Welcome!

Welcome to Laurie Goodman's blog. I use this space to share news and opinions about education and schools in Ridgewood, the state of New Jersey and the nation, in addition to other issues I'm personally interested in. I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, questions or opinions, too, by posting comments on any blog entry. Please observe basic courtesy -- keep your comments focused on issues, no personal attacks or bullying, please. Contact me directly at: lauriegood@mac.com

Monday, February 28, 2011

Solar power on the agenda tonight.

I forgot to mention in my previous post regarding tonight's agenda, that the Board will be hearing a presentation about a solar power program for our schools. We've been discussing the plan in the Facilities Committee for several months, so I'm looking forward to a conversation with the full Board and with the public. Stay tuned...

Sunday, February 27, 2011

BOE meeting Monday night.

There’s a lot going on at tomorrow’s Board of Ed meeting. We haven’t met for three weeks, so the agenda’s a little more full than typical. Full agenda here. A few highlights:

The Ridgewood Education Foundation will be presenting its Spring 2011 grant awards. The grants total $12,905 and the recipients are programs at RHS, Willard, Travell, Hawes, Ridge and Somerville.

Dr. Fishbein will update the Board on the 2009-10 Audit Report and Corrective Action Plan. Presumably we’ll hear how the software corrections are coming to correct the reporting glitches.

We’ll get a report on the Community Planning event that was held last month. That was such an interesting experience, I’m looking forward to seeing the ideas and suggestions put together into a report, and using the findings to inform our priorities for the coming few years.

The 2011-12 budget will be updated. Hopefully you saw Dr. Fishbein’s column in last Friday’s Ridgewood News, where he outlined the upcoming budget process, including opportunities for public input. (The online story (see link) includes a chart showing Ridgewood's financial efficiency compared to other districts.) Tomorrow night, the Board will be asked to approve the Preliminary Budget, which we must do in order to make the deadline for submitting to the Executive County Superintendent. The Preliminary budget is just that – not set in stone. I’m sure you heard about the approx. $850,000 in state aid coming to Ridgewood for next year. Before you start dreaming about where to spend this “windfall,” keep in mind that our initial budget showed a $650,000 deficit, so we’ll have to fill that hole first. Not sure what the administration is going to recommend with the rest. We’ll see tomorrow night.

We’ll have some more discussion on the updated Fields Use Policy, talking about questions and feedback we have and which we’ve received from the public.

Those are the meeting highlights. (You can watch live online by clicking here.) In terms of my personal BOE activity this week, I’ll be at Monday’s meeting, an Executive Session to discuss negotiations, Fields Committee meeting Wednesday morning, a webinar on social media in schools, and Federated HSA meeting on Thursday.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Governor Christie and Education Commissioner Cerf unveil NJ tenure reform proposal.

I don't have time right now to write a full reporting of the Governor's proposals announced today, but I wanted you to know about them ASAP. Thus, the following is reprinted from the blog New Jersey Left Behind. I'll share my own thoughts shortly:
This afternoon Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf gave a briefing on the Christie Administration’s five-part tenure reform proposal. Legislative language will be released in two weeks. Here’s the skinny; I’ll fill in the details tomorrow.

1) Teacher Evaluations: currently teacher evaluations are subject to collective bargaining in local districts. According to the proposal, the Department of Education will craft a state-wide evaluation form that bases 50% of a teacher’s rating on student growth (measured by standardized tests) and 50% on best practices. This new instrument will not be subject to negotiations between local unions and school districts. Other tenured employees – principals, child study team members, custodians, secretaries – will be unaffected by this legislation.

2) Tenure: teachers will be judged to be highly effective, effective, partially effective, or ineffective. These measurements will be wholly based on student learning. A teacher will be awarded tenure after three consecutive years of effective teaching. If a previously-tenured teacher amasses two consecutive years of ineffective ratings, he or she will revert to non-tenure status.

3) Mutual Consent: currently teachers can be placed in a school regardless of whether the building principal considers that teacher to be effective. The proposed legislation eliminates that practice. If a school within a district closes or is replaced, both the teacher and principals must mutually agree on a teacher’s placement within that school. If either party rejects the placement, then the teacher retains employment rights within the district for a full year and the district must assist the teacher in placement. If, however, the teacher is still not placed within a year then he or she will go on unpaid leave.

4) “Last In, First Out” (LIFO): under current law, when a district lays off teachers due to shrinking enrollment or funds then seniority dictates the order of job loss and it is illegal to consider teacher effectiveness. This proposal mandates that districts take into account teacher effectiveness when deciding on lay-offs.

5) Compensation: all districts base teacher compensation on years served and degrees earned. This new proposal dictates that the primary factor in salary is student growth. Teachers would also receive higher salaries by teaching in high-needs districts, teaching in hard-to-staff disciplines (math, science, special education), and by graduating from a teaching college with proven methods that advance student learning.
I know I said I'd share my opinions soon, and I'd like to give a more thoughtful response, but off the bat I can report that while I'm all for demanding quality from our teachers, I'm troubled by the emphasis on standardized tests and "student growth" as such a primary way to measure teacher effectiveness. More on the pitfalls of that to come...

District considers a Facebook page.

At the last Board of Ed meeting on February 7, we spoke a bit about the District creating a Facebook page. It's something we've been discussing in the Communications Committee and I've personally been advocating for it for over a year. We brought it up at the BOE meeting to just let the community know we're thinking about it. So far, the response has been very positive. I've heard from several people who think it's a great idea to get information out to the community -- as well as offering the potential for comments and/or questions from community members.

The Ridgewood News featured an op-ed piece supporting the idea of a Facebook page for Ridgewood Public Schools.

Many, many Ridgewood residents are on Facebook, with a large percentage of them interacting with Facebook in some way, several times each day. Having a page for the District just gives us one more way to communicate with people where they are...in a way that they may choose to communicate. The viral nature of Facebook allows us to spread information in an organic and easy fashion -- friend to friend to friend.

The intention would be for the Facebook page to augment our other communications channels, including the District website, eNews, the press and the occasional District "Newsline." The page could feature announcements of upcoming school events, reminders, snow day announcements, photos from construction projects, links to interesting stories about education or teaching, and links to news about legislation impacting schools.

The main concern expressed at the meeting last week was in establishing responsibility for the page. Our administrative staff is already stretched thin...does updating and monitoring a Facebook page add too much? Personally, I know from my own Facebook use that it shouldn't take but a few minutes each day. But we don't know for sure, and it is smart to think it through before we start down some path we can't sustain.

The idea of adding the Facebook page is somewhat of a big deal...and yet not really a big deal. It's just one more communication tool. But it does represent the District working to engage with the community on the community's terms. It also helps us model good digital citizenship for our students and their parents.

We'll continue discussing the Facebook page in the coming weeks and I'll post an update here (and on Facebook!) when there's news to report.

Race to Nowhere to be shown again Feb. 28; Producer will lead post-screening discussion

Nearly 600 Ridgewood parents turned out in December to view and discuss the educational documentary film, RACE TO NOWHERE. Additionally, the film was shown to the entire faculty at Ridgewood High School. The film’s producer, Vicki Abeles, followed the strong response from our community and has planned a visit to Ridgewood to continue the dialog. On February 28th at 7:00 PM at the Benjamin Franklin Auditorium, Vicki Abeles will host a screening of RACE TO NOWHERE and lead a discussion. All members of the community are invited, but according to a recent email from the RHS HSA, Ms. Abeles is most interested in hearing from RHS students. Parents are asked to encourage their teen children to attend.

Personally, I think the parents who most need to attend the screening are parents of elementary school children. The attitudes and practices that are criticized or questioned by the film are attitudes and practices that begin when children are in elementary school. By the time our kids are in high school, frankly, the damage has been done. (That's not to say certain aspects can't be "undone." It's never too late to chill out!)

Following is additional background on the film, from promotional materials:

Vicki Abeles, a concerned mother turned filmmaker, in RACE TO NOWHERE, aims her camera at the high-stakes, high-pressure culture that has invaded schools and the lives of children, creating unhealthy, disengaged and stressed-out youth. Featuring the stories of young people in all types of communities who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids, RACE TO NOWHERE is a call to action to challenge current assumptions on how best to prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, and contributing citizens.

RACE TO NOWHERE examines what is happening to students as a result of current policies and practices that focus on testing, performance and competition rather than meaningful teaching and learning. The film gives voice to those who are most affected by education policies – the students and teachers themselves. The film empowers everyone to get involved and take ownership of what’s happening in our schools and communities.


Admission is free of charge.

Monday, February 14, 2011

RHS student scientists.

I’m back! Actually, I wasn’t really gone, at least not physically. But I was seriously underwater on way too many projects for my clients. As a long-time freelancer, I learned long ago that there is really no such thing as saying “no” to one’s clients. In this competitive marketplace and slow economy, I can’t afford to lose any work, so…when it rains it pours and all I can do is hang on and focus. This week, I'm done with a couple of projects, soI can breathe a bit more. I’ve got some catching up to do on blog posts.

First up: science! At last week’s Board of Ed meeting, we heard about an amazing program happening at the high school. Last year, students working in partnership with Stevens Institute of Technology under a grant from the National Science Foundation created solar cells using the juice from blueberries and the powder from powdered donuts. They showed the working solar cells at Super Science Saturday last March. This year, approximately 50 students in several teams are creating a water splitter. The naturally-created solar cells will power the water splitter, which will create hydrogen gas (the cleanest form of energy in existence).

This is real science, people. I love that this project is so popular at RHS, with all 50 students participating after school and during lunch – on their own time. What a great project and a testament to the RHS teachers who are inspiring them. Can’t wait to see this new project (creating hydrogen energy, really) on display at this year’s Super Science Saturday on March 12. (More info click here.)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Thank you, Ridgewood! Thank you, Jamboree!


Once again, I had a great time with our annual Board of Ed cameos in Jamboree. Last night was the last night of the four-night run of “That's Life.” As you can see, they did another great job of dressing us up in embarrassing costumes! (That's me and Michele Lenhard...Sheila Brogan and Bob Hutton were similarly decked out...Charlie Reilly was unable to join us.) That's OK, it's a great show, positive energy, remarkable talent (among the others, haha)…and a generous $65,000 raised for scholarship money for Ridgewood High School graduating seniors! Great job, everyone! As this remarkable tradition's last song goes, "Thank you, Ridgewood..."

Sunday, February 6, 2011

What’s going on with the Board of Education this week?

Here's a snapshot of some of the things going on with the BOE this week.

Regular Public Meeting Monday at 7:30. Some highlights from the agenda (click here for full agenda):

• Discussion of RHS partnership with Stevens Institute through the National Science Foundations GK12 program.

• Reps from the Joint Village-BOE Fields Committee will present the draft revision of the Fields Use Policy. This policy will specify hours of use and conduct of users, among other things, at athletic fields throughout the Village. (You can read the draft policy as part of the agenda -- click here.)

• Discussion of the Board's new Legislative Committee, which will involve BOE members and interested residents to follow legislative activities and inform and advise the Board and public about opportunities for advocacy on issues that affect Ridgewood students.

• Discussion of a possible page for Ridgewood Public Schools on Facebook.

I'll visit a couple of HSA meetings on Tuesday.

The Board's Negotiating Team will begin meeting with the REA regarding the teachers' and secretaries' contract.

Board members will make our annual cameo appearance in Jamboree, Wednesday-Saturday nights.

In other words, another busy week. Any questions or comments, please let me know.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Ridgewood referendum projects are well under budget.

The Ridgewood News has a story today about Ridgewood schools' construction projects running under budget so far. I'm pasting the full text of the story here because I think it's helpful to see the projects and their status listed:

Despite rough weather this winter, construction projects at Ridgewood schools are moving ahead more or less on schedule and far under budget.

"Bids for the remaining projects continue to come in favorably," reported Superintendent Daniel Fishbein at a Jan. 24 meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE).

The BOE approved a purchase bid for window and door replacements at Benjamin Franklin Middle School (BF) at a cost of $528,800, far below the roughly $900,000 budgeted for the project in the original bond referendum.

The referendum, narrowly approved by voters in December 2009, will ultimately encompass $48 million worth of construction projects at district schools. The projected tax increase on the average village home is about $300 per year over the course of the next 25 years to pay off the $38 million bond referendum. The state is contributing another $9.8 million in grants.

Bids from contractors are now being sought for other school projects. Seventeen contractors recently attended a walk-through tour of Willard for its expansion project slated for next year, Fishbein said. More bid dates are coming up in February.

Substantial construction projects are currently under way at Ridge and Hawes elementary schools. At Ridge, construction of a new roof and a new wing has been slowed due to inclement weather, but the roof of Hawes' new wing was installed before the snow and ice storms, so construction has continued without a hitch.

Ridge is still scheduled to fully open for fall 2011, Fishbein said during a tour of the premises. Ridge is receiving five new classrooms; two small group instruction rooms; an art studio; occupational and physical therapy space; mechanical room; storage; and a computer lab.

Travell, Willard and Somerville elementary schools and BF all underwent roofing replacements or improvements. Still to come are full renovations at Willard, though substantial asbestos abatement in a basement crawl space was successfully completed this summer. Willard will also undergo an expansion to add seven classrooms; one small group instruction room; a media center/ library; computer lab; resource room; a nurse's office; and storage.

BF has also received upgrades to its electrical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; repairs of concrete and masonry, stairs and sidewalks; and its athletics fields have undergone significant renovations, including the installation of a new track and field facility for the district.

Ridgewood High School has received site updates to its sidewalks, stairs, external doors and brick and mortar, as well as new lockers and extensive work on its two athletics fields, including the installation of artificial turf. Other renovations include drinking fountains, plumbing, windows and doors, and fire detection systems and alerts.

George Washington Middle School (GW) has completed a new driveway on Washington Street. Plans for GW include an improved electrical system and windows, and expansion that will construct and/or renovate six classrooms, five small group instruction rooms, a media center/library, computer lab and gymnasium, which will take over part of the footprint of the existing field.

Many schools are also receiving occupancy sensor and light controls.
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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Great way to put $$ in perspective

I just love this video explaining the size of the US budget -- and the meaning of $100 million in cuts. (My husband wants to try and come up with a similar visual for the school budget...stay tuned!)

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Shedding a little light on the facts about fields.

Forgive the pun, but I thought it was time to clarify and correct some of the “news” you may have been hearing about the fields and lights at RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields.

Friday’s Ridgewood News hosted several concerns about the funding for the lights. There was an allegation that one sports group may pull-out of the commitment to donate a minimum of 40% of the lease payments for years 2-5, if that group doesn’t get its way in terms of light shut-off times (as in, later light shut-off times). As BOE president Michele Lenhard said in that same newspaper article, the Board has a good-faith agreement with a group of sports organizations, and as of now, we are confident that the group will meet its commitment. There was never a promise of time for money, but rather an assurance from the District that rec sports groups need not worry about losing time on Stevens Field and RHS Stadium. Everyone involved in the arrangement pledged to use reason when working out schedules for use. The Fields Use Policy that will determine what days and times the lights can be used is currently being developed by the Joint Village of Ridgewood & Board of Education Fields Committee, and it will not be determined according to donation levels. The policy is scheduled to be presented to the BOE on Monday night, for discussion, public comment and possible approval. The policy will also need to be presented to the Village Council (date unknown) for their own discussion, public comment and approval.

Friday’s paper also contained some sensational claims about funding for the lights causing teachers to be fired or other staff to be cut. That is simply not correct. Here’s the explanation for the funding:

The lights were purchased with a five-year lease/purchase. That means we make five annual payments of $105,000. The first payment was made with funds donated by the sports groups. For year two, the BOE budget for 2011-12 includes 100% of the lease payment ($105,000) in the General Purchases line, the funds from which are not allowed to be used for paying staff. The General Purchases line is for one-time costs such as facilities repairs and summer maintenance projects, not for on-going personnel costs.

When the BOE receives the donation from the sports groups for year 2, the funds which had been earmarked for the lights will become available for other one-time building and maintenance costs.

In years three through five, the Board will have the ability to use unspent money from the referendum to complete our portion of the lease payments. (Currently we are running about $2 million dollars under budget on referendum costs.)

I hope this clears up any concern you might have had based on Friday’s newspaper. As you can see, asking parents if they are willing to give up their child’s teacher to pay for the lights is misleading at best.

Bonus post!

If you’re wondering what’s the real story about baseball diamonds in Ridgewood (and I hope you do want to hear the real story), here it is in a nutshell:

We all know Ridgewood doesn’t have enough field space for the children who currently play sports (this was discussed at length when the Village commissioned the Recreation Master Plan) and volunteers work hard to balance field access. It's more complicated than it may seem because different age groups require different field sizes. The BOE and the Village knew when the District undertook the field improvements at BF and RHS that while access for some sports would be increased, a “domino effect” would impact the 2,000 children who play in the RBSA, as well as the RHS baseball and softball teams. Unfortunately, the necessary changes that would make more diamonds available on Village fields – whether at Pleasant Park (Lower Hawes), Habernickel or Schedler – have not yet happened. The expansion project at GW middle school will eventually add another small diamond to the mix, but that won’t help this coming Spring season. The lights at Stevens Field can potentially help, but we've got to balance their use with the concerns of our neighbors. We’re all going to need to work together, and that's the process we're in right now.

So, yes, Ridgewood has too few baseball diamonds for the number of kids who play baseball. But the BOE didn’t create this situation in a vacuum, and it appears that the ball (pun intended?) is in the Village’s field (as it were)…

Responses to many RHS neighbors' concerns are online.

For the past few weeks you may have heard some discussion around town about the neighbors around the high school and their concerns about the improved athletic fields and the (still not hooked up to electricity) lights. To re-cap, some of the neighbors wanted us to hold another hearing with the Planning Board, so that they could get their questions answered and their concerns aired. The Board of Education responded that we didn't think a Planning Board hearing was necessary in order to work directly with the neighbors and community to answer those questions and address those concerns. Toward that end, we've had a couple of meetings with neighbors, but for a couple of weeks we kept mentioning a document that would gather all the questions and concerns in one place, and we would answer or address them. Well, the document is finally complete* and available on the District website. You can find it at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us, click on District Administration>Bond Referendum. Or you can click here for a direct link.

*The document is "complete" with all the information that's currently available. As new questions or concerns are raised, or as new or better information becomes available, the document will be updated. (For example, we still have no idea when PSE&G will hook-up the electricity to the lights. We've been told they're a little busy with weather-related issues for the foreseeable future!

Budget and contract "news" is premature...and incorrect.

The other blog in town is erroneously reporting “BOE announces no raises for teachers and secretaries…” following the misleading report in Friday’s Ridgewood News that stated, “District administration has slated no raises for staff…” Let me just clarify something right now – the Board’s negotiations with the REA (teachers’ union) have not even started yet! The budget has not been created yet! This is an example of bad reporting that spreads through electronic media and takes on a life of its own.

Here are some facts:

The BOE’s negotiations with the Ridgewood Education Association will begin this month. The Board has been meeting in closed session to prepare, as has been announced in our public meeting notifications. There will be a process, obviously, and there will be proposals. But that negotiation, and the content of those proposals, will be confidential. They must be. Those are ground rules that the Board and the REA agree to. I know it can be hard for Ridgewood residents to not know, and to wonder what’s happening behind those closed doors, especially since the outcome of the negotiations will have such a direct impact on our community. But the negotiation process has to be confidential so that the parties can have direct and frank conversation with each other. “Negotiating in public” is not productive.

Believe me, when there is something to announce about the contract, we will announce it. But as of now, we haven’t even had our first meeting! Don’t you think it’s a little premature to “announce” contract terms? Please resist the urge to get riled up…my best advice would be to attend BOE meetings in-person or watch online so you can hear exactly what is said yourself. Any questions, feel free to email me or post them here.

A little bit later today I will clarify the budget discussion from last Monday night, which is where the phantom “freeze” reports originated.