The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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The Ridgewood Board of Education convened on Monday evening for a final assessment of the annual school budget, culminating in its approval. Continue reading Ridgewood Board of Education Approves Massive $138 Million Budget
Continue reading $60k for Extra Police officer Not Found in $138.5 million Ridgewood School Budget
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Ridgewood NJ, Dr. Leonard Fitts, Interim Superintendent, and Ms. Hyunju Kwak, Vice President of the Board of Education, will be holding coffee and conversation events throughout the year. The events will take place on the third floor of the Education Center. All stakeholders are invited to attend and engage in open discussions.
Continue reading Ridgewood Board of Education: Coffee & Conversation Monday, April 24: 1:30 pm
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Continue reading Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) budget – 0% tax increase?
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Ridgewood NJ, according to the Bergen County Superintendent of Schools all 76 public school districts in Bergen County have submitted their budgets. Each district will hear back in the next few weeks, and there is still time for districts to make adjustments.
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Ridgewood NJ, an appellate judge has sided with residents who sought to move the election dates for the Village Council and Board of Education to November.
Continue reading Ridgewood Residents Give Up Right to Vote on Massive Schools Budgets
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Ridgewood NJ, The Blog has learned from several sources that newly elected councilwoman Pamela Perron is spreading misinformation about the initiative to consolidate local elections to November. When questioned at meetings as well as in emails with various residents, she is unequivocal that residents will still get to vote on the School Board budget proposals . . . sometimes. When called to task on this, she spews various legalese, but does not amend her hard-line stand.
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Ridgewood NJ, New legislation from Trenton sponsored by Rep. Louis Greenwald [D]would clarify the length of Terms for Schools Trustees when the annual school board election is moved from November to April to give taxpayers a chance to vote on School budgets .
Continue reading New legislation would clarify the length of Terms for Schools Trustees when the annual school board election is moved from November to April
” 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. “
2019-2020 PROPOSED PRELIMINARY BUDGET
The slide portion of the presentation — reflecting Board-approved financial revisions — may be viewed here.
Following a presentation and discussion, the Board approved a Resolution for adoption of the 2019-2020 Proposed Preliminary Budget for Submission to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools. as follows:
The General Fund Tax Levy is $96,014,943 for the ensuing School Year: (2019-2020).
Continue reading Ridgewood Schools 2019-2020 $111,646,751 Budget
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Ridgewood NJ, Dr. Fishbein reviewed the schedule for the state aid numbers from Trenton, which will follow the governor’s budget address on March 5. Accordingly, the March 4 Board meeting will be moved to March 11, with an additional meeting on March 8 at 5 p.m. if needed.
Business Administrator Antoinette Kelly reviewed the basics of budgeting and the big-picture areas of the RPS budget (Special Programs, healthcare costs, staffing, security/technology, capital projects, revenue, appropriations). The slide portion of the presentation, which is posted on the district website, may be viewed here
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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.
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Ridgewood NJ, It’s back-to-school time again, and parents are expecting to open their wallets wider this year to prepare. In a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 42% of American Adults with school-aged children plan to spend more on school clothing and back-to-school supplies than they did a year ago. Just 22% anticipate that they will spend less, while 35% expect to spend about the same amount. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on August 8-9, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
August 2,2018
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Ridgewood NJ, looks like Ridgewood and Glen Rock will both have contested school board races in the 2018 . As previously reported on the Ridgewood blog Monday July 30th was the deadline for candidates to file to run for a board seat in November.
In the Village of Ridgewood, there is a contested race for the one three-year term. Cristopher Kaufman has taken up the challenge ,running against incumbent President of the BOE Vincent Loncto .
Loncto a former chief financial officer was sworn in as the Boards choice in 2011 after board member Charles Reilly resigned earlier that year. Loncto was picked as a replacement to finish out Reilly’s term because of his strong financial background.
Kaufman we are told is running on the “Commitment-Understanding-Respect” slogan.
In Glen Rock, five people are currently vying for three, three-year terms. The candidates running are: Sharon Scarpelli, Bryon Torsiello, Gregory S. Franz, Robert C. Scherer, and Alisa Svider.
April 7,2018
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Ridgewood NJ, Fair share housing is driving all the high density housing in Bergen County and the rest of the state ,destroying neighborhoods and communities in their wake. . Anyone who is saying I am progressive and I want to run for higher level office in NJ, and at the same time saying “I will oppose” high density development, is not being honest with voters. This and the “rainbow flag” is the only progressive cause where they can show their voting record in Ridgewood to gain a ticket for higher office in NJ. This is exactly with Harwin’s mentor Paul Aronsohn did in 2008 and what a mess that made.
Fair Share Housing using the “Mount laurel Doctrine” clams to be helping working families but instead seems to be the DEVEOPERS BEST FRIEND. Forced over development creates more demand for police, fire, schools, roads ,sewers ,electric and water. , Often over whelming the infrastructure of the target town.
The back ground ,the New Jersey Supreme Court, in Mount Laurel I (1975) and Mount Laurel II (1983), declared that municipal land use regulations that prevent affordable housing opportunities for the poor are unconstitutional and ordered all New Jersey municipalities to plan, zone for, and take affirmative actions to provide realistic opportunities for their “fair share” of the region’s need for affordable housing for low and moderate-income people. Peter J. O’Connor, founder and Executive Director of Fair Share Housing Center, was one of three attorneys who brought the original Mount Laurel litigation.
The Mount Laurel Doctrine, which prohibits economic discrimination against the poor by the state and municipalities in the exercise of their land use powers, was the first case of its type in the nation and is widely regarded as one of the most significant civil rights cases in the United States since Brown v. Board of Education (1954). The Mount Laurel Doctrine today is a cornerstone of land use courses in all of our nation’s law schools.
In 1985, the New Jersey Legislature, in direct response to the Mount Laurel decisions, enacted the Fair Housing Act, which created the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) to assess the statewide need for affordable housing, allocate that need on a municipal fair share basis, and review and approve municipal housing plans aimed at implementing the local fair share obligation.
A new Village Master Plan document will guide Ridgewood’s development 40 plus years into the future making it critically important for trusted, experienced Council members to be active participants. Council members with a proven track record of protecting resident property values, Ridgewood neighborhoods, and the character of the Village we call home. Mayor Knudsen is the most experienced Council member in the area of Municipal Land Use making her participation important to the future of the Village. Experienced Council members with a comprehensive understanding of Municipal Land Use patterns, development and zoning, will serve the community best as we begin the exciting Master Plan process.
