Ridgewood NJ, Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium will host the next addition of the 2018-19 preliminary budget presentation, with final vote by the Board of Education on May 7. Public presentations are set for April 16 and May 7.Click here to view the 2018-2019 Preliminary Budget presentation, given at the March 20 Board of Education meeting. https://www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=13032001
Regular Public Meeting for the Ridgewood Board of Education will be May 7 2018 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM ,Board Room, 3rd Floor, Education Center.
Admittedly, we have been here since Jan 1971. When we moved in, the taxes were about half of what we now pay (and we thought they were very high then!). When we moved in Ridgewood was in the highest grouping in both national and state rankings. When we moved in there were approximately half the number of support staff. When we moved in, Ridgewood had some internal problems, Glen school had a Kindergarten teacher who actually told me “What did I do to deserve your child? She claims that kindergarten is for reading, writing, and arithmetic when the state law clearly states that that is not what kindergarten is for. I had a student just like her first semester and I had him promoted to first grade.” This was after I had already been told that both my first and second graders would have to be skipped because they were too far ahead of the comparable classes of Glen School students. And we came from an inner city public school! This is the point that the Ed center hired several “specialists” to make sure each school was learning the same material as the others. But the schools were far better then than now. Gifted and talented was a class in the grade schools–not now. Ridgewood has to spend so much time and money on special education that the gifted, and non-gifted, are given no extra challenges. Read the paper. Does Ridgewood participate in robots and all the other advance things that most of the area schools send students to compete in. Even the Debate team (if it still exists) never receives any recognition. Athletes, sure, but non-athletic competitions do not seem to exist any more. Yet our budget gets bigger and bigger with Ridgewood continuing to go down in almost every way. Our high school has decided one lunch period is sufficient. The cafeteria was designed for multi period uses and is too small for one lunch period. Kids actually eat sitting on hall floors. And we say we’re “excellent”?
The Board of Ed knew exactly what it was doing when they changed the election date. This totally removed the possibility of voters voting the budget down and released a wild spending spree on the part of the board. They are literally saying, “You can’t stop us. We can charge as much as we want.” If the money was being spent to evaluate some of the teachers, maybe it could be well spent. Years ago we were actually told by a teacher on back to school night–“I’m tenured, I can do whatever I want until I retire.” This was the answer to our question about what she was teaching. And throwing more money is not going to improve our county rankings, much less state and national, any more than it helps the schools in Paterson and Newark to just throw money at them. “Gilding the lily doesn’t make it an any better lily.” Is any of this money going to be used to improve the lunchroom situation? It is neither sensible nor sanitary to have students eating on the floor. The board should be forced to seriously reevaluate this budget and see what they can cut and what is being directed towards actual needs, not frills to make Ridgewood look better.
Ridgewood NJ, The next Regular Public Meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education will be held tonight Monday, March 19, 2018 at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be aired live on television, FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77, and streamed via the “Link in Live” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Meeting webcasts are generally posted to the district website within 48 hours.
Date and Time
March 19 2018 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Location Board Room, 3rd Floor, Education Center
Ridgewood NJ, The next Regular Public Meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education will be held on Monday, March 5, 2018 at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be aired live on television, FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77, and streamed via the “Link in Live” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Meeting webcasts are generally posted to the district website within 48 hours.
Calendar update: Due to the snow day used on January 4, Ridgewood Public Schools will be open on Friday, May 25.
March 5 2018 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Location Board Room, 3rd Floor, Education Center
Ridgewood NJ, The next Regular Public Meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education will be held on Monday, February 5, 2018 at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be aired live on television, FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77, and streamed via the “Link in Live” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Meeting webcasts are generally posted to the district website within 48 hours.
At all regular meetings, two opportunities are provided for citizens to make comments. The public comment periods will be scheduled after presentations and approximately 9:00 p.m. or just prior to the end of the meeting, whichever occurs first. The first opportunity may be limited by the presiding officer to conclude at about 8:00 p.m. in order for the Board to continue with its scheduled agenda. The second opportunity will occur at about 9:00 p.m. at the discretion of the presiding officer taking into consideration a break point in the agenda.
At every opportunity for public comment, citizens are invited to comment on subjects on the agenda or general topics.
At the discretion of the presiding officer, public comments may be permitted at other times.
Persons wishing to speak must, upon being recognized, rise, sign in, and state their names and addresses. Each speaker shall be limited to four minutes. The Board Recorder will note the time. A speaker who has not finished in the allotted time will be directed by the presiding officer to summarize quickly and relinquish the floor within 30 seconds.
Comments shall be limited to issues. If personal remarks or discourteous statements are made, the presiding officer shall require the speaker to stop. No person will be recognized for a second time until all others asking to speak have been heard.
Not having to place the school budget before the voters seems to mean that they now think they can do anything they want as there is no way to vote the budget down. That was a sneaky way to get control when all the town wanted was to save some money and get more voters out by combining the school board with a general election
Regular Public Meeting February 5 2018 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM Location Board Room, 3rd Floor, Education Center
Board Announcements
2018 Official Election Results
Candidates for Board – Three Year Term
Sheila Brogan: 2,766
Christina Krauss: 2,394
Personal Choice: 53
Total School Election Votes Cast: 7,175
2017-2018 School Calendar is Approved
Click here to open the 2017-2018 School Calendar, approved by the Ridgewood Board of Education on March 7, 2016.
I watched last night’s meeting. They were trying to figure out how to budget with the coming property tax situation in NJ. They were real concerned about health care premiums going up too.
The answer is staring them in the face: What other states do CONSOLIDATION. New Jersey will be forced into it. One school supt. per several towns, and so on for police, fire, and so on.
And you know what that is a good thing. It’s about time. Rutgers has been recommending for years. In fact all universities with town planning programs say that. Many states do. So pig greedy NJ. Let’s be good and nice not naughty and consolidate. You will be forced into it.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will be holding its regular public meeting December 18 2017 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM in the Board Room, 3rd Floor, Education Center.
At all regular meetings, two opportunities are provided for citizens to make comments. The public comment periods will be scheduled after presentations and approximately 9:00 p.m. or just prior to the end of the meeting, whichever occurs first. The first opportunity may be limited by the presiding officer to conclude at about 8:00 p.m. in order for the Board to continue with its scheduled agenda. The second opportunity will occur at about 9:00 p.m. at the discretion of the presiding officer taking into consideration a break point in the agenda.
At every opportunity for public comment, citizens are invited to comment on subjects on the agenda or general topics.
At the discretion of the presiding officer, public comments may be permitted at other times.
Persons wishing to speak must, upon being recognized, rise, sign in, and state their names and addresses. Each speaker shall be limited to four minutes. The Board Recorder will note the time. A speaker who has not finished in the allotted time will be directed by the presiding officer to summarize quickly and relinquish the floor within 30 seconds.
Comments shall be limited to issues. If personal remarks or discourteous statements are made, the presiding officer shall require the speaker to stop. No person will be recognized for a second time until all others asking to speak have been heard.
Ridgewood NJ, In a letter to Hopewell Valley Central High School parents this week, district Superintendent Thomas Smith spelled out his intention to propose a random drug-testing program for students next school year.
Given the events of the last few months some observers think it would be prudent for the Ridgewood School district to follow suit.
According to NJ.COM , The proposed plan comes after officials at the Hopewell Valley Central High School saw an increase in students under the influence of marijuana, prescription drugs and alcohol, he said. Smith also said the district has discovered middle school students under the influence.
During the 2015-16 school year, seven students violated the substance abuse policy, and in the 2016-17 year, the number rose to 24.
Under the proposed policy, a student who tests positive under the random test would not receive the current academic suspension, “but rather alternatives that focus on prevention such as meeting with the Student Assistance Counselor (SAC) and attending and completing an Early Intervention Program,” Smith wrote.
Superintendent Thomas Smith claimed that no test results would initiate criminal charges or an investigation. The district will not share test results with any law enforcement agency.
The policy would apply to all students in grades 9-12 who are in any extra-curricular or co-curricular activities, or any student who holds a permit to park on school property.It will also apply to any student who voluntarily elects to the program with parental consent.
Strange letter from our great communicator. What is he saying? About forgiveness. Should we forgive him for that Alice in Wonderland mad queen letter about the INCIDENT that has no name and that we should not talk about even to ask what happened. Should we forgive him for not saying one word, no response, to the anxious and desperate residents of Ridgewood at board of ed meeting when parents pleaded questions to him about what happened and how and if school faculty is going to address the student body as a whole, the student body many of whom do not know what happened and many of whom are frightened. Should we forgive Fishbein for letting his mouthpiece, board of ed president accuse the concerned , anxious residents of Ridgewood for insulting himself and Fishbein for asking relevant questions, sincere from the the heart questions about the unnamed incident, at board of ed meeting. Or should perhaps a competent communicator be the new school Supt. of Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ, at the Monday night school board meeting , the Ridgewood Board of Educations was once again challenged by parents on the perceived lack of action on what some parents are calling a bullying epidemic at Ridgewood schools.
The school seemed unable or unwilling to confront the issue. The Board continues to claim they are following the anti bullying policy , but recent events would fail to confirm that . The school board maintains that bullying is not an issue at Ridgewood Schools, while recent events again suggest otherwise . Parents as well as students seem to lost confidence in the BOE on this issue .
If the parents and the School Board would limit their dreams to what is NECESSARY to get a good education, the taxes for schools would be reduced. Kids don’t care about windows (except to look through them when they are bored in class.) nor golden fixtures in their bathrooms. If the fixtures work, leave them until one actually needs fixing. (and the new low-water toilets develop problems much sooner than the older ones did. Particularly in costly water leaks.) The furnaces are obviously not being fed coal, so leave them alone. Small repairs can usually fix anything that is wrong with them. Concentrate on hiring good teachers, not an excess of “support staff”, and all would be well in our system. (Which has fallen from high national ratings to mediocre state ratings in the time we’ve been here and support staff has increased drastically!)
I couldn’t believe my ears, at last board of ed meeting where parents screamed about lack of communication about the “INCIDENT.”
Fishbein went through the schools with powerpoint and pointed that they want the taxpayers to come up with MILLIONS of dollars to upgrade the windows and bathrooms and other cosmetic fix ups , so the kids can have a good environment in which to work, words like appealing, good condition, safe. ( only justified change I thought was new fire alarm system at high school if really needed, it would cost over 100K if I remember correctly)
Hey, Fishbein , how about being able to communicate properly to parents during a crises.
So what about not allowing kids to bring in Smart Phones and text while class is going on, Fishbein. Apparently only one teacher has that rule in a German Class, I think it was middle school. Kids have to put Smart phone on shelves during class.
What about teaching about Social Media dangers. Maybe that would provide a safe and appealing environment.
NO MONEY SHOULD BE SPENT ON THESE COSMETIC CHANGES. IF A TOILET WORKS KEEP IT. IF WINDOWS ARE NOT BROKEN KEEP THEM. LUX schools are UNNECESSARY
MANY GREAT INTELLECTUALS , writers, scientists, did not have Lux schools and they did great things. Stop this materialistic nonsense and get to work teaching values.
Question: What do you call a person who rushes to the scene of an unfolding fight, starts recording video and still images of same without otherwise getting involved or trying to de-escalate the situation or protect the person who lost the fight?
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Answer: A reporter!
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The district wants to restrict the spread of facts. It does not want the truth of the matter to be revealed. It is now scrambling to literally bully and thresten all students from telling their parents or the news media what they know, or from showing the fight video to anyone the district doesn’t want to see it.
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Law enforcement in Las Vegas was busy confiscating concert-goers’ cell phones in the immediate aftermath of the Mandalay Bay shooting. Why did they do this? To delete any and video of the “incident” from those cell phoned so they could take control of the “narrative”, and start spreading disinformation and propaganda. This cap has got to stop.
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