Ridgewood NJ, According to a story in Philly.com, New Jersey is one of the leading exporters of college students. The website quotes the National Center for Education Statistics in that, in 2016, 31,561 high school graduates left New Jersey for college, while only a mere 4,299 came to New Jersey from other states.
That flight is the largest net loss of students in the country. The New Jersey Business and Industry Association points out that New Jersey taxpayers pay an average of $20,000 per student per year for K-12 education, and, when students leave for college they often don’t come back.
Philly.com pointed out several possible reasons for the exodus for this: the lack of a major city to attract young people, the cost of higher education in New Jersey (the fourth most expensive in the nation), and the availability of many colleges in neighboring states. The problem has caught the attention of legislators, too; the commissioned a study to identify why only 45% of New Jersey students stay in state for college.
Noooooooo! Never fear. The supt and BOE are careful with tax payer’s money. They will only do what is absolutely necessary and in the best interests of the students in the school.
The electrical system in every Ridgewood school will be replaced and modernized.
Small classroom fire at Willard School is quickly contained:
July 25, 2018
Dear Ridgewood Public Schools community:
Today, Wednesday, July 25, a small electrical fire occurred in a classroom at Willard School. The Ridgewood Fire Department, Police and Office of Emergency Management responded and quickly extinguished the fire. Minor damage to the classroom and materials resulted. A professional service that specializes in fire and water damage has been engaged to properly clean the affected classroom.
Willard School will be open as usual on Thursday, July 26.
I would like to take this time to thank our first responders for their prompt response to today’s incident and great work always.
Trenton NJ, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing 12 school districts in New Jersey, alleging that the districts’ policies requiring an identification card are unconstitutional.
The 12 districts are ; Northern Valley Regional High School District in Bergen County; Bellmawr School District, Sterling Regional High School District and Winslow Township School District in Camden County; East Orange Community Charter School in Essex County; West New York School District in Hudson County., Sea Girt School District in Monmouth County; Harding Township School District in Morris County; Watchung Hills Regional High School District in Somerset County; Montague School District in Sussex County; Cranford School District in Union County; and Allamuchy School District in Warren County.
In a lawsuit file Thursday the group said that the districts are preventing children from going to school by requiring that they have an ID card that includes a Social Security number or valid immigration status.
The ACLU clams ,“It is not possible for immigrants who lack Social Security numbers or a valid immigration status to obtain such identification,” state the lawsuits. “Therefore, these residents and their children are prevented from registering for school and are denied equal protection of the laws.”
New Jersey state law mandates that school districts cannot deny a public school education to students based on their or their parents’ immigration status.
“In a state where one in five residents is foreign-born, at a time when our president has made the exclusion of immigrants a key part of his policy agenda, it’s more important than ever for every school district in New Jersey to meet its obligations, both to New Jersey’s families and to the Constitution,” ACLU-NJ Staff Attorney Elyla Huertas, who filed the lawsuits, said in a statement.
Several of the school districts pushed back against the suit, arguing they do not base enrollment decisions on a student’s immigration status, according to NBC News.
“The Watchung Hills Regional School District does not condition entry into our District based upon a student’s or parent’s immigration/visa status or any other discriminatory reason,” Elizabeth Jewett, the superintendent Watchung, one of the schools hit with the lawsuit, said in a statement.
Some of officials from schools hit by the lawsuits told the outlet that they were reviewing their districts’ paperwork and policies posted online to ensure they were in line with the policies in place.
In an email to NBC, Northern Valley schools Superintendent James Santana called the claims “misleading.” He said his district complies with all state and federal regulations, and that “we are going to vigorously defend ourselves against these baseless charges,” according to NBC News.
Well it would seem progressives in those districts will quickly cave and sell out tax payers , the fact is you need to prove you live in a district to send your kids there. Secondly , as for immigrants, there is a huge difference between legal immigrant s and illegal immigrants regardless of what the main stream media would want you to think.
Ridgewood NJ, A fire heavily damaged a classroom at the Willard Elementary School, 601 Morningside Road, Ridgewood on Wednesday morning, 07/25. No injuries were reported in the blaze, which also sent heavy smoke throughout the building’s entire first floor. Ridgewood Fire Department extinguished the fire within minutes of arriving on scene. The school was occupied by over a dozen construction and maintenance workers when the fire broke out. Everyone was safely evacuated from the building. Ridgewood Police, Ridgewood EMS, and Ridgewood Emergency Services personnel also responded to the incident. The fire’s origin and cause remains under investigation.
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Public Schools spring calendar survey results are out.
At the July 16, 2018 Board of Education meeting, Dr. Fishbein presented the results of the spring calendar survey sent to district parents / guardians and staff. The Board discussed possible changes to the 2019-2020 calendar based on the survey results. The survey results may be viewed here:
Ridgewood NJ, Don’t miss it!! A Wrinkle in Time! The last summer show for the RHS New Players. This show will also be performed at The Fringe Festival in Scotland next week! Let’s send these kids off in style with a great audience! Show times are Thursday July 26th at 2:00 pm & 7:00 pm! All ages welcome! For ticket info, please visit www.rhsnewplayers.com
No, I am not saying that only poor people with lots of kids will move in. Very few apartments are being allowed for low income, and that basically means an income lower than the average Ridgewood taxpayer. Many current Ridgewood residents could qualify. I am saying that, as has been noted before, many houses go on sale at Graduation time and the sale sign is posted near a Congratulations lawn sign. Many potential renters will find these apartments (at regular price) cheaper than either renting or buying in Ridgewood and the 2 bedrooms can handle at least 2 kids and the 3 bedrooms more. The various garden apartments in town have many children in them now.Though the quality of education has declined drastically since we moved in, it is still better than many other towns and Counties can offer. People are willing to squeeze and financially suffer in order to get into a good school district. The first built will have astronomical rents but the more that are built, the more the rents cannot stay that high. They will be reasonable for people with children. The high school is seeing the last of the lower birth rate children. Our lower grades are seeing a larger amount of children currently. Just drive around town and notice all the baby toys and strollers!
If it’s true that the council is too ignorant about the school budget to know how to reduce it if it is voted down in the future, they should make an effort to learn about it in advance. They could have a private meeting at which those who are knowledgeable about the budget can educate them. This would be important anyway because the budget probably isn’t finalized until shortly before the April elections (not sure). There is no reason for them to have to thrash through it blindly. The last time the budget was defeated the council was indeed over its head and barely removed anything. That was an important lesson for all subsequent councils. They already have plenty to do but since this is now on their plate, it’s a new thing to learn, long in advance. The only negative part about reverting to April (as has been noted on this blog by others) is that the BOE and Supt. will BOMBARD AND BLAST all parents and residents with entreaties to vote yes, more than they used to do before the age of social media. Nevertheless, we must resist. The budget is always overpuffed and they know it–that’s why they chose to eliminate the vote and popped a spring trying to prevent it from going back. Too bad. The budget is bizarre for a town of this size and driving people away. Just no, school board. Figure it out.
We can’t afford to move but this means that we will never shop anywhere in Ridgewood again. Kings at least has its own parking. Our taxes have more than quadrupled in the time we have lived here. Now I assume they will quadruple again in the next 2 years. Ridgewood will soon be a town of only million dollar incomes because no-one making less will be able to afford to live here. Not only is the garage a financial disaster but the new apartments will require much more school space for all the children who will arrive with them. The quotes of”‘little or no children” were based on the one tall apartment building at the corner of Franklin and Maple. None of the garden apartments were surveyed at all. Why? Because children live in those. And, as someone said before, if you believe no children will fill those apartments, I have a nice bridge to sell you. Our council seems to have believed the hype that they will only be filled with hundreds of very very rich people who either have no children or are retired with a huge pension and who also don’t even have one car per apartment. I guess they were testers of the marijuana product before it comes on the open market. I hope they are planning to greatly increase the police budget because the garage and apartments will require many more police responses than we have police to cover the calls.
Ridgewood NJ, as expected the Village Council on Wednesday voted to move the Board of Education election from November back to April.
Most of the comments made last night at the council meeting favored the move of the school board election to April. Residents overwhelmingly wanted the opportunity to vote on the school budget which constitutes nearly 67% of their tax bill.
Mayor Ramon Hache said the discussion was in no way passing judgement on the Ridgewood Board of Education .
The council voted 3-2 in favor of the move. Council members Jeff Voigt and Bernadette Walsh voted against it.
Walsh was on the Village Council the last time the School Board budget was voted down and voiced concern that the Village council is ill prepared as to the knowledge of the school budget .
Council member Michael Sedon, Deputy Mayor Susan Knudsen, and Mayor Ramon Hache voted in favor of the move.
Ridgewood NJ, On Friday, July 13, the district received notice of additional state aid in the amount of $890,876. At its July 16 meeting, the Ridgewood Board of Education unanimously voted to give $551,887 of this state aid back on the property tax to Ridgewood homeowners, reducing the tax increase for the 2018-19 School District Budget by .62%. The remaining $338,849 will be placed in the Capital Reserve account, to be used in the 2019-2020 school year for identified capital projects within the district.
It is estimated that the tax relief approved by the Board will be approximately $48 on the average Ridgewood home valued at $696,093.*
Ridgewood NJ, While the tone deaf Ridgewood School Board has continued to reject the idea , the Village Council is considering moving the Board of Education election back to April so that residents once again have a say on the school budget process.
According to local resident Steve Kim , “The cost of the budget vote is less than $2 per resident per year. You can maybe buy a cheeseburger at McD for that price. Turnout (measured by votes cast) has not been any better in November vs April.April gives us the budget vote. The poll is the most straightforward and democratic way for the residents to express their views. It’s a good way to have an added control, a sanity check, on the $110,000,000+ budget.”
The Village Council discussed moving the election in order to give people a chance to vote on how their tax dollars are spent.”It is time we talked about it,” , said Mayor Ramon Hache. The Ridgewood Council intends to exercise its authority to move the Ridgewood Board of Education elections back to April, restoring the public vote on the school budget. Mark your calendar for Village Council meeting July 18.
The Mayor said the matter would be discussed at the Village Council’s next meeting Wednesday. Members of the Board of Education have been invited to attend the meeting Wednesday.
The Ridgewood Board of Education approved a massive $110 million budget for the 2018-19 school year, with a 4.3% increase including and nearly $95 million local tax levy.
Under a state law that went into effect in 2012, a local board of education or municipal governing body could decide to move their municipality’s school board election from April to November. Doing so meant residents lost the ability to approve their school district’s budget for that coming year as long as the budget remains until the state-mandated 2 percent increase cap.
NJEA released the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, in which the court overturned more than four decades of established law in order to tilt the balance of power in workplaces even further toward employers:
“This morning’s blatantly anti-worker, anti-middle class ruling by the Supreme Court demonstrates what unions have always known: we must always fight for the rights of working people in America and never take any of those rights for granted,” said NJEA President Marie Blistan. “The court’s attempt today to stifle labor’s collective voice will fail, because we refuse to be silenced. They can change the law, but they cannot do anything about our determination to organize, to advocate and to fight for our fellow members and all working people.”
“The wealthy and powerful have always wanted to weaken unions, because we, the people who make up unions, refuse to be intimidated by them,” declared NJEA Vice President Sean M. Spiller. “But unions have never needed the permission of courts or legislators to do what we’ve joined together to do. Our mission has always included challenging the status quo and disrupting the structures built to hold back working people. That work doesn’t depend on the Supreme Court’s permission and it will not be stopped by this misguided ruling.”
“NJEA members know the value of our union, because we see the power of collective action at work every day,” added NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Steve Beatty. “We bargain contracts, we advocate for students and public schools, and we work to build a fairer, stronger and more just society for everyone. Separately, we could not win those fights. Together, we cannot be stopped.”
The anti-union effort that led to the Janus case has been bankrolled by the National Right to Work Foundation, part of a network funded by corporate billionaires whose goal is to use the courts to rig the rules against working people. It is a multiyear, multimillion dollar effort to manipulate the system for their benefit, at the expense of the middle class. For decades, they have used the vast resources at their disposal to chip away at the progress unions have made for working families. Their goal is to weaken unions in order to muffle the voices of middle class families.
While the full legal ramifications of the ruling must still be examined, NJEA will continue to fight for all members’ professional and economic interests, and advocate for students, families and public education.
NJEA was founded in 1853 and today represents over 200,000 active and retired school employees in New Jersey, as well as students preparing for careers in education.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, July 16th, 2018. The Board meets at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 5 p.m.
The public is welcome to attend the meeting, or to watch from home on Fios channel 33 or Optimum channel 77. Meetings are also streamed via the “BOE Webcast” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
Meeting webcasts are immediately available on the district website.
