The 4 Sep 2012 agenda for the Aberdeen Town Council includes Resolution 2012-88, which resolves to add a vendor to the 2012 Monmouth County Co-op List. The name of this vendor is "attached" to the hard copy of the resolution but not provided online.
Aberdeen Township Resolution 2012-22 permits the Township to make certain no-bid purchases from approved NJ and Monmouth County contract vendors.
UPDATE 4 Sep 2012: Councilman Greg Cannon was kind enough to write and provide the name of the vendor as McGrath Municipal Equipment. The Township hopes to purchase a portable asphalt hot box recycler from McGrath for the Department of Public Works. He explained that adding the company to the Monmouth County Co-op List will save the Township on attorney's fees and advertising costs. He assured me that all public procurement laws are being followed and the township's purchasing agent, Jackie Struble, is getting the best possible price for the taxpayers. The omission of the name of the vendor was an oversight.
Friday, August 31, 2012
History: Electric Appliances - The Only Way to Modern Living (1953)
The 5 Mar 1953 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 3) included this large advertisement (5 columns wide) in which Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L) encouraged the exclusive use of electrical appliances for doing laundry in the home.
The ad reads:
Only Electricity brings you
Completely Automatic Laundering
The Reddy Kilowatt seal at the bottom of the ad represented a JCP&L program designed to help customers locate reliable dealers selling and installing electrical appliances in New Jersey.
JCP&L Authorized REDDY KILOWATT DEALER
Buy at this Sign of honest value and reliable services.
The ad reads:
Only Electricity brings you
Completely Automatic Laundering
- Clothes are washed Electrically,
- In water are heated Electrically,
- They're dried Electrically,
- and ironed Electrically.
The Reddy Kilowatt seal at the bottom of the ad represented a JCP&L program designed to help customers locate reliable dealers selling and installing electrical appliances in New Jersey.
JCP&L Authorized REDDY KILOWATT DEALER
Buy at this Sign of honest value and reliable services.
History: Raritan Bay Pollution Symposium, Keyport (1953)
The 5 Mar 1953 edition of The Matawan Journal covered a Raritan Bay pollution symposium held at Keyport Borough Hall on 27 Feb 1953. The front page article was titled Mayor Scholer Protests Sewer Plan: Union Beach Officials Charge State Board, Legislature Knew Pollution Cause.
Government officials from Keansburg, Keyport, Union Beach, Matawan Borough, Matawan Township, Perth Amboy and South Amboy, as well as local industry representatives, gathered at a symposium in Keyport convened by Keyport Mayor Herbert R Rothenberg to discuss the growing problem of the pollution of Raritan Bay. Of particular concern to those gathered was the pitiful state of the the bay's shellfish industry, which was being put out of business by pollution caused by the dumping of industrial wastes and sewage effluent into the Hudson, Passaic, and Raritan rivers and the Raritan Bay itself.
Experts and state authorities came to the meeting to advocate for a new sewer treatment system that would heavily treat local sewage with chlorine then pump the processed sewage into the bay a full two miles off Laurence Harbor. In several years the system promised to remove water pollution from the waters around the Amboys and begin to bring back the shellfish industry.
The symposium was startled when Union Beach representatives in attendance refused to accept the assurances of NJ state health officials and legislators that the outflow from the proposed Raritan Valley Trunk Sewer would not contaminate the bay. Instead of going along with the proposal, the Union Beach officials accused the state of long turning a blind eye to influential polluters and leaving a real mess.
The NJ Public Health Service noted that fecal coliform bacteria levels in the Amboy channel were stable between 1915 and 1941 tests at 80 per 100 mm, but ten years later the level was 20 times higher. Exacerbating the problem was the faulty plant run by the Passaic Valley Sewer Commission. He thought those levels would improve with the construction of new treatment plants at Hunt's Point, Owl's Head, and Rockaway in New York City and a new plant at Linden-Elizabeth in New Jersey.
A Rutgers University expert said voluminous samples were taken of the waters of the Raritan Bay in 1950 and, except for the high values in the Amboy channel, the bay seemed to be in good condition. In an apparent reference to the nascent pharmaceutical industry along the Raritan River, the Rutgers expert asserted that the manufacture of certain drugs had been the primary cause of the sharp increase at the Amboy Channel.
The Rutgers expert admitted that the proposed plant would not meet state requirements for dissolved oxygen content but thought that the bay could deal with it naturally. ". . . the discharge would not be 'crystal clear water fit to drink' but felt the bay's capacity of self-purification would dispense all offensive matter a few hundred yards from the nozzles and the intense chlorination at the South Amboy chlorination plant." He also noted that 2/3rds of bay pollution came from industrial sources, not sewage.
It was here Mayor Scholer intervened to protest there wasn't a "decent disposal plant in the State of New Jersey" and he did not see why people living in towns along the bay had to be subjected to the gamble that the trunk sewer treatment plant would properly handle all the sewerage and wastes of the Raritan Valley due for dumping in bay water. He wanted to know why the Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority was not called the "sewerage dumping authority."
Government officials from Keansburg, Keyport, Union Beach, Matawan Borough, Matawan Township, Perth Amboy and South Amboy, as well as local industry representatives, gathered at a symposium in Keyport convened by Keyport Mayor Herbert R Rothenberg to discuss the growing problem of the pollution of Raritan Bay. Of particular concern to those gathered was the pitiful state of the the bay's shellfish industry, which was being put out of business by pollution caused by the dumping of industrial wastes and sewage effluent into the Hudson, Passaic, and Raritan rivers and the Raritan Bay itself.
Experts and state authorities came to the meeting to advocate for a new sewer treatment system that would heavily treat local sewage with chlorine then pump the processed sewage into the bay a full two miles off Laurence Harbor. In several years the system promised to remove water pollution from the waters around the Amboys and begin to bring back the shellfish industry.
The symposium was startled when Union Beach representatives in attendance refused to accept the assurances of NJ state health officials and legislators that the outflow from the proposed Raritan Valley Trunk Sewer would not contaminate the bay. Instead of going along with the proposal, the Union Beach officials accused the state of long turning a blind eye to influential polluters and leaving a real mess.
The NJ Public Health Service noted that fecal coliform bacteria levels in the Amboy channel were stable between 1915 and 1941 tests at 80 per 100 mm, but ten years later the level was 20 times higher. Exacerbating the problem was the faulty plant run by the Passaic Valley Sewer Commission. He thought those levels would improve with the construction of new treatment plants at Hunt's Point, Owl's Head, and Rockaway in New York City and a new plant at Linden-Elizabeth in New Jersey.
A Rutgers University expert said voluminous samples were taken of the waters of the Raritan Bay in 1950 and, except for the high values in the Amboy channel, the bay seemed to be in good condition. In an apparent reference to the nascent pharmaceutical industry along the Raritan River, the Rutgers expert asserted that the manufacture of certain drugs had been the primary cause of the sharp increase at the Amboy Channel.
The Rutgers expert admitted that the proposed plant would not meet state requirements for dissolved oxygen content but thought that the bay could deal with it naturally. ". . . the discharge would not be 'crystal clear water fit to drink' but felt the bay's capacity of self-purification would dispense all offensive matter a few hundred yards from the nozzles and the intense chlorination at the South Amboy chlorination plant." He also noted that 2/3rds of bay pollution came from industrial sources, not sewage.
It was here Mayor Scholer intervened to protest there wasn't a "decent disposal plant in the State of New Jersey" and he did not see why people living in towns along the bay had to be subjected to the gamble that the trunk sewer treatment plant would properly handle all the sewerage and wastes of the Raritan Valley due for dumping in bay water. He wanted to know why the Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority was not called the "sewerage dumping authority."
Thursday, August 30, 2012
A Matter of Perspective, or Zoom
A local company, in an apparent attempt to attract quality staff to its location, has gone a bit too far in boasting about Matawan. Above is their photograph of how close Matawan is to Manhattan. Really? They have enhanced the perspective to bring the city closer. In fact, we're over twenty miles from the Big Apple as the crow flies, and more like an hour by car or an hour and a half by train -- each way. And you won't be popping over to the city to unwind during your breaks or out to our fine beach to dive into the surf and walk a boardwalk after work. Local beaches are for boating and fishing but not for swimming.
Matawan is a great place to live and work. I just wouldn't want people thinking it's as close to Manhattan as Hoboken, or as hopping as a Jersey Shore beach town in summer.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
History: First Presbyterian to Dedicate New Education Wing (Matawan, 1967)
The 20 Mar 1967 edition of The Matawan Journal announced that the new 26-room education wing of First Presbyterian Church of Matawan would be dedicated that Sunday, 2 Apr 1967. Rev Ansley VanDyke, pastor at Toms River Presbyterian Church and current moderator of the Synod of New Jersey, would be on hand to deliver the sermon that Sunday. And Rev. Albert Woodward, pastor at Red Bank Presbyterian Church, would represent the Presbytery of Monmouth as its current moderator.
The new education building would house two full Sunday school sessions (9:15 am and 11 am) through 8th grade. Various programs for adults, teens, and junior high students would be held during the week. A new Christian Nursery and Kindergarten School, day care center, and programs for seniors and young adults were also expected to be launched.
The education wing and chapel are now 45 years old. The Presbyterian Nursery School is a local icon, having taught thousands of local children over the years. Children, youth, and adult Christian education programs continue to flow through the halls of this space. And Vacation Bible School has routinely run for a week in the summer.
The article didn't mention that these spaces would also serve the community through building use, a separate mission of the church. Several young Protestant communities have met in the chapel over the years; the current chapel users are a Pentecostal group. Plus, an assortment of civic groups have always used the classrooms, such as twelve-step groups, scouts, play rehearsals, community choir tryouts, etc.
History: The Matawan Journal Calls for Temperance Society, 1876
The 14 Oct 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 2 col 1) reported that John Hill, a saloon keeper in Keyport, fled the area, seemingly in anticipation of his second Grand Jury indictment for keeping a "disorderly house." This prompted Mr Hill to flee, or, to quote the newspaper, to take "leg bail."
"Whether he had heard of the indictment, or was assured that it would be made, we have not learned; but it is evident that his guilt was so well established in his own mind that he knew his next fate would be State Prison. To avoid this he has run away."
Getting on his temperance soap box, the newspaper editor complained that Hill was only one of many bar keeps in Monmouth and Middlesex counties who "are violators of the very license law that grants them the privilege to pour rum down the throats of their neighbors and impoverish their families." The bars were even selling liquor within earshot of the area churches' pulpits during worship service hours, he complained, a clear violation of the license, which sets rules to keep these businesses shuttered on Sundays. "Six week-days we would judge to be enough for the privilege of carrying on such a work of human destruction and family desolation as this. . ."
The editor, pointing out that there was no temperance society in Matawan, asked rhetorically, "Is not the evil practiced here? Have we become so highly moral as to need no institution to keep up this virtue save the churches?" The editor credited the churches for doing great work, but called for additional measures for those who had lost their way. "[T]here are many who seem to need another step before they enter the sanctuary, and that step is the temple of temperance."
The editor worried that local society was ignoring the problem as their boys faced the life of a drunkard and their girls the grim possibility of "becoming the wives of men whom intemperance may curse." In the meantime, the editor noted, municipal officials were continuing to issue licenses despite the peril around them. In an obvious reference to The Devil, the editor thought that local officials were turning a blind eye, instead "doing nothing to stay the fowler from spreading his net."
"Whether he had heard of the indictment, or was assured that it would be made, we have not learned; but it is evident that his guilt was so well established in his own mind that he knew his next fate would be State Prison. To avoid this he has run away."
Getting on his temperance soap box, the newspaper editor complained that Hill was only one of many bar keeps in Monmouth and Middlesex counties who "are violators of the very license law that grants them the privilege to pour rum down the throats of their neighbors and impoverish their families." The bars were even selling liquor within earshot of the area churches' pulpits during worship service hours, he complained, a clear violation of the license, which sets rules to keep these businesses shuttered on Sundays. "Six week-days we would judge to be enough for the privilege of carrying on such a work of human destruction and family desolation as this. . ."
The editor, pointing out that there was no temperance society in Matawan, asked rhetorically, "Is not the evil practiced here? Have we become so highly moral as to need no institution to keep up this virtue save the churches?" The editor credited the churches for doing great work, but called for additional measures for those who had lost their way. "[T]here are many who seem to need another step before they enter the sanctuary, and that step is the temple of temperance."
The editor worried that local society was ignoring the problem as their boys faced the life of a drunkard and their girls the grim possibility of "becoming the wives of men whom intemperance may curse." In the meantime, the editor noted, municipal officials were continuing to issue licenses despite the peril around them. In an obvious reference to The Devil, the editor thought that local officials were turning a blind eye, instead "doing nothing to stay the fowler from spreading his net."
Sunday, August 26, 2012
History: Odd Fellows Purchase/Rebuild Hall After Major Matawan Fire (1901)
The Matawan lodge of the Loyal Order of Odd Fellows (LOOF) bought the property where the former Washington Hall once stood at 192 Main Street in downtown Matawan, purchasing it in 1901 from the Simpson estate, according to the 12 Jun 1901 edition of the Red Bank Register (RBR). Washington Hall had burned down recently, leaving only the outer walls, which would be used in the construction of the planned two-story replacement.
A major fire had destroyed many buildings in the Matawan business district that January, according to Matawan and Aberdeen: Of Town and Field, pp 90-91. A caption under the photo of LOOF Hall as of 1905 (pg 91) says that Washington Hall had survived the 1901 fire, but that's not precisely the case based on the RBR article.
A major fire had destroyed many buildings in the Matawan business district that January, according to Matawan and Aberdeen: Of Town and Field, pp 90-91. A caption under the photo of LOOF Hall as of 1905 (pg 91) says that Washington Hall had survived the 1901 fire, but that's not precisely the case based on the RBR article.
History: First Annual Monmouth County Firemen's Parade, Matawan (1875)
The 27 Nov 1875 edition of The Matawan Journal described the events of the Monmouth County Firemen's grand parade, which was held in Matawan on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday 25 Nov 1875. The honor of hosting what was the first such annual parade was granted by the United Associations of Monmouth to Matawan's Washington Company, the oldest fire company in the county.
Recent rains had made the streets muddy, but the day was clear and bright.
The following fire companies appeared in the parade in order of seniority:
The firemen constructed a great archway over the intersection of Main and Little Streets to honor the county's firemen, who were greeted all along the way by citizens displaying mottoes of welcome, hanging wreaths, waving handkerchiefs, and draping flags from their windows. An estimated 5,000 persons attended the parade. Men, women and children thronged the streets and hung out of windows along the parade route.
The companies parked their fire vehicles at the Engine House and proceeded on foot to Washington Hall for a collation prepared by the ladies of Matawan. The newspaper took Lieutenant Hendrickson for a sneak preview of the collation. He reportedly compared the collation favorably to a reception prepared for the military at the dedication of the "soldiers' monument at Beverly."
When the festivities were over, the Freehold men departed in their carriages and the others departed by train. Foreman Sickels, of Washington Company, and his crew were given high praises by the newspaper for their untiring efforts to make the parade a success. Chief Marshall Sidney Walling, and his assistants Henry Stillwell, D P VanDeventer, and Charles A Geran were complimented on how they aptly preserved the order of the day on horseback, especially how they kept their steeds in check despite the din of the parade.
Other fire company news:
The 19 Feb 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal announced that the Washington Company would muster in full dress on 22 Feb 1876 at 7 o'clock. Also announced was the Centennial Firemen's Ball of Monmouth County, which would be held at John J Wheeler's hotel in Eatontown on 22 Feb 1876.
The 11 Mar 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal reviewed the assets of the local fire company and asked its readers to ask themselves if the fire company didn't deserve more support.
1 - The firemen are well organized, willing and alert.
2 - The engine house, if a bit costly and not large enough to stow all the necessary gear, is well built and paid for.
3 - The company has an engine that works, albeit with great effort.
4 - The company has a suction hose, but it's only barely long enough to reach the water in a typical well.
5 - The company's ejection hose has such serious leaks that bystanders are guaranteed a good wetting. About 100 feet of the hose is good enough for hose practice but not for a significant fire.
6 - The alarm bell in the engine house was cracked during the Centennial celebrations and is now useless. It's glory has departed, the writer notes.
7 - The promised cisterns have yet to arrive.
The 29 Apr 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal announced the utter destruction by fire of the home of a colored man named David Schanck. The house had been located near the "camp meeting woods." The newspaper thought the property had been insured.
A letter to the editor in the 13 May 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal urged Matawan residents to turn their attention to the poor condition of its fire fighting vehicle, hoses, and equipment. "The engine is classed by experts as third class, useless in a case of a large fire; the hose now on hand is unfit for use; and there is not enough even of this to reach a fire at a short distance." The writer, listed simply as C D H, encouraged the replacement of the old equipment and purchase of new. He ended with a hope that this will wake some of the Rip Van Winkles of Matawan to a sense of their duty. . ."
The 17 Jun 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal announced that the Washington Fire Company was arranging to acquire a new bell to replace the one in their alarm tower. That bell cracked while ringing in the Centennial year on New Year's eve. The company would parade at 1 pm on the 4th of July.
The 14 Oct 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal announced the upcoming Monmouth County Firemen's annual parade, which would be held in Long Branch on 19 Oct 1876. The article made mention of "the Washingtons," the local Matawan fire company, which would be represented at the parade. The writer noted that the previous annual parade was held in Matawan in Nov 1875.
Recent rains had made the streets muddy, but the day was clear and bright.
The following fire companies appeared in the parade in order of seniority:
- Washington Company (the Washingtons), of Matawan, was represented by 45 men in red shirts and black pants. Their equipment was a single-deck hand engine.
- Good Will Company (the Good Wills), of Freehold, was represented by only 25 men and a ladder truck stripped bare of its ladders, buckets, and other appurtenances. The company was indignant that the Freehold commissioners had limited the fire company's participation, especially that they had refused to allow them to bring their handsome steamer and stripped bare the ladder truck. The "noble few" arrived first, in carriages.
- Navesink Hook and Ladder Company (the Navesinks), of Red Bank, was represented by 61 men in blue shirts and black pants. The men arrived on the 1:27 pm train and were met by their hook and ladder truck, complete with ladders, etc, which had been drawn to the event by two teams of fine horses.
- Oceanic Company (the Oceanics), of Long Branch Village, consisted of 53 men in red shirts and black pants. They arrived by special train along with the Atlantic Company and were met at the station by the Washingtons. They brought their Babcock engine.
- Atlantic Company (the Atlantics), of East Long Branch, consisted of 53 men in blue shirts and black pants. They arrived by special train along with the Oceanic Company and were met at the station by the Washingtons. Their one-cylindered steamer was the most handsome machine in the parade. They also brought their ladder truck, complete with appurtenances.
- Jefferson Cornet Band, of Newark, a 14 piece band, accompanied the Matawan fire company.
- Major Allstrom's Cornet Band, of Red Bank, accompanied the Navesink fire company.
- Freehold Band, of Freehold, a 16 piece band plus drum corps, accompanied the Freehold and Long Branch fire companies.
The firemen constructed a great archway over the intersection of Main and Little Streets to honor the county's firemen, who were greeted all along the way by citizens displaying mottoes of welcome, hanging wreaths, waving handkerchiefs, and draping flags from their windows. An estimated 5,000 persons attended the parade. Men, women and children thronged the streets and hung out of windows along the parade route.
The companies parked their fire vehicles at the Engine House and proceeded on foot to Washington Hall for a collation prepared by the ladies of Matawan. The newspaper took Lieutenant Hendrickson for a sneak preview of the collation. He reportedly compared the collation favorably to a reception prepared for the military at the dedication of the "soldiers' monument at Beverly."
When the festivities were over, the Freehold men departed in their carriages and the others departed by train. Foreman Sickels, of Washington Company, and his crew were given high praises by the newspaper for their untiring efforts to make the parade a success. Chief Marshall Sidney Walling, and his assistants Henry Stillwell, D P VanDeventer, and Charles A Geran were complimented on how they aptly preserved the order of the day on horseback, especially how they kept their steeds in check despite the din of the parade.
Other fire company news:
The 19 Feb 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal announced that the Washington Company would muster in full dress on 22 Feb 1876 at 7 o'clock. Also announced was the Centennial Firemen's Ball of Monmouth County, which would be held at John J Wheeler's hotel in Eatontown on 22 Feb 1876.
The 11 Mar 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal reviewed the assets of the local fire company and asked its readers to ask themselves if the fire company didn't deserve more support.
1 - The firemen are well organized, willing and alert.
2 - The engine house, if a bit costly and not large enough to stow all the necessary gear, is well built and paid for.
3 - The company has an engine that works, albeit with great effort.
4 - The company has a suction hose, but it's only barely long enough to reach the water in a typical well.
5 - The company's ejection hose has such serious leaks that bystanders are guaranteed a good wetting. About 100 feet of the hose is good enough for hose practice but not for a significant fire.
6 - The alarm bell in the engine house was cracked during the Centennial celebrations and is now useless. It's glory has departed, the writer notes.
7 - The promised cisterns have yet to arrive.
The 29 Apr 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal announced the utter destruction by fire of the home of a colored man named David Schanck. The house had been located near the "camp meeting woods." The newspaper thought the property had been insured.
A letter to the editor in the 13 May 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal urged Matawan residents to turn their attention to the poor condition of its fire fighting vehicle, hoses, and equipment. "The engine is classed by experts as third class, useless in a case of a large fire; the hose now on hand is unfit for use; and there is not enough even of this to reach a fire at a short distance." The writer, listed simply as C D H, encouraged the replacement of the old equipment and purchase of new. He ended with a hope that this will wake some of the Rip Van Winkles of Matawan to a sense of their duty. . ."
The 17 Jun 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal announced that the Washington Fire Company was arranging to acquire a new bell to replace the one in their alarm tower. That bell cracked while ringing in the Centennial year on New Year's eve. The company would parade at 1 pm on the 4th of July.
The 14 Oct 1876 edition of The Matawan Journal announced the upcoming Monmouth County Firemen's annual parade, which would be held in Long Branch on 19 Oct 1876. The article made mention of "the Washingtons," the local Matawan fire company, which would be represented at the parade. The writer noted that the previous annual parade was held in Matawan in Nov 1875.
Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District Forms Packet 2012-13
The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District (MARSD) has issued its 2012-2013 school year forms packet for parents to sign by 7 Sep 2012. The "complete packet" is 24 pages long and paperless.
Parents are told the rules about:
1) The Internet Safety/Protection section (pg 2) makes a simple if fundamental error in its application of the Miller vs US three-prong test of obscenity. The US Supreme Court ruling calls for all three prongs to be met, not just one or two of them. The current "either/or" rendering of the school rule erroneously leaves each prong to stand alone as a violation of obscenity. The individual elements cannot stand alone but must be applied and met together to add up to obscenity. And for good reason. Notice that the third element -- images are deemed obscene that lack literary, artistic, scientific, or political value to minors -- certainly doesn't on its own necessarily add up to obscenity.
The rules ask parents to give the school permission to act reasonably in the area of computer use, which sounds okay until you realize that individual teachers and school district officials are left to apply their own values when they enforce what is "generally acceptable in the community."
One day we'll all look back at this aspect of these guidelines and gasp.
2) Notice that bullying gets the lion's share of attention here. Lots of detail. But at the same time they want you to sign 1) that you're aware of a vague plan to deal with asbestos in MARSD buildings and 2) that their use of pesticides won't be discussed this year but isn't any big shakes.
3) Parents have to grant the school permission to post their child's image on the school's website and on Huskievision. The form doesn't allow a parent to say no. Instead, a parent would have to sign the form granting permission, then take the second step of writing a letter to the school rescinding that permission. The simple answer is to have a form that offers yes or no checkoff boxes to grant permission or not. Most parents, if they read these 24 pages, will throw up their hands and grant this permission.
Parents are told the rules about:
- pp 1-3: Student use of computers and the possible consequences for abuse
- pg 4: Student attendance
- pg 5: Asbestos hazards
- pg 6: Pesticide hazards
- pg 7: Bias incidents
- pp 8-16, 22: Harassment, intimidation and bullying
- pp 17-19 - Cyber bullying
- pg 20 - Parent Portal - communications with the school
- pg 21 - Rules regarding late arrival and early dismissal
- pg 23 - Authorization for family physician
- pg 24 - Consent to use your child's image on school website and/or Huskievision
1) The Internet Safety/Protection section (pg 2) makes a simple if fundamental error in its application of the Miller vs US three-prong test of obscenity. The US Supreme Court ruling calls for all three prongs to be met, not just one or two of them. The current "either/or" rendering of the school rule erroneously leaves each prong to stand alone as a violation of obscenity. The individual elements cannot stand alone but must be applied and met together to add up to obscenity. And for good reason. Notice that the third element -- images are deemed obscene that lack literary, artistic, scientific, or political value to minors -- certainly doesn't on its own necessarily add up to obscenity.
The rules ask parents to give the school permission to act reasonably in the area of computer use, which sounds okay until you realize that individual teachers and school district officials are left to apply their own values when they enforce what is "generally acceptable in the community."
One day we'll all look back at this aspect of these guidelines and gasp.
2) Notice that bullying gets the lion's share of attention here. Lots of detail. But at the same time they want you to sign 1) that you're aware of a vague plan to deal with asbestos in MARSD buildings and 2) that their use of pesticides won't be discussed this year but isn't any big shakes.
3) Parents have to grant the school permission to post their child's image on the school's website and on Huskievision. The form doesn't allow a parent to say no. Instead, a parent would have to sign the form granting permission, then take the second step of writing a letter to the school rescinding that permission. The simple answer is to have a form that offers yes or no checkoff boxes to grant permission or not. Most parents, if they read these 24 pages, will throw up their hands and grant this permission.
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