Tag: BOE

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Ridgewood school board trustees question adding administrators

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Ridgewood school board trustees question adding administrators

MAY 16, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER

Administrative work is rising, but so are district costs and taxes.

Because of this Catch-22, some Board of Education (BOE) members are at odds over a proposal, made by Superintendent Daniel Fishbein at last Monday’s BOE meeting, to hire two new administrators to supervise science and special education.

Ultimately, Fishbein wants to reinstate all seven administrative positions lost during budget cuts several years ago. This would include the two positions proposed for next year, two that would be proposed for 2015-2016 and the three administrators hired last year: Ryan Kenny, the new technology manager; Dara Gronau, supervisor of English for grades 6-12; and Jean-Anne O’Neill, supervisor of elementary education. All three receive a salary of $130,000.

BOE trustee Jim Morgan said he believes that the district is operating successfully without the additional administrators, who would add fixed costs to the already-tight budget. Morgan noted that in recent years, when the superintendent has presented the district’s proposed budgets, he has highlighted Ridgewood’s relatively high number of students per administrator while emphasizing Ridgewood’s relatively low costs per student, in comparison to other similar districts’ costs.

“I have serious reservations about the proposal,” Morgan said. “First is the funding. These two positions, which were envisioned last year, were not included in the budget. We’ve spent no time explaining to the community why we want to expand the administrative ranks by two people, which will cost us in excess of $300,000 a year.

“I don’t really fully understand the need,” he said. “We’re continuing to highly perform.”

Fishbein, who proposed to pay for the positions with “breakage” (the differential between the costs of a more highly paid retiring employee and a new hire), justified the positions by pointing to rising administrative work.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/trustees-questionadding-supervisors-1.1017421

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Reader says Ridgewood pays 29.10% more for education than the national average

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Reader says Ridgewood pays 29.10% more for education than the national average

National average cost per student for public education – about $12,743 per public school student. – https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66

Ridgewood 2010-11 Costs Amount per Pupil: $16,456 – https://www.nj.gov/cgi-bin/education/csg/12/csg.pl

Ridgewood pays 29.10% more for education than the national average,

Our residents do not make 29.10% more than national average wage to live here! This is what happens when teachers unions have the state in a stranglehold. Residents are leaving NJ because of high education costs Who will be left here to pay the taxes?

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Reader says If you want to truly save tax dollars, reduce the school budget.

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Reader says If you want to truly save tax dollars, reduce the school budget.

Its one of the nicer things about Ridgewood.
I’m tired of the new residents bitching about the nice things here, like the Paid Professional Firefighters, and rear yard trash pickup.
They come here, raise our taxes with these foolish school budgets, million dollar artificial turf sports fields, 10 million dollar horse farms (turned into sports fields) then beat feet out of town after their last kid graduates RHS, leaving the rest of us to foot the tab.
If you want to truly save tax dollars, reduce the school budget.
A good first start is larger class sizes, and shift medical ‘benefits’ to a bare-bones plan

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School budget elections disappearing in New Jersey

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School budget elections disappearing in New Jersey

April 12, 2014, 11:28 AM Last updated: Saturday, April 12, 2014, 11:28 AM
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Just a few years ago, April school elections were a key date on New Jersey’s political calendar, the time most of the state’s voters had — but ignored — the chance to say yes or no to property tax increases.

Now, the only-in-New Jersey votes hardly exist.

Just 26 of the state’s 585 school districts will hold elections April 23. That’s 15 fewer than last year.

The change is a result of a law that, starting in 2012, allowed schools to save money and duck public outrage by moving school board elections to November and scrap votes on the tax levy. School budgets are the biggest component of New Jersey property tax bills, which average more than $8,000, the highest in the nation.

The conversion has been faster than expected, and it has come without much complaint.

Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, said his group doesn’t believe the school budgeting process has changed much because the direct vote on tax levies associated with school budgets is a thing of the past in most communities.

The budgets, he says, are still subject to a cap on how much administrative expenses can grow, still get reviewed by state education officials and are still subject to public hearing. And those that call for property tax increases of about 2 percent still must be voted on — unless the bigger increases are because of certain exceptions.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/school-budget-elections-disappearing-in-new-jersey-1.938920#sthash.zbWpmLqc.dpuf

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Ridgewood council members, school board trustees talk taxes

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Ridgewood council members, school board trustees talk taxes

APRIL 10, 2014    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2014, 2:46 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER

After receiving a short presentation on next year’s preliminary school budget, members of the Village Council questioned the Board of Education (BOE) on Monday about “efficiencies” and expressed an interest in more collaboration to potentially save taxpayers money.

District officials, meanwhile, highlighted the high performance level of Ridgewood’s schools and several already-existing fiscal efficiencies, while noting that Ridgewood’s school district receives relatively little state aid in comparison to poorer districts.

The two elected bodies have collaborated in several ways in the past year. In September, the council confirmed that the district owned Heermance Place and could therefore reserve it for Ridgewood High School faculty parking. In February, the council extended a smoking ban in village parks to sidewalks outside of BOE properties (including fields and schools). Now, the council is also discussing the potential of allocating the district a police officer specifically entrusted to the schools, known as a school resource officer, or SRO.

After Monday’s budget presentation in the BOE building, some council members, all of whom but Councilman Tom Riche were present, suggested there may be future ways to increase the district’s efficiency. Last year, the council managed to present taxpayers with a flat budget increase, and is working on doing the same this year. Ridgewood’s school budget for next year, which accounts for about two thirds of residents’ property taxes, includes a 1.908 percent local tax levy increase.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/ridgewood-council-members-school-board-trustees-talk-taxes-1.898582#sthash.Dfi1OmS6.dpuf

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Reader says The schools are going to have to become more efficient, and offer less.

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Reader says The schools are going to have to become more efficient, and offer less.

Talk to the Prinipals at the various schools. They will tell you that the cap on the budget is starting to have real effects on what they can do. The BOE “budget” is already “subsidized” by hundreds of thousands of dollars a year (if not more) from individual, activity and sports related fund raising that goes on from the elementary, middle school, and high school levels. Fees for supplies, field trips, classroom upgrades, etc….all of which used to be “in the budget” are now additional costs. With a 2% maximum increase in the budget and something like annual 1.5% salary raises and continued rising costs in health care, the end effect is going to be “cuts.” And those cuts are going to have to come from a lot of different places. Cuts to administrators, cuts to teachers, cuts to programs, cuts to class offerings, cuts to drives ed, cuts to athletics, etc…. The schools are going to have to become more efficient, and offer less.

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Ridgewood administrator details Common Core standards

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Ridgewood administrator details Common Core standards

MARCH 27, 2014    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014, 3:32 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER

Fresh off the heels of Indiana’s announcement on Monday that it would be the first state to formally drop the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for math and language arts, about 100 parents attended the district’s presentation on the standards on Tuesday night at Orchard School.

And in spite of all the looming national agitation, most parents appeared to leave feeling much less concerned about the initiative.

The presentation highlighted what the district believes are the many positive aspects of the CCSS, including its professed aim to improve the ability of U.S. students to compete globally.

Ridgewood father James Giordano stood up to leave at the tail end of the presentation and made an announcement.

“I came here to this meeting very pessimistic … This is very encouraging. I’m very pleasantly surprised,” he said.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/ridgewood-administrator-details-common-core-standards-1.752820#sthash.hyZ03XBv.dpuf

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BOE MEETS MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2014

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BOE MEETS MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2014

The next Regular Public Meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education will be held on Monday, March 17, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.

The public is invited to attend the meeting at the Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3. The meeting will be aired live on FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77. Or it may be viewed live via the district website atwww.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the “Link in Live” tab.

Click here to view the agenda for the March 3, 2014 Regular Public Meeting.

Click here to view the webcast of the March 3, 2014 Regular Public Meeting.

2014-2015 Budget Information

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Daniel Fishbein has announced three public presentations on the 2014-2015 school budget. The presentations will offer residents the opportunity to hear the budget details and ask questions of the superintendent, business administrator and Board of Education members.
The 2014-2015 school budget presentations will be offered as follows: Thursday, April 10 at 1 p.m. at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3; Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. at Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium, 335 North Van Dien Avenue; and Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. at George Washington Middle School Auditorium, 155 Washington Place.
Taking effect this year, the Ridgewood Board of Education has opted to move the annual school board elections from April to November, thereby eliminating the public vote on the proposed general tax levy if it is at or below the statutory tax levy cap. Since next year’s proposed budget falls within the mandated cap, it will not be put to public vote.
The Board will continue to discuss the proposed budget at upcoming regular public meetings on March 17, April 7 and April 28. Residents are welcome to attend these meetings and speak at the public comment portion of the agenda. The Board is expected to approve the final budget at its Regular Public Meeting on Monday, April 28.

Click here to view the Preliminary 2014-2015 Budget Presentation presented at the March 3, 2014 Regular Public Meeting.

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First draft of Ridgewood school budget keeps increase under 2 percent

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First draft of Ridgewood school budget keeps increase under 2 percent

MONDAY MARCH 10, 2014, 4:06 PM
BY  LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The school district’s spending plan for the 2014-2015 school year features a local tax hike of 1.9 percent, the lowest increase for a Ridgewood school budget in the past 10 years.

The budget features a $86,223,037 local tax levy – a $1,614,402 increase over last year, which required a 2 percent property tax increase, Business Administrator Michael Falkowski said. The proposed tax levy for 2014-2015 amounts to about $172.09 more in property taxes for a resident with the average assessed home value of $688,358, he said.

The preliminary budget, which Falkowski presented to the Board of Education (BOE) on Monday, is now available on the district website. The budget “maintains existing district staff, academic offerings, extra-curricular activities and transportation,” he said, and “improves upon instruction” while meeting “our contractual obligations.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/249330882_First_draft_of_Ridgewood_school_budget_keeps_increase_under_2_percent.html#sthash.vAMRbiDC.dpuf

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COFFEE, ANYONE? CASUAL CONVERSATION WITH THE BOE AND SUPERINTENDENT IS MARCH 12

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COFFEE, ANYONE? CASUAL CONVERSATION WITH THE BOE AND SUPERINTENDENT IS MARCH 12

Maybe you’re interested in learning about school security and safety. Perhaps you have concerns about iPads in the classroom. Possibly state testing results or the budget is on your mind. Superintendent Dan Fishbein and Board members Sheila Brogan, Christina Kraus, Michele Lenhard, Jim Morgan and Vince Loncto want to hear from you.  Residents are invited to drop in for Coffee and Conversation next Wednesday, March 12 at the Education Center at 49 Cottage Place, floor 3, any time between 7 and 8:30 p.m. It’s an evening designed for you to ask your questions, make suggestions and share concerns in a casual setting. Anything goes! Please come!

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Ridgewood school board to vote on calendar changes

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Ridgewood school board to vote on calendar changes
Friday, February 28, 2014
BY  LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

Changes to the 2014-2015 school calendar should be finalized after next week’s BOE meeting.

The district has engaged in a discussion about possible ways to end the next school year earlier, resulting in a longer-than-usual delay in publishing the 2014-2015 calendar.

Ending earlier in June would accommodate vacations and camps that start before the close of the Ridgewood school year, district officials have said.

BOE President Sheila Brogan noted at Monday’s meeting that she hopes the board makes “a decision on [the calendar] next week.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/247717681_Ridgewood_school_board_to_vote_on_calendar_changes_calendar_changes.html#sthash.u4cs1dDQ.dpuf

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Food Fight: Lunch vendors file claim agains Ridgewood school board

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Food Fight: Lunch vendors file claim agains Ridgewood school board

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2014
BY  LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

A claim has been filed against the Board of Education (BOE) that challenges its recent decision to ban outside vendors from delivering lunch to Ridgewood students at school.

In the claim, attorney Victor Herlinsky, of the law firm Sills Cummis and Gross, notes that “Ridgewood has acted in an arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable manner by relying on an ever-changing set of rationales for the cancellation and continually refusing to engage with plaintiffs to reach a resolution that would reverse the cancellation and benefit all parties.”

Herlinsky believes his clients have a solid case.

“The only problem is this case is going to take months, if not years, to litigate,” he said. “It’s going to take a tremendous amount of school board resources.”

The three outside vendors who have taken issue with the ban are Parkwood Delicatessen & Catering in Midland Park; Westside Bagel & Deli in Ridgewood; and No Fuss Lunch, a school lunch delivery business run by Ridgewood mother Gabriella Wilday. Ridgewood parents Oliver and Alla Train, Maya Scanlon, Leigh Warren and Wilday’s husband James are also plaintiffs.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/247718361_Lunch_vendors_file_claim_agains_Ridgewood_school_board_schools.html#sthash.zESG2cHE.dpuf

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Reader says the school resource officer is a great idea.

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Reader says the school resource officer is a great idea.

BUT let’s be perfectly TRANSPARENT here. The three amigos were dead set against hiring the two young men who are sons of cops, one of whom they detest. Then there was a HUGE backlash for them, at the meeting and on the blog. So, they figured out they could save their asses by saying it would be OK to change the ordinance IF a school resource officer was added to the mix. Voila, they all changed their votes one week later.

it is not because Aronsohn, Pucciarelli and Hauck want a school resource officer. This was just a convenient way for them to “save face” after such a widespread outrage at their votes the week before.

So they think they look like thoughtful, reasonable people who can change their minds for all the right reasons. In fact, they changed their minds ONLY because people were so pissed at them. They are despicable people, the three of them.

In any case, I hope the ordinance goes forward, because it should, and I hope those two young men are at the academy in a couple of weeks, as they should have been all along.

RECALL.

All meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work session meetings, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings which are always open to members of the general public.

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Reader says the Ridgewood municipal is budget is well managed and the BOE budget is where the runaway spending is

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Reader says the Ridgewood municipal is budget is well managed and the BOE budget is where the runaway spending is

Do you want to base your conclusions on the faulty FAC report and ignore the fact that the Village provides more services at a lower municipal mil rate than all of the other towns I referred to in my post as #20 that is fine. None of the towns listed there provide garbage pickup, fully staffed fire services, recreation services for kids and seniors or a sewage treatment facility for their residents, that is a fact, and. How that is a union talking point is beyond me.

You claimed that I am only providing half of the story and I am leaving out the property taxpayer’s perspective,” I am a taxpayer, and have been a taxpayer in Ridgewood for many years. If anything is only providing half the story it’s your FAC report. It only tells half the story since it does not even consider the cost to the residents for the Board of Education (BOE). If your report included the BOE then I would have to agree that the largest portion of the Village Tax bill (BOE) has been increased at an alarming rate and is not sustainable.

How do I arrive at that conclusion? Here is the 2011 Bergen County property tax data showing the town – County – total tax levy – % County Taxes – % School Taxes % – Municipal taxes. This is the latest year available on the NJ.com by the numbers web site. There are 70 Municipalities in Bergen County. Below are 18 municipalities that have an equal or greater percentage of their municipal taxes dedicated to the school budget like Ridgewood. The other 51 municipalities have a lower percentage than Ridgewood dedicated to their school budget and a higher percentage number dedicated to their municipal services. Ridgewood’s municipal tax levy is lower than the other 51 Municipalities in Bergen county and is even below the state calculated average of 29%. You can draw your own conclusions from this data however this data clearly shows that the Village municipal budget is very well managed as contrasted with other Bergen County Communities and the overall state average. It also indicates that BOE budget is out of control and unsustainable.

Town – County – tax levy – % County – % BOE – % Municipal

Ridgewood Village Bergen $130,248,198.77 10% 65% 25%

Closter Borough Bergen $42,254,879.89 11% 65% 25%

Demarest Borough Bergen $27,942,242.71 10% 68% 21%

Franklin Lakes Borough Bergen $62,617,871.06 14% 69% 17%

Glen Rock Borough Bergen $59,596,958.87 9% 70% 21%

Harrington Park Borough Bergen $21,819,633.46 10% 69% 22%

Hillsdale Borough Bergen $41,482,921.52 10% 70% 20%

Midland Park Borough Bergen $27,063,090.79 10% 65% 25%

Oakland Borough Bergen $54,044,047.52 9% 65% 26%

Old Tappan Borough Bergen $29,120,723.48 13% 71% 16%

Park Ridge Borough Bergen $35,601,710.17 10% 66% 24%

Ramsey Borough Bergen $72,773,675.42 11% 67% 22%

River Edge Borough Bergen $43,666,177.86 9% 65% 26%

River Vale Township Bergen $43,739,302.11 10% 68% 22%

Tenafly Borough Bergen $86,534,847.47 10% 65% 25%

Upper Saddle River Borough Bergen $46,413,818.76 13% 69% 18%

Waldwick Borough Bergen $37,118,536.98 9% 68% 23%

Westwood Borough Bergen $40,321,173.87 11% 60% 30%

Woodcliff Lake Borough Bergen $38,129,520.22 12% 66% 22%

Statewide total $25,643,843,500.01 18% 52% 29% of 567 municipalities

https://www.nj.com/news/bythenumbers/

This information confirms that the Ridgewood municipal is budget is well managed and the BOE budget is where the runaway spending is since the Ridgewood BOE takes a higher percentage of the total tax bill than 51 other Bergen county municipalities. The FAC report ignores this fact, and therefor is even more faulty than I originally thought.

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New state school performance report raises the stakes in Ridgewood

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New state school performance report raises the stakes in Ridgewood
Friday February 14, 2014, 2:36 PM
BY  LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

The 2012-2013 School Performance Reports, which the state released last week, are as confusing as ever, highlighting even more areas for improvement in an already high-performing district, Ridgewood school officials said.

While confusion is a typical complaint about state school reports, this year’s is made worse by the fact that they were introduced only last year, replacing the former “School Report Cards” to “bring more information to educators and stakeholders about the performance of schools,” according to the state’s NJ School Performance Interpretive Guide.

Schools are now measured for the first time based on similar “peer” schools, with a new emphasis on measuring college and career readiness and student growth percentiles, on which teachers will now be evaluated. This new focus, administrators said, is placing increasing pressure on schools to improve.

According to Superintendent Daniel Fishbein, administrators are currently reviewing the latest reports on each of the district’s schools, which are available for public access via a link on the district website, by looking up “each school in the peer group to determine accuracy and see how like test scores impact rating.”

“This new performance report is so … different than in the past, that it will take years for the public to get used to this new report versus what we had in the past,” Fishbein said. “The same data has become much more high stakes.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/245569251_New_state_school_performance_report_raises_the_stakes_in_Ridgewood.html#sthash.SMEzBVVJ.dpuf