Tag: Ridgewood Schools

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STOP, LOOK AND WAVE: NEW VILLAGE-WIDE SAFETY INITIATIVE IS LAUNCHED

Ridgewood will kick off a pedestrian safety initiative entitled “Stop, Look, Wave: Be Safe Be Seen” in mid-April.The innovative safety campaign targets Ridgewood pedestrians and drivers, with the goal of preventing pedestrians from being involved in road traffic collisions. The safety initiative aims to blanket vehicles in Ridgewood with more than 5,000 car magnets, reminding pedestrians in Ridgewood and neighboring communities to stop, look and wave before crossing, and encouraging motorists to be extra vigilant when traveling on village streets.

Rollout of the “Stop, Look, Wave” safety initiative involves conducting educational assemblies in Ridgewood elementary and middle schools in April. A safety presentation created by Ridgewood parent and hard-working safety advocate Jeanne Johnson, under the direction of Meliam Gonzales, a trauma prevention coordinator and clinical educator from Hackensack University Medical Center, will be given to students at each school to teach safe pedestrian behavior.

The safety team will distribute pedestrian safety informational materials to every K-8 student in Ridgewood, including a traffic safety brochure designed for parents (and customized for the roadways surrounding each school) and car magnets adorned with the safety message “Stop, Look, Wave.” Car magnets will also be available for sale for a minimal fee at Ridgewood High School.

>BOE RESOLUTION SEEKING AMENDMENTS TO TEACH NJ S1455


The Ridgewood Board of Education has carefully reviewed The Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for Children of New Jersey Act (TeachNJ). We agree that teacher effectiveness is one of the most important factors for improving student achievement.  We agree that high quality evaluations are needed to identify a teacher’s strengths and weaknesses, shape a professional development plan, and inform personnel decisions.  We support changes to the seniority system and welcome the flexibility to make personnel decisions based on students’ needs and staff expertise when budget cuts force reductions in staff.  We applaud the wording in the bill that calls for tenure charges to be “adjudicated in an expeditious and timely manner.”  However, there are two proposals in the bill that would undermine the effectiveness and efficiency of public school teacher and administrator hiring and assignments and mandate new costs for districts that are of great concern. Therefore we propose the following resolution:

Resolution

Seeking Amendments to TeachNJ, S1455 To Retain Board of Education and Superintendent
Authority over Personnel Decisions

Whereas, under current law, school district hiring decisions are made based upon the recommendation of the
superintendent and the Board of Education’s approval or rejection of that recommendation; and

Whereas, the superintendent when making hiring decisions listens carefully to the perspective and input of
district supervisors and school principals; and

Whereas, the superintendent also considers district staff vacancies and resources, instructional and educational
goals, and student enrollment when recommending staff to be hired to the Board of Education; and

Whereas, TeachNJ gives sole authority to appoint or remove instructional staff to the principal, in consultation with a school improvement panel, and requires the mutual consent by the principal and teacher, assistant principal and vice principal for placement in a school.  If the principal does not consent, then the employee would be placed in a priority hiring pool.  Furthermore, the superintendent is precluded from recommending a staff member be hired or assigned to a school without the principal’s consent; and

Whereas, TeachNJ establishes a priority hiring pool requiring that staff in this pool be paid their full salary and benefits for up to 12 months when an assignment is not mutually agreed upon by the staff member and the principal; and Whereas, TeachNJ would completely remove the Board of Education and the superintendent from personnel decisions and replace the current district-focused system of teacher hiring and assignment with a system that promotes employee and school motivated hiring and assignment decisions; and

Whereas, TeachNJ would not promote cost efficiencies or effectiveness and would negatively impact the hiring and assignment practices that are focused on students’ needs and achievement; and

Whereas, TeachNJ also proposes a requirement that tenured teachers, principals, and assistant principals in
positions eliminated due to reductions in force (RIF) would be placed on paid leave of absence, with benefits
for 12 months, following a RIF, if no  mutual agreed upon assignment is identified; and

Whereas, budgetary reasons and/or declining student enrollments drive districts to eliminate positions; and

Whereas, Public schools funding has been reduced in the last few years causing staff reductions; and

Whereas, to require districts to pay full salaries and provide full benefits for 12 months to a tenured staff member who has been laid off for budgetary reasons would cause unwarranted and excessive financial burden on the school district and the local taxpayer;  Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the Ridgewood Board of Education urges the legislature to amend the TeachNJ Act to ensure that personnel hiring and placement decisions remain under the authority of the superintendent with approval of the Board of Education; and be it further

Resolved, that the Ridgewood Board of Education urges the legislature to amend the TeachNJ Act to ensure that employees whose positions are eliminated due to RIF and employees who do not have a school assignment due to lack of their or their supervisors consent are not paid their full salary with benefits for 12 months; and be it further

Resolved, that this resolution be delivered to Governor Chris Christie; State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney; Senator Teresa Ruiz and the members of the Senate Education Committee; Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver; Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan and the members of the Assembly Education Committee; Senator Kevin O’Toole:  Assemblyman Scott Rumana; and Assemblyman David Russo; and be it further
Resolved, that copies of this resolution be sent to NJSBA, BCSBA, NJASA, NJASBO, and the Garden State Coalition of Schools

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Emmanuel Vukovich and John McDowell in Concert at Rose Hall in Chestnut Ridge, NY: May 4, 2012

A portion of proceeds to benefit the Green Meadow Waldorf School,Rockland Farm Alliance and the Pfeiffer Center.

Chestnut Ridge, NY — Founders of “Music for Farms” Emmanuel Vukovich (violin) and John McDowell (piano, percussion, composition), as well as special guest, young violinist Nicholas Frei, will bring music to the greater community at Green Meadow Waldorf School’s new Auditorium, Rose Hall. The program for this concert, to be held May 4th at 8pm, will include Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for 2 Violins in D featuring Nicholas Frei, and the Solo violin Partita No. 1 in b, BWV 1002; Sonata No. 3, Op. 27 – Ballade, by Eugene Ysaye; Chant by Ana Sokolovic; Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25, by Pablo de Sarasate; and an original work by John McDowell.

Rose Hall is located at 307 Hungry Hollow Rd., Chestnut Ridge, NY. Advance tickets are $20 for general admission; $15 for college Students & Seniors; and $10 for students Grade 1-12 Tickets will be available for purchase online at www.threefold.org/events or in person at the Hungry Hollow Co-op, 841 Chestnut Ridge Rd, Chestnut Ridge. Day of show tickets at the door will be $5 extra per ticket. This event is sponsored by Threefold Educational Foundation. Refreshments from Hungry Hollow Co-op will be available at intermission.

The Green Meadow Waldorf School (www.gmws.org) is an independent day school, nursery through grade 12, located 30 miles from New York City in Chestnut Ridge, NY. Founded in 1950, Green Meadow is one of America’s oldest and largest Waldorf schools.  From the young child’s imaginative experiences of discovery and play in their Early Childhood program to the intellectual challenges presented in their High School, Green Meadow students approach their education with interest and joy. The school also opened an Early Childhood Center in Tarrytown, NY in July 2011.

Rockland Farm Alliance (www.rocklandfarm.org) is a community coalition that was founded to facilitate local sustainable agriculture in Rockland County, NY, and to provide educational resources to the community to promote awareness of the need for local food resources. RFA has been called “cutting edge” by state farming authorities in its innovative approach to preserve and revive farming in the lower Hudson Valley and greater NY metro area. Through hands-on learning programs and new community-supported small farms, RFA is striving to raise awareness around local food issues while increasing access to organic, locally grown produce.

The mission of the Pfeiffer Center (www.pfeiffercenter.org), located in Chestnut Ridge, NY, is to practice, teach and spread awareness of the biodynamic method of agriculture and land care. This work takes the form of educational programs for adults and children, agricultural production, work with draft horses, beekeeping, and research.

Canadian Violinist Emmanuel Vukovich has played for audiences around the globe with artists such as Ida Haendel, Anton Kuerti, and Matt Haimowitz. Recipient of McGill University’s Schulich School of Music Golden Violin Award and The Canada Council for the Arts Orford String Quartet Scholarship, he was a member of the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Quartet, winner at the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition. Emmanuel began playing the violin with Danuta Ciring and left his native Calgary at sixteen to pursue studies with Masao Kawasaki and Dorothy Delay at the Juilliard School in New York City. He completed his undergraduate degree with Denise Lupien and André Roy at McGill University. During this time he also pursued studies in Environment, subsequently devoting four years to work in organic agriculture. Having returned to music in 2011, Emmanuel is currently completing a graduate performance degree and teaching at McGill University, and has founded an international chamber music collective called The Parcival Project (www.parcival.ca). He plays a violin made in Montreal by Denis Cormier.

Musician and film composer John McDowell (www.johnmcdowell.net) achieved worldwide recognition with his soundtrack to the Academy Award winning documentary Born Into Brothels. Winner of Best Musical Score at the Bend Film Festival, the score blends Western and Indian music in a mesmerizing mix. Known for much more than just his film scores, McDowell is also a highly gifted pianist, percussionist, producer, commissioned composer and conductor. His work over the past 25 years draws on classical, jazz, pop, and world music. McDowell served as founder, artistic director and leader of several musical projects including The Born Into Brothels Ensemble and the world music band Mamma Tongue. He has toured and recorded with Rusted Root and Krishna Das and has produced several albums including his solo CD Speaking the Mamma Tongue. McDowell’s formal education and subsequent informal global training has made him a largely self-taught ethnomusicologist of widely-ranging scale. John is co-founder of Music for Farms (www.musicforfarms.com).

Nicholas Frei, a 2011 graduate of Green Meadow Waldorf School in Chestnut Ridge, NY, began his violin studies with Anna Teigen, then continued with Bernard Zeller and Laura Seaton. During high school, Nicholas played with the New York Youth Symphony, several string quartets and chamber groups, and studied with Ann Setzer of Mannes and Juilliard.  His senior year, he attended Mannes-Prep and was a Rockland County Morning Music Club Scholarship Finalist.  Nicholas has spent his last three summers at the Meadowmount School of Music, founded by Ivan Galamian and has played in chamber master classes for musicians such as: Joel Krosnick, Paul Neubauer and Kazuhido Isomura. He is currently in a string quartet coached by Matt Haimovitz and studies with Emmanuel Vukovich at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.

Public: for further information contact Katie Ketchum at [email protected]

Media: for further information contact Peter McDowell at [email protected]

>The ongoing failure of the BOE to reach an agreement with our teachers
by Jim Morgan

I am a candidate for the Ridgewood Board of Education running for the open one-year term in the April 17 schools election.

I would like to address the ongoing failure of the BOE to reach an agreement with our teachers. My opponent has led the BOE negotiating team since the summer of 2010. He asserts that his role in these stalled negotiations is the reason he should be reelected. I believe that his record of no real progress in these critical negotiations is reason enough he should be replaced on the BOE.

The negotiations are conducted under strict rules of secrecy. I know no more about the issues than any other resident of the village.

What I do know is that the old contract expired more than nine months ago on June 30, 2011 and that there is no indication that an agreement will be reached anytime soon. Thus far the teachers have continued to work professionally under the expired contract, but there are signs that they are under increasing strain. This unhealthy situation potentially hurts our children and drives a wedge between the district and teachers, our most valuable classroom asset. My opponent’s reliance on rigidly following the “suggested” state framework for negotiating a new agreement delays resolution.

While the fact-finding process that my opponent has followed might produce a contract, it may also be several months before the mediator actually issues a report. If the parties do not agree with the recommendations, the state suggested timetable calls for a round of intense negotiations.

Why wait before intensifying face-to-face negotiations? The state does not require that the board follow the fact-finder process. As management, it is the BOE’s responsibility to set its own timetable. There is no legal reason hard bargaining cannot be initiated now. The oft mentioned “informal contacts” with the union is no replacement for real negotiations.

Once a new contract has been signed, there will necessarily be a healing process between the teachers and the district before everyone is again fully focused on our mutual goal – providing our children with an excellent education. The longer that the process is drawn out, the longer this healing will take.

To be clear, I do not advocate giving into contract demands that are unfavorable to the district. The BOE must protect the interests of the village’s taxpayers in these negotiations and our financial resources are very tight. The final contract must reflect these realities and be one we can all support. A policy of stalling the start of real negotiations, however, is in no one’s best interest.

As with many BOE challenges, we need fresh, creative thinking, not a continuation of business as usual. I will bring this perspective to the board of education. I ask for your vote on Tuesday, April 17, in the school elections.