Hopatcong's Board Of Education has approved several layoffs resulting from the new state budget signed by Governor Phil Murphy. All but 4 school systems are losing state funding over the next 7 years due to this new budget plan. Many local administrators and government officials have said this was likely going to happen. Since Sussex County has seen declining population for nearly 20 years, Gov. Murphy decided to increase funds to other other towns while our schools are hit with losses.
Just last week, the three 24th District state legislators, Steve Oroho, Hal Wirths and Parker Space immediately blasted this new budget plan. Due to population decline all over the county, this was expected on some level. Some local school officials are saying that the funding is even worse than they were told just a few months ago. Vernon, Hopatcong, and Wallkill all stand to lose funding with this new budget. It looks like Newton, Sussex Tech, and some others will at least remain flat. This could lead to staff cuts in our schools. You can see a complete breakdown by community from NJ.com here. I grew up in a suburb of Boston, where overcrowding in schools is such a major issue, so this is opposite of everything I know.
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We hate meetings? #BreakingNewsAlert! LOL. (Sarcasm.) Accountemps and independent researches are showing that workers spend over 20% of their time in meetings. Ugh! They also come up with meeting solutions that I am enjoying. I'm pro brainstorming meetings if there is a clear direction. While I definitely prefer e-mails and texts, sometimes meetings are needed when interpersonal direct communication can happen. That being said, yes, I'm always the one trying to speed through meetings. We are all busy, doing more than ever. I always scream in our hallways "I Heart Efficiency!" I'm all about clear communication, and also efficiency. I'm totally anti conference calls that are longer than 30 minutes. Not only are we busier than ever, our attention spans are also shorter.
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