>Christie to pull out of RGGI at press conference, unveil energy plan
Gov. Chris Christie will announce the state’s withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) cap-and-trade program at an 11 a.m. press conference tomorrow, Statehouse sources told State Street Wire tonight. (Carroll, State Street Wire)
>New Jersey Legislature has five weeks to find $500 million for poorest schools
New Jersey lawmakers have five weeks to find an additional $500 million for urban education that the Supreme Court has ordered the state to pay in the upcoming school year. (Delli Santi, The Associated Press)
>N.J. comptroller reviews county college chiefs’ pay Tuesday, April 26, 2011 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY APRIL 26, 2011, 1:17 PM BY PATRICIA ALEX THE RECORD STAFF WRITER
State Comptroller Matthew Boxer will review the compensation packages of community college presidents throughout the state following allegations of misspending that led to the resignations of the leaders of two of the schools.
>SUPPORT RHS ORCHESTRAS: BUY SPRING PLANTS AT GOFFLE BROOK FARMS
The RHS Orchestra Parents Association (OPA) is working with Goffle Brook Farms on a spring plant sale fund raiser. From May 1-21, the farm will donate 10% of pre-tax purchases to the RHS Orchestras. Goffle Brook Farm is located at 425 Goffle Road, Ridgewood. The OPA provides supplemental support to the Chamber, Concert, and Symphonic orchestras at RHS in the form of funds for scholarships, performance and educational opportunities, instruments and supplies as well as extra hands at concerts and other events. For more information, contact Nancy Cole at 201-913-5754 or e-mail her at [email protected]
>Ridgewood turf field’s ‘wrinkle release’ costs $21,00 Tuesday, April 26, 2011 BY KELLY EBBELS THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS Staff Writer
The final repair of the wrinkles left on new turf installed on Ridgewood High School’s (RHS) Stadium Field after flooding this month cost the school district about $21,000, Superintendent Daniel Fishbein disclosed at a Board of Education (BOE) meeting Monday night.
Answering an initial question from BOE member Laurie Goodman, who asked for a cost estimate of the cleanup of the fields following heavy rains on April 16, Fishbein responded that the cleanup was being conducted by the district’s contracted custodial company, “so there’s no additional costs.”
However, when The Ridgewood News questioned Fishbein during the public comment portion of the meeting about the cost of hiring an outside company, LandTek, to repair the turf wrinkles, the superintendent reported that the field repair in fact cost about $21,000.
“I’m sorry. There was a cost for LandTek. I neglected to say that,” he said, adding that he considered the repair of the wrinkles a “correction” and not a “clean-up” cost.
>I went through the RPS system when it truly had a tradition of excellence. (RHS ’67) There were no classroom aides. There were no guidance counselors at the middle schools. There were 25-30 students in a class and teachers didn’t whine that they couldn’t handle that many students. (And I don’t remember anyone taking medication for ADHD). There was no superintendent of curriculum. There was a principal and a vice-principal at the HS, GW, and BF. Period. No grade administrators. Our students not only excelled at sports, but also got into the best schools in the country,(as they continue to do today.) We are paying way too much money to way too many people in our school system, and I am voting “NO”! and Amen from a class of 1976 graduate and a double amen from class of 80.
>School budget, open seats are in Ridgewood voters’ hands Tuesday, April 26, 2011 BY KELLY EBBELS THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS Staff Writer
Ridgewood residents will vote on the school budget and Board of Education candidates on Wednesday, April 27. Polling places will be open throughout the village from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
If approved, the budget will increase annual school taxes for the average assessed home in the village, valued at $797,422, by $190.90. Residents will be voting on a local school tax levy of $81,323,178.
The Board of Education candidates are incumbents Sheila Brogan and Laurie Goodman, as well as newcomer Christina M. Krauss.
>Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood Accepting Registration for Kindergarten Enrichment Program
The Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood is now accepting registration for its Kindergarten Enrichment program for the 2011-2012 school year. The school has spots available in both its morning and afternoon sessions. The program supports all the major district initiatives including: Handwriting Without Tears, Envision Math and Words Their Way. Classes meet twice per week. There is no co-op requirement for parents who enroll children in Kindergarten Enrichment.
A nonsectarian school, The Co-op offers morning and afternoon classes for 2, 3 and 4-year-olds, as well as Kindergarten Enrichment. The seasoned, professional teaching staff guides students toward social, emotional and physical well-being. Children learn and play in an environment ideally suited to their needs as developing individuals. The program encourages independence, self-discipline and a love for school. Setting the school apart from other nursery schools, The Co-op is organized and run by parents, which enables them to actively participate in their child’s early learning experience. Music, physical education, field trips, indoor and outdoor play time and an in-house library are just a few of the experiences to which the children are exposed as supplements to the daily education plans.
For more information on the school or to set up an appointment to visit, please call (201) 447-6232 or email the school at [email protected]. The school is located at 100 Dayton Street in the center of Ridgewood.
>Americans for Prosperity calls on Frelinghuysen to hold the line on spending in rally near his office
Steve Lonegan called on Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen to hold the line on spending as his conservative group, Americans for Prosperity, began a three-week van tour of the area with a rally in front of the congressman’s office. (Koloff, Gannett)
>Boe Elections : No more. Vote NO this week on the budget
Last time this year the BOE cut 3-4 million from the budget and the excellence in education continued. If that is what you can call our expensive and ineffectual “dumb dumb” math curriculum.
We spend money on lights but gut after school academic programs. We a have transportation slush fund of over 3 million dollars. Meanwhile Hutton claims a “NO” vote on the budget will imperil or tradition of excellence. The only thing excellent about our tradition in Ridgewood is the teachers’ benefit package. Wouldn’t it be grand if the rest of us had such pay packages at work.
Mr. Hutton once again threatens cuts as a way to blackmail parents into voting for increased spending while our Admins at Cottage Place mismanage our tax dollars.
>N.J. Historical Preservation : My beef is with do-gooders who will save a house at the expense of blighted land
I did take my kids to historic sites as I have lived in Bergen county all my life. I have also had to fill in for the lack of history that was taught in the Ridgewood public school system.
My beef is with do-gooders who will save a house at the expense of blighted land. One only has to look at the house in Fair Lawn, Red Mill and other places which serve as hangouts for illicit activity.
Our Village has a recent habit of buying properties and then let them rot further. How would YOU like a historical eyesore fester next to your house because the alternative is having a family move into a new home next door.
I don’t know how Jennee gets their fill-in permits, but it must help to have friends in high places (another thread altogether).
>April showers leave wrinkles on Ridgewood fields Monday, April 25, 2011 BY KELLY EBBELS THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS Staff Writer
Another weekend of heavy rains and flooding from the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook damaged the artificial turf fields at Ridgewood High School, and prompted a new flurry of concern from neighboring residents.
A district worker cleans Stevens Field. The district hired a company to clean the fields after they were flooded in March, but decided this month to do the cleanup in-house. Consecutive days of rain in March also left the fields flooded, and a cleanup effort following those storms was still under way when recent rainfall dropped on the village.
The cleanup last week was proceeding differently at village and school fields than in March. After paying a private contractor to clean the fields last month ($21,000 for the RHS fields and $9,500 for Maple Park Field), both the village and school district chose to use in-house employees last week. The village and school district rented a sweeper to clean the fields.
>Heaven can wait: McGreevey priest bid is rejected By Chuck Bennett & Josh Margolin – The New York Post | Published: 10:12 AM 04/25/2011
Don’t call him Father Jim just yet.
Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey — who shocked the nation in 2004 when he announced he was a “gay American” and stepped down from office — has been denied his bid to join the priesthood of the Episcopal Church, The Post has learned.
Church leaders, who have long embraced gay parishioners and clergy, were bothered by McGreevey’s bitter divorce, sources told The Post.
“It was not being gay but for being a jackass — [McGreevey] didn’t come out of the whole divorce looking good,” said a source with the Episcopal Diocese of Newark.
Some leaders also were wary of McGreevey’s sudden embrace of their faith after his scandal and feared the church was being used, the source added.