126K for board secretary huh, how do I sign up?

The whole administration needs to go with test results "below average" vs state and worse than they were in 2008.

http://hopatcong.patch.com/articles/report-high-school-sats-below-state-average

"In 2008-2009, the typical Hopatcong student (1,504) actually scored just better on the SATs than the average state student (1,503)".

This was before "big gas" Superintendent Maranzano was hired. What personal and professional accomplishments was he most proud of?

http://hopatcong.patch.com/articles/maranzano-take-action-to-improve

"Attaining four college degrees including my Doctorate from the College of William and Mary are a personal triumph, and leaving the schools I worked for in better shape as a result of my contributions a professional triumph".

Leaving schools in better shape. LOL! Was only in it for the money.

http://hopatcong.patch.com/articles/hopatcong-superintendent-to-retire-in-2013

"The Board of Education accepted Maranzano’s retirement at its meeting Monday night at the administration building. The 64-year-old, whose four-year contract expires June 30, 2013, said he isn't willing to take the $20,000 pay cut state law would require to stay in charge of the district".

This borough will continue to slump in performance yet reward with raises.

Still waiting to see results of teacher's contract here.

http://www.perc.state.nj.us/publicsectorcontracts.nsf

That won't be posted until after the elections in November. Cliff wants reelected.

The salaries are all crazy especially the top 6. What are you getting for your $?

http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?county=SUSSEX&district=HOPATCONG+BOROUGH&school=DISTRICT+OFFICE&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&tfm_order=DESC&tfm_orderby=SALARY

Wow....2% on a $100k salary....sounds like a deal to me!! What about the aides? 2 years without a contract still because "there is no more money".....well, you just proved that is a lie!!!

Give some of that money to the people who really run the schools, with out the aides we have teachers who can't handle their "problem" students and other students running amok!

I side sources say, they only want to give the aides 20 cent raises when they make less than $9.50 an hr to begin with....

Where's the justice in that?

If I am wrong, please someone correct me as my information is hearsay since apparently there is a "gag order" on the aides....why Board of Ed would you do that? Are you embarrassed you pay hard working people crappy wages? What, you don"t want the public knowing your lousy spending ways?

Pay the little people a fair wage before you brag what you pay the supervisors!! It's embarrassing!!

What is the need for 11 Principals?

It's not 11 principals.....it's 11 principals and supervisors (which are over at the board office as well, ie: special services, curriculum, etc)

And Terry is not a paid Board Secretary she is the school's business administrator.

And I agree with Hopatcong Mom, when looking at percentages...you cannot possibly compare 2% on an administator's salary of over $100k, to a teacher's salary of $50k to an aides salary of $11k.....

Raises are fine with me, if deserved, but don't tell people "we are broke as a district" then spend it frivulously, on things we don't need!

Here's all 5 schools:

http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?county=SUSSEX&district=HOPATCONG+BOROUGH&school=Durban+Avenue+E.S.&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&tfm_order=DESC&tfm_orderby=SALARY

http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?county=SUSSEX&district=HOPATCONG+BOROUGH&school=Hopatcong+H.S.&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&tfm_order=DESC&tfm_orderby=SALARY

http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?county=SUSSEX&district=HOPATCONG+BOROUGH&school=Hopatcong+M.S.&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&tfm_order=DESC&tfm_orderby=SALARY

http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?county=SUSSEX&district=HOPATCONG+BOROUGH&school=Hudson+Maxim+E.S.&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&tfm_order=DESC&tfm_orderby=SALARY

http://php.app.com/edstaff/results2.php?county=SUSSEX&district=HOPATCONG+BOROUGH&school=Tulsa+Trail+E.S.&lname=&fname=&job1=%25&tfm_order=DESC&tfm_orderby=SALARY

Decide for yourself if they're overpaid.

I honestly do not think they are so overpaid for their profession....all the ones making over $75k have Master's Degrees and/or have been in their field for MANY years....I do expect I should make $80k if I have been at the same job for 35 plus years....but that is my opinion!

Emily...I am more concerned about the teacher's contract. Lundin keeps stalling because of the "wording" of it. It was suppose to be posted here.

http://www.perc.state.nj.us/publicsectorcontracts.nsf

That won't be posted until after the elections in November. Cliff wants reelected.

They MUST be rewarded for Hopatcong's "ALMOST AVERAGE" state rating! I think NJ Monthly plans to review NJ high schools again Spring 2013, I can't wait to see that one. Down, down the real estate values go!

So let's not re-elect him. The board of ed feels they take precident over anything else. My complaint is what are the students getting for this big increase in salaries. I venture to say nothing. Cliff Lundin will do what he wants to do because he can. There are a couple of people on the board that have ideas and opinions for the people, but again shut out by the majority. Oh by the way roll back, have you seen all the work being done at the high school. I hope the students have the books and supplies for their education. I don't believe fence and blacktop and football field will help them get a job. I believe you said academic or atheletic, guess what athletics won.

The 126K isn't being paid for secretarial services. BOE secretary is another role assumed by the district business administrator/assistant superintendent. The assistant superintendent has a PhD degree and a number of years experience in the educational field. $126K doesn't sound absurd to me.

Here you go. Just today on NJ.com. Next to last in Sussex County.

http://www.nj.com/inside-jersey/index.ssf/cover_stories/best_high_schools_in_new_jersey.html

Highest paid with the worst results, super! Hopatcong is falling apart at the seams in all areas. The only thing positive is Joe Martinek.

Hi Christie-I have to disagree with you on your comment about Joe Martinek being the only thing positive. There are many recent graduates who have gone on to do great things and who are furthering their educations. Unfortunately their achievements aren't going to be broadcasted on our TV's every Sunday. Now before everybody jumps on me insisting that I just "dissed" Joe Martinek it was in no way a "diss" to him. I am a die-hard JETS fan and nobody jumped higher, yelled louder, or clapped harder than I did when he scored his touchdown the other night.

Even that's not a sure thing. Hey,who is the new editor for patch. Not one article on the game he played in or the touchdown he made. Does even know who Joe Martinek is. Kuty where are you!!!!!!

After reading everyones comments I have to say, as a Hopatcong graduate, it is sad to see many programs got eliminated from the curriculum and it's NOT because how much teacher's get paid but rather the budget that gets defeated year after year!!

Our money is being wasted on unneccessary things (ie: outdoor eating area at the hs, redecorating principal's offices every time they change schools, sending TOO MANY students out of district at a cost 4 times what we spend per pupil)!!

As for the teachers? Why should we blame teachers for underperforming students? When are we going to hold the CHILDREN responsible??

With 2 children in the district I can tell you they have both had some of the best teachers I have met! And you know what? They both score at or above proficient on the state test!

Hmmmm....I wonder why that is? Oh it's becasue I am a parent who cares, who makes sure their homework is done (as it reinforces what was learned during the day), Oh I am also a parent who goes on Powerschool and monitors their grades. Is it that crazy to expect the parent to do their job but blame teachers when their kid fails? It's my job as a parent to ensure my children are doing their job, not the teachers!

MANY good people have walked our halls and have gone to successful colleges (Harvard, Yale, Brown, American University)nd there will be many more if the parents just paid attention more!!

Patch used to have a special kid section, it used to cover the HS students of the month, even the spring MVPs only got a page with a table this year, no pics bc there was a board meeting. (bored meeting...) I for one want to read about all the successes in my little town. I want to know when the U12 soccer team wins a game or the baseball standings. Or the kid who is a chess whiz. That would be great. I'm tired of just seeing the lastest police blotter. Even most of the articles are from other towns now, much less about Hopatcong. I think the journalism classes at the HS (if they still exist) should pick up some of the slack and work with Patch. It is a great way to get more hands on deck, and the kids can say they have published work. Our school website could do much more to promote an image of success too. Instead of making parents print athletic forms (that doesn't actually save the trees and is quite inefficient.) Get some blogs up about all the teams, the clubs, etc. Generate some interest. Post the school records, championship archives, etc. It should be a source of information where every link doesn't force you to open a PDF for 6 lines of text and explains important information like GPA more directly. (example: 87-89=B+=3.3 instead of two different documents that don't explain it clearly.) We miss you, Brendan.

I've said this before so I will not get too into it but its not enough. I don't care how much of a hands on parent you are. My kids are in the honors classes and still can't score above a 2 on the 100.00 test I had to pay for. But I guess I am expected to teach honors Psychology, English, Chemistry, and Calc to my kids myself because I can't hold any of the teachers responsible . It DOES start at home but you can only do so much before you hold reasonable expectations of your children's teachers. Those expectations were met by 1 teacher. Ms DeRose. My child's SAT score went up over 40 points from her class. She was the only teacher to care enough to make sure these kids were prepared for the SAT and I had to fight to get my child in her class. I more than did my job so why can I not expect the same from my childrens teachers? Too many students are leaving the district at 4 times the cost because Hopatcong is the second to the worst performing school in the county with the highest paid teachers and if my last child hadn't already started high school, I would have sent them to Lenape too.

Kimberly...on one hand you're right. I'd like to blame McDonalds for my high blood pressure and cholesterol cause I like to eat there even knowing it's not good for me. On the other hand I can blame my parents because it's hereditary in my family. But Lurky Loo is right. We have to hold the teacher's accountable because you as parents have really no CHOICE where to send your kids unless you want to pay for private school. That's expensive. But we're paying private school rates of about $18,000/yr to educate a student. Isn't that why you pay tax dollars...so your kids get a good education? We just aren't getting our money's worth and think how I feel paying almost TWICE the amount as the average taxpayer with NO kids in this school system. Hell we can't even sell our house for the price we paid for it in 2003. Schools suck!

I agree Emily, there should be a student or kid of the month on the Patch. I would really like to see something other then Tommy scored a touchdown. How about the kid who's elderly neighbor can't walk their dog anymore so he/she does it? What about the kid who is the oldest and has to watch their siblings after school and still makes good grades? Genesko, that would be a great idea, to get the students involved with the Patch on this. The students and teachers would be great "inside" tip offs as they would be the ones who know about these special kids who's good deeds often go unnoticed. How about it Rick Burchfield? This would be a great way for you to put your mark on the Patch!!!!!

And again...where exactly did over $2 MILLION go in Hopatcong ($1.7M to the BOE) from the Federal Recovery Act?

http://www.recovery.gov/espsearch/Pages/advanced.aspx?data=recipientAwardsList&State=NJ&AwardType=CGL&zip=07843&RecipName=hopatcong

Everyone should show up at next BOE meeting and ask for their resignations!

8/27 : Bd. of Ed. Regular Mtg. 7:30 Ad Bldg.

Wait a minute: How are we going to get teachers to go for merit raises when the BOE is giving supervisors in a failing system these raises without any kind of review? All my life I worked on a “meritorious pay for meritorious service” basis and I did well. Busted my butt, but I did well. After leaving that world for the public sector six years ago I have been getting scheduled raises under union contracts and it stagnates a person’s motivation. “Don’t rock the boat” becomes the by word. Well, let’s start rocking the education boat starting from the top. I’m no fan of Christie, but he’s right about allot of things.

Sorry I didn't respond sooner Abe. I thought by now you would have turned yourself into the Hopatcong Police Department.

I would have chosen to ignore you but I thought I'd let you know 11 Freshmen opted to go to Lenape.

http://thealternativepress.com/articles/board-forms-task-force

"Parents attending the meeting said many students are opting into the school choice program and attending Lenape Valley Regional High School in Stanhope. The board’s data indicates 11 freshmen from Hopatcong will enter Lenape Valley next month"

Also once again Lundin (like the Mayor) MARGINALIZES the issues here in Hopatcong.

"Lundin pointed out anonymous blogs attacking the school district have exaggerated the problem".

Furthermore, $ doesn't buy you a better education like Maranzano claims. It only goes to salaries, pensions and benefits.

"Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles Maranzano explained, “when the budget is voted down, it hurts the district geometrically; it reduces programs and opportunities for students over the course of several years."

Finally, this statement is INcorrect by Passerini.

"Special education students, “take the same test,” Passerini said". They are NOT the same test given the general populous.

http://www.state.nj.us/education/parents/special.htm

"All special needs children are give "limited" English and Math proficient tests. They are NOT the same test given the general populous".

Now you know why I don't attend these meetings.