Dear Parents!

We would like to express our deepest gratitude for the overwhelming turnout at Monday’s Special BOE Meeting on the Budget. PS16 was the largest combined group, comprised of our teachers, parents and students and our Assistant Principal Mr. Salgado. PS16 has really made it known to the BOE members and the people present that we are a Family that stands up for each other. Thank you all so much!

There were some great photos and videos from the meeting by Jersey Journal and Hudson County View live stream. (Livestream shows PS16 parents Tugce Yalt & Natalia Ioffe speaking at [47:50] &  [2:17:10] respectively). You can also find the individual videos on FB: Tugce Yalt &  Natalia Ioffe.

At the end of the meeting the Board of Education has voted to approve the budget that included the proposed layoffs, however with a promise from Board of Education Sudhan Thomas that the district will not fire hundreds of teachers who received layoff warnings. 

Yesterday Channel 12 News reached out to us for comment on the fact that Mayor Fulop has pledged $27 million in payroll tax proceeds to the school district to help save jobs.

While this brings obvious relief, we do not plan to rest until the Reduction in Force Notices are reversed.

“We are hoping that these numbers can translate into our saved jobs of our teachers, If they don’t hear something positive within the next month or so, they are going to go out looking for other jobs. We are going to lose them to the private sector,”  (N.I.)

“We want them to hear us that we are not going to end this fight we will get our teachers back,” (T. Y.)

NEXT STEP:  BOE Caucus (5/20) and General Board Meetings (5/23). We plan to attend one or both, with one simple message:

#ReverseTheRIFs  ASAP

We need our PS16 staff to know that they will ALL still have jobs in September and we would like the BOE to be proactive in getting this information out to the RIF recipients as soon as possible.

We would NEVER get this far if it weren’t for PS16 Parent Community’s (YOURS) immediate, targeted, and tireless activism from day one! You guys have accomplished the impossible, and we are confident that we can see this through to the end, for the sake of our kids and their beloved teachers.

From the bottom of our hearts – THANK YOU!

Best Regards,

CPA Team

 

Dear Families of PS16,

First we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for coming out in Full Force  to the City Council Meeting on 5/8 and for a discussion with the BOE President on 5/9. Your presence and voices have made a GREAT IMPACT, drawing the attention from the media, the BOE and the City administration.

Some great examples of PS16 trending in the media last week:

• (PS16) Parents fight to save teachers jobs In JC
• Teachers receive Layoff Notices during Teacher Appreciation Week
• Lovely Poem by PS16 Parent Tripti Gupta that was shared on JCPS forums

Our Principal Ms. Watkins-Williams has asked us to express her heartfelt gratitude to you all on behalf of the staff! You guys have truly held the frontline, and showed our teachers and the rest of the world that PS16 families care and are willing for fight for their teachers.

To us they are so much more than just education professionals, they are extended family, people who help raise our children and help them achieve  their best potential. We cannot allow them to be arbitrarily cut from our children’s lives. Our school would never be the same without them.

RECAP and STRATEGY for coming days:

On 5/8 we asked the City Council to release the revenues for the Payroll Tax to help our schools stop the teacher layoffs. (Our district is anticipating $27 million in state cuts this year, which is why hundreds of teachers across the district have received “Reduction in Force Notices” (RIF). PS16 is set to lose at least 9-10 teachers which comprises 25% of our entire instructional staff. (While we cannot disclose their names, feel free to reach out to your teacher and inquire if they are being laid off.)

On 5/9 Mayor Fulop sent out a Tweet followed by an Email (Mayor’s Email Re- Our Schools), announcing the Payroll Tax proceeds of $13.7 million to be allocated to the schools. Our parents have made a verbal request to the BOE President to prioritize these funds toward reversing the “Reduction in Force” actions and keeping our teachers where they are.  We need to continue reinforcing this request.

Monday 5/13 – PLEASE JOIN US in attending the Special BOE Meeting on the Budget. (FB Event Link) We can make ourselves heard by several means: 

By being PRESENT, and holding up Signs and Posters in Support of our teachers/kids (Like we did in City Hall). We need to show strength in NUMBERS and show that PS16 stands up for our own!  (If possible, wear Navy or Royal Blue tops, we will have a number of youth XL PS16 uniform shirts to hand our to our parents so we can stand out in the crowd.)

By signing up for PUBLIC COMMENT (instructions here) and speaking on the following points:

• PS16 will suffer irreversible damage if we lose 25% of our best teachers.  We need to keep ALL of them!
• We would like the BOE to prioritize the payroll tax proceeds of $13.7 million specifically to preserve teachers. Policy dictates that non-tenured teachers are the first to be laid off. Their salaries average approximately $70K. Thus the Payroll tax revenues can help save almost 200 jobs. (We want PS16 staff to remain fully intact)

Please let us know if you have any questions. We will continue to update you on direct action opportunities that we can engage in.

Thank you all so much!

Best Regards,

CPA Team

 

Wishing all our PS16 Mommies a Very Happy Mother’s Day!

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This week schools around the country are celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week. Unfortunately in Jersey City this week began with public school teachers receiving Reduction In Force notices, which means that many of them will be laid off by end of this school year, due to the school district budget cuts. At this time P.S.#16 stands to lose approximately 25% of our teaching staff due to these cuts. This includes non-tenured classroom teachers and specialists, as well as further program cuts, like Enrichment, Reading Recovery, Music Program and more. With your help we have been able to sustain our school for years, supplementing wherever possible – with supplies, activities and facility improvements. Despite operating with minimal district funding, “0” Title 1 Aid, and oversized classrooms, PS16 has climbed to the rank of No.1 in the County and No.20 in the State, thanks to our talented teachers! Losing them will create an irreparable void and severely affect our children’s academic future. WE NEED YOUR HELP! There are several meetings coming up where parents can speak on behalf of our teachers, to preserve our current instructional staff. Please join us at attending and/or speaking at the following: (Let us know on SignUp Genius if you can attend any of the following:) May 8 – City Council Meeting – 6PM (To sign up for Public Comment call (201) 547-5250, preferably no later than noon) Event Link with instructions and funding talking points: https://www.facebook.com/events/2088655954765723/ May 9 – Parent Committee Meeting at the BOE Caucus Room – 6:15PM – JCBOE Trustee Gina Verdibello will meet with Parent Council leaders May 13 – JCBOE Special Meeting on the Budget – 5PM at PS #26, 164 Laidlaw Avenue, Jersey City, NJ 07306 ( Feel free to bring posters & signs in support of teachers) If you are unable to come to the meetings we ask that you please contact the JCBOE Trustees and let them know what keeping our teachers means to you and your family. BOE Contact Emails Thank you as always for your support. Our teachers are counting on us to stand up for them and our kids deserve the best quality of education. If you have any questions about any of the above that you wish to discuss in person Parent Council members will be in the auditorium at drop off times (8-8:45AM) to answer your questions. Best Regards, CPA Team

Congratulations to everyone who participated in our annual Spring Hat Parade on 4/17. Each classroom had a winner for the best hat! All hats were absolutely wonderful!

 

We are proud to announce that Cornelia F. Bradford School ranked as the the Highest-Rated elementary school in Hudson county, and 20th in the State of NJ among the elementary and middle schools! Congratulations to our students and staff for their hard work!

We would also like to congratulate one of our teachers – Ms. Jillian Roskin (1st Grade) for being awarded Jersey City Teacher of the Year for P.S.#16!

Well done, PS16 Family! Keep up the excellence!