Attention Hackensack taxpayers, you can reject a proposed $126.5M school budget

In next Tuesday's election, the City Council is backing Board of Education President Lara Rodriguez, Michael Scott James-Vickery and Ira G. Goodman. James-Vickery and Goodman are members of Hackensack Smart Schools, the taxpayers group that defeated the irresponsible $170 million school construction and renovation plan (and 30-year tax hike needed to pay for it) that were on the ballot in January.

Next Tuesday, voters also can fill

 3 seats on the Board of Education

Editor's note: I corrected the name of the Hackensack school where the boiler stopped working this winter.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- In next Tuesday's school election, Mayor John Labrosse and other members of the City Council are hoping to take control of the Board of Education and cut the bloated $126.5 million school budget plan.

Voters can say "no" to the proposed $84.5 million tax levy to support the 2019-20 school budget, sending the plan to the council for cuts.

But sadly, legions of Hackensack residents don't know that, and in past April elections, the budget has been approved by a margin of a few hundred voters.

More than 23,000 residents are registered to vote in Hackensack, and about 45% of every property tax bill goes to support the schools.

Whether through ignorance, apathy or laziness, residents have allowed the Zisa family political dynasty to control their schools, which are known for high salaries and low test scores.

In the 2018 school election, the proposed tax levy proposition was approved 695-447.

Read: School board challengers elected,

 budget approved

Candidates

"We don't agree on everything, but we do agree on the most important issues," Board of Education President Lara Rodriguez was quoted as saying about her running mates, Michael Scott James-Vickery and Ira G. Goodman.

"We know that our schools are in need of major physical and technology upgrades. We know that our children deserve better ... in a manner that has the least impact on taxpayers," she told TAPIntoHackensack.

Rodriguez, Michael Scott James-Vickery and Ira G. Goodman are running under the banner of Hackensack Smart Schools, a taxpayers group that mobilized to defeat the all-or-nothing $170 million school referendum in January.

James-Vickery brought his family to Hackensack seven years ago from Mississippi, where he taught for 10 years. A strong advocate of special education, he has 3 children in city schools.

Goodman is a 17-year resident with a strong technology background.

The mail-in ballot I received shows candidates for three open seats on the Board of Education, and the budget proposition that $84,522,752 in property taxes be used to support an overall school budget of $126.5 million, above and below. Every voter can say "yes" or "no" to the budget.

A "no" vote on the school tax levy next Tuesday would send the proposed budget to the City Council, which can cut the plan or leave it intact. In addition to property taxes, the schools are supported by tuition from other districts, aid and grants.

High salaries, low scores

Zisa-backed Board of Education members have rewarded administrators and teachers handsomely, but test scores have lagged at the majority of the city's schools.

The average salary for an administrator is about $169,000 a year, highest in the state, City Councilman Leo Battaglia said.

The average salary for a teacher is about $83,000, among the highest in the state, and the school board spends $18,700 to educate each student, he said.

More than 160 students weren't able to provide proof of residency, but city officials believe the number attending Hackensack schools from out of the district is well over 200.

Old schools

The average age of city schools is 100 years, board officials said when they proposed the $170 million renovation and building plan, which included a new junior high school and parking garage on the high school campus.

This winter, the boiler stopped working at the Fanny Meyer Hillers Elementary School, and teachers and students had to wear their coats and gloves in the classroom.

Read: Zisas' Team Hackensack

 controlled school board

Read: Hackensack taxpayers

 soundly defeat $170M plan

Enrollment hike of 120 students in 4 years doesn't justify building a $97M junior high

The offices of the Hackensack Board of Education and superintendent of schools at 191 Second St.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- When you take a closer look at the proposed $165.1 million building and renovation plan for Hackensack schools, the numbers just don't add up.

A projected enrollment increase and schools that are as much as a century old are the two main reasons cited by school officials to justify the proposal, which will have a tremendous impact on already high property taxes.

Even more troubling is the possibility of holding the referendum on Jan. 22, 2019, when winter weather could discourage many already lazy, apathetic residents from voting to approve or reject the plan.

Past elections

April school board elections usually draw only several hundred people to vote on candidates, and to say "yes" or "no" on the school budget, which accounts for 45% of every home and business owners' property tax bill.

In the April 2017 election, only 3% or 642 of the 21,397 registered voters in Hackensack cast ballots for candidates, and only 341 residents OK'd the $81.2 million tax levy to support a $109 million budget.

This past April 17, when 3 candidates backed by the mayor and City Council ran, turnout was higher -- 1,629 voters cast ballots.

Only 1,142 voted "yes" or "no" on the tax levy, approving the use of $82.8 million in property taxes to support the schools' $117.1 million budget.

Imagine how few would battle January weather to get to the polls and vote in a $165.1 million referendum.

Tax impact

"The tax impact would be decided before the possible January referendum," NorthJersey.com reported on June 30, quoting school board President Lara L. Rodriguez.

Rodriguez also told a reporter that if the referendum passes, it could take up to 8 months for the district to begin the renovations and break ground on the new school and a parking garage, and "we could have the schools open" by September 2021.

Enrollment hike

School officials project they will have to serve 120 more students in 2021-22 than now.

They cite a projected enrollment of 5,834 students in 2021-22, compared to 5,714 in 2017-18.

No mention was made of the 249 students Maywood sends to Hackensack High School, and a possible end to that relationship.

Century old schools

There's no question Hackensack's schools are old and badly in need of renovations and upgrades.

But why did the Board of Education allow them to get that way while raising the school budget every year in the last 10 years -- to where the money spent on schools is now more than the city's own budget?

$165.1M proposal

A new junior high school, with grades 7, 8 and 9, would be built next to the high school at a cost of $97.7 million.

That includes a parking garage for 200 cars to built next to the new school, replacing a high school  parking lot.

Alterations to existing schools would cost about $16.5 million; renovations would cost $17.5 million; upgrades to heating, ventilation and air conditioning would add another $33.4 million -- for a total of $165.1 million.

Jack and Ken Zisa kick off their campaign to defeat Hackensack Council reformers

Former Hackensack Police Chief and state Assemblyman Ken Zisa and former City Attorney Joseph Zisa, back to camera, greeted supporters on Thursday night at a campaign kickoff for a slate of candidates who will challenge City Council incumbents in the May election. Ken Zisa handed out bottles of water.

Former four-term Hackensack Mayor Jack Zisa, standing at right rear, also worked the room at Mount Olive Baptist Church. The heavyset man in the foreground is Board of Education President Jason Nunnermacker, a Zisa ally who was defeated in the bitter 2013 council election.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Zisa Puppet Company is hoping for a comeback.

On Tuesday night, the family political machine that dominated Hackensack for decades introduced their slate of City Council candidates in the non-partisan May election.

Some would call them puppets, but no strings were visible as the head of the slate, school board Vice President Lara Rodriguez, walked onto the stage at Mount Olive Baptist Church to address supporters.

Another member of the slate, Rommy Buttafuocco, was identified in a campaign brochure as a 16-year employee of the Board of Education, which Zisa allies controlled even after their council candidates were defeated in 2013.

Hackensack taxpayers should be concerned about the candidacy of Rodriguez and Buttafuocco, because the school board budget soared over $100 million in the past two years, surpassing the city's own budget.

More than 44% of each resident's property taxes go to support the schools.

In last April's school election, the Zisas backed three candidates under the "Team Hackensack" banner, and all three were either elected or appointed to the board.

The Record of Woodland Park didn't cover the election -- which included six opposing candidates -- or report that the family that stuck Hackensack with the moniker "Zisaville" were attempting a political comeback.

Now, the Zisas' five council candidates are running under a different banner, "Hackensack United for Progress."

In addition to Rodriguez and Buttafuocco, candidates are businessman Jason Some, former cop Michael Williams and former legislative aide Carlos Merino.

See The Zisas and the Borgs, a post I wrote in 2010, based on recollections of a self-described Hackenack old timer.

Lynne Hurwitz, a Zisa ally who heads the city's Democratic Party machine, also was at the kickoff.

Board of Education Attorney and Zisa ally Richard Salkin lost a second job as municipal prosecutor after the City Council headed by Mayor John P. Labrosse took office in 2013.

Lara Rodriguez, the head of the ticket, addressing supporters.

Today's Record

Today's front page is dominated by the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions from the Russia probe, suggesting that lying is a way of life in the Trump administration (1A).

The court of public opinion convicted Governor Christie in the Bridgegate scandal, and as a result, his White House dream fizzled and he was denied a top position by President Trump. 

But it doesn't look like he will ever face a judge or jury for inspiring the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that caused five mornings of gridlock in September 2013 (1A).

Meanwhile, a federal judge denied motions by lawyers for two of his former aides, Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, who were convicted in the political conspiracy, and they will be sentenced on March 15 (4A).

Jersey foods

The Garden State has a well-earned reputation for great beefsteak tomatoes, blueberries, corn and other produce, as well as incredible seafood -- from lobsters to clams to monkfish.

But they're not good enough for Food Editor Esther Davidowitz, who would rather promote unhealthy Taylor ham, fries, hot dogs and mystery ground beef as the state's "iconic foods" (1BL, 10BL and 11BL).

Davidowitz and food writer Sophia F. Gottfried continue to scramble in an effort to distract readers from Gannett's decision to end the weekly restaurant review in November.