the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Due to the Governor’s Executive Order 104 citing the CDC’s recommendation for cancellation or postponement of gatherings of fifty or more people, the Regular meeting will be held utilizing videoconferencing.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The New Jersey Department of Education today issued clarifying guidance to allow parents to select fulltime remote learning for their children in the 2020-2021 school year.
Released last month, the Department’s guidance document, “The Road Back: Restart and Recovery Plan for Education,” emphasized that schools should prepared plans to open in some capacity for in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year. Since its release, the Department received feedback from many parents who wanted a greater voice in the decision-making process of whether their child should return to in-person learning. In addition, officials in some school districts called on the Department to release guidance to specifically allow for all-remote learning for those students.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewo0d NJ, Dr. Fishbein began by explaining that the primary concern when developing the reopening plan was the health and safety of our students and staff. Since districts are getting information from the Governor’s office and the Department of Education daily, everything is subject to change, and we need to be prepared to pivot at any time. The presentation, along with a link to a survey, will be embedded in a letter to parents which is being emailed on Tuesday, July 28. Transition to September was presented by Ms. Poelstra, who began by thanking the many stakeholders for their input and contributions to the development of the plan.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood BOE member Mike Lembo said in a Facebook post ,”The Ridgewood School Board has called for a Special Meeting this coming Thursday July 23rd at 5pm. The topic will be the school reopening plan for the district. We know that parents, teachers, and students have many concerns, questions, and comments on the issue. Please let your voice be heard, as we called this meeting for all of you.
The meeting is going to be held remotely, you can find the BOE Webcast link to the meeting on our website homepage. Members of the public can call in comments during the public comment period of the meeting or write-in comments online prior to, and during, the Board Meeting. These comments will be heard, but any offensive, lewd, or obscene language will not be tolerated. There will be two public comment portions, one at the beginning of the meeting and one at the end. Do not forget to mute your broadcast when speaking to minimize sound feedback and do not forget to identify yourself before speaking!This is a special meeting concerning the school reopening plan only, the regular Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday July 27th. Comments, questions, and concerns related to other issues besides the reopening will be more appropriate then.”
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Superintendent of Schools Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D. in his latest email commented on the summer facilities projects. Dr. Fishbein said , ” It is a busy summer for the district as we prepare for the reopening of school in September and complete a few facilities projects, including the Orchard School soil remediation, the remediation and replacement of the Gym 3 floor at Ridgewood High School, and the Stevens Field turf replacement. All three projects are underway, and I would like to provide a brief update on their status.”
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, As the US school year rapidly approaches, federal, state, and local government officials are working to develop and implement plans to resume classes. Proposals range from full-time, in-person classes to online/remote classes only, including a myriad of hybrid options in between. Much of the uncertainty and debate revolves around the direct risk to children and the role they play in community transmission. It is generally understood that children are at lower risk for severe COVID-19 disease and death than adults—although, certainly not zero risk—but it is much less clear how easily children transmit the infection to others, including adults or other high-risk individuals at home or in the community.
Continue reading Parents Weigh Return to In Person Classes , Remote Learning and Home Schooling
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to Tom Corley, an accountant and financial planner, who surveyed 233 wealthy individuals, mostly self-made millionaires, on their daily habits. He compared those answers to responses from 128 lower-earning individuals, or those with less than $35,000 in annual gross income.
Continue reading Lets Put Reading Back in the Forefront of Public Education
photos courtesy of Anne Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, a reader commented ,”They are in the process of ripping out the old turf at Stevens after a questionable process that Dr. Fishbein orchestrated. As a result of his misinformation to Board members, they went with a product that is inferior to other products offered at a competitive price with a firm with multiple law suits filed against them in New Jersey alone. I would have settled for the recent turf replacement which was installed at Maple Field as it was an improvement over RHS Stadium and now Stevens. I am not disappointed in Dr. Fishbein because I expected his poor behavior. I just don’t know why except it is a bad case of administrative obstinance: my way or the High way.”
Continue reading Ridgewood Board of Education Ignores Residents Goes Rogue with Steven Field
“Thiesen’s (and the entire One Village-One Vote cabal) argument that voting has to be moved out of the schools for safety is utter nonsense. AT Hawes, you enter the gym and do not even see or go near the children. At the High School there are gates preventing you from going beyond the polling place in the gym. Siobhan and others are just fear mongers. Their sole goal is to prevent citizens from voting on the Board of Education proposed budgets. These individuals hold the Board and Fishbein in such HIGH regard (they think they are infallible) that they want to deny citizens their legal right to vote on these budget proposals. This is Jeanne Thiesen who wrote on social media that she wanted to prevent certain individuals from speaking at BOE meetings to “filter” them out. She and all of them are controlling, insane, disturbed people.”
the staff of the Ridggewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Due to the Governor’s Executive Order 104 citing the CDC’s recommendation for cancellation or postponement of gatherings of fifty or more people, the Regular meeting will be held utilizing videoconferencing.
Public comments can be called in during the public comment period of the meeting by dialing:
Phone Number 646-558-8656
Meeting ID 839 6431 1444
Password: 856526
“You you think that some of these poster would have figured that out.“Among the demands are four specific ones, related to education in Ridgewood. But let’s march everywhere but in front of the Board of Ed.
I hope your Ridgewood parents are proud . Go to the twitter feed post above and you will more of this . @RW4BL
Ridgewood for Black Liberation
We are a group of RHS alum and Ridgewood residents who are committed to anti-racist work and non-hierarchical organizing in Ridgewood, NJ. #BLM ”
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Due to the Governor’s Executive Order 104 citing the CDC’s recommendation for cancellation or postponement of gatherings of fifty or more people, the Regular meeting will be held utilizing videoconferencing.
June 26, 2020
Dear Ridgewood School Community,
In a news conference this afternoon, Governor Murphy announced that the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) is releasing its guidance regarding the reopening of schools for the 2020-2021 school year. At this time, schools will be able to open in some capacity for in-person instruction; however, each district will develop plans to best meet its needs with the priority being the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff.
Continue reading Superintendent Plots Reopening of Ridgewood Schools
To the members of the Ridgewood Board of Education,
I am writing to implore you to change the decision you made last night, authorizing the installation of crumb rubber on Stevens Field.
I am completely supportive of the remediation of this heavily used field. I do not object to using artificial materials for this field (although in a perfect world I would prefer grass). But I am asking you to please use a product that is safer for the health of the children and the environment.
Continue reading Time to Rethink “Crumb Rubber” Turf at Stevens Field
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Village of Ridgewood is suing the Bergen County Board of Elections for rejecting 710 ballots from May’s vote-by-mail election, demanding the county review the tossed votes, which could have substantially changed the election results. Ridgewood residents cast around 5,400 ballots last month. The Village claims that voters were not notified if their ballots were rejected, and village authorities were not informed about the disqualifications until June 5, three weeks after the election.
Continue reading Village Attempts to Rewrite Election Results and School Budget Cuts with a Lawsuit
