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| Hoboken Board of Education Meeting Dec 8, 2020 |
On December 8, 2020 the Hoboken Board of Education met for their regular monthly meeting. At this meeting, a number of representatives of the Hoboken Teacher's Association spoke during the public portion of the meeting to address the Board and voice their concerns about the current situation of instruction delivery. The following is a transcript of the thoughtful and impassioned address that the First Vice President of Association gave to the Board. The address is also available online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsMx8moiPBo.
Notes on the transcript: Anything inside parentheses are additions to either convey the flow of the conversation or assist the reader in understanding the subtext. Bold is used for emphasis and at the discretion of the transcriber.
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Good evening, my name is (name withheld). I'm the first vice president of the Hoboken Education Association. I always love coming to speak in front of this board and usually I’m here for a more positive reason and a happy reason.
I came here tonight because as a duly elected officer of the HEA, I wanted to bring the concerns of our members to you. I could have come up here with letters and emails and texts like my colleaguesdid but I just thought I would share with you a couple of things. Anything this (Hoboken) Board ofEducation has asked this association to do since the summer (2020) we have done. We have shown up. We have done our jobs with enthusiasm and vigor and (with) masks and sometimes a lot of handsanitizer….and we have done it smiling. We've done our job vigorously and happily.
But I want to point out we are one of the only two districts in the county that are doing this and it's not because they (districts that have gone fully remote) failed where you guys have succeeded. It is because they (other Boards that have gone fully remote in Hudson County) understand that there's too much to risk. Something that this Board of Education has obviously not grasped.
There's too much at stake with the kid’s safety with the staff safety. We are at dangerous levels and levels are only getting higher. I came here tonight to tell you we do not have to wait until a code red situation (develops) to shut down the district and to go on remote. We had remote during the Thanksgiving break and it was very successful. It was VERY successful. I got to see a lot of kids that I hadn't seen because they were on remote and I got to see them on remote because we were there so it was great. I actually had my whole class and a contingent in a remote setting.
Good evening, my name is (name withheld). I'm the first vice president of the Hoboken Education Association. I always love coming to speak in front of this board and usually I’m here for a more positive reason and a happy reason.
I came here tonight because as a duly elected officer of the HEA, I wanted to bring the concerns of our members to you. I could have come up here with letters and emails and texts like my colleaguesdid but I just thought I would share with you a couple of things. Anything this (Hoboken) Board ofEducation has asked this association to do since the summer (2020) we have done. We have shown up. We have done our jobs with enthusiasm and vigor and (with) masks and sometimes a lot of handsanitizer….and we have done it smiling. We've done our job vigorously and happily.
But I want to point out we are one of the only two districts in the county that are doing this and it's not because they (districts that have gone fully remote) failed where you guys have succeeded. It is because they (other Boards that have gone fully remote in Hudson County) understand that there's too much to risk. Something that this Board of Education has obviously not grasped.
There's too much at stake with the kid’s safety with the staff safety. We are at dangerous levels and levels are only getting higher. I came here tonight to tell you we do not have to wait until a code red situation (develops) to shut down the district and to go on remote. We had remote during the Thanksgiving break and it was very successful. It was VERY successful. I got to see a lot of kids that I hadn't seen because they were on remote and I got to see them on remote because we were there so it was great. I actually had my whole class and a contingent in a remote setting.
What I'm suggesting is you do not have to wait to go into a red situation to go on full remote. Other districts have done it. We should be applauded. We already have more in-person instruction than any district in the county and that's great but now with the holiday season approaching, I think the prudent thing to do would be go on full remote until we get through this second wave because it's only going to get worse.
This association has saved you guys from a lot of emails, a lot of phone calls, and a lot of angry teachers showing up to meetings. This (person), our president (name withheld) has saved you guys from a lot of public scrutiny and criticism. (Our HEA president) gets it every night from our members. I get it every night from our members…. but we didn't want to come here and make a spectacle. We didn't want to do that because that's not what this association does. We want to teach but we want to do it safely so we are asking this (Hoboken) Board of Education to please do the right thing
On that note…Happy holidays to you and your families and I hope you consider what we're saying because right now we're waiting for a holiday miracle. Thank you.
This association has saved you guys from a lot of emails, a lot of phone calls, and a lot of angry teachers showing up to meetings. This (person), our president (name withheld) has saved you guys from a lot of public scrutiny and criticism. (Our HEA president) gets it every night from our members. I get it every night from our members…. but we didn't want to come here and make a spectacle. We didn't want to do that because that's not what this association does. We want to teach but we want to do it safely so we are asking this (Hoboken) Board of Education to please do the right thing
On that note…Happy holidays to you and your families and I hope you consider what we're saying because right now we're waiting for a holiday miracle. Thank you.
