A Conversation with Fort Lee BOE President Arthur Levine

I recently sat down with Arthur Levine, President of the Fort Lee Board of Education.  Mr. Levine has been a member of the BOE since 2007 and was elected President of the BOE this past spring. I asked Mr. Levine what has been the biggest change for him going from board member to president. He stated that it is mostly “more of a time commitment” but that it is made easier by the fact that his colleagues are mostly “seasoned board members,” including two prior board presidents. He also mentioned that Vice President, Linda McCue, has taken an active role and has been “very helpful.”

On the topic of accomplishments, Mr. Levine said that the district ranking “is the highest it has been in recent memory.” He attributes this to the administrators the board has put in place and the programs they have enacted that the district’s teachers have implemented. One specific example given by Mr. Levine was the Freshmen Academy that was rolled out this year at Fort Lee High School. Mr. Levine also said that the BOE has instituted a principal’s report at the beginning of BOE meetings. This allows the principal to introduce him/herself to the community and report on current developments, successes and issues at his/her school. The first principal to address the BOE was high school principal Priscilla Church who discussed the Freshmen Academy, plans for the upcoming academic year and proudly informed the BOE that Fort Lee High School was recently ranked 7th in the state (in it’s classification) by the NJ Department of Education.

As for disappointments, Mr. Levine cites the two failed referendum votes and not being able to get the community support that it needed. However, Mr. Levine did state that the BOE will likely be bringing another proposal to the voters later in the school year that “will be primarily focused on infrastructure, renovation of science labs, libraries and will certainly not include the construction of a new school.” The BOE is planning to discuss this plan in more detail at the next BOE meeting on September 26th.

Mr. Levine and I discussed the issue of nonresident attendance in the Fort Lee schools.He responded, “We continue to indentify and investigate students who are improperly enrolled in the district. Legal action has commenced in several cases and the district is seeking reimbursement of tuition.”

We also discussed the recent resignation of Superintendent Dr. Raymond Bandlow.  Mr. Levine said that he will miss Dr. Bandlow and wishes him well. However, Mr. Levine believes that “we have a good plan in place,” for the future. As for Dr. Bandlow’s replacement, Mr. Levine said that this will be discussed at a future meeting. He did elaborate that the BOE is developing a program of mentoring teachers who want to pursue a career in administration, “so that we can promote from within.”  He continued, “it gives you the advantage of having someone who knows the district and the community.” Mr. Levine said that it is a big advantage to the district to hire from within as opposed to hiring someone who not only has to focus on their position, but has to get up to speed with the community as well.

Mr. Levine concluded that by and large “the board has been working well together” and that they benefit by having several veteran members. The BOE is working to give the teachers the environment and resources they need to “let them do their jobs.” The BOE will seek to “tweak” the programs in place for this school year but “on an overall basis” Mr. Levine said the “schools are functioning well.”

I strongly encourage all Fort Lee residents to attend BOE meetings, which occur every other Monday at 8:00pm in the School 1 library. Please refer to the BOE website for more information www.flboe.com. I wish the BOE the best of luck on their endeavors for the sake of the students, the district and the community at large.