October 30,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the big local question for Ridgewood voters on November 8th will be to expand to a full-day kindergarten .
Detractors of the idea feel it’s nothing more than socialized babysitting  at taxpayers expense , with little or no long-term benefit for students ,particularly in a town like Ridgewood where there are so many activities for young people and what many perceive as a need for more family time .
Proponents feel the current half day Kindergarten is more like a 1/4 of a day , and it is far too short to accomplish much of anything and even the proposed full-day kindergarten  is still a short day leaving plenty of time for family activities . Proponents also feel a change in the current inconvenient hours
The reality seems to be somewhere in the middle ,with a change in current inconvenient hours lessening the financial pressure on families , balanced by a healthy skepticism over the idea of children spending far too much time with one point of view  and not nurturing them with a diversity of experiences .
Nay
Nay 2
Nay 3. Stop the madness
Nay 4. Wait until these parents have children in middle school and experience class sizes of 30+. Multi family housing units will be filling up lower grades too. It is well documented that class sizes of 22+ are detrimental, so which studies do we trust more and which age group deserves to be hurt more? Middle schoolers with 30+ kids or 5 year olds without enough play?? Given the size of our current budget, doing one and not the other doesn’t seem right.
How about this compromise – those who want their kids in full day kindergarten can pay for it
Nay 5
3:29 – parents have a dozen non-religious & religious options to choose from on their dime. With a graduating class of 400, it’s not up to the 8100 taxpaying households to subsidize the 400. Want full-day K? Move to another town.
Those supporting it on Facebook probably are surprised that there are few coming forward against it. I am not gong to argue with anyone on Facebook and I am voting NO.
I admire Martin Walker for clearly articulating his views on issues. I agree with him 100% about full day K. I just can’t be bothered arguing with neighbors about this. There is a middle school teacher posting about this all the time. How would you like to go on record against full day K and then get her for a teacher?
Nay. They will find the money for this in the existing budget if it is that important. I was a p/t working parent who sent my kids to enrichment on days I worked (and paid the full-time price, I might add); I cherished those half days with my kids and their friends. Plenty of free play and learning going on outside of the classroom.
Nay – the BoE couldn’t afford diploma covers for the Class of 2016 RHS graduates this year and they want to add full-day kindergarten? Really? I don’t believe the fuzzy numbers these incompetents have been tossing around.
Simply not possible with the new housing approved by the Aronson administration. Folks have to come to a realization of how our town is going to change once the hundreds of new families move into town. We won’t be able to afford what we have now without significant tax increases or lesser Village services and we certainly should not be adding more services at this time until we know the full effect of the housing project debacle.
Nay – those that are for it seem to be under the impression that it will pass without a hitch. I hope they are wrong