Figured it would have somethin' to do with another "assignment" more important to the Queen of the Cooper! Who knows? Maybe they'll just consolidate Rowan & Rutgers (Camden) and name the new "college" after the dimwit who doesn't even have an honorary degree (although I'm sure one's imminent). After all, who's made more out of these scams than Queen George and the siblings?

Congrats to Steve for many years served

Thank you to Steve for his very capable and diligent service to the community. Under his leadership, the BOE perpetuated and enhanced Haddonfield's longstanding tradition of academic excellence. I was pleased to read that Steve's departure will not be immediate and that he will be around for the rest of the year to assist the board and facilitate a smooth transition. He has left some very big shoes to fill, but in a town like this, there are plenty of wonderful people who are likely to step up to serve us.

Thanks again Steve!

Glenn Moramarco would make a great replacement!

Mr Weinstein states that he is resigning as President of the B of E because with his new job as general counsel for Rowan University, he doesn't have the time. But he does have the time to remain on the Board. That's like being a little bit pregnant. You either are or you aren't. Frankly, he adds little to the Board by remaining on it, in my opinion. He is a lawyer, not an educator. And as a lawyer, he failed to see the illegality of the 24/7 policy and now the B of E is facing lawsuits because of his error in judgment. And he clearly underestimated the political forces against the Bancroft Bond. No, I would rather he resign now and be replaced by an educator. I thank Mr Weinstein for his service and hand him his hat. Time for him to move on.

And it's a good thing for Rowan that he isn't in charge of maintenance of their buildings or fields.

The 24/7 policy was a big overstep. Lots of big oversteps of late by our government overlords. They just can't help themselves.

Mr Conway, I disagree with you. If you find my opinions tiresome, don't read them. I have posted positive things about the Branch Managers and the Shade Tree Commission and Robin Potter and Haddonfield United, for example. But I have nothing positive to say about Steve Weinstein. As the mother of 2 and grandmother of 3, I felt sure that the 24/7 policy was wrong and likely illegal. If a kid is drunk or doing drugs on a Saturday night, that is not the school's responsibility. It is the responsibility of the parents and the police if laws are violated. It turns out I was right and Weinstein and Borden were wrong. Now I admit, my last kid graduated in 1998, so I am not involved with the schools. Nevertheless, neither I nor any of the neighbors I have spoken with can cite a positive change that Weinstein made but we all know his failures which are what he will be remembered for - 24/7, Bancroft, continuing to raise the school levy and neglected maintenance of schools and fields and possibly saddling us with significant maintenance and replacement costs in the future for plastic grass. Maybe he needed a better publicist. That he was re-elected in this town where few people bother to vote for the School elections doesn't say that he did a good job. Of my neighbors, none of whom have children in the schools, few vote at school elections. I think they have learned from Bancroft that they need to. That may have been its best outcome ansd perhaps Weinstein's legacy.

THANKS DOC FOR TAKING THE HEAT OFF OF US OTHER POSTERS AND MAKING US LOOK LIKE DIPLOMATS! BRAVO!

The best thing abut being an old lady is you don't have to wear a girdle or panty hose and you can say what you think.

I would like to nominate Sue for the school board. She has all the answers and as an "old" lady she doesn't have to care what we think of her.....ideas.

What does being an "educator" have to do with managing a $30M+ budget? Are academia types somehow more talented than us real pros?

Mr. Weinstein, we didn't always agree but thank you for your service and the time you put in.

Not interested in serving. I can criticize without implying that I have the answers myself or can do the job. For example, I can criticize a baseball player's performance even though I know that I can't play baseball. You don't have to be equivalently skilled in the area to know a poor performance. I didn't mean to imply that only an educator would do on the school board. I was just making the point that we just had a lawyer who left the Board and the town in legal jeopardy from lawsuits from the 24/7 policy. A business type would be fine also. I just want someone who is not going to leave a legacy of failures - 24/7, Bancroft overreach, high taxes from the increasing school levy, inadequate maintenance of fields and buildings and the future costs to maintain and replace the plastic grass. I still haven't heard anyone tell me one positive achievement from his years of board service. I don't have answers - what I have are questions - like why did the B of E let Radnor Field deteriorate, for example? Or why did Mr Weinstein state publically that the maintenance cost of Stadium Field was $2500 per year, a cost that is lower than any yearly maintenance cost for turf. Unless he doesn't really know what the maintenance cost for turf will be? Or doesn't care at this point in time.

@ Joe P: How is stating what one sees as wrong make them miserable. I don't live anywhere near Coles Mill Road. However, as a citizen of Haddonfield, I couldn't understand why money was spent for sidewalks on Washington Avenue where the roads are wide and traffic is minimal, yet sidewalks are not warranted on Coles Mills Road which is windy and dark. Have you ever driven on Coles Mill Road at dusk or night and people are walking or running down the road. I know it is terribly nerve racking for the driver, I can only imagine what the experience is like for the pedestrian. I also must a agree on Dr Hoch's perspective on the 24/7 policy. I have children in the school system. I would never let the school be responsible for disciplining my children.. Consistency in parenting, discipline and consequence for actions begins at birth not in the teen years. Which many parents never learn. I think Dr Hoch has hit the nail on the head with many of the problems of this town. Instead of criticizing her why don't you name some positive things Steve Weinstrin accomplished like she asked in a previous post and prove her wrong instead of name calling.

For Shana, I asked Steve Weinstein in public about the cost of maintenance on Stadium. The figure he gave me $2500 is not realistic. It is lower than any estimate you can find on pages about turf maintenance. So either he lied or he did not know the answer. John Stokes and others have asked him publically about Radnor Field.
Re Coles Mill Road, I should point out that the group of us who go to TAPS (and have for 10 years) have been told that since a child has not yet been injured or killed crossing Coles Mill (direct quote), there is no necessity for a crosswalk. Now this does not affect me personally since I do not have a child and I do not have to cross Coles Mill to go to Tatem but some of my neighbors do. I also see people walking down Coles Mill in the street and think we ought to have sidewalks, at least connecting Village Court so that people can walk safely on that side of the street. Again, this does not affect me directly but my neighbors and I have been fighting for this for years.
To Joe T, how come you people can't have a debate without namecalling? Is that how you were taught to deal with opposing ideas? That's sad and pathetic.
I am still waiting to hear of Steve Weinstein's significant accomplishments that overway his obvious failures. Any takers?

I agree with Joanne's observation that parents need to stop abdicating their responsibility to discipline their children to the police and schools. Our tax dollars should be spent on the three R's, not wasted attempting to turn kids into responsible, productive members of society....that's the parents job! And I have a question about the Washington Avenue "sidewalks to nowhere"....when residents protested this item, we were told that the sidewalks were being done as "part of a larger road project".....where's the project? I haven't seen any evidence of roadwork. Again, sidewalks on Coles Mill Road...good idea; but on Washington Avenue where, on a daily basis I see walkers, runners, moms with strollers, etc. walking IN THE STREET.....not so much. Big waste of $$$$!

Response to Haddonfield parent on the 24/7 policy. It should have been obvious to anyone following civil rights litigation that high school students were being granted more and more autonomy - in publishing newspapers, in what clothing they could wear and in the kind of haircuts allowed. Therefore it seemed likely that this policy would be found to be illegal. The fact that other schools were wrestling with the same problems did not mean that we should institute an inappropriate response - that's like saying Johnny's Mom bought him a car so I should get one too. I think that there are a lot of parents who probably do respond to that kind of child pressure. The problems of teenage drinking and drugs, teenage driving and teenage vandalism, fueled by alcohol and drugs all have appropriate responses, in the police and legal system. Underage drinking is illegal, driving while drunk is a police issue and can result in loss of license and fines and vandalism is destruction of property. Ideally, these would be parental responsibilities but if the parents cannot control their children, then the police and court system and childhood protective services are the appropriate people to be involved, not the school system. If a teenager is driving drunk, I want him off the road and not driving. Punishing him by taking him out of football, doesn't make the roads safer from him for the rest of us. He needs alcohol counselling and maybe to lose his license. 24/7 was an overreach.

Maryann, The entirety of Upland Way was just completed and sidewalks were completed at the same time. The whole project looked so good I can understand why you didn't notice :)

Dave: I drive Upland way every day and agree that the work looks great, but what was done on Washington? Maybe I wasn't over that way when the road work was going on. I am aware of lines being painted on Upland (or is that still considered Centre St.?) In any event, thanks for the response.

Gregory Derham
I have known Steve Weinstein for the past 12 years. In my opinion he will be remembered as one of the truly great School Board Presidents.
People forget that it was Steve who recognized that the community had lost faith in the School Board that resulted in a defeat of the school budget - something that does not happen very often. He created the CBAC group whose mission was to review the budget and look for ways to reduce cost and provide alternative sources of revenue. As stated by a previous post, Haddonfield's partnership with Drexel was one of the outcomes of this effort. More importantly, it restored the trust between the school system and the community. There has not been a budget defeat since and while remaining within the 2% spending caps he has lead the district through some very difficult times while maintaining and improving the quality and value of the school. People would not pay the tuition price if they did not think that there was value. Steve also led the BOE to work with the commissioners and the Turf Committee to modernize the football field and allow more safe play time for the both the men & women.

Steve, started the Haddonfield Educational Trust which is now starting to take off and raise incremental money to the district. Some of those contributions were:

Lights Camera Action
Technology
The Turf Field
Drexel Intro to Engineering Course

Thanks Steve for a job well done!!

Response to Mr Conway: Unlike many other folks here, I have never insulted another poster and yes, I did make one joke about Ed Borden. However, the degree of nastiness I've seen on the Patch is disturbing and not just directed towards me but to others, such as Maryann Campling. Let me deal with your ideas: The state has placed financial constraints on total school revenues, not on how much of their budget is devoted to maintenance. our School Board appears to have skimped on maintenance to say the least. That is, in my opinion, a bad decision. They are not going to be able to afford entirely new buildings and new fields (although they appear to have jammed one or two new fields through), so they need to maintain what they have. And they haven't done a good job. That the Board voted lock step with Weinstein is not surprising but doesn't inspire confidence. I would like to see Board members question some of the decisions but at the meetings I have attended, they all seem to be reading from the same page. This year's increase in the school budget is partially to pay for turf and I am not assured at all that they will budget appropriately for maintenance and replacement costs (the figure Weinstein quoted to me of $2500 yearly for maintenance is ridiculously low). Those are my opinions and I know many others in town are in agreement. Now all I have to do is make sure they turn out and vote.

In response to Susan Hoch, I would like to start by stating that the Haddonfield Eduction Trust (HET) will be hosting a golf outing June 10th at Tavistock to raise money for technology that will go towards PARCC and other elementary class room technology.
I would very much welcome a pledge from you to support this important cause.

You should also know that Haddonfield is not the only district that is struggling with getting ready to meet the state's unfunded mandate to move towards digital testing. Almost every district is trying to deal with this. You should also know that this is just the beginning of a major 5 year transformation for Public education that will inject technology into the learning process and change the way education is to be delivered. This takes planning, funding, curriculum development and most important teacher training on how to best integrate technology with traditional teaching.

I am confused over your lack of knowing maintenance cost for the turf fields and the cost to replace. I would urge you to call Dr. Perry. I think he could give you the answers to those questions. I would also like to say that the turf field solved two problems - addressing school safety, as well as being able to handle the growing need for more fields.
Finally, in my business I have spent much time talking with schools across south jersey. They have been gutted to bare bones. We will leave that to another time. It is a miracle that some of them still function.

I will consider contributing to raise money for technology but I don't play golf.
Of course I know that other districts are struggling. Do you know how Camden is doing with this, for example?
You seem confused. I know what published costs of yearly maintenance for turf fields are and they are not $2500 which is the figure Weinstein gave me in public. And for Anniversary Field, adjacent to trees and on stony fill, maintenance is going to be more than on Stadium. So the number Weinstein gave was either incorrect or a mistake of some sort. I would like to know the real number of what appropriate maintenance is going to cost. Given the track record with maintenance, perhaps they are trying to slide by, paying as little as possible. In addition, I would like to know who is budgetting for the replacement costs at 8 to 10 years. That money needs to be put aside yearly for each field by the B of E.