Dear Trustee of the Ridgewood School System:
We formally request that you vote AGAINST the 2018-2019 budget proposed by the Ridgewood Board of Education. The budget amounting to $110,167,997 represents an egregious increase of 4.36% from the year prior, resulting in a tax increase of 3.62%. This above-inflation, above-cap pace cannot be sustained, and we refuse to accept it as a solution.
According to the Board Vice President James Morgan and Member Christina Krauss, who have abstained from voting on the budget, “options to ameliorate budgetary pressures have been discussed.” We believe these options should be presented to the residents of Ridgewood and the Village collectively should decide on a more budget-friendly course of action.
The spotlight is on the three members who have indicated to vote for the proposed budget: Mr. B. Vincent Loncto (viloncto@rudgewood.k12.nj.us), Ms. Sheila Brogan (sbrogan@ridgewood.k12.nj) and Ms. Jennie Smith Wilson (jswilson@ridgewood.k12.nj.us). They, along with the Superintendent Dr. Daniel Fishbein (dfishbein@ridgewood.k12.nj.us), need understand that tax dollars should be used judiciously.
Sincerely,
Concerned Residents of Ridgewood
click below to sign the petition
Thanks for taking leadership on this. The Budget should at the very least be considered together with a question of Long-term sustainability of education staff healthcare costs.
Good luck