Photo courtesy of Steve Kim
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, at the Monday Ridgewood Board of Education meeting The proposed extra credit policy was reviewed .
Ridgewood Schools New Extra Credit Policy
Tag: BOE
“consistently pulls the curtain back to tell us what “the wizards of Oz” are REALLY doing!”
“Mr. Kim spends a lot of time documenting whatever he presents. Wish the Council, School board, and Library had enough sense to do the same. They seem to just pull abstract ideas out of the air and then stick to them as if they were the Gospel truth–circular stairway? Unneeded garage located in an area where it will be only used by commuters and the owners of the new condos which come with no way nearly adequate parking? The above mentioned groups can’t stand him as he consistently pulls the curtain back to tell us what “the wizards of Oz” are REALLY doing!”
Readers Debate $111 Million School Budget Vote
“We forfeit the right to vote on any budget within the annual state caps. That is not the same as “completely losing the right to vote on the budget.” You lose the chance to vote on budgets with small increases. Is the budget more than a 2% increase? Then we vote even if we move the election. When was the last budget voted down? What happened then? The council removed the cost of two May elections ($100k) from the budget and sent it back to the BOE. More voters = more voices = greater representation of the community. Why are you Mayday voters so afraid to have more people vote for BOE?”
or
“Its same as completely losing the right, the past process without vote didn’t seek residential inputs and ignored calls to correct glaring gaps, this time due to budget vote the process was more transparent, so it’s not just ‘when was the budget voted down’, someone will leave the town to be just run by elected officials without resident oversight, either if they are naive, indifferent or part of the gravy chain”
Member claims ,”One Village One Vote” is willing to have a reasonable discussion of the issues
Matt Lindenberg says ,”I don’t know anyone on the BOE, and I’m not familiar with an RPDP. I’m just a private concerned citizen who respectfully believes that we’re better served when we hold our local elections in November when there is a demonstrated history of significantly higher turnout. My opinions are my own, and not pushed by the BOE or REA.
I know there are those who disagree, and I respect that. I’m willing to have a reasonable discussion of the issues if folks are willing to identify themselves (as I continue to do here) and chat like neighbors.”
Special Education Litigation Could Impact Ridgewood Schools
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Federal Department of Education has ordered New Jersey to revise their special education due process system within three months. This comes on the heels of complaints that the system in New Jersey for special education cases takes too long, costs too much money, is biased with some feeling it is biased towards school district and others saying it is biased towards families.
Continue reading Special Education Litigation Could Impact Ridgewood SchoolsReader asks “Why Lan Associates ? “
Not on this subject, but if you’re planning to”follow the money” Lan company is an even bigger no bid–which is technically not correct because some company offered a contract thousands and thousands of dollars cheaper than Lan–because they bid only on true NEEDS– and were turned down. Lan was actually paid by the “Powers that Be” to look over the schools and see what we can possibly spend money on (actually stated as “determination of what is needed in our schools.”) So Lan wrote up every single thing they could possibly dream up and declared it all needed (for all we know they even added in old fashion pencil sharpeners and “Bouquet of chalk” so they could cover every thing imaginable to man). The first Honest Company was rejected because they fulfilled the demands of the bid while Lan was totally off the wall. “Money Makes the World Go Round” must have been written for Ridgewood. But try to trace it!
Reader Goes Off on the Idea of “Buying Extra Credit”
After watching the video, I was dismayed at our Superintendent’s ingenious explanation of “extra credit” as not an “academic credit” but merely a reward for the “most boxtops, etc” turned in. A reward benefits the class and they do “get something extra but it is NOT A HIGHER GRADE!” He also states “that extra credit has been awarded for decades” which is an accurate statement only if you do not count “extra credit” as a grade point issue. He is trying to pass it off as “One of those things that has always been done”. by including class rewards THAT DO NOT INCLUDE GRADE POINTS but are merely “rewards”.
Continue reading Reader Goes Off on the Idea of “Buying Extra Credit”Christina Krauss is Resigning from the BOE
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, at last nights BOE meeting board member Christina Krauss just announced that she’s resigning from the BOE on July 29th because she’s relocating to Florida in August.
Ridgewood Schools Superintendent Admits description of buying extra credit was accurate
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Regarding the alleged incident in which extra credit was denied to a RHS student one day, then offered the next day to her entire class in conjunction with the purchase of a $20.00 ticket to the Bergenfest Music & Arts Festival (scheduled to be held at BFMS on June 29 – following the conclusion of the school year),
Continue reading Ridgewood Schools Superintendent Admits description of buying extra credit was accurateRidgewood Board of Education will hold its next Regular Public Meeting on Monday, June 3, 2019
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold its next Regular Public Meeting on Monday, June 3, 2019. The Board meets at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 7:30 p.m.
The public is welcome to attend the meeting, or to watch from home on Fios channel 33 or Optimum channel 77. Meetings are also streamed via the “BOE Webcast” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us.
Meeting webcasts are immediately available on the district website.
New legislation would clarify the length of Terms for Schools Trustees when the annual school board election is moved from November to April
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, New legislation from Trenton sponsored by Rep. Louis Greenwald [D]would clarify the length of Terms for Schools Trustees when the annual school board election is moved from November to April to give taxpayers a chance to vote on School budgets .
Continue reading New legislation would clarify the length of Terms for Schools Trustees when the annual school board election is moved from November to AprilReader says ,”Paying ANY money for ANY–no matter how few– grade points is morally wrong and totally unethical”
” Paying ANY money for ANY–no matter how few– grade points is morally wrong and totally unethical. If students have to be bribed with grade points to do the things that they SHOULD be doing because it is an added educational value is really SICK. Extra points have always been been awarded for extra effort. Paying money for extra credit and not even having to prove they actually went to the event in question is pure bribery. Many of our Ridgewood families can buy anything they want (were any on the unreleased lists of those who bought their child’s college admission?) but that probably means they didn’t even bother to go. For free grade points? Many of our spoiled brats would rush to get in line to purchase–NOT EARN–grade points. Fortunately for Ridgewood and the world, many parents encourage their children to do the right thing. These students are all out-standing in many ways and we are fortunate to have them. And we are also very fortunate to have parents who will stand up to the almost guaranteed nasty pay-back and state when they see something that is not correct. The School Board should actually be happy to have something other than: “Poor–name– is being picked on by his teacher and the teacher just won’t–select one or more–give him a good grade, let him be a starter in sports, not send him to detention, etc. etc. This attitude has been around for years but it’s getting considerably worse now. And buying grades is just a result of that–the teacher can raise any purchasers’s grade to please the parents while not requiring any effort being put into it. “
Reader says when someone says , “something should not be brought to the attention of authorities” it means just the opposite
“whenever someone says “something should not be brought to the attention of authorities” it means just the opposite, that the issue should be brought to authorities, and firings are in order and policy changes are in order.
As American Citizens we the people have the right to bring anything to authorities any issue we are concerned about. And we should bring ANYTHING WE WANT to any authority.
ever hear of a WHISTLE BLOWER? I bet you hate those, right Joe. I bet you hate consumer advocacy Joe. I bet you hate all investigations that uncover fraud and corruption and hidden abuse and violence. “
Reader says,”The very fact that students presumably got a break on their grades by merely buying a ticket is horrible”
“How did May 22 determine that “there was no selling of grades”? Did they actually check with the students in that class or the teacher him/herself? Many above responses were in the line of “So what?” and stating this was a common practice in the schools. The very fact that students presumably got a break on their grades by merely buying a ticket is horrible. The whole concept is totally wrong but if you are actually doing these kind of things regularly–and as above writers stated “The student accomplished a learning experience for which they should get raises in their grades because they did something educational”–without a sign in and sign out sheet, how can anyone know they were actually there? After reading this column it is easy to see how those who were rich enough could see no wrong in buying their child’s way into college. It started young by “buying grades” in earlier school situations. I do admit that many students have bought their way into many schools by their parents buying a building or making a huge contribution to the school in which entrance is desired. I see no way to stop this but paying someone to “get the student into the school” was obviously set up by someone who wanted to pocket the money rather than having it go directly to the schools. Where our son went to school the Chairman of the board was the head of a huge corporation and had 5 children–4 of whom went to that school but the 5th was turned down as the school felt she would be unable to keep up with the requirements. Where is that honesty today? “
Reader claims Extra Credit Ticket , ” teacher is Gorman’s niece”
” I have spoken with the parent. She DID go to the teacher. Then she went to the department head. Got nowhere. Then she went to Gorman and Nyhuis. Again, got nowhere. Told them she felt unheard and had no where left to go then to the BOE. She followed every guideline the school gives on how to proceed. This could have ended so easily if those at all the meetings had just said they would look into it and look into policy. But they didn’t. And I have been in meetings like this as well with that administration. They don’t listen, and I’m sure legally cannot ever say anything at all. So they nod and make you feel unheard. This woman was not asking for extra points for her daughter’s grade- she couldn’t care less if her daughter got the one point she wanted by doing extra credit- she told her daughter to respect the teacher’s decision. But when on the VERY NEXT DAY the teacher offered extra credit for attending BergenFest, which was not even in that marking period, the s*&t hit the fan. PLUS FYI the teacher is Gorman’s niece!!! “
