Category: Board of Education

2021 General Election Results: ?

Keith Kaplan / / Board of Education, Elections, Teaneck

Here’s what I know as of 7am on 11/3:
The ability of the County to add 3 numbers and provide a “Total” does not appear to be a thing.

The County has results of various sorts listed here:

Election Results

As per the “Unofficial General Election Results link, the winners are currently Klein, Rodriguez and Greene.

But….

The link appears to only show two of the sets of numbers above.  There are three:

  1. Early Voting
  2. Election Day
  3. Vote by Mail

Adding the election day totals and early voting totals appears to give the results that the County is currently posting on their site and that I posted last night.

When adding the Vote by Mail at the link above, the results change:

Why didn’t the County add the VBM to the results?

Were these all of the VBMs?

Are there more VBMs coming in?

These are open questions and I do not yet have the answers.  But these are the links and numbers available thus far.

 

The Value of Predictions

Keith Kaplan / / Board of Education, Development, Teaneck

In 2019, the Teaneck Board of Education hired Whitehall Associates, Inc. (a qualified demographer by the New Jersey Department of Education) to conduct an independent analysis of the effects of new development on the Teaneck Schools.  The analysis (available here) projected enrollments based on particular projects and to the overall school system through the 2023-24 school year.  Some of the numbers were purely projections (as the pre-k and K classes hadn’t been born yet), but the rest were based on trends and the scientific methodology as outlined in the report and consistent with NJDOE practices.

So how good were the predictions?

To find that out, I contacted Superintendent Dr. Christopher Irving and asked for information regarding the number of students in these locations.

Below is a list of the predictions from Table 4 of the report and the corresponding chart indicates how well those predictions have been borne out in reality.

Location# of Apartment
Units		Predicted #
of school age
children		Actual # of
school age
children		Difference
1500 Teaneck Road2264414-30
1775 Windsor Road (Avalon)2486328-35
890 Palisade Avenue740-4
1387 Hill Street720-2
764 New Bridge Road1910-1
1475 Palisade Avenue120284-24
227 Teaneck Road24711+4
Totals65114957-92

Out of the predicted 150 school-age children attending the Teaneck Schools, only 57 have moved into these developments.

Broken down by school, the numbers show an average of 1-2 kids per class, max.  In short, there is roughly zero impact on the top line item in the school budget: staff, based on the people moving into new developments.

School# of students
Bryant Elementary School6
AUCC‐ PK Location1
Theodora Smiley
Lacey School		4
Lowell Elementary School8
Whittier Elementary School10
Benjamin Franklin Middle School5
Thomas Jefferson Middle School2
Teaneck High School19
Out of District1
Charter School1
Total57

Teaneck BOE: Independent Demographic Study of Impact of New Development

Why Vote NO on Municipal Questions 1 & 2?

Keith Kaplan / / Board of Education, Elections, Ordinances, Teaneck

There are 2 Municipal Questions on the Ballot this year.

Question #1: Moving the date of Council Elections

  • Local elections deserve attention
  • Very little focus on local issues in November amid Presidential / Congressional races
  • Traditionally nonpartisan races were in May and Partisan Races were in November to remove crossover influence
  • While turnout can be higher in some November races, the votes for non-partisan (e.g. BOE races) do not increase proportionately as voters skip these important races.

 

Question #2: Community Choice Aggregation.

  • This proposal allows for the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset energy use
  • This does NOT change the energy content in our area
  • This proposal typical enriches the lobbyists that create the programs, creating bad incentives to actually create clean energy in our area
  • The PJM interchange (which handles our area) is the ONLY interchange without a majority of clean energy content
  • The current and former chair of the Teaneck Environmental Commission expressed reservations about this plan.

BOE Candidates on Vaccine Mandates for Staff and Mask mandates for students [Yoni Bak]

Yoni Bak / / Board of Education, Elections, Health, Teaneck

This is a guest post from reader and group member Yoni Bak.

Vaccine Mandates and Mask Requirements

I reached out on facebook to the candidates for BOE about their positions on vaccine mandates for staff and mask mandates for students. I asked in a neutral way to try & get their honest opinions. Presented without comment are the responses I received from Victoria Fisher, Lori Fein, Yassine S. Elkaryani & Rachel Schiffman Secemski.

 

Continue reading “BOE Candidates on Vaccine Mandates for Staff and Mask mandates for students [Yoni Bak]”

Breaking: Victoria Fisher’s Running Mate Officially Out Of BOE Race

Keith Kaplan / / Board of Education, Elections, Teaneck

As previously reported, Mr. Shamiq Syed who submitted petitions with Teaneck Board of Education Trustee Victoria Fisher and Jonathan Rodriguez, was preliminarily removed from the BOE race when it was determined he may not have met the one-year residency requirement.

Since that time, Mr. Syed provided various documents to support his claim / establish proof of residency.

Among the items received by the county were:

  • “Notice to Vacate” his prior residence (in Weehawken)
  • A bill of lading for the shipping of a motor vehicle (Porsche 911) from Vancouver to Teaneck in September 2020
  • 2 Paychex reports mailed to Teaneck
  • Information relating to purchase of a property in Teaneck by Mr. Syed’s father (including various financial documents associated with the sale)
  • Certifications from Mr. Syed and his family members

Continue reading “Breaking: Victoria Fisher’s Running Mate Officially Out Of BOE Race”

UPDATE: Meet the 2021 BOE Candidates

Keith Kaplan / / Board of Education, Elections, Teaneck

Subject to certification by the County Clerk, the preliminary list of BOE candidates for the 2021 November election appears below:

If you’re a candidate and would like to participate in a “virtual” Meet & Greet to introduce yourself to Teaneck Today membership, please let me know. A formal invitation to all candidates will be going out as well.

  • DENNIS KLEIN [BRIDGING GAPS]
  • DARRYL F. GREENE
  • ROMAINE L. HASSANAH
  • RACHEL SECEMSKI
  • YASSINE ELKARYANI
  • LAURA E. FEIN [KIDS COME FIRST]
  • VICTORIA FISHER* [TRUST EQUITY ACCESS]
  • JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ [TRUST EQUITY ACCESS]
  • SHAMIQ SYED [TRUST EQUITY ACCESS]

* Indicates Incumbent

(three positions are open and brackets listed were chosen by the candidates)

UPDATE:

Please note that while Mr. Sahmiq Syed submitted an adequate number of petitions, he has been disqualified for not meeting the minimum residency requirement of living in Teaneck (1 year).

Board of Ed incumbent Victoria Fisher acknowledged in a social media post yesterday that the “campaign won’t be easy”.
Apparently, this is the first setback for the “Trust Equity Access” team.

 

The Future Former Administration of the Teaneck BOE

Keith Kaplan / / Board of Education, Teaneck

If you missed it while you were poolside or having bbq and watching the fireworks, I’d completely understand.

While most of us were celebrating the 4th of July, the BOE sent out a notice informing the public that a special meeting would be held tonight, July 7th.

The notice, says:
There will be only one item for discussion this evening (TBD) and public participation (virtual/live) will be kept to 1 hour. Formal action may be taken.

So, that’s…. informative?

Rumors started swirling, almost immediately.  Some said the Superintendent, who was just granted a five-year contract last year, would be tossed out.

Turns out, the rumors were accurate:

Why? Continue reading “The Future Former Administration of the Teaneck BOE”

Civil Rights Lawsuits Filed: South Orange / Maplewood Parents Demand Schools Open

Keith Kaplan / / Board of Education, Teaneck

Parents are willing to put up with a lot, but they will not sacrifice their children on the altar of public education.

Public schools have never been perfect.  From education gaps to special education costs, our schools have always faced issues to a degree that isn’t seen in most private educational settings.  But those were problems we knew and were dedicated to addressing.

We addressed them in schools.

But now? Continue reading “Civil Rights Lawsuits Filed: South Orange / Maplewood Parents Demand Schools Open”

UPDATE: Unofficial 2020 General Election Results for Teaneck

Keith Kaplan / / Board of Education, Elections, Teaneck

UPDATE: The unofficial results have been updated as returns are coming in.  The post has been updated to reflect the new unofficial stats.

While ballots may still be counted for the next 10 days, as mail arrives, here are the unofficial counts from Bergen County for Teaneck.

Official Link to updated results (11/4/20)

Official Link to results (11/3/20)

Here is a breakdown of turnout by district.  I made this based on information received from the County.  It’s subject to change and I can’t verify the accuracy of the information.  It also may not count those recently registered to vote.  But, it’s the best I have at the moment.

 

 

 

District Voted Registered Turnout
1 863 1,118 77.2%
2 1,047 1,471 71.2%
3 1,040 1,321 78.7%
4 963 1,226 78.5%
5 719 964 74.6%
6 861 1,143 75.3%
7 873 1,176 74.2%
8 1,123 1,362 82.5%
9 1,054 1,366 77.2%
10 1,190 1,552 76.7%
11 1,029 1,387 74.2%
12 1,378 1,776 77.6%
13 873 1,179 74.0%
14 1,159 1,596 72.6%
15 856 1,262 67.8%
16 560 788 71.1%
17 1,015 1,350 75.2%
18 1,136 1,453 78.2%
19 982 1,224 80.2%
20 726 901 80.6%
21 1,109 1,441 77.0%
22 850 1,103 77.1%
23 795 1,122 70.9%
Total 22,201 29,281 75.8%
Voted Registered Turnout
Dem 13,419 16,320 82.2%
Rep 2,933 3,721 78.8%
Una 5,710 8,987 63.5%
22,062 29,281 75.3%
Election Summary 11-5-20