How long was she with the Montclair School District? In 2002, the tax levy for the schools was approximately $67M. It has climbed to over $104M in 2010. Has the educational product being delivered across the board to students improved in line with this 57% or $38M increase? A new (good) business administrator is definitely needed. The BOE has been very diligent. Thank you BOE for all of your hard work.

I believe 15 years.

Didn;t Sullivan already work part time for the Westfield district?

Not that I know of..

She was working part time for another district if not Westfield.

Belle --

South Orange/Maplewood. It's on Data Universe. About $7K.

Thanks Cary.

The mutiny is in full-swing here. Dr. Alvarez got tired of dealing with a BOE no longer concerned about education, and Mrs. Sullivan was probably none-too-pleased that she was the "fall-woman" for the "unbeknownst" surplus that the BOE now has at its disposal after playing Chicken Little last year. Just wait until the mutiny starts at the schools. Unbelievable that the parents in this district aren't seeing what is playing out here.

Many things happened to create the surplus; many things that couldn't be anticipated such as 40 retirements, increased state aid, etc.

The danger to Montclair is that with a surplus last year, and this, rather than use the money to stabilize or lower Montclair's gruesome taxes there will be people who want to spend it. On salaries and benefits.

Tax bills are waiting to be sent out. The Council is bragging about "only having 300 appeals." That's because most of the Town looked at their ASSESSMENTS and saw they went down and said "Wow! My TAXES are going down!" Well, assessments are multiplied by a tax rate that is over 3.1 this year. OVER 4,500 homes will get tax INCREASES this year (2012). They will see the "damage" in their bills in July.

But, SURPRISE! They needed to file an appeal by May 1st!

No appeals for them this year!

MO. You have a lot of insight. Mutiny is a very good word. I hear that we've only heard a thin "veneer" of concerns in the schools, that there's much more below the surface.

Finding a replacement for Dana will be difficult. So will finding a replacement for Alvarex, at the lower salary allowed.

Adam,

The BOE and its approach to fiscal sensibility was outstanding. Creation of the various committees was a tremendous accomplishment.

I don't know in detail the inner workings of the entire BOE, but Shelly Lombard clearly deserves an award for leadership, patience, fortitude, and intelligence. And the other champion was Shirley Grill who was unceremoniously "tossed" from the Board which is certainly NOT an accomplishment of the Mayor.

Shirley brought determined fiscal management to the board. Working together they brought success through the superb and talented committees which ran with the help of wonderful volunteers.

Although I do understand that subsequent to Shirley's departure, the "final" financial review report, which was probably completed six months ago, was never released.

Mrs. Sullivan had two jobs? A p/t gig along with the f/t Mtc one? Is this why 2 "surprise" surpluses escaped her attention 2 yrs in a row? A competent BOE would not allow its finance mgr. to be distracted elsewhere. And, Ms. Emling calls the 2 "surprise" surpluses things to "boast" about, using PATCH to spread "good press" about bad govt. Outgoing TC Africk agrees with Ms. Emling that surpluses are good news, it seems. Have these anti-tax folks visited our schools recently? Aides are badly needed but not supplied to overcrowded classrooms which must integrate spec ed kids, impossible to do in crowded classes without full-time aides. And, you cannot close the achievement gap with large classes. BOE under Sullivan, Lombard, Grill and Larson launched a labor war against our teachers and aides and a tax war against our kids. They threw good educ policy out the window to satisfy the anti-tax zealots in town who lost the last election though they still control the BOE, whose policies saved each ratable $131 by taking away family health care from our essential aides, shameful, and then Mrs. Sullivan and BOE announce an even larger surplus this year which they hurriedly give back to the TC so it can plan yet another $1mil beautification for one business street downtown. Our family life, civic peace, racial harmony, and property values depend on strong, well-funded public schools, which tax-cut zealots on the BOE are sabotaging each year.

Well stated Mr. Shor.

"Adam" opposes waste, but who doesn't? Can Adam or someone else please itemize specific waste in our schools? Tell us exactly what is wasteful instead of generally accusing. Many of us will refuse to tolerate waste, so let's hear about it in detail. Denouncing "waste in general" is not convincing. Family health care for our essential aides is NOT waste, for example. I proposed specific good uses for the two "surprise" surpluses which evaded the honorable Mrs. Sullivan two years in a row--reduce class size and provide a full-time aide for each classroom. These are two constructive uses of our tax dollars which will improve learning in our schools. The BOE's rush to dump dollars on a dysfunctional TC is anti-tax zealotry which hurts our kids, plain and simple. The anti-tax crowd soundly lost the May elections--anti-tax zealotry should not be allowed to dominate our BOE. The current BOE should step aside and be replaced by a BOE that puts our kids and our civic life first.

Thank you, Mr. Shor, for your comments.

There's plenty of waste in the schools... just to name one small example, go into any classroom during the winter and you'll find the heat blasting so high that the windows have to be opened. I know there are many other examples of waste...