The referendum was defeated by a generation of residents that enjoyed new schools and fields all payed for by the generation before them. I sincerely hope the three hundred dollars you will save next year will make as much difference in your lives as it would have for thousands of kids in this town. And no I do not have a child in this school system , maybe we should put the countless discounts given to seniors up for a general vote.

Actually, Peter, you said it. In this country, we give HUGE tax breaks for seniors. In my eyes, the older people get everything and pay for nothing. While the younger generations are stuck with no help and a huge burden on their shoulders. We have to pay for their health care, we have to pay for their social security, we have to pay their pensions and for their retirement.....

And what do the kids get in return from the older generation... nothing, except the older generations debt and bills.

Chris, your argument is very off point. All the issues you brought forward are handled on a state or nationwide level, not on the town level. Seniors pay the same in taxes to the town as would a person of a much younger age who is similarly situated.

Its not off point as to what Peter was saying. I was responding to his post.

But, to keep on point with the article, my point was that I feel for the kids. Its unfortunate that they older generation is not giving the younger generation the same benefits and privileges that other kids have in the rest of Morris County.

Your point is ridiculous. First - you make an assumption as to how certain demographics are voting. This is not based on fact -- this is based on your opinion. Second -- this was based on a vote -- there was ample opportunity for more to vote and to have this put thru. We have over 7000 students. There is no reason whatsoever that if the parents wanted it that they couldn't have voted this thru. Regardless -- if it was apathy or laziness -- not enough voted for it and it failed. Quit blaming seniors.

if you asked for a public referendum on whether we should build a senior center and it would cost tax dollars, it would be defeated. It is our duty to pay it forward and provide kids with the best school experience as our parents did for us, just as we need to support and provide our seniors with the best facilities we can. It should never have been voted on. people who were on this board in the last decade and responsible for the lack of maintenance now stand up and call for a vote . I would bet the vast majority of no votes came from people with no kids in the system voting against raising taxes. now they all cry its not about the kids...guess what you are dead wrong , blaming the process does not help the kids one bit. A convenient excuse!

Gina, you are so right. This old board never knew what maintenance is all about. If you want something to last, then you budget for it and take care of it just like you would do of your homes, but this town doesn't know how to do that kind of thing. The taxpayers of the town has spoken and said we are tired of the higher taxes just to pay for something that in 10 years will look just as bad as these fields. They just wanted you to keep paying and could care less how you felt, if you didn't like it, then go to another town where you could afford to live the way you want.
This town forgets that most of these people help build this town to something they thought at the time they could be proud of, then some people now tell them to get out if you can't afford it. This old board was all about raising taxes and spending our hard earned money, well not anymore. They now need to start taking care of what they have if you want it to look good.

Well, Mr. Brown, which is it? Was the old board about spending our money or did they fail to maintain the fields? Because maintaining the fields COSTS MONEY. If the Board had the money in those years, what were they spending it on? Oh, wait, they didn't have the money because the school budget was almost never approved by the voters and then eviscerated by the council. Maybe if the taxpayers hadn't been so shortsighted they might have realized that the money allocated for fields maintenance would have prevented such a large replacement cost in the future. You're paying for the myopia of people who were too worried about their current situation to realize that they were creating more expense for themselves in the future. Are you familiar with the story of the Pied Piper, Mr. Brown? This is a classic example of it, and now it's time to pay the piper. If you think your taxes are not going up to pay for these fields, you're only fooling yourself. The difference is that now we will get much less value for our money.

I find the selective memory of our senior citizens, especially you, Mr. Brown, to be fascinating. The fact that someone paid to put YOUR children through school seems completely lost on you when it's time to pay for the next generation and the generation after that to be educated. Perhaps it is time for you to move on to Florida if paying for children's education is really that much of a burden for you.

Steve,
The BOE and local sports organizations did everything they could to stack the deck in favor of this project, so don't blame the "seniors" for voting this down.

Here are the strategies they used: they scheduled the vote outside of the normal election cycle to ensure only "motivated" voters would go out of their way to vote on this, the BOE used the emergency phone system to "remind" all the school parents to come out and vote (I'm sure none of the seniors got that reminder phone call), sports organizations used their mailing lists to rally support and remind the "sports parents" to vote, ballots were sent out late knowing that there was no mail delivery the day before the vote, and the polls operated at a reduced schedule (2pm-9pm) and conveniently opened just as parents were picking their kids up from school.

So focus your disgust on the BOE and not the seniors. By the way, I'm not a senior, and I voted against the project.

Harland-My disgust is directed at the apathy in this town from the people who should have come out in droves last night to support a schools project that would benefit our kids. My comment on the seniors was simply directed at the fact that whenever there is a school project up for referendum the seniors get out their voters and they overwhelmingly vote against it...while those of us with kids in the schools (or with kids that will be in the schools) can't be bothered getting out to vote. No secret meetings, they just get out their voters.

Don't get me started on the BOE...This was a lost opportunity to provide fields that are safer and easier to maintain than the crap these kids have now...

I agree with Harland that this Special Election was a sneak attack that backfired. A bond issue of this magnitude should never have been slated for a vote on a day that the vast majority of people would not expect an election to occur. I am a political activist and almost forgot the vote was yesterday (a timely post from Parsippany Patch reminded me). And yes, Steve, it is a disgrace that turnout is often low, even for elections held in their proper season. Don't you just hate it when non-voters gripe about the results of elections!

Harland, you are right. The BOE and the Mayor intended to stack the deck against the voters.. No doubt, the reason for this special election rather than the November general election. I fought many years to have school elections in November when more voters are available to vote. It took a lot of years to get that change. Think about it. Why weren't the field upgrades placed as a question in the November election? Because they knew it did not have a chance to pass. So it was done as an end-run as you so aptly put it. As you know school budgets and capital projects were always voted in April with no more than a 12 to 15 percent electorate casting votes. But, this special election backfired because the residents have had enough of rampant tax increases. The Board must do a better job controlling costs. The Mayor and council also should take notice.

Nancy,
I agree. I voted against the project, not because I don't want better facilities at our schools (I do), but because I have no confidence in this BOE. By their own admission, the fields are in a state of disrepair, yet THEY were responsible for ensuring the fields are maintained properly. Why would we entrust the BOE to run this project efficiently and effectively when they've already demonstrated that they aren't capable of caring for the facilities already entrusted to them?

There is an excellent article in Parsippany Life that compares Parsippany's turf project to Montville's. In truth, Montville's approach wasn't so different than the path we're taking. Montville first tried to get the taxpayers to foot the entire bill, and the voters rejected it (that's the stage we're at now). Afterwards, they got "creative", and finally managed to fund the project by soliciting endorsements from local businesses. Hopefully, Parsippany will now move to the "creative" phase and find a way to achieve the desired improvements in a reasonable, cost-effective manner. This can be done through commercial endoresement deals, assessing sports participants with a "participation fee", reducing the scope of the project, etc.

Here's a link to the article:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/187069181_The_best_of_plans_for_Montville__the_worst_of_plans_for_Parsippany.html

Sure they spoke. As Geddy Lee sang, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." Inaction is an act.

HA. Sorry Mike, that made me laugh. I used to live in Nassau County for about 5 years and Parsippany is NOTHING like Nassau County. Complete polar opposites. I have never ever seen such a sense of pride in one's town/community as I have seen in Long Island. NJ has ZERO sense of pride. Nobody cares about their neighbors or their town. Its really quite sad.

If my job allowed it, I would move back to Long Island in an instant. And, honestly, I am looking to move out of Parsippany because I don't like it here.

I will say... the things I do like about Pars is the cheap cheap rent and all the parks that Pars has. Like that beautiful field in Smith Field. I love playing soccer on that turf fields over there. I am glad you people didn't vote that one down!

Mr. Crawford, all due respect, but there's nothing stopping you from starting a non profit and raising funds for these fields without the BOE's participation. Perhaps if, instead of complaining while waiting for the Board to act on your offer, you simply went out and began to secure funding, this referendum would not have even been necessary. This seems to be an important issue to you, yet you've been nothing but an albatross around the neck of anyone who proposes a solution.

Now, you were on the Board for several years, so you know better than I do, but when the voters had the chance to approve the budget, how often did that actually happen? How well did that work out for the taxpayers? Didn't we change the elections to November because not enough voters would turn out for the BOE elections in April and there was a very vocal group of voters who felt they weren't being represented on the Board? Democracy only works if people participate.

Bob - There were a number of people who spoke up and said that they were in favor of moving the election process to November and, in doing so, the school budget would not need to be voted on as long as it remained within the cap. I also believe it was stated that we would be tied to this process for the next four years (3 years to go). I was one of those people in favor of it. As long as the Town Council can dictate how much money can be deducted from a failed school budget, I'll leave my vote where it stands. After all, look at how wisely the Town Council spends our tax dollars (where is that sarcasm font)! I also believe that we should have a direct say in how our tax dollars are spent. When we can vote on a town budget, perhaps I'll change my mind about a vote on the school budget. That's what I call democracy.

Hey Monica since we want to be fair. Why don't we deduct the school budget to the same as the town budget? Since they may have to face cuts maybe both budget should be exactly the same? People vote on the school budget that's the way it works. You can't get tax relief from the municipal because there budget is 1 3rd of the what the schools is. Also if Our Board of education isn't spending the money on the kids and spending money on lawsuits because they didn't feel like waiting for Signed documentation it doesn't seem like the schools need the money.

As is often the case Steve, you've made a ridiculous statement. We never hire new teachers? As a teacher in district myself, I can tell you that we are always hiring new teachers. Stop making inflammatory statements that you can't back up. That being said, I'd imagine that most people realize that your statement can't possibly be true; otherwise our schools would be filled with 50-60 year olds, and that's not the case. Even if other points you make may be valid, you weaken your entire argument by utilizing an exaggeration.

Jessica what I meant was that we're not hiring more teachers. We're only replacing the ones that are retiring. If I'm wrong then I take it back. Also I had you as a teacher and you're an excellent one at that and You're absolutely one of if not the favorite teacher I've ever had. I don't know if I ever said this to you before but Thank You. Thank you for showing me the respect that I deserved when I was your student. Maybe a couple of your co workers can go to your class a learn a couple of things about respect.

I appreciate the thank you Steve, and I respect your viewpoints. My only problem, and this comes purely from a teaching standpoint since I often focus on how to persuade effectively, is that you can't be making statements that are untrue or open to misinterpretation; if you do that, the other points are weakened.

Your 100 percent right. I'm actually going to delete what I wrote and appreciate you pointing it out to me. I apologize to readers of patch, The teachers, the Board of education and to the people of Parsippany for my mistake.

Anyway let me try this again. Michael people wanted it to go both ways. People wanted it to stay and people wanted it to change. I was one of those who wanted to stay. I can understand reasons for keeping it and changing it. I understand that a lot of seniors vote down the budget I totally get that. But a lot of times the taxpayers really do feel insulted. In 2010 the Board gave Marlene a 10 thousand dollar raise. The budget got beat by 300 votes and 8 hundred thousand got cut. Giving Marlene the raise was the difference. Think of How many teachers we could have brought back with 8 hundred thousand.

Mr. Martin ~ the "people" wanted you to go in a different direction when you voted for Mr. DeIntines to fill the vacancy on the Board. Selective hearing?
(I know it's off topic.. oh, well).

Well sir, it's time for your and the rest of this board to come up with all these great alternatives that everyone seems to think are out there. In the mean time, the kids will continue to play on mud, rocks and dirt for yet another year while we continue to argue and find fault in anything presented.

And let's make no mistake - the majority of this BOE made it very clear they did not support this plan, is why this failed. Where was our Communications Committee? Where was our Fields and Grounds Committee? Anyone care to answer that?

We tried, we failed, and that's ok. I seriously hope there are those out there who are going to take another crack at this. To them, I say, "Good Luck" because you are going to need it.

Unfortunately, we are back to square one. Another year of nothing ahead. How truly sad.

You can't have it both ways Gary. YOU chose to ignore the people of this great township.YOU should have done the right thing and upheld over 5000 votes saying that Alison Cogan should be on the board. You are such a liar and this is why this Board is not trustworthy. YOU and your buddies are failing the children of Parsippany.

Nancy, if you know me, I love this Township, My Country and United State Navy and Marine's. I love Children so much, I was a Shrine Clown for 2 Years. Do you know how hard that is to accomplish to help children at the highest level. You are right, I did not vote for the best person but the votes were not there. If you know me, I lost sleep over that vote because the Colonel was the best person not man!. It is a shame that only three, put their hat into the circle. When you stated my Buddies, you are so wrong with that statement. Go ask them all, I stand by myself there. As for the liar, that was a good one because people that know me are laughing, when they read this.
I have lied in my life at times to help people in time of great sorrow but not for myself.
Nancy, you are a person, I would like to talk to. You may teach me about myself. This is always a good thing to learn because it could make me a better person. I sorry that I made you think I am a lair to the public. I wish you the best in life and your family. Because we all know that family comes a far second in life. I still will do the best for the public and I will never lie to you.

"You are right, I did not vote for the best person but the votes were not there"

Are you kidding me? He won by 1 vote. 1 VOTE! Your vote would have made a huge difference. I don't know who you think you're fooling, Mr. Martin, if this is in fact you and not some internet troll posting under your name, but that has got to be the most absolutely ridiculous thing said in the history of the internet (which, if you read the comments on this site on a regular basis, nevermind some other sites on the internet, is pretty ridiculous.) Do yourself a favor, if this is in fact the Gary Martin that sits on the Board of Education, and stop posting here. A wise man once said it is better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Keep that in mind.

You needed 5 votes to get elected. I don't think there was a loss I think all 3 candidates were winners. If we don't like the job Mr. Deintinis is doing we have the choice to vote him out in November. It is not like He's all set for the next 3 years. He needs to win the up coming election in November. Just because they didn't pick your candidate doesn't mean it's the wrong thing. We'll find out in 9 months whether it is the wrong thing.

Gina S. - the process isn't as simple as opening up the Yellow Pages. There are County and State regulations that must be followed when going out to bid on a project. And I'm sure that there are many who would like to volunteer their time, but that becomes an insurance issue and then there are those "pesky" background checks!

Monica is right. Basically, the government constantly makes all these new laws, rules and regulations that then it becomes too expensive to comply with the laws that nobody can afford to actually do anything.

Every day politicians make hundreds of new laws. But how many laws do they repeal because it becomes a burden to do business? Not one.

Rob M.
Dont think that you can put myself or others in a group that supports the BOE and Sietz. That is all YOUR opinion!!! I dont support our BOE!!! What I do support is that our student athletes get the proper fields that they deserve. The people who voted no are not to blame here that is correct. The reason for that is that they all had a choice to say no and they did just that. I do think that there can be a better way to do this still and at a lower cost. Just dont go making wild assumptions unless you are directing them at a certain person.

Hey Rob,

You dont have to care!!! I coach at one of the schools that reciently got turf (Pequannock). We played on and praticed on dirt and rocks everyday. A good field makes a huge difference. Your price of 8 million is way about what was projected and above what was going to be used even in the project. To turf two fields is not going to be cheap anyway you look at it. To resod and add proper drainage to both fields and hire people to maintain it properly is going to cost money also. But, I guess we should just suck it up and just keep playing on poor fields.

This is not a rhetorical question. It is honest. Who is in charge of the fields currently? Who mows them, inspects them, adds grass seed, etc? And, who is in charge of how the fields are used - scheduling teams, etc? Why should it cost much more than what is currently budgeted to do what should be done every year - every year (just like we do at home), you need to get topsoil and fill in holes, get mulch and fix the plant beds, add grass seed to sparse areas, inspect fence and fix any holes, etc. Is there a company that does this, or does someone internally do this? I'm just trying to understand what resources are currently there.

Excellent point, Mr. Saunders, but nobody wants to hear it or believe it.

How much do you pay in property taxes, Maurice? I'm just curious? If I am paying nearly $1,000 per month for a bi-level that was built in the 1960s, does that constitute great wealth? Because (and I've looked into this), for not much more, I could live in a smaller home, with similar taxes, in Mountain Lakes, and my kids could go to a much-better school. Or, we could move to Hanover Twp, which is also ranked better, with much lower property taxes.

Taxes keep going up. Lake Hiawatha still looks like sleazy, for the most part. Roads are shoddily repaired, the garbagemen routinely toss our garbage cans into the road and we return to find them lidless and half run-over. So, I can only think the money we pay mostly goes to the schools (and, it does). Since our educational standing is sliding downward, by all statistical means of assessment (I know people on here are going to poo poo it and say tests and statistics are unfair, etc, but how else do you compare apples to apples? By asking kids if they think they're smart?).

Should we pay more in taxes, or should we look at all of the waste that goes on and (in this case literally), clean up and fix up our town?

Please! When "you eventually try to sell your home," as if people moving into a new town get a magnifying glass and wander around town properties looking to determine whether it's rye grass or fescue.

When people see the academic record at Par Hills, parents should run for the hills (we should have, my husband and I know we made a mistake). Kids go to school to learn, first and foremost and that isn't happening. Due to prior contract negotiations, our kids get educated 30 minutes less per day than state & county averages. This accounts to 1 less YEAR of school than nearly everywhere else (over 12 years of school). If we are spending big bucks, let it be so that we improve the fact that currently 70% of Parsippany grads who go on to County College of Morris have to take remedial courses. http://www.northjersey.com/news/185393372_Parsippany_School_District_success_disputed.html?c=y&page=3

The proposal was being driven by football parents who want their spoiled kids to have the NFL experience in high school. The soccer team, the band and others would have been prevented from using the luxury stadiums.

County College of Morris? What a wonderful point of reference!

If you'd like to do some relevant research try looking up the top 10 high schools in New Jersey and let me know what kind of sport facilities they have.
Secondly try researching how our Parsippany students compare to your finding when enrolled in State Universities around the country...

Yes - County College of Morris. A lot of people (me included) went there and went onto successful careers, graduate degrees and lucrative careers. But, if 70% of Parsippany grads can't get past the CCM admissions criteria without having to take remedial classes there, I can only imagine what other, more competitive schools think of the education here.

As to learning on the field - that's great, but what is it that makes you eligible to even play sports? Good grades, right. Because they are more important. You don't have to do well in volleyball to be able to attend geometry...

Robyn M,
Hope you don't take this in a negative way....but I think the point that Concerned Parent is making is that when you use statistics to state an opinion it can be very skewed to the point you are making..which is exactly why you reference it in the1st place. Basing what remedial courses that Parsippany grads take a CCM without looking at the entire population of Parsippany grads is not a fair analysis.

And by the way to all those who voted "NO". I can't wait to see the look on your faces when you eventually try to sell your home...good luck with that!

Wow, if you don't vote my way you will suffer the consequences.

Your comments appear to demean the resilience of some who stand firm and do not yield to bullying.

Your comments encroach on the rights, needs and desires of others. Freedom of will and self-determination are basic needs, and shouldn't be threatened.

Amen!

I am sure most people didn't even know about the vote. If I wasn't on Patch.com, I would have never have known about this. It wasn't in the news anywhere. 53,000 residents in Parsippany and not even 10% of them voted. And didn't most people not even receive anything in the mail concerning the vote???

Unless I missed something, Jannarone Park or any other field in Parsippany besides the High Schools are not equipped to for Track & Field. The tracks at both high schools are way past the repatching. They need to be completely replaced.

True-Jannerone doesn't have a track. However, in the short term, I think it would be entirely appropriate to consider using Jannerone and/or Smith for practices and games-especially for football, soccer, and field hockey. There would be an additional cost to bus the kids there from each high school, but it's better than facing another season of tremendous injury potential on the current fields.

We've also considered this options as well. My child has already been injured once playing on a crappy Parsippany BOE field. The odds that any one of our kids will play for a Division I (or at any collegiate level) is slim at best. However, why take the chance of an injury and reduce the chances to zero when they can play for club/travel teams and reduce the liklihood of an injury by playing on better fields? My kids would love to play for and represent their school at the high school level, but as "Not Worth It" says 'Division 1 schools will look at...' club and travel teams anyway. I won't hold my breath for a 'solution', especially in the short-term.

Can't someone call the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority and get put on the calendar for receiving a big shipment of fill/topsoil at the high schools? Can't a local landscaper come out (for free) and give an estimate of how much dirt would be needed, then an order placed and current staff spread it over the summer to prep for next fall? My husband and I filled a lot of big holes in our yard, which also slightly improved the soggy-ness of our yard, we also leveled off a few of the clearly lower areas, and we planted and kept up with a lot of grass seed. It may not be perfect, but it's better than the ruts and grass-less mess.

Robyn, Unfortunately it isn't as simple as fixing our yards. When town or school fields are built on the cheap to save money, one of the first things cut is usually the money for proper drainage beneath the surface. On top of fields that now have poor drainage you have a mass overuse which stifles any new growth (even if you seed and fertilize) and limits the growth of the grass that is already there. Leveling low areas in my yard is easy-I can add soil, seed and fertilize and keep everyone off of the area until it properly settles and growth begins and a root system develops. Perhaps it would work in the short term, I don't know-I'm not a turf-grass specialist, but I know about fields and field use and this would be a band aid. 'Fixing' the fields simply isn't as easy as so many have made it out to be (that's not a dig at you, just a general observation after three days of reading the comments from both articles on the Patch).

People can complain about maintenance all they want, but when budgets were voted down and then sliced by the town council where did people think the money would come from? Teacher and other employee salaries? Classroom supplies? Nope-maintenance. Field maintenance, building maintenance, infrastructure upgrades, and capital improvements. And please don't take that as a show of support for how the BOE has handled things over the past few years...it's simply a reality.

Don't they have several months of non-use in the summer? As to drainage - I live close to Par High, and I'm betting I have some of the same issues, which is an ongoing project my husband and I are working on. I also have kids and a big dog who love nothing more than trudging through grass seed. I know it's maybe not ideal, whereas turf is ideal, but some simple improvements can't hurt. A lot of things are ideal in life - ideally I would have sprinklers and wouldn't run around my yard getting soaked moving the sprinkler around, but if we're thinking practically and using what we have, we still need seed, soil, etc.

Smart budget planners, at least ones with sufficient income flows, should always maintain a deferred maintenance budget-basiclaly a 'lockbox' for future maintenance/upgrades/repairs. I don't have any insight into the BOE expenditures, but I would imagine that any deferred maintenance account that may have existed was raided a long time ago and that there isn't money set aside to "Bulldoze the fields, install proper drainage and resod the fields."

And let's be honest, the two high school fields are only PART of the problem. Have you seen the fields at the middle and elementary schools? There is no recess in Middle or high school, but the outdoor fields at most of the elementary schools, where the kids DO go out to play, are atrocious...just more injuries waiting to happen...holes. rocks, rusty fences, damaged backstops, etc. This isn't just about fields for our athletes (well, maybe THIS PARTICULAR issue is), but should also be about the spaces available for PE, recess, after school programs, and other use outside of the normal school day. I'm not talking about pristine turf fields (which I DO support), but simply providing safe fields for our kids.

Scott, Trust me...i'm not understating the negligence part because I used the word "some". I've been a parent volunteer/youth coach for the better part of 17 years. I'm all for placing blame and calling out those who are responsible as well. In order for us to move forward we do need to learn from the past as not to repeat it. I'm in full agreement with you on that. But when the "Blame" cup is full and running over, we need to stop pouring into that cup and look for ways to address the problems.

Mr Crawford I remember the committee you are talking about but it wasn't a resident that was invited to chair or co chair; you were a BOE member at the time and you were the chair. I also remember the same format was used with the demographics committee and it was a member of the BOE that chaired that one too; I think it was Mrs Sheike. I remember hearing you report about the committee and it seemed like it worked well so the suggestion is a good one but I'm surprised that you don't remember that both times a committee like that was used, a BOE member was the chair.

Scott - didn't Mrs. Golderer say last night at the meeting that she was going to have a work session in February to discuss the fields issue? Public invited?

Bob - Stop playing the blame game. You say you want a different approach and to move things forward, yet you keep repeating over and over and over the same old lines. The Mayor, the BOE, the Superintendent - let it go already! Yes, let's look to the future and move things forward! You seem so passionate about the issue, how about taking the lead! Show "them" how it should be done! Now there's an agenda many people will support!

I could never vote for a plan that was pushed at me this way. I am the type of person who does her homework - I would want to hear multiple perspective from professionals about how the problem could be addressed. I don't care about what laypeople think (including me - I'm not an expert, just a person who wants to know the options) If we had multiple professionals come out and give different ideas, and it led us to saying grass would never work, then OK. But honestly, I don't think this could possibly be true - we live on Planet Earth, not on Rubbermaid. How much would it cost? What would it look like? Inquiring minds want to know. Given options, I could draw a conclusion. But, without information, I can't make an informed decision and, therefore, I voted no. I would never take the advice of a single contractor about a major home repair and this situation was presented just that way. And, now that the plan has failed perhaps we need to get down to basics and do more simple fixing up.

Thank you for the link Mrs Bluj. I don't mean to harp but it truly is sad that when most communities are moving to improve the involvement of students with disabilities, our community won't even approve the funds to provide barrier free access to fields for these students and consider ADA compliance with restrooms a luxury.

Thank you Carol. This article clearly shows the importance athletics plays in a school system for ALL children and that was our message the entire course of this. Instead, we were accused of being crazy sports parents who wanted to make sure that our 'little johnnys' had luxury sports stadiums to play on at the expense of academics.
The BOE has an obligation, now more than ever, to bring these fields up to today's norm.

I think it's great that this is coming down but Parsippany will never follow it in my opinion. And I understand the It's from Washington and they HAVE to follow it. I would have hope for this if our school District followed the rules we already ahve in place regarding kids with disabilities. There are times where the CST has to fight with the administration to allow certain kids be allowed to walk at graduation.

Sometimes people have their minds made up well in advance or are too quick to focus on one specific stumbling block rather then see the whole picture or recognize that many before them have come up with the same ideas that have just not worked so it's time to move on from there. Those who have been paying attention for a long time could easily see that you and the others working with you were on a mission to benefit all children; I only hope that the BOE remembers that should be the goal when they get around to solving this problem and the article you linked to is a perfect reminder of what the whole picture looks like and what it should be all about.

I agree with you and my point exactly Mr Crawford; if you have a blueprint for success, why leave out some of the details that lead to that success? You have first hand knowledge of the format used that ended well, why not volunteer to share the entire format that worked so that the BOE may possibly realize the same results? I also share your opinion about Mrs Sheike; I do believe she is everyone's fondest due largely to the diplomacy you mention and that her priority as far as I could see was always, and only, about what was best for the children and our schools.

Scott - let's end this right here. I will not even begin to entertain talk about what happened in the past.
My efforts are now hooked on making sure the BOE provides the kids of this town safe playing fields for THIS season.

Beth, I agree and look forward to that goal as well.