Category: Ridgewood Schools

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PARCC Tests May Finally be On the Way Out

SAT

March 27,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, One bright spot in education policy changes . Governor Murphy told audiences during his campaign that he would end PARCC tests “day one,” a promise that could not be kept due to state and federal requirements to use assessments to measure student progress and evaluate schools.  It would be unrealistic to think that PARCC assessments would be eliminated this spring with no plan to replace these state tests.  Acting Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet issued a memo on March 6 to school districts informing them that he will establish an advisory group to study the next generation of assessments and schedule a listening tour to meet with students, teachers, administrators, parents and community members in every county.

Commissioner Repollet affirmed his commitment to transition away from the PARCC tests and to improve NJ’s assessments. Understanding that this will take time, the PARCC tests will be administered this spring as planned.

Repollet stated that “ There are many issues to take into consideration when transitioning an assessment system, including the amount of time needed to procure a new vender, the fiscal and operational impact of assessments, and continued alignment of our NJ Student Learning Standards.  Additionally, as state and federal law require all states to use assessments as one method to gauge and compare progress of students and student groups and to evaluate how schools support learning, we need to ensure our next generation of assessments provides a fair and accurate picture of student progress towards the mastery of the skills we expect them to achieve.”

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Ridgewood Schools: Update on Spring Recess changes

Snow Blizzard of 2016 Ridgewood CBD

File photo by Boyd Loving

Update on Spring Recess changes:
March 26, 2018
Dear Parent or Guardian,
Although I hope this is the last time I need to write to you about emergency closing days, unfortunately, I must report that last week’s spring snowstorm and subsequent emergency closing requires that our schools be open on Thursday, April 12, during Spring Recess. This change is in addition to the previously announced date that schools will be also open on Friday, April 13.
Making the decision to close schools for weather-related events is never easy. Aside from the various meteorological scenarios that can cause a tricky weather forecast, there are also factors such as declared states of emergency by our governor that must be taken into account.
The two most recent nor’easters are good examples of the challenge of calling a school emergency closing. Based on the best predictions and fairly consistent forecasts across the channels that Ridgewood would receive significant snow and high winds, and also factoring in the state of emergency declared by Governor Murphy, there was no option but to close our schools. Frustrating as it may be, in many ways we were fortunate that the storm paths veered slightly from the predicted models, sparing us potential loss of power, felled trees and downed wires that are real issues for our Village.
Enjoy the upcoming long weekend, as we will be closed March 29 and 30 and then closed again for Spring Recess on April 9, 10, 11 but open on April 12 and 13.
Sincerely yours,
Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D
Superintendent of Schools

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Reader says Time For the Ridgewood High School Principal and the Superintend to Address Ridgewood’s Slipping Rankings

tradition of excellence

How much money is being spent to address this?
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RIDGEWOOD
#26 in NJ | #583 in National Rankings | Not Ranked in STEM Schools | College Readiness Score 53.6/100.0

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Maybe Gorman or Fishbein can write one of their useless letters or columns to address this…

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Reader says the School Budget gets bigger and bigger with Ridgewood continuing to go down in almost every way

ridgewood schools

Admittedly, we have been here since Jan 1971. When we moved in, the taxes were about half of what we now pay (and we thought they were very high then!). When we moved in Ridgewood was in the highest grouping in both national and state rankings. When we moved in there were approximately half the number of support staff. When we moved in, Ridgewood had some internal problems, Glen school had a Kindergarten teacher who actually told me “What did I do to deserve your child? She claims that kindergarten is for reading, writing, and arithmetic when the state law clearly states that that is not what kindergarten is for. I had a student just like her first semester and I had him promoted to first grade.” This was after I had already been told that both my first and second graders would have to be skipped because they were too far ahead of the comparable classes of Glen School students. And we came from an inner city public school! This is the point that the Ed center hired several “specialists” to make sure each school was learning the same material as the others. But the schools were far better then than now. Gifted and talented was a class in the grade schools–not now. Ridgewood has to spend so much time and money on special education that the gifted, and non-gifted, are given no extra challenges. Read the paper. Does Ridgewood participate in robots and all the other advance things that most of the area schools send students to compete in. Even the Debate team (if it still exists) never receives any recognition. Athletes, sure, but non-athletic competitions do not seem to exist any more. Yet our budget gets bigger and bigger with Ridgewood continuing to go down in almost every way. Our high school has decided one lunch period is sufficient. The cafeteria was designed for multi period uses and is too small for one lunch period. Kids actually eat sitting on hall floors. And we say we’re “excellent”?

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Ending Gun Violence in Schools More than Just Banning Guns

Maryland School Resource Officer Blaine Gaskill

March 24,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The handgun used in a shooting at a Maryland high school was legally owned by the gunman’s father, authorities said Wednesday. A reader replied to the sad story ,“I don’t understand. If a law was passed to outlaw a 17 year old from owning a gun how ever did he have a gun? He was breaking the law? What about the gun free school laws? Do you think he broke those too? How crazy is that?!? Why, if people keep breaking laws like that, how are we ever to keep our schools safe? I’m confused.”

Maryland generally prohibits any person under age 21 from possessing any “regulated firearm” (handgun or assault weapon).1 Maryland also prohibits any person from transferring a regulated firearm to a transferee who the person knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under 21 years of age.

Maryland also prohibits any person from selling, renting or transferring ammunition for a regulated firearm to a person under age 21, or any ammunition to a person under age 18.3 Maryland also prohibits the sale or transfer of a rifle or shotgun to a person under age 18.

Maryland law provides that a person “may not store or leave a loaded firearm in a location where the person knew or should have known that an unsupervised child would gain access to the firearm.”1 This section does not apply if:
The child’s access is supervised by an individual age 18 or older;
The child’s access was obtained as a result of unlawful entry;
The firearm is in the possession or control of a law enforcement officer while the officer is engaged in official duties; or
The child has a certificate of firearm and hunter safety.2
State administrative regulations may impose storage requirements in certain locations.

Federal law :

Dealers may not sell or deliver a handgun or ammunition for a handgun to any person the dealer has reasonable cause to believe is under age 21.

Unlicensed persons may not sell, deliver or otherwise transfer a handgun or handgun ammunition to any person the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under age 18, with certain exceptions

 

 

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Current School Funding Formula Inherently Unfair

RHS

March 24,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

River Vale NJ, assemblywomen Holly Schepisi comments on the unfair nature of the school funding formula, “If anyone ever wants to know why I fight so hard to revamp how we fund our schools in New Jersey and why I do not believe that the current formulas are fair, here is a glimpse into the school funding numbers for River Vale and Hoboken, New Jersey. River Vale is neither a “rich” nor a “poor” community but is representative of many of the communities comprising New Jersey. The average home assessment in River Vale is approximately $550,000 and pays $13,894 in property taxes with almost 70 percent ($9,725.80) of that amount going straight to school funding. In comparison the average assessed home in Hoboken is approximately $519,000 and pays $8,035 in property taxes with only 24 percent ($1,928) of that amount going to school funding. River Vale has 1202 students and receives $550,193 or $457.73 per student per year in State Aid for its schools. Hoboken has 1,872 students and receives $10,468,870 or $5,592.35 per student per year in State Aid for its schools. Hoboken has the highest median household income in Hudson County of $114,381 and the highest concentration of millionaires in that County. If we want to talk about parity and fairness, our State’s policies need a lot of work.”

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Reader says Look at the pitiful 53.6% College Readiness Score for Ridgewood Schools

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We looked at Chatham and Princeton and Ridgewood – these were three top tier comparable towns.
All 3 towns had good schools and were very nice places to live and raise a family when we were looking to buy a house and start a family.
I think we made a big mistake.
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Unfortunately, Ridgewood has veered left and has gone downhill, both as a place to live and a place to get a good education.
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2017 School Rankings:
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PRINCETON:
#6 in NJ | 155 in National Rankings | #127 in STEM Schools | College Readiness Score 74.4/100.0
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CHATHAM:
#7 in NJ | 189 in National Rankings | #134 in STEM Schools | College Readiness Score 71.9/100.0
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RIDGEWOOD
#26 in NJ | #583 in National Rankings | Not Ranked in STEM Schools | College Readiness Score 53.6/100.0
but #1 in Tradition of excellence
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Look at those numbers.
Look at the gap between Chatham and Princeton vs Ridgewood.
Look at the pitiful 53.6% College Readiness score
Look at the $101 million dollar budget.

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Reader says Ridgewood went down the educational tube years ago

Tradition_of_excellence_theridgewoodblog

I don’t think this huge budget is supposed to be aimed at any particular people except for the wealthy citizens in our town whose children must have the very best in everything and are willing to pay to support it. The Board doesn’t seem to give any thought to the fact that a large number of people in town are struggling to make ends meet and are sick of having to pay through the nose so someone’s precious darling can be treated with kid gloves. And, Just for your info–if you want the best all round education for your kids, get out of Ridgewood! We went down the educational tube years ago. A huge increase in support staff in the Ed center and a corresponding huge decline in the educational system in Ridgewood. Sure, we’re probably still in the top 1/3 and maybe even in the top 1/4 in the state but that’s a long way down from being in the top 10% of the nation

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Reader says Armed personnel in Maryland School Saved Childerns Lives

crime-movies-dirty-harry-callahan-clint-eastwood-via-theedgeoftheframe

1. This shows that “arming teachers” (aka having armed personnel in schools) works
2. No students were killed by the shooter because the shooter was stopped by someone onsite with a gun
3. The incident was over before the police had a chance to arrive. Students’ lives WERE SAVED.
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and most importantly:
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4. There will be NO WALKOUT to support this success story in stopping gun violence in its tracks in our schools
5. There will be NO positive coverage of this story since it does not advance the anti-gun (NOT THE SCHOOL SAFETY) agenda
6. This will be reported and fund raised as a “gun violence in our schools – anti-gun” story
.

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Reader says The Board of Ed knew exactly what it was doing when they changed the election date

RHS_Snow_theridgewoodblog

The Board of Ed knew exactly what it was doing when they changed the election date. This totally removed the possibility of voters voting the budget down and released a wild spending spree on the part of the board. They are literally saying, “You can’t stop us. We can charge as much as we want.” If the money was being spent to evaluate some of the teachers, maybe it could be well spent. Years ago we were actually told by a teacher on back to school night–“I’m tenured, I can do whatever I want until I retire.” This was the answer to our question about what she was teaching. And throwing more money is not going to improve our county rankings, much less state and national, any more than it helps the schools in Paterson and Newark to just throw money at them. “Gilding the lily doesn’t make it an any better lily.” Is any of this money going to be used to improve the lunchroom situation? It is neither sensible nor sanitary to have students eating on the floor. The board should be forced to seriously reevaluate this budget and see what they can cut and what is being directed towards actual needs, not frills to make Ridgewood look better.

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RIDGEWOOD SCHOOLS 2018-2019 PROPOSED PRELIMINARY BUDGET $110,167,997

Ridgewood_BOE_theridgewoodblog

STORM UPDATE❄️: Due to the storm, the Ridgewood Public Schools will be CLOSED on Wednesday, March 21. All before and after-school activities are also canceled. Please stay safe and warm!

 

2018-2019 PROPOSED PRELIMINARY BUDGET
Click here to view the budget presentation.

The Board approved the following to Resolution on the 2018-219 proposed preliminary budget, which represents a 3.62% increase in the tax levy:

i. Approval: Resolution for Adoption of the 2018-2019 Proposed Preliminary Budget for Submission to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools

WHEREAS, in accordance with N.J.A.C. 6A:23-A-10.3(b), a district can request use of banked cap only after it has fully exhausted all eligible statutory spending authority in the budget year;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the 2018-2019 school year budget includes allowable health care adjustments in the amount of $1,066,597 in accordance with N.J.S.A 18A:7F-39(e); and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the 2018-2019 school year budget includes banked cap, in the amount of $415,090 in accordance with N.J.S.A 18A:7F-39(e); and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Ridgewood Board of Education approves the 2018-2019 school district proposed preliminary budget, as follows, for submission to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools:

                                                                            Budget       Tax Levy
General Fund
                                                                   $105,180,990
                                                                                                 $94,831,243
Special Revenue Fund
                                                                           1,301,871
                                                                                                                     0
Debt Service Fund
                                                                         3,685,136
                                                                                                         3,164,901
Total Budget
                                                                  $110,167,997
                                                                                                       $97,996,144

The district has proposed programs and services in addition to the Core Curriculum Content Standards adopted by the State Board of Education.

Information on this budget and the programs and services it provides is available from the school district.

There should be raised for the General Fund Tax Levy $94,831,243 for the ensuing School Year: (2018-2019).

The General Fund includes $100,000 which is to be withdrawn from Emergency Reserve and $50,000 which is to be withdrawn from Maintenance Reserve.

CAPITAL RESERVE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Included in budget line 620, Budgeted Withdrawal from Capital Reserve – Excess Cost & Other Capital Projects, is $1,500,000 for the following construction projects:
• Education Center Window Replacement
• Paving and Sidewalk Repair Throughout the District
• Ridgewood High School Heating Pipe Renovation
• School Lock Down Security System

The total cost of these projects represents expenditures for construction elements or projects that are in addition to the facilities efficiency standards determined by the Commissioner as necessary to achieve the core curriculum content standards.

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Armed Campus Security Officer Stops Maryland School Shooting

crime-movies-dirty-harry-callahan-clint-eastwood-via-theedgeoftheframe

March 20,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Hillsdale NJ, Just five weeks after the high school shooting that left 17 people dead in Parkland, Florida, communities across the country are still wrestling with the idea of how to make students safe in schools. Since then the public has been treated to a litany of gun control is the answer , blame the NRA , and student walk outs.

Today a student who shot and critically wounded two fellow students at a Maryland high school on Tuesday morning, died after exchanging gunfire with an armed campus security officer. Yes an armed school resource officer keep the incident from spiraling out of control .

“Our school resource officer who was stationed inside the school was alerted to the event and the shots being fired,” Cameron said. “He pursued the shooter, engaged the shooter; during that engagement he fired a round at the shooter. Simultaneously, the shooter fired a round as well.”

Interesting WCBS 880’s Sean Adams did a report yesterday on one local school Pascack Valley School District has been employing retired police officers to help secure schools. Chip Stalter a former Chief of Police in Hillsdale and Mike Niego a retired Hillsdale police captain..

Perhaps instead of playing the political blame games and organizing “student led walkouts” Ridgewood Schools should get serious about school safety and looking for real answers.

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Readers Mortified Over School and Parents Using Children to make Political Points

hitler-youth-hitler-jugend-ww2-nazi-germany-history-pictures-amazing-incredibel-images-photos-011

If the district and all of the adults in it hadn’t been so ravished with the idea of students up and leaving their assigned classes in the high school AND the middle school (BF at least–did GW administrators also buy into this?) the number of students sufficiently emboldened to actually violate the attendance rules would have been small and thus perfectly manageable via normal disciplinary procedures. This was never a powderkeg. Ridgewood’s school population has NEVER had an anarchic quality.

When 14 years olds offer themselves us as willing foot soldiers in adult-directed propaganda, what else do you expect?

Also – didn’t these 14-year olds declare themselves to be as knowledgeable about issues as adults? Why then do they need the ‘child’ shield at the same time?

“School is for educating kids not encouraging them to take political stands.”Off to the re-education camp with you!

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Reader says I think our local problems need a closer look.

Ridgewood Police at RHS

file photo by Boyd Loving

I find it ironic that you mention the first amendment yet you protest against the second amendment, hmm. Certain “rights” have more importance. Our founding fathers would beg to differ. I thought your way of thinking is all inclusive, guess not.

Important parts? Important to whom, you? You know what I find important, reducing government intervention and oversight. New Jersey has long abandoned that principal. I think most students are best served formulating their own opinion and not being crowd forced into a protest.

How about a 17 minute walkout about the rampant prescription drug abuse at RHS or a candle light vigil about that student who was beaten on school property or most ignored the sinking rank of the public schools in general. I think our local problems need a closer look.

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Ridgewood Board of Education Proposes a $110,167,997 School budget

Athena_1_rocket_launching_from_Kodiak_Island[1]

March 20,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Board of Education passed a Resolution for Adoption of the Proposed Preliminary Budget for Submission to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools for, drum roll …. $110,167,997.