the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, First of all, it is obviously very loved by the parents who bring their children there. This is good. Every daycare should be loved by the clients. But wait, you have not heard the whole story yet. As it turns out, the fact that the program is loved by its clients is utterly immaterial to the matter at hand.
Second, the BOE is currently managing this operation. It is losing money every year, and the shortfall is being supplied by TAXPAYER DOLLARS. These taxpayer dollars are coming from money that is supposed to fund K-12, not infants and toddlers. And it is not just a few dollars. It is a ton of money folks, hundreds of thousands of dollars. This year alone it is expected to lose another $300,000. Money that is not being used for programs, building maintenance, etc within the K-12 system. Money that could be used, for example, for making the buildings safer during the ongoing pandemic. This is such an important fact – the Ridgewood School System is for children from grades kindergarten through twelfth, it is not for younger children and babies.
Third, when hundreds of thousands of tax dollars go to the ITDC to cover the shortfall every single year, residents are subsidizing the daycare expenses of the parents who send their little ones there. Yes, all Ridgewood residents are helping to pay for their babysitters. Instead of telling the parent-clients that their tuition bills are going to be increased, the wallets of every taxpayer are being emptied to ease the cost of daycare for a select few parents. SERIOUSLY? Yup! And, by the way, about 40% of the clients do not even live in Ridgewood – meaning that residents are subsidizing non residents (this is the sprinkles on the icing on the proverbial cake, so to speak). One client of the ITDC who calls in to every single BOE meeting whining about how great the program is and how he cannot lose it, well guess what, he lives in Washington Township. Another calls in and whines that she simply will not be able to afford it if the price goes higher – well, that is her problem, not the problem of the taxpayers. Find a daycare that you can afford, do not ask Ridgewood residents to help you out by emptying their pockets.
Fourth, three of the five elected BOE Trustees have voted to send out an RFP (Request for Proposal) – asking vendors to submit their best offers for taking over this operation. This is wonderful news! Now it will be a business fair and square, as it should be, paid for only by the people who use it. All that the taxpayers will be on the hook for is the maintenance of the building (appropriate), and of course collecting the rent that the vendor is contracted for. And those hundreds of thousands of annual dollars will now be able to go toward the K-12 programs and support services, as they should.
Thank you to BOE President Michael Lembo, BOE Vice President HyunJu Kwak, and BOE Trustee Saurabh Dani for pushing this issue and for protecting Ridgewood tax dollars. You truly are “trustworthy trustees” of the hard-earned dollars of the residents you were elected to serve.
It’s also important to point out that program participants are not chiefly from Ridgewood.
This whole thing is a sham. We should never have been subsidizing other peoples daycare
I have heard discounts are random, based on who knows who?
Kelly out, Fishbein out, Merlino out, ITDC in radar now.
There are so many inaccuracies in this post, that I do not know where to begin, so I will start with the financial information. It is clear that the author has not looked at the audited financial statements nor understands the differences between expenses, losses, and “funding”. A review of the actual financial statements that are publicly available, shows a total(cumulative) of $50k of losses for the period of 2015-2019 (please do not misinterpret this as $50k of losses per year). Furthermore from the period of 2013-2019, there was one funding/transfer from the General Fund (Ridgewood tax payer dollars) for $20k during 2018. There are not hundreds of thousands of tax dollars going to cover the shortfall every single year, prior to the unprecedented times during the pandemic. The financial statements also show a recorded interfund loan to the ITDC during the period 2012-2018 totaling $300k, of which $280k was repaid in cash by ITDC during 2015 and 2018 as evidenced in the cash flow statements. The information in this post with reference to “tons of money”, is beyond inaccurate, and it should be removed unless clear support can be provided.
The third point also references that 40% of the clients do not even live in Ridgewood. What is the source of the author’s “facts”. I presume the author is including the children of our very own Ridgewood District staff who may not live in Ridgewood, in the 40%. The information I have shows 84% of enrollment is Ridgewood residents/district staff. I’m not sure you realize how much this decision will directly impact our amazing K-12 Ridgewood teachers and staff.
As a Ridgewood taxpayer, I am in disagreement with the fourth point, an RFP costs both time and money, and is taking attention away from other important issues.
People. Let me tell you something about the Board of Education. I wouldn’t worry about the 300,000 going to lose. If you had any insight on the budget line items by line item, and you are allowed to go to close door meetings , you would see if your self how much waste is involved especially at the top. The top officials of the Board of Education and a few others play some fancy games With the tax payers money.
The article never mentions if these are children of healthcare professionals or first responders who absolutely have to work during the pandemic.
I would be interested in that kind of information.
This is a cold-hearted post filled with misinformation. Ignoring that this program is a for benefit K-12 teachers employed by the Ridgewood school system and referring to out-of-towners “whining” about “babysitters” who have deal with their own problems is disrespectful and short-sighted. The folks praised for “protecting tax dollars” were elected to serve our children’s best interests. By the look and sound of it, they seem more interested in money than education.
Interesting that this article is accompanied by a photo of the Wizard of Oz . It speaks volumes to post content, urging praise for protectors of hard-earned dollars and ignorance of those struggling desperately during this pandemic.
The simple fact is there were some games played with the money. Go to the videotape.
Today the ITDC, Tomorrow the football team!!
Hey if the ITDC is a money losing venture then surely the athletic programs who in 50+ years have only created one NFL player and one MLB manager has to go too.
Or maybe we should put out an RFP for the football coach position at RHS…..
How much ROI is there for the athletic programs in the last 20 years??
Oh, that’s right, the BOE is not a business !!!
Please BOE, stop with all the third string MBA posturing and leave the ITDC alone.
It is a BENEFIT for K-12 teachers? Are you for real? Who the hell wrote that, let me guess, a teacher who is double dipping. First we pay the teachers, then we pay their daycare. Nope, sorry that is dead wrong.
There are holes in accounting of ITDC.
It should be audited as far back as 2010.
We absolutely do not need to pour money into a losing venture. There are plenty of daycare businesses around. These parents can go elsewhere. Thank you to the Board for getting rid of this hemorrhage. Let’s stick to K-12.
The financial comments above that seek to minimize the annual losses from this business are misleading and completely inaccurate. The former BA finally had to admit that she cooked the books to try and minimize the appearance of losses. Key expenses were artificially manipulated or quietly removed from the ITDC financial audits and paid out of the general fund.
The idea of allowing a professional to come in and run the program is the only responsible way to continue it. It’s a side business, not an RPS program.
To the commenter above about football expenses, expect those to grow with the new acting suprintendent. He will move money from academics to sports.
Speaking of athletics, can we cut expenses at the High School?
I don’t care if 20 seniors on to college sports. These programs that I am paying for are benefiting a select few. And they cost a lot. The coaches, busing , training and office staff are unnecessary. If a few get a partial scholarship it doesn’t help my kid.
Cut the sports budget.
This program as it currently exists does not benefit the Ridgewood school system at all. In fact it is a drain on expenses. It benefits a few teachers, who by chance have small children that need babysitting. Why are we supposed to subsidize them? This has to stop. I am all for letting an outside agency manage a daycare center, let it be self-sustaining, and let the taxpayers stop funding it in any way.
In Response to Anonymous Comment #12, I wrote that discounted daycare is a benefit offered to K-12 teachers in Ridgewood. If that is not the case, please set the record straight. The use of pejorative language to guess at my occupation and malign educators does nothing to advance the cause of privatizing the ITDC. In fact, Anonymous Commenter #12 shows a disdain for the field of education which Board members were elected to maintain at the highest standards. Access to affordable daycare is an attractive benefit in any field aiming to attract and maintain top talent. No, I am not a teacher in the Ridgewood school system nor am I a parent with a child in daycare. I am a proud graduate of Ridge School, GW, and RHS disheartened by the tenor of the discourse surrounding the education of our youth, including those not yet in the K-12 system. I was also compelled to respond to the original post because the argument is so unconvincing. Stating that the ITDC is losing money “every year” is inaccurate and pointing specifically to the shortfall “this year alone….” would be comical if the writer weren’t deadly serious. Hopefully, Ridgewood residents/blog readers/voters are more savvy to the pandemic realities affecting costs and revenue .
Teachers make plenty of money they can afford their own day care
In addition to several false claims, to advocate for the closing of a childcare center is selfish in any situation. But to do so during a pandemic is heartless and evil. Those healthcare providers and teachers are essential workers who put themselves in harms way during a pandemic and now you want them out of a job? If you
move to Ridgewood, you are fully aware of the high taxes that go to education in the town. Not wanting to pay now is a disgrace to the community. Early child development is essential to education. Quality childcare leads to strong student in the K-12 years. Your comments about out of towners and hard earned dollars screams notes of insularity and white privilege. What have you done to help out during this pandemic? If nothing, well the least one can ask is do no harm.
This is not a benefit offered to the Ridgewood school teachers. It is a daycare center that some teachers use. And apparently the tuition is so low, that there are budget shortfalls in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. So instead of increasing the tuition for those parents, the board of bed fills the gap. This is wrong. Teachers are not promised this as a benefit, nor should they be.
The only Ridgewood taxpayers who could possibly defend this are people who use the ITDC. There is absolutely no reason anyone else would. The Ridgewood schools are in the K-12 business. That’s it.
Even $50K over 5 years is too much. These kids are outside the responsibility or authority of Ridgewood K-12. Either raise the fees or cut the program. And to the Karen who wants to cut out sports because your kid doesn’t benefit – it’s not just the kids that go on to play in college that benefit. Organized sports teach discipline, leadership and how to collaborate with peers. It’s never too late to play catch with your kid – you should try it.
Hold on to your checkbooks, Kaufman wants to subsidize the ice hockey team! How many NHL stars do we need to produce in order to get some serious ROI? Dani, Kwak, what say you?
This whole thing makes no sense. We are not a big corporation who offers subsidized day care to its employees. We are a village with a very expensive school system that covers 13 years, K-12. We pay our teachers well, and deservedly so. But we have no business subsidizing a losing-money day care for a few teachers (almost half of whom do not even pay Ridgewood taxes). This is a hard NO. There are many daycares around for families to choose from. If the RFP produces a good bidder, then there will still be one at Glen School. But financial shortfalls (if they should occur) will no longer be on the backs of the taxpayers
Thank you to the Board for getting us clear of this money pit.
From one of the arrogant posts:
“The third point also references that 40% of the clients do not even live in Ridgewood. What is the source of the author’s “facts”. I presume the author is including the children of our very own Ridgewood District staff who may not live in Ridgewood, in the 40%. The information I have shows 84% of enrollment is Ridgewood residents/district staff. I’m not sure you realize how much this decision will directly impact our amazing K-12 Ridgewood teachers and staff. ”
I am shaking my head.
Yes, of course this includes the children of our staff who do not live in Ridgewood. These people do not pay Ridgewood property taxes. What do you not understand about this? The fact that you live in another town bu work in Ridgewood does not make you a Ridgewood taxpayer, duh.
Yes, of course this will directly impact those K-12 teachers and staff who use the ITDC as their daycare. Obviously it will impact them duh again. Because now they will have to pay their own way in full, rather than having my tax dollars subsidize their child care costs. They will have to find a daycare that works for them. It will probably be in the same place at Glen, because an RFP has gone out for vendors to provide this service.
People have had to switch babysitters and daycares from the beginning of when both parents worked. So while this is unsettling and a hassle for them, it is not a catastropic tragedy. For Gods sake get a grip. This program is bleeding money from programs in K-12 that need the money. So glad we will be done with it.
To the commenter who claims we pay our teachers well and have no business subsidizing daycare, you clearly have no understanding how expensive daycare is. There is no way a teacher can afford daycare on a teacher’s salary alone. Check tuition rates and do your homework before you make such outlandish statements.
FYI a public school system is required to provide services for children age 3-21 not just K-12. Is the BOE going after special education services for kids age 3-5 or 18-21 next because they are sucking money from the K-12 students? Slippery slope…
How is this different from subsidizing teachers’ kids in k-12? In those classes, we are subsidizing 15k per student, for ITDC we are only subsidizing 5k per student/year.
If we stop this subsidy, is this not discrimination against the younger generation of teachers?
To the commenter who says that Ridgewood teachers cannot afford daycare. Bullshit. Of course they can. Teachers all over the state, country, world have their kids in daycare. They find daycare that they can afford. And there are plenty of them. And before you go off on me, I am a working teacher myself, and I took care of my own daycare expenses when my child was little. I live in Ridgewood and I work in Westwood. Do your honestly believe your own outlandish statement that teachers cannot afford daycare?
Teachers don’t make enough to pay for day care? Many make more than $100k per year! Get real.
“To the commenter who claims we pay our teachers well and have no business subsidizing daycare, you clearly have no understanding how expensive daycare is. There is no way a teacher can afford daycare on a teacher’s salary alone. Check tuition rates and do your homework before you make such outlandish statements”.
Hold on – so daycare is expensive, therefore the hardworking taxpayers that live in Ridgewood must pay for my child’s? Why is it the taxpayers responsibility to pay your bills?
A starting or midlevel teacher can absolutely not afford licensed quality daycare on that salary alone. Teachers making $100k are many years into the system, and probably past childbearing age — the poster who took care of her “own daycare expenses when my child was little” dates herself, and unless she was a single mother with no spouse salary, her argument means nothing. As for people who find daycare all over, those are most often unlicensed at home daycares with no educational component. I am more than happy to pay a small subsidy (miniscule in the context of the overall budget) to attract the best teachers for K-12. Miserly anti-tax residents who don’t care to support education should leave Ridgewood. Go to Florida.
The program Should be run professionally, the accounting should be transparent and separate from K12, it loses money every year and that should be clear, if we have to subsidize, that should be transparent.
Why attack the athletics in the high school? Jealous much? What about new players? Attack that! My kid can’t sing but he sure as hell can throw a ball.
Agreed that teachers in need of daycare are generally earlier in their careers without the high salaries some assume they have. There are no dollar amounts in the original post or comments that follow, so this thread contains more emotional arguments than fact-based ones. It would be helpful to have real numbers.
For some perspective — we paid $24,000 a year to send our child to a licensed daycare before moving to the area in time to start kindergarten. Moving here, our property taxes doubled. We understood and accepted this as the cost of living in an area with an exceptional school system. When our kids are out of high school my family will consider moving out of the area (possibly just next door to Ho-ho-kus) because it certainly is frustrating to pay high taxes when you don’t have children in the public school system. Some might even say it is a waste of money.
However, when the desire to cut tax dollars (by how much? $24/HH?) leaves families and educators in the cold in the middle of a global pandemic, it is fair to question whether the BOE has the best interests of our children and educators as their primary motivation.
The author repeatedly refers to parents desperately attempting to keep affordable daycare as seeking to “empty the pockets” of Ridgewood taxpayers. He couldn’t have painted a clearer picture of a town full of Scrooges and Marleys. God help us, everyone.
Be reasonable here. If you cannot afford daycare on whatever your salary is then either don’t have children yet, move to a less affluent area, or figure out something with a couple of other parents and a babysitter. There are ways that people do this. For pity’s sake, even in the poorest areas people are figuring it out. Not everyone in Ridgewood is making big bucks, not by a long shot. Some use the food pantry to manage food insecurity.
Regardless, it should not be my problem that you cannot afford daycare. Sorry.
Wow that new lobbying group for the ITDC has really put their thinking caps on for some of these comments. They call themselves a parent teacher group, but this is a side business of the BOE. If they were part of the school district rather than simply a small business owned by it, they would be part of the HSA, but they’re not.
Putting out an RFP is a waste of time and money? Trying to close a daycare during a pandemic is evil?
Oh dear… hundreds of thousands of dollars siphoned out of our schools compared to a couple of notices for an RFP? Really? And despite the efforts of the ITDC director to spread misinformation, no evil force is closing anything at this time.
55 people use this service and about 30 people work there. They have big mouths and wild imaginations. I dare one of them to explain who exactly is hurt by putting out an RFP and what exactly the damage would be to let an expert run this business. Lots of people have been using the before and after school service run by an outside company with no complaints, so why not this?
It’s not just about affording daycare….it’s simply finding daycare. Pandemic restrictions on enrollment have made it near-impossible. (“Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge. )
THE TEACHERS ARE SO ARROGANT, ENTITLED AND SELF SERVING.
THEY HAVE NO RESPECT FOR THE RIDGEWOOD RESIDENTS PAYING THEIR SALARY, BENEFITS AND COMFORTABLE WORK ENVIRONMENT.
THEY COMPLAIN AND DEMAND AND INSIST ON BEING LAUDED.
THEY SHOULD BE THANKING RIDGEWOOD TAXPAYERS FOR GIVING THEM A JOB WITH GREAT PAY AND BENEFITS IN A CLEAN SAFE ENVIRONMENT WITH EXCEPTIONAL FACILITIES AND STUDENTS WHO ARE KIND, CARING AND WELL BEHAVED WHO HAVE PARENTS WHO SUPPORT THE TEACHERS AND VALUE EDUCATION.
INSTEAD THEY WHINE, DEMAND AND EXPECT CONSTANT PRAISE.
THESE INGRATES SHOULD SPEND A DAY IN A CHALLENGING SCHOOL DISTRICT WHERE FAMILIES DON’T CARE, STUDENTS ARE VIOLENT, ADMINISTRATORS ARE CORRUPT AND FACILITIES ARE DECREPIT.
I have an easy solution if you can’t afford a kid don’t have one….