[Guest]

The Board of Ed made their decision...take away computers in the district but add a full-time dance teacher...are they kidding me?

http://cranfordschools.org/boe/pdf/06_2 ... inutes.pdf

Refer to page 21 contract revisions
Emily Donahue : From Teacher of Dance (Part-Time) with a salary of $26,308.32 To Teacher of Dance (Full-Time) with a salary of $54,809.00

[Guest]

Looks about right to me. What do computers have to do with this? Doesn't everybody have computers at home?

[Guest]

Probably boosts the school's ranking somehow to have dance offered in the curriculum.

[Guest]

They took computer class away from some schools because of money but they somehow found enough money to make the dance teacher full-time. How about using that money to re-hire the aides you took away from the special ed kids?

[Guest]

if it's an elective and she works full time hours, what's the problem?

[guest]

It addresses what's wrong with this country. Too many computer geeks... too little dancers.

[Dancing Bear]

Let's face it. Any moron can use a computer. My post is proof of that.
Do people watch "Dancing with the Stars" or "Using computers with the Stars"?
Do people watch "So You Think You Can Dance" or "So You Think You Can Use a Computer"?
Would you rather watch a girl dance or a girl using a computer or a girl computer dance?

[guest]

They took computer class away from some schools because of money but they somehow found enough money to make the dance teacher full-time. How about using that money to re-hire the aides you took away from the special ed kids?

Dance is one of the classes students at the high school can take to fulfill the requirement for graduation that every student must have taken classes in the arts (I believe they have to have 1.0 or 2.0 worth of credits). Any special ed student that has an IEP and requires and aide, will still have an aide. Supposedly full time aides with 5 years or more experience were to be hired back first, based on seniority and special ed needs. They took computer classes away last year for most K-2 classes, but for some strange reason, I saw a whole bunch of brand new dell computers sitting in an unused classroom in Bloomingdale.

[Guest]

The Board of Ed made their decision...take away computers in the district but add a full-time dance teacher...are they kidding me?

http://cranfordschools.org/boe/pdf/06_2 ... inutes.pdf

Refer to page 21 contract revisions
Emily Donahue : From Teacher of Dance (Part-Time) with a salary of $26,308.32 To Teacher of Dance (Full-Time) with a salary of $54,809.00

Who does she know ?

[Guest]

[Guest]

They took computer class away from some schools because of money but they somehow found enough money to make the dance teacher full-time. How about using that money to re-hire the aides you took away from the special ed kids?

Dance is one of the classes students at the high school can take to fulfill the requirement for graduation that every student must have taken classes in the arts (I believe they have to have 1.0 or 2.0 worth of credits). quote]


They have choir, band, various art and home ec classes at CHS. If we have gotten along fine without a full time dance teacher for all these years why add one now in these tight financial times when teachers and programs are being cut? Isn't it enough that they hire a choreographer for the musicals which meet AFTER school?

Also, as someone else mentioned, we are now also paying for a full time dance program at the Arts Magnet HS and the students going there will have a chance to take their senior year at Kean and get college credit for it so there is no need for a dance teacher at this time.

[guest]

It's John Arlotta who is pushing the program. Duh! It's all for his "University" Program, so now they can have a full "Dance Academy" in the high school. Why don't they make it part of phys ed and then they don't need another gym teacher? I agree now is not the time to make this person full time. I assume she has a teaching degree on top of her dance degree?

[Guest]

Let's face it. Any moron can use a computer. My post is proof of that.
Do people watch "Dancing with the Stars" or "Using computers with the Stars"?
Do people watch "So You Think You Can Dance" or "So You Think You Can Use a Computer"?
Would you rather watch a girl dance or a girl using a computer or a girl computer dance?

I hear Pete Townshend from The Who was going to try to float a Using computers with the Stars pilot, but........ his research took him off course

[Guest]

It's John Arlotta who is pushing the program. Duh! It's all for his "University" Program, so now they can have a full "Dance Academy" in the high school. Why don't they make it part of phys ed and then they don't need another gym teacher? I agree now is not the time to make this person full time. I assume she has a teaching degree on top of her dance degree?

Dance Academy!!!??? What kind of crap is this. What's next...a football academy. The members of the football team could take electives during the school day and maybe we will have a better football team.

That's why our education budget is so out of control. Dance and these other electives belong after school, not during school hours. We need to get back to "readin, writin and rithmetic" since other countries have supassed us in these areas.

My kids went to CHS before the University program, the Dance Academy and all these other frills. They got a great education with fantastic courses and teachers. They didn't waste their time in these frills. They took ap courses which enabled them to opt out of certain courses in college. That's the direction our college bound students need.

[Guest]

There are no after school activities except sports, no clubs etc due to the generosity of our Gov Christie and his cuts in aid. Looks like technology is not the afterthought some would make it out to be however: http://cranford.patch.com/articles/cran ... technology

[B.B.]

It's official,the inmates are running the asylum. Don't get me wrong, the world needs dancers,artists and musicians but when the state cuts our aid by one third, adding a dance teacher is absolute insanity.How about taking that money and buying some instuments for the band. What we now have is patched together and embarrasing.
How about making the dance program a club activity? The stipend for a club advisor is a fraction of a full time dance instructor.
Arlotta has to be the biggest horses ass to come down the pike and anyone who supports his ideas should go to one of many councellors hired by the district, starting with our superintendent and working our way down.

[Guest]

It's official,the inmates are running the asylum. Don't get me wrong, the world needs dancers,artists and musicians but when the state cuts our aid by one third, adding a dance teacher is absolute insanity.How about taking that money and buying some instuments for the band. What we now have is patched together and embarrasing.
How about making the dance program a club activity? The stipend for a club advisor is a fraction of a full time dance instructor.
Arlotta has to be the biggest horses ass to come down the pike and anyone who supports his ideas should go to one of many councellors hired by the district, starting with our superintendent and working our way down.

THERE ARE NO CLUBS.

[Guest]

dance is an important part of any high school curriculum. there are plenty of kids in the high school who take ap classes. and colleges want to see more than just ap classes on a college application. these colleges have been getting more and more competetive and having the dance program will make CHS better as well as giving these students the edge against other students trying to get into the same colleges. not to mention, have you seen some of the kids in the dance program actually perform? their dancing is amazing. and if any of them wanted to go to college for dance without having the dance class on their transcript its much less likely that they will get in.

[guest]

dance is an important part of any high school curriculum. there are plenty of kids in the high school who take ap classes. and colleges want to see more than just ap classes on a college application. these colleges have been getting more and more competetive and having the dance program will make CHS better as well as giving these students the edge against other students trying to get into the same colleges. not to mention, have you seen some of the kids in the dance program actually perform? their dancing is amazing. and if any of them wanted to go to college for dance without having the dance class on their transcript its much less likely that they will get in.

LOL. College for dance. Why don't they just go Scores and grab a pole?

[Guest]

dance is an important part of any high school curriculum. there are plenty of kids in the high school who take ap classes. and colleges want to see more than just ap classes on a college application. these colleges have been getting more and more competetive and having the dance program will make CHS better as well as giving these students the edge against other students trying to get into the same colleges. not to mention, have you seen some of the kids in the dance program actually perform? their dancing is amazing. and if any of them wanted to go to college for dance without having the dance class on their transcript its much less likely that they will get in.

That's hogwash! Students have been studying dance for as long as the public schools have been in exsistence but they have done it at private dance studios at the parents expense, not at taxpayers expense. These students have gotten into excellent colleges and many have become dance instructors because they have the ap courses AND they have shown that they can balance their time out side of school by being involved in extra curricular activities. Besides, if we have students in Cranford that want dance so bad they should go to the Union County Arts Magnet School, that the taxpayers are also funding. I would imagine that CHS now has 2 dance teachers....the one they just hired full time AND the one that gets a sizable stipend to choreograph the school musical or were the BOE members smart enough to include that little item in the new full time dance teachers job description.

[Guest]

dance is an important part of any high school curriculum. there are plenty of kids in the high school who take ap classes. and colleges want to see more than just ap classes on a college application. these colleges have been getting more and more competetive and having the dance program will make CHS better as well as giving these students the edge against other students trying to get into the same colleges. not to mention, have you seen some of the kids in the dance program actually perform? their dancing is amazing. and if any of them wanted to go to college for dance without having the dance class on their transcript its much less likely that they will get in.

LOL. College for dance. Why don't they just go Scores and grab a pole?

I agree. Where is the sanity in all this? Now we must provide a full fledged Dance program? Ridiculous. What happened to dance lessons OUTSIDE school?

[Guest]

Welcome to Cranford NJ!
Home of the foxtrot and the cha cha!

[Guest]

The problem with the magnet schools dance & acting programs is that they ONLY take 2 students from each town, and they MUST pass their entrance exam in order to attend the program, and you can only apply once. If you don't make the cut when you apply in 8th grade, you don't get another chance, because the magnet school claims if a student comes in after their freshman year, they could never catch up with their requirements - I say B.S. If my tax dollars are paying for it, then shouldn't more kids be allowed to attend? I feel the whole Magnet thing is a sham. I say do away with this whole "county" thing that is sucking tax dollars from the towns, make the Vocational-Technical school back into what it was originally intended for, and let the school districts decide if they need their own academy's at their own high schools.

[Fred Astaire]

Why I just love the dance program, there should be plenty more.

Hello Frisco!!!!