So you'll be on the ballot this November?

The great thing with our democracy is if you do not like the way things are being governed you can participate in the process. You don't like the current school board as "Bergen Watcher" has said, place yourself on the ballot for the next school board election. Roberta Hanlon and her school board did exactly the right thing with Mr Zoeller

This is a local issue. It has nothing to do with the Federal government. Not everything is Obama's fault, you know. (He also didn't crucify Jesus, nor did he kidnap the Lindbergh baby.)

Andromeda, I had to ask my child about this discussion after reading your comment. This made me a bit upset. Thank you for posting this. Anything discussed with the children should be relayed to the parents as well! Yes, many children were upset & some even cried - it's very sad. As far as Zimmerman being "a great teacher" that depends on who you talk to and how you rate a teacher. It was common for him to upset children and parents... but put the pieces of what you wrote together and in my view, a view by a mother of a child in his class, it is quite unsettling. Telling them not to have "any contact with him" means they could be in danger of some sort if they do. He would in fact invite them to Concerts he participated in outside of the school district, he had blogs for his students on his website (2 of them) that my child made me aware of and used - one for serious questions & one for silly stuff. This is the site where you could email him directly as well. In my opinion I'd rather my kid be scared of someone that is a possible threat & warned to stay away especially when in the past they trusted him. This information being released to the public may not be appropriate because of the possible nature of the issue but the parents of the children in his classes SHOULD have been notified of the discussion that took place in school. Again, thank you for making me aware this conversation took place - I have now discussed it with my child personally.

I don't know about this particular teacher, but it's sad when anyone who takes a special interest is automatically suspected of mefariousness. When I was in high school I was in a community theatre group that really helped me come out of my shell. My mother felt very threatened by my how I would confide in the group's director. Today she would call the cops and he would have been branded as a suspect. It's a wonder to me that anyone would decide to work with young people these days when all it takes is one angry parent or a neurotic parent who is insecure about anyone her child likes (as my mother was) to ruin one's life. Again, I do not know what happened in this particular situation, but it just seems sad.

Sick and Tired,

They had a chance to bring him back for this year after Zoeller left. The athletic director didn't recommend him, despite his teams winning over 300 games. The question is why? It had never been determined what he did not to be recommended. It is my understanding that grievances he filed are currently before an arbitrator. The board never said specifically what he did not to be recommended last year. I guess that they forgot that they had voted him in as coach in every year of Zoeller's term as superintendent except last year. At a board meeting in 2012, the board voted for him to be coach by a margin of 6-1-1, though Zoeller tried hard to have them vote otherwise. What happened in a year? If they are so concerned about the school's rating in the state, a good baseball team would help, wouldn't it?

Andromeda,

The Zimmerman incident was a chance for someone to assert their authority and show someone that they could screw over people, a desirable quality in the district it seems. I heard that the music teacher actually did what they told him to do and then turned around and got stabbed in the back. Any truth to this?