The following is communication that was sent to the parents and guardians of the children attending the Hoboken Pubic Schools. The letter concerns the vote on a referendum put forward by the Board to the public for the building of a new high school. The referendum was voted down. The Board's letter generated a fair amount of responses on social media. What follows are some selected comments that were posted to social media groups and outlets concerning the Board's letter on the referendum.
Yesterday the voters of Hoboken had an opportunity to weigh in on a referendum to secure financing for the proposed new Hoboken High School. Over 7,000 voters came to the polls and the referendum did not pass.
We believe that local, long-term investment, which includes community involvement, in our education system, is important and necessary, and we look forward to discussing our plans moving forward.
We will continue to reinforce that our aim is to create an equitable educational experience, with minimal financial impact, including shielding residents in the HHA or in PILOT’d properties from the impact altogether. We also want to reassure our pre-k population that this, or any project like it, would not threaten the free pre/k program.
To our Hoboken Public School District - we appreciate your support and dedication. We, in turn, support you and will continue to ensure that we are providing all the children of this district with challenging and fulfilling opportunities.
To those of you who voted no, or who were unsure, we appreciate your concerns and feedback and we hope to work together further.
We invite everyone to learn more about all of the great things that are happening in our public schools as we continue to progress.
Warm Regards,
Hoboken Board of Education
Selected Comments from the Community about the Letter:
"a very underwhelming response from the BOE, they seem to think we got it wrong rather then them"
"they are very arrogant and wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. They owe the community a formal apology"
"unbelievably patronizing they didn’t acknowledge how many people voted against it, they didn’t acknowledge real concerns of the community and they still are talking about pilot buildings not paying for it"
"But the way the board went about it was unacceptable, unseemly even. The board’s distasteful actions were heightened over the weekend by individual members’ last-ditch effort to woo voters with “personal’' letters that were clearly orchestrated and intended to skirt legal advice that they weren’t to campaign for or against the referendum question. Oddly, the “personal’' letters were sent through Board of Ed email accounts and included the same introductory disclaimer. Hmmm. With a transparent, open, collaborative process, the board could have been celebrating victory today rather than licking its wounds." -The Jersey Journal (January 27, 2021)
"To me the BOE letter to parents was unacceptable. There should have been a letter to the entire city apologizing for the deceitful process and wasting hundreds of thousand of taxpayer dollars. Our November municipal election was definitely affected by this not being disclosed, even though it was already approved by the state. There is simply no valid reason aside from intent to manipulate the municipal election that this was not disclosed last summer. Can someone confirm how much taxpayer money was spent on this proposal & entire referendum process? I believe it was over $300,000 some are saying higher. The personal letters, from the BOE emails, was the final straw in a long chain of unethical behavior. Hoboken residents deserve an apology and a vow by both our BOE and Dr. Johnson to do much better going forward"
"Part of coming together will be holding the school board and our city officials accountable for what just happened. We cannot let this go in the name of unity. If you are an elected official even if you don’t get paid, criticism is part of the job. They failed to tip the scales in their favor by organizing a last minute off-cycle election and giving advocates a preview before the general public so a yes group is more organized than a no group. They sent out a biased press release on “misinformation” that was factually accurate. The school board and superintendent hosted an information session sponsored by the yes group, that only elementary and pre-k parents could attend on zoom. The cherry on top was when 7 out of 9 school board members sent in letters to the paper in support of the bond right before the election supposedly speaking as individual board members. Three of these school board members used board of education email addresses to send their letters to the paper. The school board members may be well meaning and they may be volunteers, but they violated the public trust."
"At this point I do hope that they apologize for what transpired, taking responsibility and accountability for their behavior and honestly, a breach of ethics on their part. Let’s see who’s going to step up from the BOE and be accountable"
