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.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Board of Education will have two regular board meetings this summer :
July 16 2018 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Education Center, 49 Cottage Place
August 27 2018 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Education Center, 49 Cottage Place
Ridgewood Board of Education Candidate Information:
Monday, July 30, 2018 at 4:00 PM is the deadline to file a nominating petition. The petition must be filed with the Bergen County Clerk’s Office, One Bergen County Plaza, Room 130,
Hackensack, NJ.
The candidate petition is for Ridgewood Board of Education Trustee ( School Board member) for the November election. Candidates must obtain at least 10 signatures on a petition to be nominated, one of which may be the candidate. Petition signatures must be registered to vote in Ridgewood. ***It is recommended to collect about 15 signatures. New Jersey School Boards Association has created a Candidate Kit with additional information and instructions for those interested in running for open seats. For more information and candidate kit: https://www.njsba.org/…/membership-…/school-board-candidacy/
Trenton NJ, Taking significant steps to begin the process of fully and fairly funding New Jersey school districts, the Murphy Administration today released new school funding distribution totals based on increased appropriations and modernizations made to the school funding formula. In total, almost $8.5 billion will be disbursed to the state’s 577 school districts, including an additional $68 million to bring aid in balance for underfunded districts.
“A stronger, fairer New Jersey means making sure that New Jersey’s schools are receiving the funds they need to advance academic excellence for our students,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “After years of neglect, we are turning the page to bring a balanced approach to school aid by removing the growth cap on funding increases and finally beginning the process of fully implementing the state’s school funding formula established in 2008. ”
Nearly every district in the state will receive at least 58 percent of the full uncapped aid as calculated according to the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA). Compared to FY 2018, an additional $351 million in K-12 school aid will be allocated to 391 districts. Another $32 million will be redistributed from 172 districts receiving more than their uncapped aid amounts to those districts that are underfunded.
“By providing additional resources to districts that have been significantly underfunded, this budget starts a path toward the Governor’s goal of a stronger and fairer school funding structure,” said Education Commissioner Lamont O. Repollet.
The Governor’s FY 2019 budget also includes the largest increase in preschool funding in more than a decade, totaling $688 million, $32.6 million over FY 2018 to support existing preschool programs. In addition, Governor Murphy’s commitment to expanding access to preschool includes a total of $50 million to fund high quality new preschool seats in districts ready to grow their programs.
Other education initiatives in the FY 2019 budget include:
$195 million in extraordinary special education aid that is provided through an application process to reimburse districts for eligible high-cost special education services;
$5.4 million for the nonpublic technology initiative, an increase of $2.4 million;
$2 million in funding for a new Secondary School Computer Science Education Initiative, which will be used to support approved applications for the expansion and support of advanced computer science course offerings;
$400,000 for STEM Dual Enrollment and Early College High Schools; and
$750,000 for a new High Poverty School District Minority Teacher Recruitment Program.
Dist District 2017-18 Total K-12 Aid : Ridgewood Village 2,453,765 2018-19 Governor’s Budget Message (GBM) Total K-12 Aid 2,586,693 2018-19 Approp. Act Revised Total K-12 Aid 3,477,429
Transportation Aid 620,535 Special Education Categorical Aid 2,409,152 Security Aid 447,742
2018-19 Approp. Act Revised Total K12 Aid2 3,477,429 One Year K-12 Aid Difference 1,023,664 Aid Percent Difference 41.72%
Face it, folks. The village council and Board of Ed are treating the residents of Ridgewood poorly. We are open checkbooks for them. They need to treat our money like they treat their own household budgets, very carefully. I do not spend money that I do not have, why are they paying for things that will never make sense, like a huge parking garage that they already know will lose money. On top of that, buying property so someone else doesn’t buy it and develop it? This is bad. How about creating zoning ordinances that help maintain Ridgewood’s character to made large development unattractive and too difficult that developers will be scared away. I grew up in a NJ town where they have never let in franchises and fast food. No DD, no Starbucks. It is a thriving town where they have kept development reasonable and well thought out. Why can’t we do that here?
It is imperative that I a Ridgewood resident for the past 40 years have the opportunity to CONTINUE to vote on the school budget. The cost of the election is insignificant compared to the millions of dollars the Ridgewood council spends on non NECESSITIES. . Voting on the school budget is a right and a necessity. I don’t care what other communities do. I don’t care what other individuals do. I do what is right, what is my right as a citizen of this country. It is my right to have a voice in deciding the school budget which makes up a majority of my property taxes and and and above all, determines HOW MONEY is spent for the education of children.
It’s great in theory, voting on the budget, but in practice it does nothing.
Learn from history, the few times the budget did not pass the law says it goes to the village council for a vote.
Each time the village council passed the vote, under pressure from parents AND because the state mandates a budget must be passed by a certain date……. a date that is impossible to meet if 5 people who have lots of other responsibilities are now going to begin the budget process over all over again.
In other words — your vote is meaningless, that is why several years ago the vote was taken away from the citizens so that at least we could salvage the $$$$ spent on the meaningless vote.
The pressure from the teachers and the parents will be even stronger on the village council in this age or facebook rants and threats.
I caution newcomers….. nothing is as simple as it sounds, the state, the feds and all of the unions have all of the local boards and councils in NJ tied up so that they can achieve very little meaningful change……. if they wanted to.
Keep that in mind the next time you vote for a big government, free wheeling spending politician.
Hold on to your wallet. —- there’s a lot more coming with Murphy
Ridgewood schools are already busting at the seams. Add the several hundred students who will arrive with the developments and several new schools will need to be built. Remember, the census of how many students live in the apartments was taken only at the high rise at Franklin and Maple. No count was ever taken in any of the garden apartments on Oak and on the other side of the tracks. Why wasn’t it taken in buildings that do accommodate children? One good thing could probably occur. There will be many fewer houses w/graduation and sale signs together. It would be much cheaper to rent one of our new apartments and just leave when their children graduate. That is what many of current apartment dwellers do when their last child graduates now.
Hope you are enjoying a pleasant summer! On July 10 the Board of Ed sent the following letter to the community regarding the Annual School Election:
Dear Community Members,
On July 3rd, Heather Mailander, Village Manager, notified us by e-mail that the Village Council would be discussing moving the Board of Education election from November to April at their July 11th meeting and at their July 18th meeting they may consider adoption of a resolution to change the election date effective April, 2019.
The Board of Education supports the idea of engaging the public in discussions on moving the Board elections from November to April. However, we believe that it is a discussion that should take place at our Board of Education meetings this Fall, after our residents have returned from summer vacation.
In order to move a School Board election from November to April, notice must be given to the county clerk no less than 85 days prior to the third Tuesday in April to take effect for that year’s election. That would be January 21, 2019. Therefore, there is sufficient time for us to thoughtfully consider this change and to provide adequate time to collect input from our residents.
By way of background:
In the past, School Board elections and budget approvals were conducted in April every year.
On January 17, 2012 Governor Christie signed legislation that permitted communities to move the April annual school board member election to November, while, at the same time eliminating the vote on a district’s proposed budget so long as that is at or below the tax levy cap, including defined allowable waivers. School districts that voted to move their elections to November were prohibited from moving the election back to April until four November School elections had occurred. In 2016, the state extended that moratorium by two years. That moratorium expired May 31, 2018.
The Ridgewood Board of Education originally refrained from moving our election to November until almost two years after the law permitting us to do so had passed, preferring to observe the impact of this law across the state. After discussing this issue at several public meetings during 2013, and after publishing multiple articles in The Ridgewood News encouraging the public to provide feedback, we elected, in a 4-1 vote, to move the election in our public meeting of November 18, 2013.
Currently, a total of 528 or 97% of the New Jersey school districts have moved their annual school election from April to November, and only15, or 3% hold their annual school election in April. Only 5 of Bergen County’s 76 districts vote in April.
The major reasons considered by the Board for moving the election to November were as follows:
● Declining voter participation rate in the April elections. In April 2013, voter turnout hit an historic low with fewer than thirteen percent of voters casting a ballot. We believed that voter participation would increase if the school election were combined with the general election.
● Election costs. The district has saved over $43,000 per annum by combining the school election with the general election in the Fall. The Board has not been assessed any costs associated with the November elections.
● During the period in which we held our public discussions, we received a small number of emails and only eight members of the public spoke at public comment on the issue of moving the election. Three favored moving the election to November, four did not, and one was non-commital.
● And finally, moving the election to November brought the budget approval process in line with the way all New Jersey municipalities, counties, and the state decide on their budgets.
We on the Board look forward to speaking further with the public about this important issue this Fall.
Well, rejecting PARCC is and has been an absolute imperative for years now. Don’t interrupt the iron triangle comprising the craven teachers union, the unabashedly corrupt educational establishment, and the paleoliberal progressive state government apparatchiks, when the same is doing something right for a change (even if by mistake).
Ridgewood NJ, while the Ridgewood Board of Education has turned a deaf ear to residents , the debate raged at the Village council meeting on Wednesday night.
An extremely impassioned Steven Kim said , “in order Ridgewood tax payers , to exercise their right to vote on the school budget , school board elections must be returned to April.”
The school budget of $110,000,000 is 2/3 of the Village of Ridgewood’s spending . Keeping School Board Elections in November takes away Ridgewood voters right to vote for or against the budget .
Others debated over the small cost of $25,000 to hold an election and worried over low voter turnout .
Saurabh Dani, pointed out that “Clifton voted 7-1 in favor of changing the election back to April. “
Carolee Adams from the Stop Common Core in New Jersey.
Ridgewood NJ, Moving Away From PARCC in Jersey could take years.
From my perspective, the only positive of PARCC was that it mobilized the formerly silent majority of parents to actively voice their imperative opposition to the dumbing down of their children’s education; disrespect to parental rights; and at a huge, needless, wasteful cost to taxpayers.
Further, in my humble opinion, impediments like these continue to delay our desired move away from PARCC:
1. A Pearson contract already signed.
2. The less than cooperative pushback from NJ State Senator Theresa Ruiz (D), Chair, Senate Education Committee and Senate President Steve Sweeney (D). Why? Only a guess. Pearson Education is located in Hoboken – a Democratic stronghold. Hoboken would not want to risk losing one of its key, tax-paying corporations.
3. The unnecessary interference of FedEd via ESSA. Why do we even need the USDOE when NJ is a donor state sending far more money to DC/USDOE than we receive in return?!
At a roundtable discussion. our group’s suggestions were 2 tests in K-8 (i.e. 2nd or 3rd and 7th), and 1 test in the sophomore year of high school. Regarding tests, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills was the one most mentioned for K-8. ACT/SAT seemed less popular than ever before regarding high school testing. Fair Test is usually a good resource for test information.
