Former Councilman Peter Cunningham Weighs in on the NO Side

 Dear family, friends and neighbors,

As we hunker down with typically the coldest and snowiest days of the year, I'm going to cut to the chase and ask you to join me in voting no on January 25th.

The truth is, The District has more to do to improve the educational excellence, before embarking on such a large capital project - 100% financed by the taxpayer (renters too). Up until the last four year of my City Council tenure, I was quite knowledgeable of former Board of Ed members and their strategic plans. These leaders were working towards the right strategies which in large part wrestled the District away from outside political influence which stifled educational excellence for far too long, and led to Dr. Johnson's hiring.

But the competition is fierce, with many educational options in the area. Our High School has not kept pace and has more work to do. It's not accurate that new facilities translate into educational excellence. Building a $241 million plus facility in hopes parents will send their children is not a strategy. If the educational value vs facilities mismatch isn't enough to vote no, consider the following.

I understand the parents of Hoboken's public school children for wanting to support this project with so many of our local charters and County High Schools making facilities investments. But the community as a whole, including the District parents, should be aware and concerned with Hoboken's political history. The manner in which this plan is being introduced is steeped in Hoboken's ugly past with zero transparency, zero quantifiable justification and a whole lot of voter suppression. It's hard to imagine that we have truly gone back to the days of organized corruption.

Consider the following statements about this plan.

1) BOE (and I believe certain council members) knew about this plan first quarter last year (and earlier - 2019), and consciously chose to hide it from the public

2) inadequate cost justification when less than half the bond amount could renovate existing facilities to meet their needs

3) 100% tax supported (a 20% tax increase, up to $1,500 more on average in school taxes for 25 years per household)

4) referendum slated for an obscure time of the year to suppress voter turnout

I would say the recent NJ.COM article really sums it up, and provides really good statewide perspectives. I encourage everyone to read the article.

https://www.nj.com/.../proposed-241m-bonded-hoboken...

And if this isn't enough, it is shameless that this District leadership, Administration and Councilmembers feel empowered to pit parents of Hoboken's school children against all of Hoboken's taxpayers. As a councilman, I alway felt it was important to bring the community together on divisive measures like this referendum - and trust me, I experienced many of them.

I am happy to take any questions or comments on either side of the issue.

Thanks, Peter Cunningham

Reader Opinion: Just Say No to New Hoboken High School, Former BOE Member Say

The following opinion piece is from Leon Gold as published in TAPintoHOBOKEN on January 19, 2022

As a former Hoboken Board of Education (BOE) Trustee writing this is difficult because I know first-hand all the sweat and toil in trying to improve education for Hoboken’s public-school children, but the current proposal is the wrong way. On January 25 the referendum should be voted down. To be as clear as possible, I am voting NO and you should as well.

As the reasons for doing so are manifold, I present my non-exhaustive list of the top 4 reasons why I, as a former Board of Education elected official, advocate voting NO:

1. Lack of transparency - The job of a BOE Trustee is to represent the community in the interest of educating the public’s children in district schools. This BOE has conflated pushing their desire for a sports complex with a school attached over their obligation to the children and people of Hoboken. For over two years they secretly planned, informing their close clique of supporters, only to tell the people after the November BOE elections and during the holiday season in the middle of winter. While supporters of the plan pretend the BOE had to wait until the State Department of Education officially acknowledged the proposal was added to the BOE’s long term plan, which happened in August of 2021, the fact remains that they hid the information from the public for 3 months to avoid answering any questions during the November BOE elections. Even were this needed for long-term planning (which it isn’t), voters should send a message to every level of elected officials that anti-democratic games in which they purposefully hide things from the voters will not be tolerated.

2. It Won’t Help the Children – Academics and pedagogy are not sports and athletics. The current high school is massively under-enrolled with roughly 435 students (including approximately 125 students from outside Hoboken) for a building that was built with a capacity of 1,506. If the people of Hoboken were asked to spend more tax dollars on lifting the students’ futures and giving educators the flexibility to reach their students, rather than the $330 million sports complex that is being pushed, no one would be able to say no because everyone wants the children to succeed.

3. This Will Endanger the Free Pre-K Abbot Funding – As an SDA (School Development Authority) or former Abbot District, Hoboken receives state aid for the free Pre-K program. At the time of its creation, the program (then known as Abbot Districts) was meant to assist economically downtrodden districts that would otherwise have a problem funding education through property taxes. Even though today roughly 2/3rds of the town are rental units, the situation is different, and Hoboken is the capital of the “Jersey Gold Coast”. Every year support for state education aid in Trenton (in both parties) goes down as does the aid dispersed (the JC BOE just recently lost about $70 million in aid). The amount dispersed by the state for education aid is decided in a political and bureaucratic process and is not something that is guaranteed. Pushing an unnecessary massive BOE tax increase for a sports complex with a high school attached (especially when the current one is massively under-enrolled) will only add fuel to the fire of those in Trenton advocating cutting Hoboken’s state education aid. Moreover, to dampen the impact of the growing Trenton anti-state aid chorus, other SDA Districts will undoubtedly add their voice to the choir as they have an incentive to throw Hoboken under the bus in order to spare themselves additional education aid cuts.

4. Half-truths – The BOE statistics on enrollment are half-truths meant to create the impression of a growing groundswell of enrollment. Before, during, and after I was on the BOE, people spoke of enrollment booms that never materialized. No one would love for our Hoboken district school enrollment to grow more than I, but the reality is that enrollment is within normal historical fluctuation ranges. Moreover, the alleged overcrowding is existing in only one of our elementary schools and has existed since 2011 (while the other two elementary schools remain under capacity). Just as important to note is that when looking at NJ Department of Education data from the Hoboken BOE, it is the Hoboken BOE that self-reports and determines the capacity level at its schools. The supporters of the $330 million sports complex with a school attached - the people telling others that if we vote “yes” on the $241 million dollar bond referendum question, everything will change are well-intentioned but factually wrong on every level. Those who want fact-based educational improvements for Hoboken’s children understand that leading by example to integrity and honesty is important. Good government and education advocates know that this plan requires Hoboken voters to VOTE NO on January 25th because it will make our town even more unaffordable; because buildings are not a replacement for pedagogy nor a synonym for education; because it rewards fundamentally inappropriate behavior of elected officials; and because it will put in danger Hoboken’s free Pre-K program funded by state aid. On January 25th for Hoboken’s children and commonsense VOTE NO.

Respectfully Yours, 

Leon Gold

Calling it a ‘huge miss,’ Hoboken Councilman Ramos says he’ll vote against $241M school referendum- By John Heinis

(Hudson County View- John Heinis) Stating that the upcoming $241 million Hoboken school referendum “is a huge miss at an opportunity” for the city and board of education to collaborate, 4th Ward Councilman Ruben Ramos reveals that he’ll vote no next week.

Councilperson Ramos 

“My view is that the plan as proposed is a huge miss at an opportunity for the City of Hoboken and the Hoboken Board of Education to work collaboratively to meet both our educational and community needs,” Ramos said in an email blast.

“In 2018, I made such an attempt to try and have a school incorporated within the Southwest Redevelopment Plan. The cost of the school construction would have been in the $35 to $40 million dollar range and would have been built adjacent to the Southwest Park Expansion.”

Ramos indicated that himself, Mayor Ravi Bhalla, and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christine Johnson held met with representatives from Academy Bus in 2018 before Bhalla came out against the plan in early 2019.

“I have always advocated for school construction as a community giveback in all of our redevelopment plans because having these types of public projects funded by developers can ease the burden on taxpayers. Did the plan have flaws? Absolutely, but this was a starting point and at the time it was a plan well worth exploring,” he continued.

The 4th Ward councilman also said the BOE’s planning process showed a “complete lack of transparency” and that their “take it or leave it” approach to this plan is “completely unacceptable,” noting that Rebuild By Design and park projects in recent memory have all had robust public input.

“Emotions have been extremely high on both sides and that is predominantly due to the lack of transparency and input the public deserves. The 4th ward is home to a large number of students in our educational system and home to the largest share of the high school students,” Ramos noted.

“As their Councilperson and your Councilperson, I want what is best for them and you. And that is why I will be voting NO on January 25th with the hope that we can all work together to find better solutions to build quality schools and facilities that our students and residents deserve.”

Ramos joins 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher in publicly opposing the project, who was the first elected official to come out against it.

Bhalla has come out in favor, with 5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen, Councilman-at-Large Jim Doyle, and Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour also doing so last month in a joint statement.

The mayor and Jabbour have since doubled down on their support in the new year.

The referendum is on January 25th and today is the last day to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot.

"just for the sake of making sure people have their facts right" - Factchecking Comments on the Hoboken BOE Bond Referendum

Zoom Meeting - Dec 1, 2021 

As Councilperson Jabbour points out, it is important that people have the correct information when trying to reach a decision on the upcoming bond issue. In that spirit, I will try to add further information to her comments that were made at a December 1, 2021 Hoboken City Council Meeting. This post includes both a video of her comments along with a transcript. Parentheses have been added for clarity. 

Comments of Councilperson Jabbour  https://youtu.be/OQR4U8jzBWE?t=7052

117:46 i did want to correct i think there was a reference to some of the school choice students with the current high school population and i just want to make sure there's a correction because unfortunately i think there's been a fair amount of misinformation about this um what's included in the referendum and the need for a new high school but just for the sake of making sure people have their facts right (1) there are close to 500 students at the high school currently and about 80 to 90 of those kids are what's called school choice um those are students who are from outside of the district who are enrolled in hoboken for various reasons and if you actually look at that across the whole system the district does the k-12 levels it's (2) about seven percent of the population um so i really think that people need to be very clear about what we're talking about the (3) freshman class is double the size of the senior class um so there is a wave of kids coming um

1) Based on the 2021-22 ASSA report (see Figure 1), there are @433 total students in Hoboken high school (not "almost 500") including "choice" (non resident) students. Omitting non resident students leaves approximately 310 Hoboken resident students in Hoboken High School. There are 123 Choice students in the High School not "80 or 90" (see Figure 2). 

Figure 1: 2021-22 ASSA Report 
Hoboken School District 
Click to Enlarge

2) Depending on whether you include the PK3 and PK4 or K-12 students, the percentage of Choice students in the district will vary. What is clear is that Choice students make up 28.4% of the Hoboken High School population based on 2021-22 ASSA reports. 42 other Choice students are distributed throughout the rest of the district based largely on the sibling preference policy. 

3) This year's Freshmen class (2021-22) was last year's 8th grade (2020-21). This year's senior class (2021-22) was last year's 11th graders (2020-21). According to the NJDOE (see Figure 3), last year there were 127 8th graders in the district and there were 98 11th graders in Hoboken High School. Even taking into account CHOICE students, there are not twice as many 9th graders as 12th graders based on available information. 

Summary: There seems to have been a general trend to estimate or generalize in the direction of favoring the arguments for the upcoming bond issue. 1) 433 is closer to 400 than it is to 500 (FALSE); 2)  7% may be correct depending on which total enrollment is used for the district but 28% of the High School being made up of out of town "Choice" students is equally or more informative (MOSTLY TRUE), and 3) 127 is not double 98 (FALSE). It is possible that the councilperson may have been privileged to information that the Board of Education did not share with the public so we must give some benefit of a doubt. 

Figure 2: NJDOE Data on Distribution of Choice Students
Hoboken School District 
Click to Enlarge 

Figure 3: NJDOE Data on 2020-21 Enrollment 
Hoboken School District 
Click to Enlarge 

Councilperson Tiffany Fischer has come out against the bond issue. For more information CLICK HERE. 

Calabro School Rededication (2007) - An Example of State Funds Helping Hoboken Schools

Rededication of Calabro School-2007

On of the first official acts as the Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Hoboken was the rededication of Calabro School. Mr. Calabro was actually my grammar school principal. It was a great honor to be at the dedication ceremony that day.

While Calabro School was officially erected in 1976. It should also be stated the the building went through a major upgrade and was rededicated in the Fall of 2007. The original Calabro Elementary School housed pre-kindergarten through 5th grade students in a 3-story brick/curtainwall building. The original building had open floor spaces where classrooms were only separated by 4-foot movable partitions.

The school renovation work resulted in 9 classrooms, administrative offices, cafetorium, computer rooms, gymnasium, media center, art/music room and stage. Due to the relatively small size of the school, construction was performed in one single phase extending into the school year. Students displaced by the construction were shifted to swing space. Scope for this work in addition to the classroom renovations included: curtainwall replacement, abatement and mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades. 

The 33,210-square-foot facility now has a student capacity of 131. URS Architects/Engineers, Inc. designed the project. Hall Building Corporation was the general contractor. The school opened in September 2007. It is now used as a site for the PreK program. 

On August 20, 2003, the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation ("NJSCC") will be electronically selecting a short list of firms which will be invited to submit Technical and Fee Proposals for the design of the project(s) described below:

Package Number: NT-0022-A01
School District: Hoboken
Package Name: Calabro & Wallace Elementary Schools
Construction Cost Estimate (for information purposes only): $9,728,958

Professional Services: CLICK HERE 

Prime Discipline: Architecture
Rating: $10,000,000


The NJSCC reserves the right to award both schools to one firm or each school to a different firm.

Complete design and construction administration services to renovate existing school to include toilets, reconfigure/expand/convert classroom spaces to conform with approved models, building HVAC controls, wall/ceiling repairs, electrical distribution and outlets, lighting,sprinklers and various architectural repairs. Includes new playgrounds and renovation of existing playgrounds. Design services includes evaluation of existing building and deficiency list.

In order to be included in the selection process, a firm must be prequalified by the NJSCC in the above discipline and rating on or prior to August 19, 2003.

The Consultant must be a firm prequalified by the NJSCC in the following areas or have sub-consultants prequalified by the NJSCC in the following areas:
HVAC Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Civil Engineering

Structural Engineering

Plumbing Engineering

Environmental Engineering



Proposals will be evaluated based upon the following criteria:


Understanding of the project;

Team experience;

Experience of key team members;

Appropriateness of staffing;
Project approach;
The Firm's approach to maintaining the schedule and
The Firm's approach to maintaining the budget.



If a Firm wishes to participate in the selection process for future projects but is not presently prequalified by the NJSCC, please submit a NJSCC Form 100, which may be found at www.njscc.com

Charter School Enrollment for 2022-2023

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Hoboken Project Form 9-25-19 by Tony Petrosino on Scribd

 

Hoboken residents form group to campaign against school board plan to bond for $241 million high school

At the Hoboken Board of Education’s first public meeting to discuss its plans for a new taxpayer-funded high school, resident after resident came out against the proposal.

Many didn’t realize how many others shared their view, and the passion and energy in the room soon brought them together into a coalition against the school board’s plan.

As the date of a Jan. 25 referendum on the $241 million bond to help build the school nears, that group is ready to hit the streets. Members have created signs and slogans and plan to canvass until election day so that residents know what’s on the ballot and how it might affect them.

“When people say this is a grassroots community movement, this is one of those instances where it really is,” said Pavel Sokolov, who helped organize the group with fellow resident Matt Majer.

Members’ motivations vary. Some see the timing of the vote and its presentation to the community as an attempt at voter suppression. Seniors living on a fixed income are concerned about what would be a $496 spike in annual property taxes for the average homeowner. For others it is an issue of equity.

The referendum in question would allow the Hoboken Board of Education to execute a plan to build a new four-story school on the site of JFK Stadium and convert the existing school into a middle school. The state-of-the art facility would have an ice hockey rink, competition-sized pool, rooftop football field and two performing arts theaters.

The Board of Education and district superintendent have called it a solution to a capacity challenge they see the district facing as more students continue to enroll, particularly in the lowest grades. Mayor Ravi Bhalla has publicly endorsed the plan.

Members of the coalition against the referendum, dubbed the Hoboken High School Concerned Citizens Information Exchange, take issue with the board’s basic theories around student population growth, beginning with the fact that the existing building is more than 50% below its maximum capacity.

But for many that is only a starting point for why they want the plan rejected.

To Jerome Abernathy, a proposal filled with recreational amenities seems intended to draw in more affluent families who often opt for charter or private schools; rather than invest in the current students, who are largely students of color (only about 15% of Hoboken public school students are white, while the city is more than 80% white).

He cites test scores that show only 13.6% of the high school’s students scored high enough to be considered proficient in math by federal standards in the most recently reported school year, 2017-18.

“My view is that the school should be focused on serving the kids that go there, increasing the performance of their students,” said Abernathy, who is also the president of the Hoboken Library Board. “Instead, they’ve engaged in this effort to try to attract upper middle-class families that have chosen other alternatives. This whole idea that you’re going to spend a quarter of a billion dollars to build an ice hockey rink — who is that really for?”

One of Sokolov’s top concerns is that the vote is just weeks after the winter holidays and only a few months after November’s general election, in which Board of Education, council and mayoral seats were on the ballot. The proposal was not made public until after Election Day.

Advocating for voter enfranchisement may seem antithetical to his political identity, said Sokolov, who chairs the Hudson County Young Republicans. But he called himself an advocate for both voter enfranchisement and public education.

“I’m an immigrant and a son of immigrants and I benefited from a great public school here in New Jersey,” Sokolov said. “I went to Rutgers.”

The coalition, which meets weekly, isn’t a partisan one, Majer said. And while he’s against the referendum, he’d be more comfortable with it passing if voter turnout is high.

Now that New Year’s Day has come and gone, the group plans to begin making itself seen around the city and to cater its pitch to the type of resident it encounters, Majer said.

A resident of Jefferson Street with kids in the schools may be inclined to vote “no” if they know what type of construction would occur on their street, he said. A young renter who may not be in the city long enough to raise children might care about a tax increase trickling down to the price they pay for rent.

Abernathy is optimistic the group can win. Majer less so.

“I’m very proud, I’ll say, no matter the outcome of this result, that we’re able to share this info and get people involved,” Majer said.

Planned Upgrades to the Hoboken High School Building as Submitted to the NJDOE

 The following are the planned upgrades to the Hoboken High School Building as submitted to the NJDOE by the Hoboken School District. Total cost for the upgrades are estimated to be $23.7 million dollars. 

Click to Enlarge 

Register to Vote in the Upcoming Special Election on January 25th - Hoboken

 Register to vote        

 
Tomorrow, Jan. 4, is the last day to register to vote in the upcoming special election on Jan. 25 in which voters will be asked if they approve a bond proposal question that would allow the Hoboken Public School District to bond for $241,050,000 for a new high school.  
 
To register to vote in the special school district election, you must be a Hoboken resident, a United States citizen, a resident of Hudson County for 30 days before the election, and 18 years old or older.  
 
To register online, go to https://voter.svrs.nj.gov/register.  
 
Residents may also register at the Office of the Superintendent of Elections, located at 257 Cornelison Ave., 4th Floor, in Jersey City. This office will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 4. The Hoboken City Clerk's office will also accept voter registration applications from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 4. 

Applications can be found at https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/voter-registration.shtml#vrf.  
 
The Hoboken Board of Education will host its third public meeting on the proposed new high school on Thursday, Jan. 6 in the auditorium of Hoboken High School at 800 Clinton St. at 7 p.m. 
 
Additional public meetings will be held in-person at Hoboken High School on Monday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m. and virtually on Thursday Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. Login information will be announced by the district at a later date.  
 
For more information, go to http://www.hoboken.k12.nj.us/.
 
For questions or to request more information, email ProposedNewHHS@hoboken.k12.nj.us.

Enrollment and Capacity in the Hoboken Public Schools- 2020 Hoboken District Audit Report

There seems to be a fair amount of discussion recently around capacity and enrollment in the Hoboken Public Schools. Here is a table (J-18) from the most recent Hoboken School District Audit Report. Three things seem to stand out. First, whatever is going on at Wallace with enrollment surpassing capacity has been going on since at least 2011. This likely requires some type of explanation. Second, no other school building's enrollment is at capacity. Finally, remember Calabro students have moved into Brandt School and the numbers should be adjusted accordingly but still remain below Brandt's capacity. So, we need to be sensitive to the hyperbole and rhetoric being used on the issue of enrollment and capacity.

Hoboken District Audit Report (Table J-18) 
CLICK TO ENLARGE

Hoboken Councilperson Fisher is First Elected to Come Out Against $241M School Referendum

Hudson County View is reporting that Hoboken 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher is the first elected official to come out against the upcoming $241 million school referendum on January 25th.

“I am not a yes vote on the New High School as currently proposed. I think the proposal is a Ferrari when maybe all we need is a Honda (or something in between) and would like to know if there is a different proposal that is a better fit (more affordable but still amazing) and determined based upon a process that is more transparent and involves input from many public stakeholders, not just a small few,” she said in an email blast last week.

“I actually support the need for a new High School, but my current view is a ‘not this / not yet / no on this proposal, and please try again.’ The BOE gave us this path by saying if this proposal is not approved, they would bring another proposal back in a year. Let’s take them up on that offer.”

She added that the proposal is actually closer to $330 million after the interest of the three-decade financial commitment is factored in, as well as that she decided to weigh in since mail-in ballots had just gone out.

“As an informed taxpayer, although I strongly believe the enrollment wave justifies expanded facilities, I am not confident that the Ferrari version of a school costing taxpayers $330 million is what is best for Hoboken without knowing if there is another alternative that could cost less and be a better fit,” Fisher continued.

” … And importantly, if you get to buy a new car using other people’s money, shouldn’t you have to explain why you need to spend so much to everyone you are borrowing the money from, not just those who will get to ride in it (which in this case are about 10% of Hoboken residents and taxpayers)?”

The project would be four stories tall and approximately 374,700 square feet with a 110 car spot garage underneath the school that will allow the first floor of the school to be elevated to comply with FEMA regulations.

The proposed Hoboken High School would have 27 general classrooms, 11 specialized learning rooms, and six self-contained special education rooms.

The price tag would lead to an approximately $496 annual tax increase per household, the school district has confirmed. Fisher said in a prior email that the school tax increase would be around 20 percent and the overall tax increase would be about six percent.

Last month, Mayor Ravi Bhalla and his three top allies on the city council, Emily Jabbour, Jim Doyle, and Phil Cohen, came out in support of the “transformative project,” indicating it would improve children’s quality of education along with increasing local property values.