Parsippany NJ, A new proposal by Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce would eliminate the Schools Development Authority and transfer its responsibilities to the Department of Treasury’s Division of Property Management & Construction.
Continue reading Republican Lawmaker Says Move SDA To Treasury’s Division Of Property Management And Construction
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood High is now ranked 27th in NJ and 554th in the country in this influential survey… note there are lots of non-selective schools ahead of RHS in NJ’s top twenty-five, including Jersey City, Elizabeth, Princeton, Chatham, Millburn, West Windsor-Plainsboro, Ridge, Glen Ridge, Mountain Lakes, Summit, and Tenafly.
In other similar rankings RHS ranked #26, #32, and one where it wasn’t even top fifty in the state. I think we ranked 23rd for SAT scores statewide in a NJ.com survey last year. Ridgewood only scores a 60.4/100 on the college readiness scale in this US News ranking.
Continue reading US News Best High Schools 2019 : Ridgewood High School Ranks 27th
“It’s hard to assign a “good” or “bad” label on turnout levels. A few benchmarks though, for comparison, of total votes cast in Ridgewood:
– 2019 School election (Apr): 2,473 total votes cast (unofficial)
– 2018 Midterm election (Nov): 11,400 total votes cast for U.S. Senate
– 2018 Midterm election (Nov): 7,663 total votes cast for Ridgewood BOE
– 2016 Presidential election (Nov): 13,308
– 2016 BOE election (Nov): 8,650
So it seems clear that expecting 3x, perhaps even 4x, the turnout by moving the BOE vote (and Village Council vote) to November is a reasonable expectation.”
Continue reading Reader says ,”“It’s hard to assign a “good” or “bad” label on turnout levels”
the staff of the Riddgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to voter turn out data the average April turnout for Board of Education Elections is actually higher since 2007 than November . Average April turnout is 21% and November is 16%.
This disproves the Board of Ed assertions to the contrary . A reader commented ,” The figures do not support a higher turn out in November. Over the last several years of compiling figures it shows the reverse. In 2016 when it was a presidential election, the numbers were up but not significantly so. Down ballot voting is almost always .lower. The issue for many is that when the Board of Education elections were moved to November, we lost the ability to vote on the budget. When that happens, it is harder to advocate for budgetary items you are for or against. There are fewer presentations and fewer people holding seats choose to listen. We also have seen many uncontested candidates elections. Incumbents keep their seats with little to no challenge. “
Also of interest is that studies made before the move in 2013 concluded that there would be a lack of interest which could result in uncontested BOE Candidate elections . This proved to be true.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, just days after the Ridgewood Board Ed $111 million dollar budget vote a group of Ridgewood residents lead by Councilmen jeff Voigt is already trying to take the ability to vote on the budget away from residents .
In Voigt’s letter to the Ridgewood News he spells out the case for not voting .
The irony is he claims the $50 thousand or so is lot of money to spend on voting for an $111 million dollar budget ,which accounts for over 60% of property taxes Village of Ridgewood and of coarse there is no mentionn of the self serving law suit filed by Board of Ed members paid for with tax payer money looking to prolong their terms . Our suggestion would be the BOE members should pay back the money spent on the law suit .We are sure it will cover the budget vote .
” Too bad we’re not teaching any REAL financial literacy in the schools (not the cursory required HS financial literacy course)… especially in a “rich” town like Ridgewood.
RW kids should come out of RHS ready to run a business or manage a sophisiticated financial portfolio. Instead they learn how to use a checkbook (a dying financial tool).
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If RW was actually still a top tier school district, RHS students would graduate with at minimum a 4 year plan to fund college and enough funds to at minimum pay for freshman year.
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Instead we waste precious teaching hours on distribution of wealth, groupism over individualism, the importance of diversity over competency and so forth, not to mention pure time wasters like sleep in days, comfort dogs and the like. “
211 voter spread yes vs no
we had a chance to send a message of constraint but the non voters
in an ironic way let the spenders spend.
it’s not their fault individually but when the tax bill comes
non voters dig deep into a pocket of regrets.
towns spending and BOE BUDGETS non sustainable
and is a runaway train signaling time to paint and sell.
wait till the developers get ahold of valley campus..schools
will be flooded with new children.
9 out of 19 districts voted majority “No”. Absentee ballots accounted for 3/4 of the margin of victory for “Yes”. The B of E was nearly embarrassed here.
Every college graduate remembers their freshman year distinctively; mostly because they were excited about a new year in their life, the parties and all the new people they were about to meet, but also because they were nervous and scared. I had the same thing going on; the mixture of excitement, nervousness, and stress can break everyone, not to mention freshmen at college. The good thing is, you can always know that you’re not the only one feeling that way; other students, no matter how much of pretending they’re doing, feel the same. However, just because everyone feels like that, doesn’t mean it’s okay. People for some reason associate stress and nervousness with something good, while it can actually be terrible for you.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
‘Ridgewood NJ,a new study suggests that more screen time can negatively impact a students grades .With 95% of Americans owning a cell phone of some kind and actually 77% of them owning a smartphone (according to pewinternet), the topic of phone time and its potential effects comes into question.
The study asked undergraduate university/college students what their daily phone screen time was the last 7 days and their current grade to see if there could be any correlation between them.The survey consisted of 875 undergraduate post-secondary students (1st-year students aged 17-19) from a number of US schools.To keep the survey simple, respondents were asked what their daily phone screen time was the last 7 days and their current grade.
Continue reading New Study Suggests Phone Screen time Negatively affect Grades
” Very Low attendance at Ridgewood Strategic Planning meeting yesterday. Same faces as usual, maybe 30 in total. Topic for discussion is how to make our school district better. No word from presenters on the cost, which indicates our concerns aren’t sinking in. I’m for one not ready to abandon the village just yet and will be voting no to school Budget until leadership takes concrete actions to address the cost spiraling out of control. “
Continue reading Reader says ,”No word from presenters on the cost, which indicates our concerns aren’t sinking in”
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Public Schools is embarking upon a strategic planning initiative to examine its strengths, challenges and opportunities. The public is encouraged to attend a public information session about the initiative, set for 7 p.m. on TUESDAY, April 2 at the Ridgewood High School Campus Center.
In addition, a community survey has been created we are asking all to take by Monday, April 8. We hope you will go to our website to RSVP for the Tuesday, April 2 info session and also access the survey link below.
“So grass is unrealistic? We played on it for years and something upwards of 90 percent of professional players [soccer,baseball, football ] prefer grass to artificial turf. We have a bigger problem in Ridgewood. We put turf in active floodplains. It was not made for that. Environmentally it is a disaster. Financially, it is more costly to install and to maintain. It needs to be sanitized which they left out of the scenario when they decided to sell us on it. “
“Multi use is not a benefit of artificial turf. More playing time was considered the benefit. However, not in an active flood plain. It is environmentally unfriendly, needs much maintenance, is not ideal for children’s health and safety,etc. Today’s hearty grass blends that are drought and pest resistant also make it the fiscally responsible thing to do. In addition, all pro teams when asked what surface they prefer to play on, choose grass.”
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Governor Phil Murphy has signed legislation sponsored by Senator Anthony Bucco (R-25) to expand the categories of those who are eligible to serve as Class Three officers, a special class of retired-in-good-standing law enforcement officers who provide security at New Jersey’s schools and county colleges.
Bucco was the sponsor of the 2016 law that created class three officers, vastly expanding opportunities for local municipalities to increase school security.
Continue reading Governor Signs Bill to Expand Eligibility Requirements to Allow More Retired Law Enforcement Officers to Protect NJ Schools
Questions about the 2019-2020 budget may be directed to [email protected].
The vote on the 2019-2020 school budget is Tuesday, April 16, during Spring Recess for the Ridgewood Public Schools. Any registered voter may vote by mail! Please consider doing so, especially if you are unable to get to the polls on School Election Day.
Public presentations on the 2019-2020 school budget have been planned, as follows:
Monday, March 18 at George Washington Middle School auditorium at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 19 at Benjamin Franklin Middle School auditorium at 7 p.m.
The latest 2019-2020 preliminary budget presentation may be found here.
Voter information on how to vote, voting by mail and more, may be found here.
Are you registered to vote? Tuesday, March 26 is the deadline to register to vote on the school budget on April 16. Registration forms may be found here.
Vote by mail: Download a vote-by-mail application here. The deadline is Tuesday, April 9 to apply by mail.
The Board presentation on the 2019-20 Preliminary Assumption Budget was given on February 11, 2019. The slide portion of the presentation may be viewed here.
Court issues opinion on Board of Education election dates
In February a judge ruled that board of education member terms may not be shortened. The full statement may be viewed here
” We’re talking about what was some of the most exclusive real estate in the village, which from August through December was restricted for use solely by the RHS football team and the marching band, and when the grass was damp, even the marching band was kicked off (while the football team and its opponent enthusiastically chewed up the field to within an inch of its life). After Christmas and New Year’s, during the late winter and early spring, literally everyone was banned from using the field so that it could recover from the yearly fall trampling. Of course, this allowed the field to be re-seeded, fertilized, watered, and otherwise expensively pampered in preparation for the famous RHS graduation ceremony. By late June, the grass was admittedly beautiful, and certainly soft beneath the feet of girl graduates in their flowing white dresses who, in accordance with decades of tradition, tended to take off their shoes during the ceremony. That said, net-net, making the RHS football field a multi-use field by turfing it was a good decision. So many more students and other people have now had the benefit of its use, it’s not even a close question. “
