JULY 3, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2015, 8:56 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
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Housing projects would increase school enrollment
To the Editor:
It was hard to read the report in The Ridgewood News of July 26 (“Parents question increase in class sizes,” page A1) of classes with 24 children and the inability of the school board to guarantee that children will be placed in schools close to their homes, without marveling at the recent arrogance of the Ridgewood Planning Board in totally disregarding the concerns and testimony of taxpayers in this regard by passing the high-density zoning for which developers clamored.
These issues go hand in hand. The notion that school-age children will not cascade into these developments is ludicrous. Board of Education President Sheila Brogan is quoted in the article as saying, “Unlike surrounding towns, Ridgewood tends to support more students in our school districts.” Yet, as a proponent of the development on Broad Street, this obvious fact was nowhere in evidence.
The town can only hope that the full council is more attuned to the tremendous costs in traffic, taxes and school crowding that high-density projects will engender. Save the Village. Do not adopt this disastrous recommendation.
Patricia R. Kruger
Ridgewood
Of course ot will. They think that by ignoring the problem it will go away.
The developers have done their research and say that high-density housing will NOT increase school enrollment . . . . yeah, right.
Just the facts please ma’am, and here they are:
A massive fire at a high density multi-family housing complex in Edgewater this past January destroyed 240 of the complex’s 408 units.
According to nj.com, the Edgewater Public School district reported that there were 165 students in grades pre-K through 12 residing in the complex at the time of the fire. 115 of the 165 attended pre-K through 6th grade, while the remaining 50 were enrolled in high school and middle school.
So how is it that developers in Ridgewood expect no increase in school enrollment?
https://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2015/01/the_150_kids_displaced_by_edgewater_fire_have_options_superintendent_says.html