Montclair Students Blast Outgoing Superintendent for Budget Woes

Some Montclair High School students have been stirring up controversy – both online and in-person – with their public campaign against outgoing superintendent Penny MacCormack.

The student group has also been vocally critical of school administrators’ handling of budget woes that may result in the layoffs of 18 full-time staff members.

During a Board of Education budget hearing on Monday, two MHS students took to the podium during the public comment portion to bring attention to an online petition they started on Change.org.

One student, a junior at MHS, told a packed room of parents and community members that the petition has incited negative comments that are “degrading” and inaccurate.

“We are simply exercising the independent, active thinking that the Montclair public schools have taught us,” the student said to loud applause from the crowd.

He then read the text of the petition aloud for the audience:

“We, as students in the Montclair public schools, call on the Board of Education to balance its budget in a way that doesn’t directly harm students and our schools. We call on the board to reverse its plan to fire over 50 public school workers as a result of faulty budgeting.”

Also, the student cited the superintendent’s handling of fiscal matters:

“Superintendent Penny MacCormack’s $8.2 million budgetary deficit was caused by overspending on technology, consultants, legal fees, quarterly assessment tests, and other items within a secretive, unclear spending plan. These expenditures were made with neither transparency nor receptiveness to public input.”

He then offered suggestions for the future:

“When the time comes to appoint an interim superintendent, and eventually an official superintendent, we, the undersigned, want him/her to emulate the integrity, collaborativeness [sic], and open-mindedness that many Montclair residents/students have failed to find in MacCormack. We also want these traits to be reflected by our two new board members who will be appointed this spring.”

LOMBARD REPLIES

Following a protracted break for applause, Board Member Shelly Lombard responded to the students’ charges.

“I admire your boldness for coming to the microphone,” Lombard told the students. “That’s very hard to do at your age, and I appreciate that. But just so you know, this is not ‘McCormack’s budget.’ This is the board’s budget.”

Lombard added that the students are not differentiating between last year’s budget and this year’s.

“Just make sure that when you come to the [microphone], you have all your facts correct,” suggested Lombard.

According to the New Jersey School Boards Association, the board’s role in this process is to “determine how monies should be allocated to carry out its goals and policies for the district.”

According to the NJSBA, superintendents have three main functions when it comes to budget development:

• Coordinating school staff to provide their recommendations for the budget
• Bringing a final budget recommendation to the Board of Education
• Working with board members and the public to understand the tentative budget

ONLINE COMMENTS

The students’ online petition has garnered 126 signatures so far, as well as a mixture of emotional comments.

“I think that we shouldn’t have bought all of these unnecessary computers and should definitely NOT fire staff for our incompetence,” wrote one student.

“I’m sure [MacCormack] did have good visions and ideas, it just wasn’t thoroughly planned in the long run… I won’t put full blame on her,” stated another signatory.

The online comment sections of other local news reports on the subject have been likewise deluged with a mixture of comments about the students’ efforts.

“I will not sign this partisan attack that once again uses false information to blame the superintendent for rising healthcare costs and salary increases,” stated one comment.

“These numbers and accusations have been debunked so many times,” charged another commenter. “Yes we all would like a ‘good budget,’ but this short-sighted and silly petition won’t help us get one.”

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