Letter: Regional Board Recalls Are Misleading

Editor:

There have been only two recalls of school board members in the history of the state of NJ, but the West Morris Regional High School District Board Of Education now has two threatening at once. This should raise warning flags for everyone who is concerned with the quality and efficient delivery of education in our district, but not for the reasons some might like you to believe.

The newest recall to be filed, against longtime Mendham Borough school board representative and tireless community volunteer Jacke Schram, aims to discredit Ms. Schram’s record of service, similar to the potential recall of fellow board member Jim Johnston. These efforts also aim to portray the West Morris Regional district as failing and its Board of Education (BOE) as unresponsive to those they represent.

In fact, the focus should be on the group behind the recalls, CBS, and their spurious agenda. This group has stated that Ms. Schram and Mr. Johnston should be removed because they vote with their fellow BOE members who represent Washington Township most of the time.

However, if that was the standard, then Mendham Township BOE member and CBS founder, Jamie Button, should also be removed since his votes concur with Washington Township member votes 90% of the time, according to a tally of votes taken this year. It seems to me that it’s a sign of a healthy regional BOE when votes are not aligned with each member’s municipality–it means that Board members are voting
with students in mind, not local politics.

CBS claims that the two recall efforts it is spearheading will help advance their goals, but they have neglected to share these goals in an open and honest manner. If we are to judge their mission by their actions, it would seem their goal is to intimidate board members and divide the district: CBS claims to want equal spending at the two high schools, but it ignores data showing that per pupil spending is 50/50. CBS claims that WMM high school continues to drop in the rankings, but it ignores district performance data and the latest Newsweek and Washington Post rankings, which place both high schools as number 1 & 2 in the county and in the top 2% nationally. CBS claims that a simple referendum to change tax allocation is their goal, but it ignores the information learned as a result of the educational summit and continues to work instead for deregionalization of the district.

By continuing to ignore the facts and divide our communities, CBS is distracting the BOE from education. If they are allowed to continue, they might just get what they really want: a district that suffers from a lack of educational focus and is instead mired in politics. This might serve their agenda, but it is ruinous for students, taxpayers and property values. I hope that parents won’t let a small group of people with a hidden agenda, who are accountable to no one, hijack the West Morris Board of Education or public support. I urge parents to attend Board meetings if possible and stay informed about what is going on with our regional district. We need to return our focus to high school education at West Morris Mendham and West Morris Central.

Thank You.

Lisa Woodring
Sun Valley Way
Long Valley