Coles, Amirhamzeh, Calle Address Hackensack BOE Dysfunction:

It has been a great privilege to serve Hackensack on the Board of Education. Our time in office was never about political power or personal gain, but our deep roots in this community and belief that our schools can only be improved when we make student success a priority and work together to solve district problems.

Robin is a community leader and a parent of children who graduated from our schools, with unshakable faith and a knowledge for the way the Board’s decisions impact families. Leila is a nonprofit leader who rejects the false choice between responsible spending and providing each student and educator with the resources they need, who still volunteers her time to help non English-speaking parents in our district. Johanna is a Hackensack Public Schools alumna, former teacher, and immigrants’ rights advocate, who has dedicated her life to ensuring we make our schools work not only for students with means, but also newcomers to our city hoping for a better future.

Unfortunately, our schools are under attack. Special interests and powerful people with financial interest in our schools are driving the Board majority, which we are not part of, to cast votes that leave our schools lagging behind. They’ve put political donors first, while children are an afterthought.

The facts are clear. This past year, in an attempt to undermine the administrative authority of district staff, the Board failed to pass a budget within the timeline established by the New Jersey Department of Education. We were the three affirmative votes.

Failing to complete this task on time put our students and taxpayers at risk. The State could have withheld essential program funds for pre-kindergarten. They could have cut State Aid that provides the money to pay our hard-working teachers. And they could have implemented a State Monitor, removing the local control that ensures our students receive an education adapted to children living and growing in Hackensack.

Just this week it was reported that because of the direct actions of the Board majority, our district was threatened once again with state monitoring.

We love our community, but the actions of those in control of our schools have required we fight to defend our schools in a new way. We each were active community members before holding elected office, and we will continue to fight for a better future for our schools from the outside. The decision to not seek re-election was difficult to make, but it comes with the hope that others in the community will step forward and join this fight for the soul of our district. We look forward to standing alongside you. For our students, staff, and their loved ones, there is no other option.

The future of our district has always been in the hands of the public, and we are inspired by the increased engagement from our Hackensack family. More and more parents, students, and community members have attended meetings to voice their concerns about such issues as the homophobic comments from Frances Cogelja, BOE Vice President Scott James-Vickery’s neighbor’s financial benefit from vendor contracts, and Board President Powell’s continued prioritization of spending on friendly vendors over facilities needs.

This corruption must stop, and as long as the people of Hackensack continue to get involved and join this fight for our schools and our students, we have every confidence that it will.

The opinions reflected in this letter are our own and we are not speaking on behalf of the Hackensack Board of Education.

It has been an honor to serve.

Robin E. Coles

Leila Amirhamzeh, J.D.

Johanna Calle