Jersey City Board of Education President Noemi Velazquez responded angrily to two requests from Ward E Councilwoman Eleana Little that she made in response to the arrest of special needs parent Emily Pecot at Thursday’s BOE meeting.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“While I respect your public service and hope to build a productive and collaborative relationship, I am writing today because I find the events of last night unacceptable. As a member of another elected body that hears public comment, sometimes into the wee hours of the morning, and is sometimes yelled at during public comment, I understand it can be unpleasant. However, that is part of our jobs,” Little wrote to the BOE trustees Friday.
“I feel this Board has repeatedly treated parents’ advocacy with disrespect and disdain (e.g. reducing public comment from 3 minutes to 1 minute, even threatening to reduce it to 30 seconds). I feel parents’ frustrations are understandable. Most importantly, however, they are members of the public, who we work for.”
Little’s remarks came in light of Pecot being arrested for defiant trespass for allegedly disrupting the BOE meeting for yelling out from the audience, which came about an hour after she was critical of the board, and Vice President Dejon Morris in particular.
Further, BOE Trustees Dr. Matthew Schneider and Tia Rezabala issued a joint letter denouncing the arrest, stating such actions should only be a last resort for when there is “a clear risk for harm,” prompting Little to release her email and the response from Velazquez.
Little added that she was “disturbed” to see Pecot arrested, and as a result, asked the BOE to restore public comment to three minutes per person and to only remove members of the public “if they pose an active threat to anyone in the room.”
Velazquez did not respond favorably, stating that while she felt the need to respond, she was not going to directly answer her on a holiday weekend.
“It is imperative that I acknowledge receipt of your email. However, it is much more important that I prepare for a pleasant holiday weekend with my family. Therefore, at this time I will NOT release the passion merited by your uniformed one sided view, lack of political experience and avanging [sic] syndrome,” the school board president replied.
“Rest assured that upon my return next week, I will be addressing your desire to reprimand and offer a corrective plan about an issue of which you are clueless.”
Velazquez said she was attending a funeral Tuesday morning and would respond after the services conclude.
“I emailed the BoE to let them know that what happened at last week’s meeting is not acceptable, and I made what I thought were two very reasonable requests so we can avoid this in the future,” Little wrote in her Instagram post.
“Board President Noemi Velazquez responded with personal insults and made it clear that she is not interested in discussing this in good faith … I’m disappointed, but not surprised-this type of behavior has become a pattern with BoE leadership.”
Little is an absolute JOKE of a council person, only being elected on the coattails of Solomon in a Ward that is so far detached from the city (and reality) that it probably couldn’t find Greenville on a map. Little is a keyboard warrior, who hides behind social media posts and press releases. She can barely string 3 words together while trying to speak in public. Hopefully a stronger candidate runs against her in 3 years.
Sorry, but the BOE president is arrogant- an arrogance only “TRUMPED” by her illiterate response.
The BOE hack cannot spell, nor is her letter grammatically correct.
If Noemi Velazquez is a representative of a JC public education our kids are doomed
Ms Little should realize that parents are not the only residents. She is aware of the many issues other groups have and pays no attention in addressing them. Grandstanding is never a good look. Being a parent should not “ trump” other tax payers rights.
It’s kind of crazy to me that these comments are basically just attacks of Little without engaging in any of the issues–the issues being a pattern of disrespect shown for parents at the board of ed meetings. Of course being a parent doesn’t trump being a citizen — but how is the board of ed helping citizens? The taxes are through the roof and a large part of it is shocking administrative bloat. The parent was not asking for more tax dollars. She was asking for less screen time for special ed students. I can’t imagine a teacher in this district sending such a poorly composed, misspelled, and unprofessional email, even to their worst enemy. How are these people in charge? Vote the bums out.