the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The majority of this Facebook fuss about Dr. Daniel Fishbein being booted out seems to be nothing other than a loosely organized lynch mob of privileged white parents who all believe that he was being unfairly treated by the only two (2) non-white members of the Board of Education.
Despite having been overwhelmingly elected to their respective positions by Ridgewood voters, in the minds of many members of the predominantly white lynch mob, Mr. Dani and Ms. Kwak seemingly had no right to ask the white male superintendent tough questions.
Proving that racism is alive and well, even in liberal Ridgewood.
Why are we turning this into race discussion? To play libs on their terms? That’s passive aggressive and yields no benefit. The board acted in line with voters expectations and superintendent left for expected reasons. Nothing to do with anyone’s ethnicity, race, or any other superficial under these circumstances designation. Focus on underlying reasons pls to make this discussion more informative for an average reader.
“Organized lynch mob of privileged white parents” I say you’re all bs and nothing but a no good troublemaker,
When did the village become liberal?
20 years ago
Who’s the racist who wrote this blog contribution?
“Lynch Mob?” REALLY?
You’re despicable.
“We” are turning this into a race discussion because it is all about race.
Whether you feel comfortable admitting to it or not, the face remains that if Board members who were white had brought pressure to bear on Dr. Fishbein, there would not have been such a backlash.
The lynch mob is being led by those who just can’t accept that persons of color have rights to have any say so in how the school district is being run.
They’ll never be happy.
2 points:
First, there is something to say when a top public school district loses their business administrator and their superintendent of many years within a month of each other. And it happens to coincide with the election of a new board who has flipped things upside down. If the new board focused on bettering education and not finding the cheapest way to do everything, I think there would be a different outcome.
Second, the board members were not elected by any significant majority as this post alludes to. They were elected by a majority of 14% of the electorate.
perhaps the mindless stupidity of the recent protests is reflecting badly on the schools
Fishbein had no one to answer to for years. He had a group of yes-man and women on the board who often ran unopposed and just let him do whatever he wanted. The public got sick and tired of this. And so three new members were elected. And yes they were elected by a majority. If they’ve turn things upside down, then good for them. They are good stewards of our education system. They ask questions, they do their homework. You absolutely cannot blame elected officials for the departure of this jack ass of a superintendent. He needs to go, it’s long overdue, and all I can say is good riddance.
They were elected by the vast majority of those who voted. If you did not vote, shame on you and shut the fuck up.
The superintendent is paid approx. 300 thousand dollars a year. If he can’t handle some tough questions from our elected representatives, then he is not the right man for the job. Resigning during a pandemic also reflects badly on his commitment to the school district.
I say this to Mr. Dani and Ms. Kwak – This isn’t a popularity contest. So, forget about the lynch mob now being organized by a bunch of mindless Karens. Most, if not all, didn’t even bother to vote; they probably didn’t even know there was a school board election taking place. Those of us who did vote chose the both of you by a large margin. Do what we tasked you to do. That is, provide the highest quality of education at the lowest possible cost. Get to work and take no prisoners. Thanks and good luck.
Actually the Village overwhelmingly voted for Mike Lembo. Dani and Kwak road his coattails.
Mike chose to associate himself with Dani and Kwak. His choice. He did not go independent and he definitely did not align with the other candidates. Lembo is a smart man.
This blog is written by people who have nothing else to do with their free time. It would be nice to for you to get out there and do something useful with your lives than to go around validating your existence. Shame that you bring in race at a time when the whole country is burning for equality!!! You all should just find a better pass time .. disgusting.
This reminds me of when that sonenfrld jerk resigned. She blamed The elected officials just like people are now blaming certain board members for Fishdick’s resignation. If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen. Bye bye berta, Bye bye Danny boy.
A leader of the wolf pack:
“Laura McKenna
This is terrible news. I certainly hope that his departure wasn’t caused by the unprofessional and unproductive behavior of two school board members. Their actions deserve intense scrutiny. I am furious.”
No one said that it was racist – except for you.
Via the receipt of private chats/e-mails, I have learned that “demonstrators” plan to gather in front of the Ridgewood Board of Education offices on Cottage Place beginning at 5:30 PM on Monday, September 14 to peacefully protest the announced resignation of Dr. Daniel Fishbein, Superintendent – Ridgewood Schools.
Perhaps someone with a camera/video camera will be there too so we can find out who all of the “Karens” are?
There has been many problems in the Board of Education going back for the last 20 years. How do we pinpointed well I just don’t know. But I’m sure it’s just not one individual that’s causing’ there has been many problems in the Board of Education going back for the last 20 years. How do we pinpointed well I just don’t know. But I’m sure it’s just not one individual that’s causing’ The problems that we have. But it’s amazing they love pointing fingers at one individual all the time. We are sure there’s many things involved here. Maybe we need to hire a few individuals to do that job maybe it’s overwhelming it’s not about money.
“Why are we turning this into race discussion?”
Because we’ve been trained to turn EVERYTHING into a race discussion
Where have you been living?
Another leader in the wolf pack of Karens:
From: Stacey Loscalzo
Date: September 11, 2020
To:
Subject: Dr. Fishbein’s Resignation: What To Do
Dear All,
Dr. Fishbein, Superintendent of Ridgewood Public Schools, will submit his resignation to the Board of Education (BOE) on Monday, September 14th. This is terrible news for the Ridgewood Public Schools (RPS), our families and our community.
I am writing to request two things.
1. E-mail Immediately- E-mail Dr. Fishbein and the BOE with your thoughts on Dr. Fishbein’s resignation. (email addresses below)
2. Rally on Monday September 14th at 5:30pm at 49 Cottage Place- Please wear Ridgewood colors. We will be there when the BOE enters for their executive session and can stay or return home to call in for public comment.
Dr. Fishbein has served as Ridgewood’s superintendent for the past twelve years. He is a longtime Ridgewood resident and his five children are Hawes, Benjamin Franklin and RHS graduates. Ridgewood principals, administrators and parents along with fellow superintendents hold Dr. Fishbein in high regard. Thanks to Dr. Fishbein’s stable and effective leadership, Ridgewood Public Schools have thrived even and especially during a global pandemic.
This spring, Ridgewood elected three new BOE representatives. Two of these representatives, Mr. Dani and Ms. Kwak, were frequent speakers at the BOE public comment podium for the past few years. At public comment and then in their official capacity following the election, Mr. Dani and Ms. Kwak consistently approached Dr. Fishbein and Ms. Kelley (the recently resigned RPS business administrator) with an assumption of negligence. They spoke consistently in an accusatory tone and their micromanagement made it impossible for these seasoned professionals to lead effectively.
On average, it takes eighteen months to replace a superintendent. Importantly, one of the first things that a candidate will do is view archived Board of Education meetings to better understand the community. Any candidate who views our recent BOE meetings, will see a hostile environment and board members who show disrespect, distrust and disregard of professional educators.
The damage done by these BOE representatives will have far reaching consequences to our schools and therefore to our community. I hope that you will email, come out on Monday and importantly, if you aren’t already, pay close attention to what is happening in our schools.
I will be sharing more information and details over the next few days but I wanted to get this message out as quickly as possible.
To email the BOE:
Dr. Daniel Fishbein, Superintendent of Schools, [email protected]
Mr. Michael Lembo, President, [email protected]
Ms. Hyunju Kwak, Vice President, [email protected]
Ms. Sheila Brogan, [email protected]
Mr. Saurabh Dani, [email protected]
Mr. Cristopher Kaufman, [email protected]
Thank you all for reading,
Stacey Loscalzo
A protest in front of the BOE offices will result in police overtime. Does this group have the requisite permit? Will they be getting a bill for police overtime as was the case in Englewood Cliffs?
Loscalzo has a personal axe to grind with Dani and Kwak because Dani and Kwak’s husband, Steve Kim, strongly opposed the Ridgewood Public Library’s expansion project. Loscalzo was or is Chairperson of The Ridgewood Library Foundation. Sour grapes. How about that.
PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE BOE MEMBERS COME IN ALL COLORS.
This is not about racism, this is about misguided short sighted management.
The new board members came into their positions with the intent to slash and burn the budget, if they had any leadership ability they would have pivoted when the pandemic hit RPS and saved their original agenda for later when the immediate threat had passed. In fact, if they had shown true leadership as board members they could have been seen as great leaders, instead they stuck to the agenda as pushed on them by the VOR council and haven’t wavered. This is not only poor leadership but adult bullying. Shame on anyone who calls racism!
As for calling the opposition “Karen”…. Today’s “Karen” is todays racist nickname, keep that in mind before you lump together a group of people based on gender and race.
Stacey Loscalzo you are a shameful disgrace. Absolutely disgraceful. What a bigot you are.
Stacey has told people that she prefers this change. Why two different personalities privately and publicly?
Another idiot
At least Stacey Loscalzo is willing to put her name on her comments… I continue to be astound at the venom on this site from people who won’t even sign their name.
What is Stacey trying to achieve here?
It’s such a shame this town elected these Dani and Steve Kim to the board
Regardless of Fishbein merits as superintendent, these two clowns have no business being on the board. The perfect storm of no in person campaigning, COVID, mail in voting and Facebook moderators flooding everyone’s feed.
We get what we deserve, a few Facebook trolls running the board just because they don’t like tire crumbs and the admin is sick of their constant foia requests over meaningless shit to feel self important.
How’s Dani and Kwak’s questioning of the superintendent different from that of jim Morgan or Cris koffman?
Excited to see him GONE!
Mr. Dani and Ms. Kwak ask questions in the spirit of their elected responsibilities….and the fearless leader suddenly becomes scared shitless…I fear change as much as the next person, but this one feels like it’s probably the right outcome for the Village. Fishbein has been smothered with conflicts of interest for years, so it’s no surprise his PhD training kicked in and guided his instincts to pull the rip cord before things got worse for him.
I also trust the Board will be equally as thorough and diligent in selecting the next Superintendent to help resurge our education system.
Whether you like it or not, this is “checks and balances” working at its finest…
Can we not call them “Karens” and just go back to “social sluts”? It really is a better descriptive term for this group.
I am as liberal as they come but not everything is about race. Sometimes people just disagree with other people based on viewpoints. Could just as easily say Dani and Kwak ask hard questions of Fishbein because they’re anti Semitic. My saying it doesn’t make it true anymore than your saying it is all about race making that true.
Another member of the wolf pack:
Mary Lou Whittaker
These members have not conducted themselves in a professional manner. There are better ways to disagree, question, suggest change. The tone, word choice and facial expressions of these members indicate that they don’t know understand the basic tenets of collaborative work. The BOE is not there to micromanage and bully their employees but that is what they are doing, week after week. Anyone watching the meetings could see this behavior escalating meeting after meeting. We all have the same goals for our schools. Some people do it professionally and others don’t. I have lived and had 5 children in the RPS since 1984. I have been actively involved in leadership positions in the HSA at Hawes and BF and have worked with every Superintendent and in various committees with many Board members. I have watched many many board meetings and presented numerous times But NEVER have I witnessed this kind of behavior by any elected officials. Please Ms Kwok and MR Dani do protect our schools, our financial health but not snipe and insinuate as you have. You are creating a leadership void in the midst of a pandemic. Dr Fishbein navigated uncharted waters and led the district to success! Isn’t this the measure of a leader?? No one of quality will take the job once they see how they will be treated upon hire!
Here’s a challenge! Sit down and Re-watch the recordings of these meetings WITH your children. Ask them what they think. Ask them if they think that you spoke kindly or did you bully good people. This is not the kind of behavior that should ever be acceptable in a civilized society. There was NO mandate by the electorate in the past election for the need to attack on Dr Fishbein and Ms Kelly.
The Board of Education, the women’s club, the real estate Group, Ridgewood news, upper management All sleep in the same bed.
Isn’t Stacey Loscalzo member of the newly formed group that’s providing consulting to Dr Fishebin on how to deal with BLM?
Is she worried that her consulting gig will end?
Aren’t liberals the most racist?
I skimmed everything above.
Where does Scarf Lady stand on with respect to the resignation….?
When you resort to name calling, you’ve lost the argument. Ridgewood, a village in turmoil.
The style of blowback protesting a simple resignation with ample notice provided is one reason fewer well-meaning, sincere residents apply or run to serve on unpaid boards and committees. When people with a Facebook account disagree with you, they post vicious slurs. It should not take the hide of a rhinoceros to serve, yet largely because of social media, it does.
“I am as liberal as they come but not everything is about race”
.
Then tell that to your people…. liberals make EVERYTHING about race AND make sure children are indoctrinated in this poison from Pre-School to death.
.
You’re going to miss “Scarf Lady. ” Ms. Brogan has done more volunteer time for this Village than you’ll ever know. Show a little respect.
It’s sad to see a district considered one of the best places to teach/learn/live succumb to such turmoil. The relationship between the BOE and Superintendent sets the tone for the district and enables, or disables, a Superintendent from leading effectively. The ripple effect is felt across the district. Questions by BOE members to Central Office are part of any leadership relationship. There are also numerous subcommittees of the BOE where issues can be resolved. As many of you have mentioned in your posts, the amount of energy, effort and passion required to run a district by a Superintendent is colossal without also having to face contentious relationships with the BOE. Unless there is gross misconduct or unethical/illegal behavior, it would seem more effective to attempt to rectify the concerns or create conditions that allow the Superintendent to resign/retire at the end of a school year. The BOE is sending the message that any new Superintendent should be concerned that disagreements will not be resolved with decorum and decency. Clearly, this well-respected Superintendent has had enough. It will be difficult to hire a Superintendent with his experience and one of his caliber. The Superintendent’s resignation, especially at this hour, may leave many feeling that they are on shaky ground. With a world already in chaos, my heart goes out to us all.
He resigned on his own accord, he wasn’t pushed or asked to resign. Only he knows the reason for his resignation. If it was because of a new Board’s treating him poorly, then his next employer needs to check to see if he has a pair of big boy pants in his wardrobe, because his Bd. meetings were really light-weight duty, comparatively to other similar Bd meetings in other districts. If he really (key word “really”) wanted to stay in his position, he would’ve worked just a bit harder and been a bit more politically savvy and he should’ve won over the Bd. No one on the Bd. was hostile or rogue, they were however matter-a-fact, and apparently he did not like t it and decided to leave. That’s a personal decision, and more power to him. Now for the public to make all sorts of conjectures on the reason for his leaving, that’s plain dumb. Just wish him well, people move on and change jobs all the time. It was obviously his time, on his own time-line to leave and find something else. To blame the Bd. is again, dumb. The Bd. now needs to be matter-a-fact in searching and hiring an interim and a permanent replacement. The public’s ability to swallow Dr. Fishbein’s decision, note it was his decision, and get on with the business of working with an interim right-away will go along way to keeping things running smoothly, as much as possible.
The word “dumb” was used three times in the above response. That speaks volumes about the lack of respect for another person’s perspective. I don’t think we would teach our children to state their opinion/perspective
by calling another person’s opinion, “dumb.” Instead, one might say, “I disagree with that position because of the following reasons….” Adding the word “dumb” is unkind. “Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me.”
“ I say this to Mr. Dani and Ms. Kwak – This isn’t a popularity contest. So, forget about the lynch mob now being organized by a bunch of mindless Karens. Most, if not all, didn’t even bother to vote; they probably didn’t even know there was a school board election taking place. Those of us who did vote chose the both of you by a large margin. Do what we tasked you to do. That is, provide the highest quality of education at the lowest possible cost. Get to work and take no prisoners. Thanks and good luck.”
Excellent post!!! Just excellent!
Liberals are babies. Can’t seal with life or doing the right thing.
2020 has tested everyone and no one has the perfect answer. The leaders of this community should be working together and lifting one another through this turmoil. If you aren’t putting small differences aside, than you shouldn’t be in your position.
The BOE is meant to be strategic, have oversite, and yes some checks and balances. However, Mr Dani asking “how often are the filters changed is micro-managing and unnecessary. Perhaps he wants to apply for the superintendent position. Perhaps he thinks it’s easy to manage 6000 students and all the teachers and all the parents, and the virus and everything else that comes along with managing the buildings, process and policies, and turf and field issues. Think about it.
Give Dr Fishbein some positive support as he’s trying to do the best damn job he can given the pandemic and unforseen circumstances.
Just saying