Garwood Democrats created false narrative on Library

It’s very important for the public to understand that the lease agreement between the school district and the library, which is funded by the municipality, concluded at the end of June well before the start of the school year. Therefore, ask yourselves if it was ever the intention of this board to close, move or “evict” the library, why was there no action taken many months prior to the school year. It has become apparent that certain council members, such as Mr. Lazarow whose husband sits on the library committee, and Mr. Kearney who is running for reelection chose to irresponsibly create a “we are going to save the library” campaign issue misleading the public while in my opinion, acting unethically by disclosing private negotiations and possibly violating attorney/client privilege. I understand that an ethics violation has been filed against these individuals. I hope these alleged violations do not jeopardize negotiations and put the library's future in question. Note that this board in my opinion has NEVER put the future of the library in question. That is on those who have created the false narrative in campaign videos and literature.

It is likely that this mayor and aforementioned council will use this opportunity to continue their pattern of attacking the school district. It is regrettable and offensive, in my view, that they deliberately misled the public and would attempt to pressure this board into an unfavorable contract for the school district. Unlike those individuals, I believe it is the duty of the BOE to filter out the noise and falsehoods and prioritize the well-being of the children while disregarding the political dynamics of this borough.

I would like to commend the Garwood board members for behaving professionally during this challenging time. Unfortunately in my opinion, unless we see some serious changes in mindset and personnel at the municipal level this school district will continue to be the brunt of political attacks.

I believe the BOE’s responsibility is not to make decisions based on simply "moving on" or fatigue from the back-and-forth exchanges. I believe it is our job to make decisions that serve the best interests of the students and the school district and not the political campaigns of those who continuously mislead the public.

Even though I am a BOE member, I am writing as a taxpayer and parent. The opinions expressed on this site even though factual are solely my own and do not necessarily express the views and opinions of the Garwood Board of Education or any other entity.