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Ridgewood Public Schools Superintendent Admits Leaving BOE Trustee Hanging Out to Dry During Controversial Fields Committee Meeting

Schwarz

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, in a shocking revelation made during Thursday night’s meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE), Public Schools Superintendant Dr. Mark Schwarz admitted that he was aware several leaders of Ridgewood based sports organizations were under the MISCONCEPTION that efforts to repurpose/reconfigure outdoor athletic facilities at the Benjamin Franklin Middle School were being blocked by BOE trustee HyunJu Kwak.

Dr. Schwarz emphasized that NO SUCH EFFORTS WERE EVER UNDERTAKEN by Ms. Kwak, and that delays in moving forward with plans to make changes at BF were solely related to significant personnel turnover within the BOE’s administrative staff(s).

Those of you who have watched the video recording of that now notorious Fields Committee meeting will no doubt recall that Dr. Schwarz sat quietly and did not intervene as Ms. Kwak was falsely accused (in a rather loud and demeaning manner) of being an “obstructionist” by a Director of the Ridgewood Lacrosse Association.

The Ridgewood Blog is now left wondering if Dr. Schwarz’s self-admitted failure to defend Ms. Kwak is in any way related to the fact that Ms. Kwak is currently a candidate for Village Council. Hmm. Did someone request she be served a side order of unpopularity?

Shame on you, Dr. Schwarz. A public apology to Ms. Kwak is definitely in order.

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48 thoughts on “Ridgewood Public Schools Superintendent Admits Leaving BOE Trustee Hanging Out to Dry During Controversial Fields Committee Meeting

  1. Racism in the Ridgewood Public School system

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    1. Simple minded people immediately go to race and skin color.

  2. the wannabes don’t like anyone who lives in Ridgewood because the earned it

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    1. I don’t even need to write coherent, grammatically correct sentences because I earned it so hard.

  3. i dont know how any Asian who lives in Ridgewood is not up in arms over this behavior by public officials

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    1. It’s not about being Asian. It’s not about being a Woman. It’s about unprofessional, inappropriate behavior that has no place anywhere. We know better, let’s do better!

      1. Yes, that is correct. It has nothing to do with the fact that Ms. Kwak is a woman of color. She was clearly being bullied and threatened by a member of one of the sports organizations who behaved in a very bad way. He did threaten her reputation. and Winograd, Kazmark and Dr. Schwatz all stayed silent. Dr. Schwatz knew the facts so he is the most responsile for the deception. What a shame we live in a place that could let this happen.

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    2. It does look targeted and discriminatory, that a white guy bullied an asian woman because he is an unfiltered hot head who fell victim so Ridgewood’s rumor mill, and then no one jumps in to defend her. I believe it was just unethical and stupid on the part of Dr. Schwatz’s own admission.

  4. This man is a dirtbag.

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  5. It’s not his job to defend BOE members.

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    1. Defend? No you idiot. It his job to inform and also to stop harassment. He is a yellow bellied chicken

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      1. WOW! Idiot? How nice.

      2. It is EVERYONE’s job to stand up to bullying and inappropriate behavior.

        Not one of the people at that meeting said anything.

        Sad.

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    2. It his responsibility to have been honest. He knew who was involved and what happened and watched a sports bully threaten to drag her through the mud. Is there a secret agenda. He’s pals with Kaz-shark so wondering if something is brewing there and maybe a secret agenda in play. time will tell and bad actors exposed.

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  6. my mother told me to NEVER trust a man with a beard

    1. or one who wears a bowtie…

  7. “It’s not his job to defend BOE members.” A lie by omission

  8. If you can’t run on accomplishments then lie and yell false accusations against your opponent. Pee Wee is a total failure, but he has a great election strategy to string the sports dolts along.
    Here’s how it plays out. He accuses the prior council of dumping the contaminated soil at Schedler. Like in a recent mayor’s propaganda letter. When the village engineer actually lied to the prior council claiming the soul was clean. Then he tells the sports crowd that he will have everything resolved in a year and the grand sports complex will be built. Pee Wee only needs another term to do it. The sports idiots believe him, and the donations roll in. Simple.
    The current council majority will never be able to over turn the historic designation, and some other lie will be concocted for cover. Welcome to dirty politics.

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    1. DB, I think you pretty much nailed it. Luckily in a few years we can be rid of the dirtiest of dirtbags and other bad actors. It will show people that voting really does matter. It will be nice to see all of them (Vagianos, Perron, Weitz and Winograd) walking around town now and again and I look forward to that day when people recall their ineffective and seriously flawed, failed “leadership” which almost ruined (can be replaced by bankrupted, if applicable). Failed municipal governship was achieved under your watch.

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      1. That would be nice but I see the other dirt bag mayor who destroyed the town whose name is also Paul walking around town with a big smile on his face and his mistress. They have no conscience. They think they are right!

    2. Winograd has at least 2 accomplishments on her list and that is to protect Ridgewood’s endangered turtles from being run over and to keep the squirrels safe from peril by falling inside the designer garbage cans. In fairness, please give credit where credit is due.

      1. Her signs suck. Can’t even see them. She probably doesn’t even drive on hillcrest. She sticks to her neck of the wood unless she is promoting Healthbarn ( why?? No one knows) and feed the front lines. Again her signs are useless

      2. Squirrels’ Lives Matter.

    3. Dude, you just described Kamala Harris and the rest of democrats modus operandi.

      1. Nice job picking up on the subtext.

  9. “…claiming the soul [sic] was clean.” Sometimes autocorrect does its job.

    1. Actually the souls are dirty, so I don’t think DB needed autocorrect. We have dirty soil AND dirty souls.

  10. And so it begins. keep Kwak off the council.

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    1. Nope. She’ll keep thing tight and right. Pauls magical mystery tour must end.

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  11. This whole situation with everyone who is involved and what they said or chose not to say is pretty shocking. In this instance, Dr. Schwatz definitely slipped up for sure.

  12. Ridgewood is now left to wonder if Dr. Schwarz’s self-admitted failure to defend Ms. Kwak is related to the fact that Ms. Kwak is Asian. There is a sickening and BULLYING pattern against Ms. Kwak.

    Village Manger (#keithkazmark) and Councilwoman #siobahanwinograd also being present are equally at fault.

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  13. And this is the person ultimately in charge of all harassment, intimidation and bullying cases in RPS. Very telling!

  14. Schwarz should set an example, the only way out of this it to PUBLICLY admit his failure to Ms. Kwak (victim) and issue an apology to both her and the residents of Ridgewood.

    1. Sorry but the news cycle is 15-20 minutes…waiting for the next story to break….

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  15. HIB bullying stands for Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying, a term the Superintendent and those in attendance of that meeting should know. Shame one them!

  16. Just like Justin Timberlake got fined with “impaired abilities” and was given a time of reflection and some form of community service, it seems fitting that our own elected individuals within the village should be subject to same. It sounds like both Mark. Schwartz and council person Siobahn Winograd both of whom spoke in public afterwards about the situation that arose on the recent fields Committee zoom, took liberties that were not the right path and have disrespected the community and the residents that live here. It is clear that each of them showed a mental lapse in judgement and bullying or threatening behavior is not something that should be enabled.

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  17. The RW school system has become a Joke… a Parody of quality school system.

  18. I find it very strange that so many people in Ridgewood feel sooooooo EXTREMELY on either side of the discussion of recreational fields for the village children.

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    1. Because it is an all or nothing end game
      Sports crowd protects their own and do not seem to care about anyone or anything else. So you’re either in or out there’s no middle.

    2. There are plenty of fields for the village children, that is the issue. They are not properly cared for and fall into disrepair regularly so parents and coaches complain and then get field envy over what other towns have. Ridgewood has many fields of all shapes and sizes and I’d be willing to bet on any given weekend day, fields remain empty but yet complaints will fly about that there is a lack-it is total BS, so people want to hear the whining stop already.

  19. You are not allowed to criticize anyone that is not white. Thems the rules nowdays.
    You people are so soft it is embarrassing.

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    1. It has nothing to do with being soft. This was no snowflake moment. The sports dude’s bad behavior started to escalate and he became more aggressive and irate. He was accusing people of obstructing progress to something he felt strongly about but instead of acting like a professional, he then went off the rails and started throwing around bold accusations then launched into a tirade and specifically accused a BOE member of spreading misinformation and said he would make sure everyone knew about it, which I believe is quite slanderous. Scott Muller tried to jump in to throw others into the mix, but this guy wouldn’t stop talking and cut him right off. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to feel harrassed. It was wrong and he should apologize but everyone later found out at the BOE meeting that she had nothing to do with it.

  20. Boys Program Director, Bob Lynch (robert.g.lynch@hotmail.com), violated Ridgewood LAX CODE OF CONDUCT. Per the rules, he should step down.
    File an RLA Grievance

    Link to code of Conduct and Grievance Form.
    https://ridgewoodlax.com/usa-lacrosse/

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    1. As Bob Lynch put it on the youtube, which has probably gone viral by now, it is like a chad just hanging there. It is way too easy for a grown man to get away with a childish public tantrum where he lobbed threats to an elected official. Apologize or stepped down off your soap box and the LAX association.

  21. It appears that Mr. Lynch most certainly did show a total lack of respect and consideration and was accusatory and unprofessional. Per the Code of conduct rules on the Ridgewood Lacrosse website, it would appear that a public apology is in order or he should step down. Additionally, it would make sense that anyone who further condones bullying, such as a village council person Winograd displayed at the village council meeting that I just watched on youtube, should also issue a public apology or step down. Rules don’t just apply to some people they apply to everyone, special exceptions should not be allowable and trust in the judgement of our elected representatives needs to be restored.

  22. Winograd is an absolute disgrace. She did not step in to stop the bullying rant of Mr. Lynch. She did not apologize for have g failed to do so. She blamed the victim. Sage is a pathetic human being.

    Mr Lynch is a hot headed bully who has many children under his guidance. He should never have gone off so angrily. He should never have threatened Ms Kwak and all those who have objected to turf. He should have apologized sincerely. He is a pathetic human being as well.

    1. The lack of self-awareness involved in trying to bully people into apologies with libelous screeds.

  23. I only just watched the village council meeting and fields meeting on youtube. Better late than never but there are a few things I picked out and picked up on that seem significant.

    Village Manager Kazmark says that he is only a guest at those meetings and called them events, then quickly corrected himself. He said he only started attending the meetings at the prompting of council person Winograd because she told him that people were “spreading mis information” and needed him to attend.

    Winograd states at the council session, also on youtube, that the two adults having the back and forth should “get together” but she missed the part where he villified her and he specifically stated that there was no way he was going to meet with her and he wanted everything “aired in public”. Even when Ms. Kwak invited him to meet with her to discuss the situation, Mr. Lynch started yelling and called her an obstruction to progress and that his 20 years of connections were going to hear about this. Sadly, Winograd did not provide the accounting of what happened which is deceptive.

    It appears to have been discussed at the most recent Board meeting for the schools when the Superintendent admitted that he knew all along about the situation and attended a meeting with Lynch and others involved in sports. He did nothing to stop the bullying and bad behavior being thrust at Ms. Kwak by the Lacrosse leader Lynch.

    Really a sad state of affairs and makes our village look really petty. Being frustrated is one thing, being a bully is a whole different situation and it needs to be shut down immediately.

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