Reader asks How can you take the position that a 10 year construction project right next door to B.F. will not have any negative impact on children attending B.F.?
How can you take the position that a 10 year construction project right next door to B.F. will not have any negative impact on children attending B.F.? You all have sold out our children and we won’t forget it. You have shown us all what matters to you and it certainly is not our kids’ health or education. What a pathetic, spineless board we have. No need to reply to this email, you already gave me and my family the finger last night.
I’m really confused as to how a teacher(s), as good as Ms. Brogan thinks he/she is, will somehow make the learning experience for a BF student (who is, at the very least, “distracted” by the noise that will come from this construction) no different than a GW student. Does the teacher just yell out the window and tell the guy with the jackhammer to stop, go outside and tell him, or just tell the kids,” will get to that later ?” Get real…
After saying all the politically correct, not to mention obvious things any parent would say regarding the “concerns” related to this really bad joke of an idea, she copped out.
I don’t have any children in this school system anymore but I have to say Ms. Brogan’s statement regarding the above was one of the more bizarre. And I thought the Valley “experts” were done. Silly me !
The noise level and the general activity around BF will increase substantially. There will be several hundred truck passes on Van Dien during the school day which will create noise. Heavy equipment in and out, dust, people in the streets, re routing sidewalks, and playing fields overshadowed by a construction site. Yes the curriculum will remain intact but the quality of the teaching learning environment will be dismissed. FOR TEN YEARS.
I think the board was influenced by Valley money. They should not have accepted the money. It was a good bad deal.
MONEY TALKS, NOBODY WALKS! $500K well spent by The Valley.
You don’t have to have an advanced degree to figure out that most kids are easily distracted. What the hell are these people thinking ?
These meetings get more embarrassing as they go on.
So vote them out of office. Don’t forget. Don’t hope that someone else will do it. Vote them out. If you don’t you are just as bad as they are in terms of your willingness to protect the children of this town.
It is amazing the way Valley’s representatives at these meetings speak to and treat the people of this town. Valley Hate-spital is more accurate.
Voting them out of office is fine but will be too little, too late.
At Tuesday’s meeting a resident tried several times to get Ms. Brogan to state which BOE members had signed off on her statement. She said at least twice that they had all had a chance to comment, but not all had; of course silence in such cases would suggest agreement. She named a couple of people who had commented, but of course not what they had said. Also it was clear that the statement had been written, then distributed, rather than representing a group opinion.
Instead of going on and on about which streets and corners should have fewer trucks, the BOE should have represented the students’ and other residents’ interest by stating to the Planning Board: “This project would be very harmful to the children. Don’t do it.”
The conflicts of interest are so blatant as to be laughable. When our BOE cowtows to the hospital we are in really bad straits.
100 per cent correct. Ridgewood’s reputation is taking a hit and it will only get worse as time goes on.
Brogan’s performance on Tuesday night was sadly predictable. She took the vanilla position on the Valley expansion. I knew she would walk the tightrope of non committal; she can’t be counted to cross swords with the mighty Valley. From the start of her comments she spoke of school construction that has taken place while she’s been on the Board, the fix was clearly in. Sorry, what Valley has presented as their vision in no way resembles what our schools have accomplished in construction over the past 10 – 12 years. To compare students’ experiences during the school construction and Valley’s proposed renovations is a reach too far. What Valley proposes for their 15 acre parcel is ridiculous, and the impact will be dramatic.
The expectation of 10 years as the time frame for construction, is also short sided. The effects of this expansion, but more importantly the changing of the Master Plan will have far reaching effects on all of our children’s learning experiences. The area around Valley will be changed forever. In my opinion, not for the better. Changing the Master Plan will also allow for developers to challenge our future concerns regarding growth based on the precedent that will have been established. We are at a cross roads in the future of Ridgewood, and it is time for all of our fellow residents to step up, speak up, and be heard.
Bob Pressner
This whole town will be changed forever. There is positively no benefit to anyone residing here during and after construction. None.
Someone please stop the madness!
Sheila Brogan has been doing Valley’s bidding since 2002.
Ridgewood BOE and Valley Hospital, hand in hand, a long tainted history together.
(Some of this is a bit hazy so if anyone remembers the details fill in the blanks)
Over the years I have attended many planning board hearings for the Valley Hospital H-Zone. The many memorable meetings at BF and the infamous 2010 meeting at GWMS. I sat through and listened to Village council meetings at the RHS Campus Center. And here we are again at BF listening to more about this ridiculous expansion proposal. Hearing Sheila Brogan’s statement and reading this blog reminded me of the disgraceful and tainted BOE/Valley relationship. Of course, people need to be reminded Sheila Brogan has been a board member for far too long. For newer residents, or those who weren’t in the news loop so many years ago, this is a history lesson.
Many, many years ago, maybe around 2002, Sheila Brogan sat on the BOE along with Mark Bombace, Linda Gilman, Bob Hutton and Charles Reilly. At the time John Porter was superintendent. Valley Hospital had a proposal and was pushing hard to buy part of BF property using the field area for an underground parking lot and subsequently expanding the hospital buildings. If memory serves, the BOE would no longer own the property but the ground level open space could be used as a sports fields. The big offer was Valley would do much for the BF community and offer a state of the art facility IF they were able to purchase the BF property. The Board of Ed, along with John Porter, were positioned to complete the transaction when, unfortunately for them, the residents began to show up at BOE meetings. Over a few short weeks the standing room only crowd mobilized and stopped the infamous Valley/BF land grab.
Because the BOE was anxious to consummate the deal, and Valley was relying on the property for its expansion, it appears a new plan evolved. Within months of the Valley/BF land grab derailment the RHAP program was in the works. Ultimately rolled out in 2004, the program was put together as an effort to buy the BOE and Ridgewood Community. Other less prominent programs were funded by Valley as well. Those too are within our Village schools, internships, summer programs, follow a professional, scoreboard advertising, etc. Some of these programs may have ended or been replaced, however, coupled with the $500,000 the BOE accepted from Valley, it is clear the BOE and Valley are in bed together.
In 2011 Bob Hutton spoke, as a BOE member, in support of the Valley H-zone expansion. His comments were made at Village Council H-Zone hearings at RHS Campus Center. Soon thereafter Hutton was voted off the BOE. Good riddance to him.
Of the original BOE, that was ready to sell BF property to Valley, only Sheila Brogan remains. Don’t ever let Brogan try to convince you she stands for our students or that she opposes this expansion. Brogan fully supports Valley, their massive expansion, and was willing to sell out our kids years ago! As for Valley Hospital, the current H-Zone efforts are the same “idea” without the BF property. Valley’s animus towards Ridgewood and the BF community is palpable.
If you disagree with us you are either bought or evil or both.
That’s how I remember it. She proved her worth the other night.
Brogan showed her lack of spine, leadership and ability to give us straight talk
Since the BOE let us down, the best chance we have is to support CRR. They are the only rational people with a seat at the table, and the 3 people that spoke at that meeting said it all really well! Go to stopvalley.com and make a donation.