>Today is election day for the Ridgewood Board of Education, and we are respectfully asking community members, including those who don’t usually vote, to take heed—this is no ordinary school board election. Our property values and quality of life are more at stake than ever before.
Our school district is at a threshold. To enter the 21st century means a substantive, adaptive change in the way we—as a nation of citizens—do business with our schools. Because of the technology explosion, districts are forced to open up communication with taxpayers exponentially.
There is no turning back. Yet thus far, there has been resistance from some administrators and school board members. Resistance leads to discord, and as many of you know, there has been great discord in this town concerning our schools, made public for all the world to see by the New York Times and NBC Nightly News, among other media.
As candidates, we, Sarah-Kate Maskin and Greg Lois, seek to: uncover underlying issues, question previous assumptions, raise the bar for our kids, unify the district, and heal the discord. Above all, we’re committed to helping guide our district onto a new path where honesty, full disclosure and transparency become the norm. We want a board where parents engage in two-way communication and where they are invited to step on the heretofore sacred soil of curriculum decisions. These are necessary changes that will allow taxpayers to gain assurance that Ridgewood’s sterling reputation will remain true.
The promise of transparency is an especially tall order, to be sure, but that’s because, as mundane as the word “communication” may sound, a two-way dialogue between school and community will mark a departure from the past and will empower taxpayers. Booker T. Washington said it best: “Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.”
We humbly seek your vote today. Allow us to serve our taxpayers with integrity, intellect, and hard work.
Sarah-Kate Maskin
Greg Lois
Candidates for The Ridgewood School Board
www.ourridgewoodschools.com
