kaplan v. Teaneck Board of Education, et al.

The Teaneck Board of Education has problems.

There’s the Federal investigation into Civil Rights Violations by the Office of Civil Rights

There’s the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Investigation and charges of Civil Rights Violations

(First Letter from FIRE) (Second Letter from FIRE)

And now, there’s a Superior Court action for multiple violations of the Open Public Meetings Act (NJ’s signature transparency law)

I called several of the OPMA violations out at meetings, including the failure to abide by the minimum requirements of transparency–sending notice to two newspapers.  The First Amendment organization FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) has called them out for Civil Rights violations, not once, but TWICE.  And the Feds are investigating the District.

Sadly, there’s no sign that the illegal and improper activities that the Trustees of the Board of Education and the Administration in Teaneck have been engaged in, will be ending on their own.

So I have filed a Verified Complaint and an Order to Show Cause against the School District.  Today, the Order was granted by Judge Catuogno.

I do not take this step lightly.  However the law requires certain actions, and they have not been taken.  To wit: Continue reading “Kaplan v. Teaneck BOE”

Municipal Weather: Shady With Remote Chance of Sunshine

The last meeting of both the Municipal Council and the Board of Education has shown just how much transparency is a buzzword, without much meaning, to many elected to public office.

The Council

At the December 12th meeting of the Teaneck Council, Councilwoman Goldberg made a motion to appoint co-chairs of the PPRAB. In response, the following conversation appears to indicate that open session (public) items have not only been discussed in closed session but decisions were made in closed session for open session items, in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA):

Discussion from the December 12th Open session meeting:

You can watch the entire meeting here: https://youtu.be/uOHqH3unrQ8?t=4526

The conversation below starts at approximately 1:15:26

Deputy Mayor Gee: “Mr. Mayor, I’m doing all the personnel nominations, I’m not sure why she [Councilwoman Goldberg] did that.”

CW Belcher: “The discussion is, I thought in closed session, we said that Deputy Mayor Gee was going to put forth the nominations, so I don’t know why Councilwoman Goldberg is usurping that intent. That was clearly stated during closed session.” Continue reading “Municipal Weather: Shady With Remote Chance of Sunshine”

Teaneck BOE Violates OPRA to Keep Public in the Dark

What happens in a closed session of the Council or Board of Education stays in that closed session… but the minutes, with proper redactions, are still a public record.

But not according to the Teaneck Board of Education.  I have emailed the Board Secretary to provide these documents.  If they do not do so, suit shall be commenced.

I hope they do not waste taxpayer dollars trying to hide this public information.

Keith Kaplan
Teaneck Today Continue reading “Teaneck BOE Violates OPRA to Keep Public in the Dark”

When the Board of Education Violated My Civil Rights, I Chose to Fight Fisher with F.I.R.E.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (“FIRE”) calls on the Board to reform its policies and practices to comply with its constitutional obligations.

“When the Board of Education Violated My Civil Rights, I Chose to Fight Fisher with F.I.R.E.” – Keith Kaplan

The Board of Education is bound by the First Amendment

Lest anyone thinks that the standpoint the board based their vague and unequally applied rules has any standing, I’d urge you to read Justice Robert Jackson’s opinion in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)

In the opinion, the Court says:

“The Fourteenth Amendment, as now applied to the States, protects the citizen against the State itself and all of its creatures — Boards of Education not excepted.”

“Such Boards are numerous, and their territorial jurisdiction often small. But small and local authority may feel less sense of responsibility to the Constitution, and agencies of publicity may be less vigilant in calling it to account.”

“There are village tyrants, as well as village Hampdens, but none who acts under color of law is beyond reach of the Constitution.”

“The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials, and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One’s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.”

and my favorite line from any opinion:

“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.”


The Superintendent’s Letter:

On October 11, Teaneck School’s Superintendent Dr. Andre D. Spencer sent out a letter to parents in the wake of the most horrific attack on the Jewish people in a single day since the Holocaust.

In that letter, Dr. Spencer referred to the attacks perpetrated by Hamas as “the latest incidents in the cycle of violence in the Middle East” and “[t]he unfortunate situation in the Middle East”.

In the days following, I personally reached out to Dr. Spencer and we spoke via telephone for a while about the reasons the letter was so problematic to many residents, including those who had children in the district.  I even went as far as to prepare language that Dr. Spencer might be able to use1 to indicate that he understood the Jewish community’s anguish and was being responsive to those in his care.

Subsequently, parents in the township organized a Change.org petition, entitled: “Teaneck Public Schools: Revise Your Statement on Terrorism in Israel“, which urged the Superintendent to revisit his remarks.  The letter was signed by 3,071 individuals.

On October 17th, the Township Council unanimously passed Resolution 272-2023 “Denouncing the Terrorist Group Hamas and Supporting the State of Israel”.

Residents reach out to BOE and receive unequal treatment

The next day, residents came to address the Board of Education and Superintendent Spencer at the regular board meeting of October 18th [video link to meeting].

FIRE: The Teaneck Board of Education’s Restrictions on Public Comment Violate the First Amendment

At the 10/18 BOE meeting, Board Vice President Victoria Fisher regularly cut off speakers who mentioned atrocities committed by Hamas against Israel, but did not do so for those making comments in the opposite direction.  After seeing at least six of these incidents happen (watch e.g. at time indexes: 16:55, 50:16, 54:35 and 1:21:57), I went to the microphone and spoke.

Teaneck Board of Education Vice President Victoria Fisher (left) cuts off a person from speaking during the public comment period of the Oct. 18, 2023 meeting of the Teaneck Board of Education.

You can watch me speaking at time reference 1:49:57.

Several residents were cut off from speaking based on vague notions that dangerous actions, described in detail were too much for High School students in attendance, to hear.


The Court in Cohen v. CA dealt with the issue of using alternative words, stating:

“Additionally, we cannot overlook the fact, because it is well illustrated by the episode involved here, that much linguistic expression serves a dual communicative function: it conveys not only ideas capable of relatively precise, detached explication, but otherwise inexpressible emotions as well. In fact, words are often chosen as much for their emotive as their cognitive force. We cannot sanction the view that the Constitution, while solicitous of the cognitive content of individual speech, has little or no regard for that emotive function which, practically speaking, may often be the more important element of the overall message sought to be communicated. Indeed, as Mr. Justice Frankfurter has said,
“[o]ne of the prerogatives of American citizenship is the right to criticize public men and measures — and that means not only informed and responsible criticism, but the freedom to speak foolishly and without moderation.” Baumgartner v. United States, 322 U. S. 665, 322 U. S. 673-674 (1944).
Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971)

I was cut off from speaking no less than 3 times, due solely to the words I spoke to the board.  This was an egregious violation of the First Amendment, as well as State Law (N.J. STAT. § 10:4-12(a) — OPMA) and Board Policy.

“Several parents and community members used the public comment period to criticize Spencer for not explicitly and forcefully condemning the attack. But when they described Hamas’s actions to support that criticism, the board repeatedly shut them down. The board took particular exception to commenters’ “graphic” descriptions of the attack and repeatedly told speakers to keep in mind that children were in the audience.

Yet when other commenters used their time to emphasize the plight of Palestinians and used similarly “graphic” language, the board allowed them to continue.”

– Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Watch the board selectively stop certain points of view:

“For example, when one speaker said it’s possible to unequivocally condemn Hamas’s actions without taking a side in the conflict “unless of course you’re trying to appease people who actually think that the raping and murdering and pillaging of the community is appropriate,” Board Vice President Victoria Fisher immediately cut him off. In contrast, the board remained silent when another commenter said, “These people talking about raping and piling bodies on top of each other, that happened in the Holocaust. And if they’re having PTSD for what they’re doing to the Muslim community in Palestine, that’s something they need to seek mental health counseling for.”

When a speaker rhetorically asked how others would feel if “Indigenous people in our country … pulled your kids out of their beds and then shot you in front of them,” Fisher disapprovingly interrupted. But the board allowed someone else to freely comment that Israel’s “dehumanizing and genocidal actions” and the “propaganda surrounding them have spread all the way to us, where kids are stabbed 26 times just for being Palestinian.”

The board also repeatedly warned speakers discussing the Hamas attack not to repeat details or facts already “on the record.” Yet several pro-Palestinian speakers repeated details mentioned by previous commenters without receiving such warnings or admonitions.”

– Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

Cease and Desist

At the next meeting, the Board voted in closed session to have the Counsel for the District send a letter to “Cease and Desist” regarding my “conduct” to the board.  In this revision of history, the attorneys stated:

“The Board takes no position with respect to the subject matter of your comments”

This is clearly belied by the facts, as anyone can see on the recorded Board meeting.

Luckily, there are groups such as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), whose mission is “to defend and sustain the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty.”

FIRE lays out exactly where the Board VP, Victoria Fisher repeatedly violated the civil rights of parents and other members of our community.  The letter, which is posted in full below with links to all relative documents and cases, requests a response by December 11th.  I will update you whenever responses come through.

The response from FIRE to the Teaneck Board of Education can be read here:

2023-11-27_FIRE Letter to Teaneck Public Schools Board of Education, November 27, 2023

Due to a significant number of emails received by the Teaneck Board of Education, I also notified Board President Sebastian Rodriguez and Vice President Victoria Fisher separately, since they were cc’d on the communication to me.  I will post any further responses I receive below.


Response from Teaneck Board of Education Vice President Victoria Fisher:

Response from Teaneck Board of Education President Sebastian Rodriguez:

“Keith you sent the letter to the attorney Mr. Tabarkin, as such you must wait for his response by the due date on the letter (12/11/23).”

  1. The language I gave Dr. Spencer was based on a letter prepared by the President of Northwestern University.
    Sadly, Dr. Spencer did not send this and chose not to revise his communications.  You can find my suggested wording here (note these are NOT words created by Dr. Spencer):
    Last week, I sent out a letter outlining services our community can provide to our scholars, staff, and families. In that communication, some language has been seen by members of our community to suggest that I believe that the Teaneck Public School District as an entity does not condemn the atrocities that were committed. That cannot be further from the truth and I write again to share my thoughts about our values and our response to atrocities. There is no one who believes we should not be governed by a set of values… that everything is relative. Let me be very clear — we are absolutely guided by a set of shared values and principles. Among the values that we all share and embrace both individually and collectively are commitments to open discourse, diversity, equity, inclusion, and an abhorrence of antisemitism and racism. The abhorrent and horrific actions of Hamas last Saturday are clearly antithetical to Teaneck’s and our scholars’ values — as well as my own. Wherever one finds themselves on greater issues regarding the conflict, our shared humanity should lead us all to condemn these barbaric acts. One more value that I know we share in Teaneck is care and compassion for one another. Our scholars, our faculty, our staff, and our entire community are in tremendous pain. This is a moment for us to pull together, support one another, and seek common ground. I have been in communication with our leaders. We are coordinating our resources. No one should think we need to agree with each other about divisive issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But we must have empathy for each other and strive to build understanding. We condemn the terror visited on our community. We share our compassion and stand with all innocent people in Israel and Gaza at this time.

2023 Election Results

Congratulations to all those who ran for seats on the Board of Education.

Board of Education Results

It appears that the results indicate that the Educational Excellence Slate has won all three seats.
Final Tallies:
Gerald Kirschenbaum: 5392*
David Gruber: 5325*
James Woff: 5299*
Nadia Hosein: 4207
Selene Wong: 4299
Jose Zenon: 4082
For those interested:
  • Excellence Progress Equity (EPE) Slate won in the VBM category (54.8% to 45.2%)
  • Educational Excellence Slate won in the Early Voting (78.3% 21.7%)
  • On Election day, it was fairly even with only 4 votes separating 3rd and 4th place
My spreadsheet will be available on TeaneckToday.com momentarily.
*** Some Votes May Still Be Coming In ***
District:12345678910111213141516171819202122237-NovEarlyMailTotal
Gerald Kirschenbaum575215815452361987330830631637930241082749193100144464316286917757485392
David Gruber54561571524538193703063063133672926108335218898145464515284217647195325
James Wolff55531571504842193723033073123572431106295519194145464315282817537185299
Nadia Hosein117154179130114982106766652659210253971021931081066513017711228384848854207
Selene Wong1141541821401111052157272743070206251981011951171066312417011428845039124299
Jose Zenon112152173131108100202636967265720224892961811111026511816011127464818554082
Personal choice031061400000751402204634949
Mail in per district5676506634118578270995610048665240629770501295935

Teaneck Police: One in Custody after Cedar Lane Assault by Teaneck Juvenile

Chief of Police Andrew R. McGurr announces that a juvenile actor has been taken into custody and charged on a juvenile delinquency complaint following an aggravated assault that occurred last night.

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023, at approximately 8:56 PM, Officers responded to the Seasons Express store, located at 465 Cedar Lane, following several 911 calls reporting an incident. Upon their arrival, they discovered a victim, determined to be a 14-year-old boy from Teaneck, who had suffered a deep laceration to his face and a stab wound to his buttocks. The juvenile victim was transported by the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps to Hackensack University Medical Center for emergency treatment of non-life threatening injuries sustained during the attack.

As per initial Police Reports, the incident occured on the sidewalk of Garrison Avenue, between Cedar Lane and Beverly Road.

Witnesses provided a description of the suspect, who was apprehended a short time later by Bogota police.  He was reported to be a male who was dressed in dark clothing and wearing a Halloween clown mask.

That individual, identified as a 16-year-old boy from Teaneck, was determined to be the actor and was taken into protective custody. A search of the juvenile actor revealed he was in possession of a utility knife, which was partially covered in blood.

Teaneck Police indicated that “[b]ased upon a preliminary investigation, it does not appear the assault was precipitated by any type of confrontation or problem between the involved persons.”

As a result of the investigation, the juvenile actor was charged on a Juvenile Delinquency complaint with the following offenses;

  • Aggravated Assault 2nd Degree Crime
  • Aggravated Assault with a deadly weapon 3rd Degree Crime
  • Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful Purpose 3nd Degree Crime

Chief McGurr states that the charges are merely accusations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

Anyone with information about this or other investigations is urged to contact the Teaneck Police Department at 201-837-2600, or Crime Stoppers. Tips can be made anonymously on the group’s website at www.bergencrimestoppers.org or by calling 844-466-6789, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

2023-10-31-Aggravated Assault-Weapon-Juvenile Actor

Following the Money at the BOE: Year After Year, TPS District Bilked Taxpayers for Security, Transportation and More

Where do I vote? Click HERE to find out

A Review of Teaneck Public School Filings Show District Overcharged Taxpayers on Several Budgetary Items, including Transportation and Security

Security

Despite significant security issues (including the removal of security guards and threats against schools), the Teaneck Public School District collected 100% of its security budget from taxpayers… but didn’t spend 25% of it.  Where did it go?

Busing / Transportation

Despite complaints about the cost of busing and the inability to meet required busing needs, records show that the District collected FAR IN EXCESS of what it spent on busing.  In fact, in the last 3 years alone, the District pocketed $3M into “Fund Balance” to use as surplus funds… all from our tax dollars.

What is happening within the Teaneck Public School Budgets?

25% of the District Security budget went to discretionary fund balance?

Over $3M in local taxes set aside for busing students, instead went to discretionary fund balance over the past 3 years?

2022/23: Teaneck Schools – $6.94M ALLOCATED  for Transportation
2022/23: Teaneck Schools – $5.73M ACTUALLY SPENT for Transportation
2023/24: Teaneck Schools – $7.67M, a 10.46% RAISE to the Transportation Tax Levy, for an unprecedented $7.67M bill to taxpayers.

You read that right — after pocketing $3M in local tax levy funds from residents that we were told would be used for busing & transportation,  the line item for busing in 2023-24 WENT UP AGAIN by 10.46% to $7.67M according to the 2023-24 Final Budget presentation,

How could that be possible?

A few days after scores of parents attended a Board of Education meeting asking about the lack of security, I found myself asking these questions to the Teaneck School District Business Administrator.

The ACFR (Annual Comprehensive Financial Report)

The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) is a set of U.S. government financial statements comprising the financial report of a state, municipal or other governmental entity that complies with the accounting requirements promulgated by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

“Exhibit C” of the ACFR contains “Budgetary Comparison Schedules”.

These schedules indicate the:

  1. Final amount of the budgeted line item
  2. Actual amount spent for the budgeted line item
  3. Variance, or difference in the final amount budgeted and what was actually spent

Here are some examples from the ACFR”

Final BudgetActual SpentVariance (Difference)Year
Total Student Transportation Services$6,069,994

$4,489,077

$1,580,917

2021
Total Student Transportation Services$6,499,755

$5,736,648

$763,107

2022
Total Student Transportation Services$5,706,667

$4,975,660

$731,007

2020
Total:$18,276,416

$9,464,737

$3,075,031

Final BudgetActual SpentVariance (Difference)Year
Total Security Budget$1,134,695

$855,873

$278,822

2022
Total Security Budget$383,161

$383,161

$0

2020
Total Security Budget$548,073

545,723

$2,350

2021

ACFR Data (available on NJ State Website):

Confirmation

I reached out to the District’s Business Administrator to confirm these findings.

My email appears below:

While the difference between Final Budget and Actual is fairly small for many categories (e.g. Total instruction, which comes in at 5%), other categories seem to have a very different variance betweenfinal budget and actual expenditures.
As an example….
Security:
The original budget is listed as $516,101.00
The final budget is listed as $1,134,695.00 with $618,594.00 under “transfers”
The actual is listed as $855,873.00, leaving a variance of $278,822.00
The variance would appear to be 25% of the final budget amount.
If that’s the case, did the variance go to fund balance?
Am I missing something here?
Appreciate any feedback you can provide.
Keith

The response from the Business Administrator came on 10/19/2023:

Haqquisha Taylor <htaylor@teaneckschools.org>
Thu, Oct 19, 2023 at 4:45 PM
To: Keith Kaplan <keith@teanecktoday.com>
Cc: Andre Spencer <aspencer@teaneckschools.org>
Good Day,
Thank you, Mr. Kaplan, for your patience and for your follow up. The answer to your question regarding the variance listed in the 2021-2022 ACFR for Security is yes, the variance goes to fund balance. For Capital, $388,328 of the variance goes to fund balance. The remaining $18,600 of variance, relating to Facilities Acquisition and Construction Services, is returned to the Capital Reserves.
Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Where did the money GO?

This is a tricky question, as once you put massive amounts of money into “surplus”, it can be spent in a discretionary manner across different expense categories.

Obviously, as per the Business Administrator, we can see that the 25% of last year’s “Security Budget” which went unused was disbursed as follows:

  1. $388,328.00 to “Capital”
  2. $18,600.00 to “Facilities Acquisition and Construction [sic] Services”

 

If you recall, Teaneck Schools spent $5.35M for Renovation of a Kindergarten Building (from Eugene Field School office space to the current Lacey School) & Admin Offices by Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

Where did an “extra” $5,300,000.00 come from without bonding?  Now you know.

Let’s start with some basic facts:

  • Value of all land in Teaneck (as of 10/01/2020): $5,188,972,400
  • Value of Average Residential Assessment: $387,405
    • Percentage of total land value: .007466%

(stats from “User-Friendly budget” available on Township website)

Share of each $5.35M project for the average homeowner = $399.43

The $399.43 can be paid through the tax levy (all at once) or bonded (at near-zero interest) to be paid back over decades.

Bonding a project or paying for it through direct levy is a policy and financial decision that affects YOU!

So what would you prefer? Pay it all now or $19.97 a year for 20 years?

This is NOT how schools are supposed to operate.  Here’s why:

If you were to move out of Teaneck today, you would have paid 100% of your share of the $5,300,000.00.  But had this been bonded, at historically low rates over 30 years, you would only pay a share of the amount that corresponded with your time living in Teaneck.

The new resident moving in would continue to pay their fair share.

That’s how bonding – which is sometimes called “generational equity” – works.

But to do that, the Schools would have to go to the public with a bonding referendum on a ballot.  And the fear is that the public would vote down a bonding referendum because they think the schools ALREADY have enough money.  So rather than chance a defeat (which also acts as a barometer on resident satisfaction with the district), they inflate certain line items, year after year after year, in order to have you, the taxpayer pay MORE THAN YOU NEED to ensure a free and appropriate public education.

This is NOT how schools should function and the public should be incensed at how they are treating us at the Teaneck BOE.

“I’m Shoot Up the School” found scrawled in BF Middle School bathroom

Update (10/6/23 11am): Teaneck Police Chief Andrew McGurr has issued a statement, which has been added below.


10/5/23: In an email sent to parents of students at Benjamin Franklin Middle School (BFMS) this afternoon, School Superintendent Dr. André Spencer indicated that a report was made of “graffiti that was discovered on the wall of a girl’s restroom”.

The graffiti stated, “I’m Shoot Up the School”.

The school is working in coordination with law enforcement to determine if further actions are needed.

Superintendent Spencer says “it has been determined that there is no imminent threat to our scholars or staff”, but “there will be an increased law enforcement presence in the area”.

This event comes on the heels of several Board of Education meetings where parents have raised questions regarding security concerns.

I have reached out to Chief McGurr for comment.

Further information, as it becomes available, will be added to the story.

Email from the district appears below: Continue reading ““I’m Shoot Up the School” found scrawled in BF Middle School bathroom”