the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Monday October 29, the League of Women Voters in Ridgewood will host a candidates night debate for the Ridgewood School Board .
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Board of Education appears to have violated the Open Public Meetings Act. On Thursday, October 25, 2018 a special public meeting was called with NO notice appearing anywhere , not even a mass email was sent out to parents and guardians . The Agenda appeared on the board web site 48 hours in advance, yet the BOE appeared to discuss non related items that were not listed on the agenda.
Continue reading Ridgewood Board of Education Violated the Open Public Meetings Act ?
Loncto absolutely has to go. He is so condescending. He is trying to act like a totally agreeable guy now that THANK GOD we have a candidate running against him. But do not be fooled. Loncto is large and in charge and he wants no one to get in the way of his super intelligence. He absolutely is opposed to having us vote on the budget. Believe me, he is only saying he will support it because he wants to get reelected. he will flip on this be certain.
To my fellow residents,
I feel there is currently a disconnect between the board, teachers and residents and a lack of transparency from the board. The Board of Education budget is 65% of our property taxes and spending has increased by over 30 million dollars in the last ten years. It is critical to control spending by sharing services with the Village and working with the Village Council in an effort to stabilize or reduce spending. I want to make sure we are working as one community, the Board of Education and the Village Council should be working together and sharing purchasing opportunities, maintenance costs, security and any other costs that can be shared in an effort to reduce spending.
Continue reading Cristopher Kaufman Makes His Case for the Ridgewood Board of Education
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the President of the Ridgewood School Board Vincent Loncto commented on the Ridgewood blog , yesterday Saturday October 20th ,
“I am Vincent Loncto. I want to let the readers know that I have publicly stated that I am in support of moving the Board oF Education vote to April, and enabling the public to vote of the school district budget. Whoever wrote that I am against that is utterly wrong.”
file photo by Boyd Loving
Given SALT deductions are now limited to $10,000 for property taxes, shouldn’t the Council and BOE be aware that the vast majority of Ridgewood residents have seen an effective tax INCREASE and be looking for ways to reduce the burden? Realized sales values suggest home values will need to decline in the next assessment, so unless they jack up the mill rate, municipal tax revenue levels are unsustainable?
The obvious answer to your questions is No and No. Town members care, but the people in charge act like we don’t exist –so nobody is there, and they all have soundproof earplugs–so nobody cares! They have set up an impenetrable wall between themselves and the voters. They only pretend to care when it is nearing the elections. They pretend to listen to villager complaints but continue on their merry way with excessive spending on ANY project that ANY ONE thinks they’d like to see in Ridgewood. We can’t just vote them all out because they take their turns at election time. Nobody who seems to have a brain in their heads and some financial awareness wants to run. Who wants to take on all the personal attacks they would be subjected to if they try to contradict any of the rotten ideas presented? I am afraid that no-one with a brain or financial ability will stay/or move to Ridgewood.
Board – REA contract update
October 10, 2018
Dear Ridgewood Public Schools community:
On Tuesday, October 9, 2018 the Negotiations Committee of the Ridgewood Board of Education (RBOE) and the Ridgewood Education Association (REA) agreed to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for a three-year contract July 2018 – June 2020.
During the next several weeks the RBOE and REA will work to finalize the salary guides before the MOA is voted on by the entire REA membership and then voted on by the entire RBOE.
The terms and conditions will be made public after both sides ratify the contract.
I thank both parties for working hard to make the MOA a reality.
Sincerely yours,
Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
The Ridgewood School administrators surely can’t stop everything, but as this blog has correctly reported in the last week, bullying and Cyberbullying has been rampant in the Ridgewood schools by students and athletes for a decade under this administration. When will they be held accountable?
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, First Coffee & Conversation of the school year is today October 10th. Residents are invited for casual conversation with the Board of Education and Superintendent Dan Fishbein on Wednesday night, October 10. The coffee will be brewing at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, from 7-8:30 p.m. for the first of two Coffee and Conversation nights this school year. Residents are invited to drop by with questions, suggestions and concerns about school-related topics of interest.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Board of Education once again appears to be pretending to be open to public input while their mind have already been made up on an issue . The Board for years has stonewalled residents and has demonstrated that they are far more interested in placating their NJEA masters. Lets face it a budget vote would remind residents every year that the school budget is 2/3 of their tax dollars and that at $110,000,000 it is an enormous . The Board appeared to be tone deaf and was also accused of violating the open public meeting act or at lest actively trying to circumvent it. .
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to Ridgewood resident Saurabh Dani , “The board members said today at the open public meeting, in their presentation, that next board election will be in April 2020, BY LAW. They did not quote which law when trying to extend their term by 6 months from Nov 19 to April 20.Well, here is the law (they are ignoring the induction schedule requirements):
If a district moves from a November election back to an April election, then pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:60-1.1 (b)(2) the election of board members goes back to April, therefore the current school board members would have a shorter term in the year of change due to the induction schedule of the members elected at the April election.
Continue reading Ridgewood Board of Education Misquotes Law on Current Members Terms
The cash river spend-a thon that has been flowing downhill from the VC on Raised Garage Bonding ,,centralized parking valets ala carte , skyjacking the parking rates and times ….blow up the train station parking for invisible compact cars that don’t exist in the
1000 dollar permit club up there …has everyone muscling in on the spend a thon…including rumors of a PAC no less..
Can’t make this up….meantime castle homes up in highlands are not selling and prices soft…Ie Tax re-evaluations requests for tax rate adjustments to come..
less cash in the VOR ACCOUNTS..PERFECT STORM..PS SCHOOL BUDGET 110 Million and growing . Houston..we have a problem ….reply : RESTRAINT ..voyagers..
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ,The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, October 8th , 2018. The Board meets at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, at 7:30 p.m. to 10pm .
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.
Don’t miss an opportunity to voice your opinion on “School Board Elections ” and the “School Budget Vote ” , the BOE often uses the excuse that there is limited public participation at School Board Meetings .
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Board of Education Public Meeting , October 8 2018 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM , at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place .
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood School Board Vice President Jim Morgan , tells the Ridgewood Blog in an email , “You might also find the language in the September 17 resolution of interest. Nowhere does it take a position on the date of the school election. It only seeks discussion. Here is the link to the District website that contains the approved resolution”
He also forwarded us an article from North Jersey media , “Ridgewood weighs moving school elections yet again” https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/ridgewood/2018/10/02/ridgewood-nj-could-move-school-elections-yet-again/1436010002/ Rather telling headline don’t you think?
Which all begs the question if you are not trying to take away residents vote on the Ridgewood School Budget ($110,000,000) why has the Board of Education invited the public and members of the Village Council to attend its Oct. 8 and Nov. 5 meetings for a discussion?
