Ridgewood schools are in decline… compared to ALL schools in NJ (and nationally).
You can cherry pick schools for comparison, but it DOES NOT change the fact that Ridgewood schools are not as esteemed as they were in the past. It is disgraceful given the amount of time, money and support (parental and otherwise) that they get. This is laregly due to a shift in focus from academic “excellence” to social engineering.
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Sad, but an unavoidable truth.
“If you are a newish resident (anytime in the last 20 years) you would probably only notice a small decline in comparison with the forward motion of schools who used to be behind us and are now in front–often by many points. If you’ve lived here longer you will have noticed a fairly large increase of staff in the education supervisors. A department that either did not exist or only had at most one or two employees now has increased to an assistant to every assistant who works for a supervisor.
Continue reading Reader Takes a Long term View of Ridgewood Schools
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, For the third week in a row, the Ridgewood Crew athletes took to the water, this time for the final event in the pre-season series. Sunday, April 14, 2019, on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, 85 rowing clubs gathered to compete in the 5th Manny Flick. Ridgewood had 15 boats race in 13 events. Award Winning Results included…
Continue reading Ridgewood Crew Perform Impressively at the 2019 5th Manny Flick
Ridgewood Schools are great and performance is not declining in comparison to Tenefly and Summit and other schools. I really wish this person would stop with the fake news. By nthe way, all these school districts are great and all our taxes are high. Ridgewood is not some kind of outlier and we are not declining. Be upset about high taxes but stop with the BS that we are somehow worse than we are. The problem is with the STATE of NJ, and NY and CT and Mass, and the entire northeast.
Tenefly=20,920 per student Ridgewood= 20,481 Summit=20,529 Princeton= 25,194 Glen Rock= 21,009
Tenefly:
2016-17 Total Spending: $77,250,029
2016-17 Costs Amount per Pupil: $20,920
Ridgewood:
2016-17 Total Spending: $117,443,609
2016-17 Costs Amount per Pupil: $20,481
Summit:
2016-17 Total Spending: $84,530,788
2016-17 Costs Amount per Pupil: $20,529
Princeton:
2016-17 Total Spending: $94,715,589
2016-17 Costs Amount per Pupil: $25,194
Glen Rock:
2016-17 Total Spending: $52,944,004
2016-17 Costs Amount per Pupil: $21,099
cost per student by STATE: NY is highest followed by Washington DC, Connecticut and then NJ
https://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html
in NJ the forth highest in the country we are not unusual yet we are one of the best school districts
https://www.state.nj.us/education/guide/
It is the indifference of residents that is killing this town. Spring break or no spring break, those who are interested to vote would have found a way to do it. People who move here anew just do not care to get involved in local issues. They come mainly from metropolitan area and have the typical indifferent mindset. They are under the false impression that everything is prefect in this place they chose to live especially the schools. Half the village has no idea what high density housing is and how the place is being transformed into a mini city or how the RHS is approaching 2000 students and is the size of a small college.
Developers and narrow minded local politicians love this kind of place where they can easily make $$$ without any major trouble.
211 voter spread yes vs no
we had a chance to send a message of constraint but the non voters
in an ironic way let the spenders spend.
it’s not their fault individually but when the tax bill comes
non voters dig deep into a pocket of regrets.
towns spending and BOE BUDGETS non sustainable
and is a runaway train signaling time to paint and sell.
wait till the developers get ahold of valley campus..schools
will be flooded with new children.
9 out of 19 districts voted majority “No”. Absentee ballots accounted for 3/4 of the margin of victory for “Yes”. The B of E was nearly embarrassed here.
” So, you raised your children here, got the benefit of an excellent education, a town without metal detectors or gang violence. I assume they got into good colleges. You are living in a house worth probably assessed over $1.6 million. Your taxes are about 60% of what you would pay in most of Essex County. If you work in New York City, there are few towns that provide a better lifestyle with a shorter commute than Ridgewood. We have a great downtown (true, maybe not as good as it used to be, but neither is anywhere else, and I agree that the high parking fees are ridiculous). As for the leaders, they have been elected for issue-specific reasons, but that is the responsibility of the voters (and especially the NON-voters). Ridgewood isn’t perfect by any means, but it isn’t nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be. But if you disagree, lots of people are ready to buy your house, which would undoubtedly be priced higher than most surrounding towns, and marketed highlighting Ridgewood’s many amenities and qualities. I hope James’ potential purchasers don’t read his blog entry! “
Registered Voters: 18,262
Turnout: 2,473
Turnout Percentage: 14%
Public Question
School Budget 2019-2020 General Funds of $96,014,943
YES: 1,342
NO: 1,131
Click Here for Vote by District
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, decision time ,today is the vote on the 2019-2020 $111 million school budget , Your vote on Tuesday, April 16 will help determine the funding for the Ridgewood school district’s programs, staffing and facilities maintenance expenditures for the upcoming school year. Schools will be closed for students and staff but polls will be open from 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.
The Ridgewood Board of Education has approved an enormous $111.6 million budget .
Continue reading $111 million Ridgewood School Budget Vote Today
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
The 2019-2020 Ridgewood Public Schools budget will be voted on by registered voters in the Annual School Election on Tuesday, April 16. Polls will be open 6 a.m.-8 p.m. OR, vote by mail! The walk-in application deadline is Monday, April 15 at 3 p.m. See below for more information.
” Ridgewood school district is great, but recent increases in Budget driven by employee medical benefits and special ed. Meanwhile school rankings are dropping compared to competitors.
I know very little about educating kids except that it’s an extremely tough job. However I do know quite a bit about budgeting. It’s imperative to always question how $ is spent, otherwise it will be spent with less care than warranted. Voting no therefore makes sense in this case, as the board did not address concernes posed above.
Many parents defend the educators by questioning the no vote, but this is not a educators vs parents story. Rather it’s an action point for BoE to regain public trust by acknowledging raised issues and proposing solutions. I doubt there’s a resident who wishes bad upon our great educators, so let’s not confuse the issues. “
Ridgewood NJ, The Sample Ballot for the April 16 School Election lists inaccurate polling times.
Important!
Polls will be open
6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
on Tuesday, April 16
Please vote on Tuesday, April 16
Continue reading Ridgewood Schools $111 Million Budget Vote Poll Information
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, IMPORTANT NOTICE: Board of Education Budget Election will be held Tuesday, April 16, 2019 – polls will be open 6am – 8pm. Sample ballots, mailed to Ridgewood voters, incorrectly note polls open at 2pm. Please share this important information with friends and neighbors.
Board of Education Budget Election – Tuesday, April 16, 2019 – POLLS OPEN 6am – 8pm.
” Ridgewood school district is great, but recent increases in Budget driven by employee medical benefits and special ed. Meanwhile school rankings are dropping compared to competitors.
I know very little about educating kids except that it’s an extremely tough job. However I do know quite a bit about budgeting. It’s imperative to always question how $ is spent, otherwise it will be spent with less care than warranted. Voting no therefore makes sense in this case, as the board did not address concerns posed above.
Many parents defend the educators by questioning the no vote, but this is not a educators vs parents story. Rather it’s an action point for BoE to regain public trust by acknowledging raised issues and proposing solutions. I doubt there’s a resident who wishes bad upon our great educators, so let’s not confuse the issues. “
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Board of Education puts the wrong voter times (2-8 pm)on the sample ballot for the April 16th $111 million budget vote (More like 6am to 8pm).
Sources say the BOE claims it was just a ,”wink wink” miss print ?
The vote on the 2019-2020 $111 million school budget is Tuesday, April 16, during Spring Recess for the Ridgewood Public Schools.
