11 preliminary Questions to LBOE Business Administrator: All the questions listed below, apply to the current and the previous school years. 1. How many children are currently (9-15-09) enrolled by the District in contracted preschool programs? What about at 10-15-2008? Are there other preschools funded in whole or in part by the District, that are not ‘contracted’? if so, please list answers to the questions below, for those as well. 2. For each preschool, list the # of days annually, daily hours,
and tuition cost? Source of Funds, (Federal, State, Local)? As applicable , please list the specific gov’t program from where the funding is derived.
3. Are there non-public school-funded children at this preschool facility? How many (in each preschool)? How much do nonpublic school children pay per month in tuition for comparable days/hours? The intent is to find out if the District-paid tuition is subsidizing, in whole or in part, the other children at the facility.
4.
Please list all other services that are provided, at LBOE cost, to these ‘contracted’ preschoolers? e.g., transportation, therapies, etc., AND specify the cost amount for each service, source (program name/or local taxes) per child, per month, and total per year.
5. For each preschool, please list all services/amenities/expenses that are included in the Tuition, and NOT paid for separately by the LBOE, (e.g., Rent? Special services not paid by District, etc.).
6. For each preschool, please list address, operator, licensure required by law, and licensure/credentials/qualifications in possession. Do Lakewood’s religious school require the same licensure? If exempt, under special exemption(s) for religious or educational
institutions, or other exemption, please so indicate.
7. For each preschool contract, please specify if contract was awarded based on a RFP,
date of RFP, and how many responded to the RFP. What were the applicable minimum legal
requirements, and what additional requirements were specified in the RFP, if any. Where relevant, why were additional requirements inserted, on whose say so?
8.
Operation of which of the currently ‘contracted’ preschools would the District consider as eligible to be transferred to local nonprofit schools, if the tuition presently paid by the District could be cut in half? By Two-Thirds? Would there be any licensure issues that you know of that could block such a transfer, if significant cost savings could be shown?
9. Does the District currently fund, partially or entirely, any preschool services under a
religious or educational Day Care/Preschool institution or license exemption of any kind.
If so, please list facility and all relevant costs information, as per the above Qs 1 through 8.
10. Why the Middleman? Is there any legal impediment for the District to administer preschool funds directly, under Title 1 or other sources, and contract with Lakewood Mosdos directly for preschools, eliminating the markup of Third-Party Providers? How much is that markup? Based on going tuition rate charged to private preschool clients vs the District, it appears to be a 177% markup, $1,250 vs $450, before transportation, much higher when transportation is included (paid by District, not by private clients). What’s your estimate of current third-party provider mark-up?
11. Funding for special ed and related services (therapies) is awarded on a preferential basis to children with special needs enrolled in contracted preschools. This money is being diverted from children with similiar needs enrolled in Mosdos. What’s the justfication? Who agreed to this? Who authorized it?
While I agree these questions should be answered , If the Mosdos are not going to sign and stand behind these questions ,then you are wasting your time . Asking questions on a blog is not really that effective . Any Mosad that does not participate openly in this question process ,obviously does not mind the status quo of the Board Attorney being in Total Control
If this were truly coming from the mosdos, then wht aren’t we hearing anything from the Igud Hamosdos???
This whole petition/questions shtick just makes me believe that this supposed representation of mosdos is not legitimate..
Forget about the Igud Hamosdos . They may not truly represent every mosad in a democratic fashion . But every Mosad that cares should at least advise the Board that they agree with this line of questioning .
these questions were submitted to the BOE and have not been answered yet??
As an insider in the Board of Ed it is very understandable why no mosad will put their name on it and would rather post it on a blog. They will suffer the wrath of the BOE attorney and lose their services and funding. Much like those suffering in Third world countries where the only way to get the message out i through anonymous blogs on the internet. Like a prominent Vaad member says “We are living in Russia”
There is only one solution . The BOE attorney must be given a paid 6 moth leave of absence until the issues surrounding his being too powerful are resolved in an open manner .
Believe me ,with what he makes in extra billing ,we will still be saving a lot of money even if we hasve to pay another attorney during these six months
Unfortunately there is some truth to the Mosdos being scared of coming out openly .
There is a lot of fear of the establishment
I’ve now been hearing that atleast for some of the LAC members they are scared to reveal themselves at this point because they first want to see if this whole shtick is going to work or not, as they don’t want to suffer more bizyonos when their scheme falls flat on its face..
I hasve nothing to dio with the LAC . It is obvious that you have an agenda with them and that is your right .
The question here is not the LAC . If these questions are legitimate on their own ,they should be brouh=[ght to the open . If they are not ,they should be ignored . Forget about your feeligs on the messenger . Lets debate the message
The Igud has long ago been co-opted. It’s now a figleaf for the Vaad.
You can add A Twelfth Question:
12. Why allow doublecharge of taxpayers money? Reliable sources report the lowest of 5 bids received under the current Title 1 Stimulus Preschool RFP was $900,000, from Tiny Tots. That works out to $620 per month tuition (based on 145 children in the RFP spec/10 months). That’s half the rate charged by Tiny Tots to Lakewood Taxpayers for the same service (non-Title 1 program), this year. The LBOE should be asked to immediately equalize the rate charged by Tiny Tots across the board, by a 50% reduction in the tuition, to $620.
The question is though if there is even a question without someone with any credibility asking it..
Unless some credible mosdos or persons sign their names at the bottom we have no idea if these complaints carry any legitimacy and are just coming from some wannabes that are just looking to hock and make a tumult and in the process wasting a whole lot of professionals expensive time & energy.
I and many other Lakewooders certainly don’t want our hard earned tax dollars spent by the BOE staff to satisfy every krechtz that some shmegegi has to burp about!!
I am a Lakewood taxpayer observing the “scene” the LAC board is trying to establish in my and the rest of the public’s eye. I have no clue as to who the decision-makers are at the LAC or who they consult with, and I also have no affiliation with any private school/mosad or anyone on the BOE administration, period.
But I will repeat it AGAIN.. Show us your faces! So we know who you really are and what truly is motivating you behind the scenes, so we can finally decide if there is or is not any legitimacy to your grievances and can even HELP! your cause, if justified..
Bear in mind, that with all the conspiracy theories the LAC has advanced in the past several months.. They are only further and further maligning their own image by refusing to heed the public’s calling to finally tell us who they are!!
Why in the world would I, as a parent also, ever agree to sign anyone’s petition without knowing from whom it originated??? Do they really think people are THAT stupid/gullible in Lakewood?!!
What will it take to see them crawling out of hiding?! Please tell us already!!!!!!
“Why in the world would I, as a parent also, ever agree to sign anyone’s petition without knowing from whom it originated??? Do they really think people are THAT stupid/gullible in Lakewood?!!”
Does it matter who typed the petition??? If it makes sense then sign it!
People in Lakewood have been taken for a ride long enough- i wouldn’t call them stupid but deffinitely gullible (look how the VAAD took advantage of us for so long).
Either sign it or move on- questioning the backers is only making you sound like a VAAD member or MI trying to get the LAC out of hiding so that you can threaten/intimidate them!!
GO LAC!!!! Its about time someone is going to stand for whats right!!!
I will repeat it again. It is not the individual that is the question. Do you agree with the petition or not. if you do then sign, if not then don’t. WHO WAS BEHIND THE ANONYMOUS PETITION TO APPROVE THE PARKING LOT ON CLIFTON? Who was behind the petitions for traffic lights. it has always been and always will be about the issue not the individuals. Keep focused.
Btw, please post your name and not just “lakewooder”. or are you scared of using your real name as well???????
to fedup,
Why are YOU so nasty, and why are YOU trying to intimidate citizen Lakewooder??
No, you are wrong. It doesn’t make sense to sign any document if you don’t understand the whole picture and the true agenda behind the petition, especially when the originators davka don’t want us to know who they are!!
He/she also brought up other rational points which you apparently forgot to address..
to fedup,
Why are YOU so nasty, and why are YOU trying to intimidate citizen Lakewooder??
No, you are wrong. It doesn’t make sense to sign any document if you don’t understand the whole picture and the true agenda behind the petition, especially when the originators davka don’t want us to know who they are!!
He/she also brought up other rational points which you apparently forgot to address..
Rabosai, I just got a phone call from our Rov – daas Torah – and he said this entire issue is not something we should be doing before the Yomim Noiroim. There is just too much Loshon Horah being caused by all this blogging and too much machlokes coming out of all this. I therefore ask everyone to please forget about this entire subject. And since is erev rosh hashona, I ask all individuals that were mentioned in these recent blogs to please be moichil me. Yaasher koach and a kesivah v’chsima tova to all.
Nobody is trying to intimidate LAKEWOODER . He is very obvious in trying to dicredit the LAC . I have no problem with his right to do that . He is trying to discredit these questions by tying them in to the LAC . He is doing a poor job in that regard . The questios make a lot of sense ,regardless who asked them . He is doing himself a disservice by not dealing with the issues and trying to focus on the LAC .
Make believe the LAC had nothing to do with this .
It seems pretty obvious that some shenanigans is going on with regards to these funds . Only a clear open debate on the issues ,will bring to light whether or not this should be allowed to continue .
CHESKY who is the rabbi is that a secret to
Why all the tangents . Let the Board of Ed just answer the questions . It is our money . They work for us . It shouldnt be a big deal . Let them klnow that we wont go after them for the past so they dont have to hide anything . Lets just open everything up for the future and get done with it .
To all of my lakewood friends
would all of us please talk with some CENTS when where talking about money. how is it poss. that MI is stealing money if he was the fbi would be here in a second so come on. I am a fan of mi and proud for what he does for all of us. when mi and usher E wanted to open schi everyone(all the rosh yeshivas)in this town was screaming and throwing him out of town and today we are all thank full to schi . so if he has a plan it that looks bad then dont worry because in 5years from now you dont want to look like a fool. he knows alot more then us in these topics and has alot of more das tohar then all of us (me forsure) so come on yes i wish i would make the money he does and so do all of you so lets daven on RH that next year will be a better year. we all know mi is not getting fired or leavig soon so lets just make the best of it………….
but can someone answer this if mi leaves the boe who will beat him in court if parents of lakewood hire him??????
2) who would we hire if mi leaves
FACT mi got this job because he was the one suing the boe and no one was able to win him
so lets daven for me and i will daven for you
WHY is my comment not up is that because it was pro mi or bad spelling or this site is anti mi
If we would not have to be intimitated by him we would be better off
1. What happened to consulting with daas Torah *before* acting?
2. If something isn’t befitting the days before the Yomim Noiroim, it isn’t befitting the rest of the year, either.
3. Who is this “daas Torah” or is he equally anonymous?
I Guess ur all not saying the taxes i am! do whatever u can to stop corruption.
this past summer lakewood township sponsored a free summer camp preschool. guess who paid for it? its time we have sone transparency in this town. its our millions and millions of dollars we have a right to know where it goes. question 13 also are the playgroups filled with illegal immigrants or taxpayers just curious?
regarding even dozens cheshbonos.
Hes wrong. theRFP was for 120 kids not 145 so thats 750 a month.
now when he asks why thats half of what tiny tots gets under its contract, he is again distorting the truth. The 1250 a month that Tiny Tots receives is for Special Ed preschoolers not title 1 which is for regular kids.even with all the additional funding for therapy bussing and whatever, its about 25,000 per child as oppose to the 82,000(yes you heard right) that SCHI gets per child.These are facts that you could verify.
this also sheds some light on this articles questions.THE BOARD OF ED DOES NOT FUND PRESCHOOLS WITH THER EXCEPTION OF SPECIAL ED CHILDREN. GET IT???
The new RFP was a new funding initiative from stimulous money that can fun a pre school.The only kasha left is why MI set up the stimulous money tp go towards preschoo title one and not social and kriah therapy for the mosdos at large. and dont forget that money cant be used for religious studies.
if someone could document that im wrong go for it.
I think there is one line in your comment that gets to the core of the issue . You state ” why MI set up ” etc
Who is MI to set things up . The attorney job is to give legaL ADVICE TO THE BOARD WHEN NEEDED . In this Board ,he has become essentially a one man show ,dictator etc . He may very well mean leshem shomayim . That is not the issue . We did not elect this board to give this man quasi dictatorial powers over the millions of OUR dollars and how to spend it . Good intentions are not the issue .
The Board should sit down with ALL the non public school administrators in an open and democratic process ,WITHOUT MI being present and get a sense of what the majority of the Mosdos want to do . Then the Board needs to decide ,without MI twisting arms to get things done his way . Nobody reasonable said that he is stealing our money . He is just taking too much power for himself that he should not have .
If the Board members feel that they are not smart enough to make these decisions ,then they shoud kindly step aside and we will vote for members that are capable .
this is the core of the issue . Too much power in the hands of one non elected individual is an abse of the system . Good intentions are not enough .
All we need is one good class action lawsuit , by all the children who are entitled to funding , that MI is diverting. he will have to respond to all the questions during discovery.
Can we also add some questions like:
How many children is Catapult servicing?
At what costs?
What is it costing other districts to service children with Special Education?
Why is the BOE not finding a way to a. service more children b. spend less
What is the current breakdown of actual teacher’s salaries vs. administrative costs by using Catapult?
There was some improvement in this in the last year or two, which was desperately needed, but is it enough?
Why is there no bidding for the contract?
if TLS would have the other side of the story. However I guess you are only interested in bashing MI, so why give the other side?
Rabosai, I feel somewhat resposible for the tenor of this conversation. It is a day before Rosh Hashana, can we all please lower the volume on each other. Agian, I would like to ask all individuals that were mentioned in these recent blogs to please be moichil me. And once again, a yaasher koach and a kesivah v’chsima tova to all.
Nobody is bashing MI . He might be one of the lamed vov tzadikim for all we know .
But nobody can understand how he became so powerful to essntially becomre the dictator of all the BOE funding decisions .
Please let him practice law ,and let the taxpayers and the Board have open discussions and make reasonable decisions .
Everybody agrees that he is very arm twisting to his position . Even if he is the biggest Tzadik ,we dont need a one man ,all too powerful show , spending our moey for us
Full Day Program
Full Day Program
Including Nurse
Excluding Nurse
Catapult Learning, LLC
$ 1,490,000
$ 1,434,000
Special Children’s Center, Inc.
$ 1,260,000
$ 1,200,000
Bais Sarah, Inc. d/b/a Ready, Set, Grow
$ 1,177,217
$ 1,137,217
Step Ahead, Inc.
$ 1,077,280
$ 1,037,280
Tiny Tots, LLC
$ 900,000
$ 860,000
With all do respect Chesky, my Rov disagrees with your Rov. He says that to remain silent here is “Lo Sa’amod Al Dam Re’echa” multiplied for each and every child being shechted by the theft of this money. Regardless of who steals the money, Catapult or “einem mit peiyos”. I really admire your involvement in this issue. According to the daas Torah I consulted, there is no heter to back off erev rosh hashana. As the old saying goes “the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”.
The mechila you will need to ask is from the victims, whose lives were robbed, not the perps!!!!
Are people willing to syate under oath that the Bidders ( including the low bidders) had no knowledge or hints of the other bids and that nobody from the BOE divulged anything to anybody ?
MI is defenately a tzadik
“Theft”???? Your Rov obvioulsy has very little understanding of the issue (likely relying upon you for a descriuption of the metzius). If money is given to you al tenai to give it to either mishpacha A or mishpacha B and you choose A instead of B, are you a theif? Of Course not – you were m’kiam the tenai. So, to, here. If the Board directs the meny to a preschool instead on special ed, that’s entirely their perogative.
It’s a no-bid contract, so the BOE is under no obligation to go with the lowest bid. One might rightfully question the wisdom of such an arrangement, especially with the apparent conflict of interest on the part of Mr. Inzelbuch, but that’s the way it currently stands, so there’s no issue with who knew what when since it doesn’t impact the ultimate decision.
Rabbosei, the Title 1 Stimulus preschool scam is the least of our problems. It involves ‘only’ $900,000. The Tiny Tots ‘regular’ preschool involves over $3,000,000.00 and the cost inflation there is at least double.
But even that’s not nearly as outrageous as the Catapult scandal. Makes Tiny Tots look like tzadikkim. Just look at the numbers published on the BOE site for tonight’s agenda. Catapult’s preschool bids are between 55.5% and 66.75% HIGHER than Tiny Tots, depending on the preschool category: full day or half-day. Catapult has a stranglehold on BOE non-public special ed services, in a no-bid monopoly. This shows clearly, that if there is a bid process, even if it’s limited, the costs savings is up to two-thirds..
Ask the BOE: how much money is catapult handling with no-bid? On Thirty Million (Title 1, IDEA, State, local) that would be a $20,000,000.00 saving. Why are you guys busy with Tiny Tots? They did us a huge favor exposing the real culprits and their rampant corruption.
Even a no Bid Contract ,if it was awarded by someone “with an apparent conflict of interest ” ( to quote you ) to someone who might have gotten preferential treatment un the RFP process ,does not pass the SMELL test and would most likely be disqualified by most Courts .
Im not saying this happened or didnt happen ,but there are certainly enough ” FISHY “: things apparent here for somebody to question if it can pass the SMELL test of honesty and transparancey required of public funds .
There is absolutely no justification for a No BId PROCESS for 20 to 30 million dollars ,especially when it is being dictated by an individual who may have a conflict of interest . Nobody is aaccusing anybody of outright theft . But conflict of interest is not too good either .
lEts give this Catapu;lt and pre school out to bid in a fully advertises process . We are the Board ,it is our money and thery work for us . We are essentially stealing from ourselves if we dont honestly try to save money here .
Kol HaPosel Bemumo Posel. YOU my dear friend presented the sheilah wrongly. The money was NOT given to YOU to give to A or B. The money was given to family A, you decided to hijack it to family B to get your kickback. The posek this was discussed with, a RAVAD of a recognized Choshen Mishpat Beis Din, delved deeply into the entitlement, eligibility, allocation, and distribution aspects. This was not some frivolous, off-the-cuff, last-minute, instant-just-add-water-and-drink-psak. It is robbery, from the weakest and most helpless in our community.
The funds are earmarked for either preschool or special ed. The two family analogy is spot on. The BoE can direct it either way they wish. To call directing it a way you personally disapprove of “theft” is disengenious and diminiishes the credibility of your position (that the funds are better spent upon special ed). Nonesense like this “psak” make the obstacles facing the legitimate askanim twice as difficult.
the last comment in my name asking for mechila was not me. It was put in by a vaad member. Sorry for any confusion
This Title 1 contract was bid. TT came in lowest of 5 bidders.
Catapult’s $30 Million in special ed services for mosdos, was NOT bid.
Ask MI just how much Catapult is managing. He never says. It may be lower; it may be higher. One thing for sure. No one knows except him.
Im sorry the analogy is really not important and not the issue . The issue here is why is one individual with a POSSIBLE conflict of interest ,who was never elected by US to make these decisions in the first place , making these decisions for us . Its our money ,we elected the Board and we should get a consensus through genuine open and fair discussions ,as to what is better for the majority of our students ,without any undue pressure being brough by the Atorney who should stay our of this ,especiall if he may have a conflict .
Isnt it interesting thsat the low bid was for half of what last years NO BId contract was for . If so then if we bid catapult we will be able to save ten million
half of TT’s THIS YEAR Three plus Million non-Title 1 preschool Contract; supposedly bid/actually rigged.
If somebody would explain to the bal haabtim of …..that gezel harabim is very chomur and hard to do tshuva on ,thery would probably not get involved in any rigged or other fishy bids .
Who owns Tiny Tots. Are they well connected to our local politicians?
Comment made by #26: question 13 also are the playgroups filled with illegal immigrants or taxpayers just curious?
WOW!! can you be anymore pregidous? Now having said that. Do you only visit the parks in Lakewood where you pay taxes or do you and your family visit parks in other towns where you don’t pay property taxes? This is America, not a third wold country, so those kind of comments does not paint you as a concerned tax payer, it paints you as a Bigot. Please think before you type!