3 staff members unhappy with new job assignments
Freehold Borough board says changes are a result of tight financial picture
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

Freehold Borough

FREEHOLD - The Freehold Borough School District's difficult financial situation now has a personal face - Leslie Daley, Joan Murphy, Susan Lattman and Beth Vaughn.

Even though voters on April 17 approved a budget for the 2007-08 school year, that budget called for the elimination of 12 staff positions, including teachers.

On April 30, Board of Education members had to make a decision they were not happy about. In order to reduce the size of the district's staff, the board approved the transfer of three veteran teachers from positions they love and have held for many years to positions they have not worked in for quite some time. The board also approved the dismissal of the Freehold Learning Center's music teacher.

A large audience was on hand for the meeting in the Park Avenue Elementary School cafetorium. Teachers came to support their colleagues, while friends and former students of the teachers came to support them.

In an 8-1 vote, board members abolished the position of elementary school guidance counselor that had been held by Lattman. Board member Ron Reich voted no. Lattman has been in the guidance department for 14 years. Lattman will teach a third grade class in the fall.

In a 7-0 vote (Reich and Andrew DeFonzo abstained), the board abolished the art teacher's position Daley held for the past 19 years. Daley will teach a first-grade class in the fall.

In another 7-0 vote (Reich and DeFonzo abstained), the board abolished Joan Murphy's librarian position. Murphy will teach a first-grade class in the fall.

Finally, in a third 7-0 vote (Reich and DeFonzo abstained), the board eliminated the music teacher's position held by Beth Vaughn and she will not have a new position in the district.

Board President Jim Keelan said he wanted the staff and community to understand that the cuts and transfers were not being taken lightly by the board.

"We all wish these options did not have to be discussed, but due to our dire financial situation they must be considered," he said. "Our overriding goal in this difficult process is to retain people to ensure that the fewest staff members become unemployed. We also understand how transferring staff members within the district to other areas for which they are qualified may be stressful for some individuals, however, I think we can all agree that this is the lesser of two evils. It is our hope and desire that the entire Freehold Borough community's hard work will be successful. It is our hope that our school district will receive additional funds and that these positions will be reinstated and that these transfers will be reversed."

Daley spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.

She said, "In the teaching profession there are moments when students have what we call 'Aha!' moments. It is the single second in time when for the first time a student's mind opens up and an idea is born from imagination. Imagination is not born from a textbook; it is the result of nurturing teachers who were nurtured themselves by their own teacher. It is what we as teachers live for and is the single greatest moment in our careers."

Daley said that in her 32 years of teaching in Freehold she has witnessed many of those "Aha!" moments.

"I believe in what I do and so I believe that the citizens of Freehold Borough have benefited from what I've done. My dedication and experience should count for something, yet I am having my 'Aha!' moment. Sadly, it is not like the joyous ones I've seen on my students' faces. Rather, it is the realization of a harsh reality; I don't matter.

"It doesn't take much in the way of a higher level of thinking to see what is going on here. Instead of my experience here being considered an asset, it is transparently obvious that I have become a fiscal burden to the borough.

"I am no longer Leslie Daley, the teacher who has devoted my life to this town. Instead, I am an expense, a number, some red ink that needs to be eliminated. 'Aha.' Perhaps my age and my years of experience are the reasons why this decision was made by my administrators.

"When the security of this job falls by the wayside like some windblown weed, when we as teachers become as interchangeable as the parts of a car that has rolled off an assembly line, when our administrators transfer qualified, dedicated teachers to positions they do not want to teach, something is wrong," she told the board.

Daley said she understood these are hard times for the town, but added, "I cannot, as Shakespeare wrote, 'go gently into that good night' without warning you of the folly of your actions."

In her comments, Lattman said the elementary school guidance program is a "safe harbor" for children. She said the program focuses on anti-bullying, dealing with children of divorce, domestic violence or family discord.

"The facts of life are that many of these children face these issues every day," Lattman said.

She noted that a state assessment team had recommended that the district engage a full-time guidance counselor.

"We complied with the other [state] recommendations. Now we are able to abolish this position?" she asked. "You have no idea how many calls I get from parents on a regular basis and how many calls I receive from DYFS. You don't know how necessary this program really is."

Linda McCarthy, president of the Freehold Borough Education Association, said the reduction in force was creating an injustice for children as well as the staff.

"You are creating an environment for students that will make it difficult, if not impossible for them to receive an education equivalent to students in the other (Freehold Regional High School District) sending districts. And the positions being lost are affecting teachers who have given their heart and soul and have gone above and beyond to give to the students as well as to the community. They deserve better. We understand the actions of the board, but we cannot support them," McCarthy said.

She asked the board members to take a message to state legislators: "We are not going away."

Mark Hudzik, vice president of the Freehold Borough Education Association, said even though the board members are not the cause of the district's financial situation, they still have the time to resolve it and stop it.

"This will have long-term effects on our students," he said. "There is a lack of consideration for the expression and passion these teachers bring to their work. When you say 'thorough and efficient education,' are they just words you use? If you really believe in that, then how can we go on like this?"

Trish Cundari has taught in the district for 21 years. She said she and many of the district's teachers had learned a great deal from one of their mentors, teacher Joan Foley, who recently passed away, and that is why they were at the board meeting.

"She taught us how to agree to disagree, how to look out for one another, how to have a sense of humor, how to be a voice, how to be a teacher," Cundari said.