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5-21-08 News Articles & editorial
5-19-08 PRESS OF ATLANTIC CITY editorial - Abbott Districts: Audits revealing...All Abbott districts are not created equal..............STAR LEDGER - A super retirement package 5-21-08.............ASBURY PK PRESS -Keansburg school chief to be paid $740,926.

STAR LEDGER - Schools chief's $740,000 sendoff faces NJ review by Dunstan McNichol/The Star-Ledger Wednesday May 21, 2008, 12:05 AM A New Jersey school superintendent who raised eyebrows two years ago when she arrived at a hearing on state school aid in a stretch limousine will get a severance package worth more than $740,000 when she steps down next month, documents posted on the school district's website show. The payments to Keansburg School Superintendent Barbara Trzeszkowski, 60, come on top of the standard retirement pay -- estimated at $120,000 a year -- she has earned over a 38-year career in the school district, which is one of 31 so-called Abbott communities that receive millions in special state aid. The package includes $184,586 for 235.5 unused sick days and 20 vacation days, and another $556,290 in severance pay calculated by multiplying her monthly salary by the number of years she has worked in Keansburg. "This is the poster child of everything that is bad about Abbott funding," said Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington), a prominent critic of the state Supreme Court rulings in the Abbott vs. Burke lawsuit that require the state to heavily subsidize the 31 poor districts. "No one deserves that kind of buyout. It's obscene. It's sickening." It may also be short-lived. State Education Commissioner Lucille Davy plans to review the severance deal to see if it is valid, said a spokeswoman, Kathryn Forsyth. "There is concern," Forsyth said. "We are obtaining a copy of the settlement in question to review it to see what, if anything, can be done." Trzeszkowski did not return a call seeking comment Tuesday. Details of Trzeszkowski's retirement package come as advocates for the Abbott communities are in court seeking to defeat Gov. Jon Corzine's effort to have their special aid provisions ended. The state currently sends more than $4.3 billion in aid to the 31 districts. Keansburg, a Monmouth County school district of about 1,800 students, is scheduled to receive $28.9 million in state aid, about 81 percent of its total school budget. Trzeszkowski's severance package, which is to be paid out over five years, exceeds the $566,000 in additional school aid that Keansburg is scheduled to collect this year under Corzine's enhanced school aid formula. David Sciarra, the attorney who has led the Abbott litigation, said the size of Trzeszkowski's severance package "raises a serious red flag." "The commissioner has the responsibility to step in and review it and, if it is inappropriate, take whatever action is necessary to change it or modify it to ensure it is reasonable," he said. "There's no justification for improper spending." The Keansburg records indicate Trzeszkowski's contract took effect in 2003. That is well in advance of a package of reforms state lawmakers enacted last year in response to a State Commission of Investigation report on generous provisions in school superintendent contracts throughout the state. Among those reforms were requirements for local boards of education to post their superintendent contracts online. With lawmakers struggling with a tight state budget, questions about spending in the Abbott districts have been prominent during legislative hearings. Lawmakers have questioned thousands of dollars in expenditures uncovered in a series of audits, including provisions in a Union City school contract that pays bus drivers six hours of overtime every month for recharging their cell phones. Trzeszkowski's expenses have caused a stir before. Two years ago the superintendent was chided for using a stretch limousine to take herself and board of education members to a state budget hearing in Collingswood, where they made a plea for additional state aid. After the limo trip drew public criticism, Trzeszkowski said she reimbursed the school board the $375 cost of the rental. Press of Atlantic City editorial - Abbott Districts: Audits revealing Monday 5-19-08 All Abbott districts are not created equal. That is one conclusion that can be drawn from the second round of state audits reviewing $290 million worth of spending by the state's Abbott school districts. The difference in accountability and responsibility among the Abbott districts was striking: Pleasantville topped the list statewide for the percentage of its spending during the 2004-06 period that was deemed "discretionary," or not essential to educating students. The troubled district is now - thankfully - under a state fiscal monitor. Meanwhile, Vineland ranked among the best in the state: The percentage of expenditures deemed "reasonable" was 98 percent. The audits were proposed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine's administration during a court case two years ago, when the Abbott districts challenged the administration's refusal to increase state aid. The first audits were done last year of Camden, Newark, Paterson and Jersey City - where they found millions in questionable expenses and lack of internal controls. Audits of the rest of the districts show a wide range of fiscal responsibility and accountability. Pleasantville had an appalling amount of spending that was approved without backup documentation, as well as conferences and seminars for staff and administrators that showed no proof they benefited students, according to the audit. State monitor John Deserable said the proper controls are now in place and bills are no longer submitted to the board without backup documents. Some Abbott district officials contend that similar results would be found in non-Abbott districts, but that Abbotts are being singled out. Well ... exactly. State taxpayers pour more than $3 billion per year into the 31 Abbott districts - about half of all school aid. They need to know their dollars are not being wasted. Pleasantville has hardly assured them of that. Neither have districts such as Union City, where the audit revealed that bus drivers are contractually entitled to six hours of overtime per month to charge their cell phones. You can bet that one made the rounds on talk radio. That kind of waste and sweetheart deals undermine support for all Abbott districts - even those that are doing a decent job and trying to use the extra money for the purpose it was intended, to educate students. Another complaint from Abbott districts is that the audits are nickel-and-diming expenditures. Wrong again. Those nickels and dimes add up: These audits conclude that more than 25 percent of every dollar spent by the Abbott districts was either unnecessary or lacking proper documentation or controls. New state rules that would ban school boards from running up big hotel bills at in-state conferences or eating expensive meals during board meetings will help curb some of these wasteful practices, not only in Abbotts but in all school districts. Ultimately, though, the best defense against waste in any district, Abbott or non-Abbott, is a school board that practices fiscal responsibility and insists on proper documentation - and an involved public that demands it. To read the audits online, go to www.state.nj.us/ education/finance/kw/ Assemblywoman Marcia Karrow is calling for the resignation of State Department of Education Commissioner Lucille Davy...This following Davy's decision not to recoup more than $83 million in wasteful and questionable spending uncovered during audits of the state's abbott school districts. The audits, as first reported on Millennium Radio News, cited excessive travel fees, undocumented overtime, inappropriate cell phone expenditures like being paid to charge them...and plenty more. Karrow says it is unconscionable that Davy is not going to require the offending school districts to pay back the monies they willfully wasted. "New Jersey's families are fed up with report after report of having their hard-earned tax dollars misused and abused," says Karrow. "What good is an audit if we only expose the waste, but do nothing to recover the wasted money? It's not acceptable to sweep this under the carpet as was done with the School Construction Corporation multi-billion dollar debacle." Karrow, noting that Davy sat on the audit results of 27 of the districts for some time without reporting on the waste, added that state aid to non-Abbott districts has been decimated during Davy's reign as DOE commissioner and chief education policy advisor to former Governor Jim McGreevey. She also said Davy is responsible for the new inequitable school funding formula Governor Corzine and Democrats rammed through the lame duck session of the Legislature in January. Davy's office has declined to comment. ASBURY PARK PRESS - May 21, 2008 A super retirement package Keansburg school chief will be paid $740,926 By JIM McCONVILLE KEYPORT BUREAU Outgoing Superintendent of Schools Barbara A. Trzeszkowski will walk away with a combined severance and benefits package of $740,926 for her 40-year tenure in the school system, according to school documents. Trzeszkowski, 60, of Middletown, officially retires June 30. The amount due her is computed from her final salary and benefits contract, posted on the Board of Education's Web site, www.keansburg.k12.nj.us. Under the contract negotiated and approved by the board in 2003, her severance package is $556,290, to be paid annually in five equal installments beginning July 15. The amount is calculated by the total years of service — 38 1/2 years — times $14,449.08, or one month of her final annual salary of $173,389. Trzeszkowski will also be paid $170,137 for her 235.5 unused sick days. That will be paid out in three equal annual installments. The board will also "buy back" Trzeszkowski's 20 unused vacation days for $14,449, which will be paid out in one lump sum on July 15. Also, based on the state teachers' pension calculator, Trzeszkowski could receive a maximum pension of approximately $115,600 a year. The final amount would be determined by the type of benefits she chooses. Neither Trzeszkowski nor school board President William Manos could be reached for comment. A former member, Gina Povalac, who served when Trzeszkowski's contract was proposed and approved, said it includes an option to take all unused sick, vacation and personal time. "Her (Trzeszkowski's) contract stipulated accrued time time off, that she could bank her hours," Povalac said. Reining in payouts Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, said he could not say how Trzeszkowski's reported severance package stacks up against others around New Jersey, but noted that school systems are trying to rein in such large payouts. "There is a more recent trend toward placing controls over payment for unused time," Belluscio said. "These include capping the amount of unused leave that could be reimbursed upon separation and basing payment on the individual's salary at the point at which the leave time was earned." Belluscio said the size of a superintendent's final severance package is directly related to the employee's contract provisions agreed to by the school board. "Those provisions might address payment for unused vacation time," Belluscio said. "And if you have someone who's been there for a number of years who has accumulated a large amount of time and those provisions are part of the contract, then that could have a large impact." Keansburg resident Edwin H. Scheckler Jr. said Trzeszkowski's hefty retirement package is a vivid example of a statewide problem in public schools. "How can anyone be paid for so much unused sick time?" Scheckler asked. "This is, quote unquote, "an Abbott district,' so the funding isn't just coming from this community, it's coming from the entire state." Moved up the ladder Trzeszkowski, who joined the district in 1968 as a high school English teacher, was appointed school curriculum coordinator in 1991 and then acting superintendent in 1997. She became superintendent in 1998. Her successor is Nicholas M. Eremita, signed to a three-year contract effective July 1. Eremita, 56, of Brick, will receive a salary of $160,000 for the 2008-09 school year, according to his contract, which calls for him to receive 4 percent raises in both 2009-10 and 2010-11, for annual salaries of $166,400 and $173,056, respectively. THE RECORD - Assembly approves big changes in schools, orders cost-cutting Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Last updated: Tuesday May 20, 2008, EDT 9:29 AM BY ELISE YOUNG TRENTON BUREAU New Jersey schools would see major changes — including a mandatory 10 percent cut in administrative costs for scores of districts — under legislation approved in the Assembly on Monday. But whether any of the legislation will become law is uncertain. None of the three bills has been scheduled for a vote in the Senate. The Assembly also voted to move the date of school-board elections to November from April. In the same bill, lawmakers eliminated the voters' right to approve multimillion-dollar budgets. SCHOOL SPENDING REFORMS The Assembly approved three education bills designed in part to reduce spending - and, therefore, property tax bills. The legislation must be considered by the Senate next and approved by the governor. If signed into law, here's how it would affect local schools: Reduced spending: One bill aims to cut administrative costs 10 percent in certain districts. It also would empower county superintendents to report on local districts' consolidation of smaller schools and coordination of services such as busing. New voting date: School-board elections would move to November from April to coincide with general elections. Also, voters would lose the power to vote on budgets. Streamlining: If the state commissioner of education's decision on local disputes is appealed, the case would go directly to an appellate court rather than the state Board of Education. "The fragmentation of our voting calendar has resulted in voting fatigue," said Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, D-Camden, seeking to explain New Jersey's typical school-elections turnout of 15 percent. He rejected critics' arguments that a move to November — when voters are at the polls for general elections — would inject party politics into non-partisan school races. And he said that voters' input on the annual spending plans was "part of a charade," because municipal governments have the power to override their decision. "In some cases, every single cent that [voters] cut can be reinstated," Roberts said. He pointed out that voters still would have to approve spending above a limit, and that decision could not be appealed. Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt, R-Randolph, said he agreed with the change to November, but he argued unsuccessfully against taking away voters' power. "It's fundamentally undemocratic," Merkt said. Senate President Richard J. Codey on Monday did not indicate when the measures might arrive in the Senate. "These are important issues, particularly the matter of participation in school-board elections," Codey said. "We'll be giving these bills a thorough review when they come over to our house for consideration." The bills were designed to address New Jersey's runaway property taxes, the highest in the country. About 55 percent of homeowners' local tax payments are channeled to school districts. In North Jersey, where the 2006 median tax bill was $7,169, that means $3,943 went to education. Some lawmakers said some of the measures could harm smaller districts. Assemblyman John E. Rooney, R-Northvale, said many in Bergen County could not afford a 10 percent reduction in administrative costs, because state law mandates a superintendent for each district and a principal for each building. Northvale alone would have to do without $80,000, he said. "When you have a small school district of 500 [students] or less, the ratio of administrators to pupils is extremely high. It doesn't make sense to do this ratio nonsense," he said." The 10 percent reduction would be based on a complicated formula involving regional comparisons, per-pupil administrative expenses and a cost-of-living increase. By the 2011-12 school year, affected districts could spend no more than 90 percent of their 2008-09 administrative figure. The third bill would eliminate the state Board of Education from hearing appeals in cases decided by the state education commissioner. Those appeals would go directly to the Appellate Division of state Superior Court. Other areas of state government also are trying to reduce school costs. Within weeks, the state Department of Education is set to approve a 205-page rulebook on how districts must design their budgets. The rules would empower executive county superintendents to override local budget expenditures they deem excessive; increase public review of proposed budgets; set policies on nepotism and pay-to-play; and encourage consolidation and shared services. E-mail: younge@northjersey.com