Important Message from Superintendent of Schools
November 3, 2017
Dear Ridgewood Public School Community,
This week the Ridgewood High School Administration has been investigating a serious student incident that rose to the level of police involvement following a thorough, deliberate and confidential exploration of the facts. The incident involved the misuse of social media, destruction of school property and violence.
It is important to address and dispel rumors that are circulating in our community and to ask for your understanding that this issue, like all student issues that involve minors and are also part of a student’s record, is, and will remain, confidential. Just as we protect the privacy of your child’s record, we are compelled to do the same for all children involved in this incident. For this reason, we cannot comment on the episode or on the eventual outcome, but I do want to reassure you as both a parent and also as your Superintendent, that I trust the administration to act in the best interest of all the students involved, as well as the entire school community. Anyone found to be involved in this incident will be held accountable in an appropriate way, including possible legal proceedings, school discipline and/or counseling.
At this time, I would like to also remind you that the Ridgewood High School administration is very open and transparent whenever possible. Anyone who has attended their HSA meetings would agree to their openness to discussing difficult topics and issues that the high school administrators handle. When working with children, even young adolescents to young adults, serious incidents and not-so serious incidents occur. Ridgewood Public School administrators excel at dealing with every such situation with care, and while not everyone may agree on the outcome, I can assure you our administrators work toward resolution and a goal that students will learn from the experience.
To that end, the Ridgewood High School administration will use this recent incident to address “witness” behavior as a school community. It is highly unfortunate that the incident — which happened after school hours on district property — resulted in unnecessary and unacceptable violence. It is also disappointing that other students were present who videoed the incident rather than attempted to intervene in order to prevent physical harm.
I hope you now understand the need for confidentiality in this particular event and are also reassured that action has been taken and will continue as the police complete their investigation. The safety, protection and privacy of our students is a top priority.
Thank you for your support of the Ridgewood Public Schools.
Sincerely,
Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
All those who witnessed the incident and failed to call 911 but instead used their cell phones to video the beating should be charged as accessories.
So who will the mob of Facebook moms, bullies themselves (yes, look at some of your past rants ladies), be trying to lynch for this fiasco? Well Laurie?
Some of the trash talk and bile coming from some Ridgewood moms is stunningly loathsome.
Shame on our Village. I question why we must respect the confidentially of the poor character of those who chose to watch someone getting a beat down. Age is no excuse for this lack of basic decency. Not a tradition of excellence and not something we should ignore with the passage of time.
Was it really necessary to show the Super’s face?
The “misuse of social media” and “destruction of school property” are prioritized ahead of “violence?”. Get real Dan. Shows where your head is. How much are we paying you?
“Incident” must be the new fashionable word.
This is insane. Lock up the thugs who harmed this child.
This is insane. Lock up the thugs who harmed this child. No excuse for this kind Ind of violence is acceptable.
This is insane. Prosecute and lock up the thugs who harmed this child. This behavior is not acceptable in any civil society.
Is Dr. Fishbein speaking as we would like him to speak. Is he being transparent? Is he assuaging our concerns.
Or is the Record, with the article that just came out on what happened: that there was fight and a child is in the hospital with a fractured skull and may lose the sight of one eye, is the Record more transparent than Dr. Fishbein. Is the Record article appropriate.
Should Dr. Fishbein have just stated openly and forthrightly to the public what happened. Would that have been more or less transparent, appropriate.
The children who have not come forward as witnesses and who may have videos of the fight and who may have not intervened during the fight, is that behavior similar to Dr. Fishbein’s not being open about what happened.
Could children be learning violence and cowardice and fear of being open and honest from we adults.
School administration has no jurisdiction whatsoever with respect to the “misuse” of social media. In fact, there can be no “misuse” of social media with the exception of those uses clearly identified by established laws as being criminal in nature (for example, child pornography). All other uses are legal and protected by the United States Constitution. Got that Dan? Again, what’s your annual salary?
Laurie? Laurie who? You mean the former Ridgewood resident who fled to Chicago with her tail between her legs after being trounced in a school board election, but who’s still fixated with anything and everything happening in Ridgewood? That Laurie, or the other pontifical Laurie?
Who has two thumbs and is sick to death of P.C. virtue signalling?
People should not be so quick to judge and convict. There are always two sides to a story.
9:19 – The Superintendent can not and should not discuss an incident like this where students are involved. Maybe Boyd has pictures if you really need to know the dirty details.
12:06 You have got to be kidding! What possible excuse could be given for beating and permanently harming another individual? Did he maybe call someone’s precious baby a name? This was definitely a criminal action!
There are conflicting stories about who and what instigated the dispute that led to this prearranged fight so perhaps it’s best for the generally uninformed, myself included, to let the actual facts emerge before embracing or making accusations that may be false or even libelous.. This is after all the age of hasty reporting that sometimes lays out a storyline that is later change after proper investigation. As far as students attending and videoing, many seem shocked and disappointed by that circus like happening. Unfortunately this is the environment that our kids grow up in where social media is extensively used and sensationalized., a generation where UFC and Kardashian type entertainment reigns . Thankfully, some students appear to have interceded after the injured boy collapsed after a second punch landed .Here ‘s the reality : Fights, raging parties and hard drugs happen here in Ridgewood, most times they don’t lead to bad injuries, outcomes. or overdoses. When they do, there is a knee jerk reaction with much condemnation and efforts to place blame. .The only certainty right now is that we all should be praying for the injured boy to fully recover.
Did u c the video 12:06?
Your telling me not to judge after seeing that?
Are you that stupid?
This was not a” beatdown” …he almost killed the kid while YOUR kid was videotaping.
get your head out of your PC arse…one look and any fool can see that this POS needs to be delt with and you are not the one to do it.