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

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Ridgewood election results.

Unofficial results for today's Ridgewood school election (official results will include yet-to-be-counted absentee ballots):

BUDGET
YES 1788
NO 1406

BOARD
Clark 496
Krauss 1697
Goodman 1472
Brogan 1607

Thank you, Ridgewood, for allowing me to work for our children and schools for these past three years. It has been my pleasure every single day.

Thank you for passing the 2011-12 budget and for supporting our schools.

I'm sort of speechless (sort of haha) and a little heartbroken at this moment. I loved this job more than anything I've ever done. But I'm a glass-half-full person, so I'm looking forward to having some time for my family. I'll still be blogging about schools and education....I doubt I'll sit quietly on the sidelines for long. We shall see what happens next...

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Ridgewood mentioned in NY Times story about school budgets.

The Times yesterday featured a story about school budgets and the election in New Jersey this year, as compared to last year.

An excerpt from the story...
Little drama. Limited tax increases. Fewer draconian cuts.

Despite the imposition of a cap this year that limits the increase in property tax collections to 2 percent, school districts in New Jersey are heading into budget elections on Wednesday largely free of the anger and turmoil of last year’s budget season.
and...
Even a well-to-do district like Ridgewood is sticking to a modest 2 percent increase in tax revenue, which will maintain existing programs but not pay for additional teachers to meet growing enrollment.

Statewide, nearly 87 percent of the 538 districts with budgets on the ballot will propose raising their taxes by no more than 2 percent, adhering to the annual limit set by the tax cap pushed through by Governor Christie. About 71 districts will go over 2 percent to cover large increases for health insurance, pensions and higher enrollment — spending that is allowed under the cap.

Eleven districts are also seeking voter approval on separate ballot questions to raise additional tax revenue for specific proposals, which include restoring sports programs and having full-day kindergarten.
Click here to read the full story.

A snapshot of Special Education in Ridgewood.

Supervisor of Special Services Kerry Huntington gave a presentation to the Board of Ed on Monday night, updating our current special ed program. Here are some highlights, for those who may wonder "just what is our special ed program in Ridgewood?"

Students:
Total number of Special Education Students = 888 (15%, below the state average))
-- Special Ed -- 809
-- Speech/Language only – 79

ESL (English as a Second Language) Students – 102

Basic Skills Students – 397 (elementary)

Programs:
Special Education:
RED Program Classes – 5
RISe Classes – 4
LLD Classes – 5 elementary, 2 middle school, 1 high school
Resource Program – in every school
Supplemental Support – Elementary & High School
Out-of-District Placements – 83 students

Glen School:
ITDC (private enterprise of district)
Ridgewood Nursery School (renter)
RED Program (District special ed program)

General Education:
I&RS – in every school (Intervention & __, will find out what the R stands for)
Basic Skills Instruction (BSI) – elementary schools
Title 1 Services
ESL – in every school

Special Ed Support Services:
Related Services (therapies, counseling, busing, etc.)
Special Education Aides
Assistive Technology
BCSSD
Private Vendors
Region 1
CST Secretaries

Current Staff
Central Office (2 administrators, 1 behaviorist, 2 support staff)
Child Study Team members: 20
Special Ed Teachers: 59
Transition Coordinator: 1
RED Program Coordinator: 1
Therapists: 16
Education Specialists: 15
ESL Teachers: 9
Title 1 Teacher: 1
Child Study Team Secretaries: 10

Total Special Programs staff: 137

We are doing a great job of keeping as many students in town as possible, which helps keep costs down. The majority of our current out-of-district placements are in high school. This fact led recent state monitors who visited the district to remark that we should consider developing an alternative high school concept, which could keep more students in District and thus reduce our costs. I imagine this something the administration will be looking into.

More NJ districts are charging activity fees.

A recent survey by the New Jersey School Boards Association showed that approximately 40% of districts charge activity fees for students involved in extracurricular activities. Of those districts that charge activity fees, half charge a flat fee, and 34.6 percent charge a per-activity fee. (Ridgewood charges a flat fee for students in the middle schools and high school.)

Click here to see more detailed results on the survey.

A few selected comments from the survey results:

Our district has charged for activities for the past 10 years or so. We instituted them after several budget defeats and thought it would have a positive effect on parent/voter turnout … but so far, it hasn't seemed to work out. We have had surprisingly little reaction to the fees.

We discussed this for last year but decided that, although we could have used the money, we had to make sure that we had a policy in place and we were not going down the path of poor implementation like so many districts have.

I don't understand why everyone thinks when they get to high school, sports and other activities should be free. If they want the extras and the district does not have the money, they must be willing to pay. It's better than cutting the program!

I am not in favor of charging for activities/sports that are run through the schools. It is important that we encourage participation in activities/sports for many reasons. It's proven that kids who participate are better students.

It is an unfortunate necessity. Co-curriculars are a critical part of a student's education, but the state's failure to make good on its constitutional obligation to fund schools according to its own formula leads us down the slippery slope of having parents pay for "extras" that aren't really extra at all. Sad times for education in New Jersey

With 2 percent cap, activity fees may be the only way to protect extra curricular & co-curricular programs.

It is an unfortunate requirement in today's economic climate.

We have looked at this in the past, and will probably look at it in the future. At the moment we prefer not to impose this type of fee.

Extracurricular activities should be considered part of the essential educational experience and should be fully funded through the existing revenue streams.

We have raised the required number of participating students for clubs and activities, which has reduced the number of clubs and activities, and hence reduced some of our costs. Also, we have secured grants from the freeholder board to fund our after-school tutoring/homework club and our girls' and boys' running clubs.

We are introducing activity fees starting in the 2011-2012 school year. We felt it was time to take a small step into this area, especially when presenting a balanced budget is increasingly difficult.

Willard School on CBS News

Great story on CBS News about Willard School's environmental efforts. Congrats to our students and teachers!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Watch RHS Girls’ Lacrosse beat Yorktown on Cablevision.

The RHS girls’ lacrosse team had a great game vs. Yorktown on Saturday, winning 19-13 at RHS Stadium. It was/is the only girls’ lax game to be broadcast live in the tri-state area on Cablevision, and they will be replaying it on CableVision IO TV Channels 14 and 614: tomorrow, Wednesday 4/27, at 3:00 p.m.

Apparently the half time presentation includes some overview of RHS, an interview with Principal Jack Lorenz, and more.

If I had Cablevision, I’d love to watch!

Residents sought for advocacy committee.

The Superintendent of Schools and Board of Education are launching an initiative to gather together residents interested in advocating for Ridgewood’s public education at the state level. The newly formed Legislative Advocacy Committee will officially kick off at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, on Tuesday, May 3, with an event featuring Lynne Strickland, Executive Director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools (of which Ridgewood is a member). Ms. Strickland will speak on the "state of the state" concerning legislation; will address school funding; and will provide practical tips for contacting legislators. BOE members on the committee are Michele Lenhard and Sheila Brogan. All interested residents are welcome to attend the meeting, which will be held on the 3rd floor from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

For more information, call Dr. Fishbein's office at 201-670-2700, ext. 10530, or e-mail dfishbein@ridgewood.k12.nj.us. (You do not need to contact anyone in order to attend the meeting -- just show up if you're interested.)

Sunday, April 24, 2011

On the agenda for Monday’s BOE meeting.

The Board of Education meets Monday night at 7:30, on the 3rd floor of the Ed Center. A few highlights from the agenda (full agenda available here):

The Board will hear an update on Special Ed services and staffing, with an explanation of needs for the 11-12 school year.

The 2010-11 Teacher Recognition nominees will be approved by the Board, in advanced of the annual Teacher Recognition award reception to be held on May 10. The teachers being honored are:
Special Programs…Patricia McVeigh
Hawes…Shirley Kolkebeck
Orchard…Christine Thielke
Ridge…Tracee Fazio
Somerville…Meredith McLaughlin
Travell…Carol Goulian
Willard…Dawn-Lyn Dolfi
Benjamin Franklin…David Tashian
George Washington…Evelyn McKinnon
RHS…Patricia Johnson
Congratulations!

The Board will gratefully accept donations, including from the Ridge HAS, the Ridgewood Ice Hockey Foundation, the RHS HSA and others.

Dr. Fishbein will present a few change orders for work at RHS, Ridge and GW. The referendum projects continue to be well under budget, as work begins on the two remaining large projects at Willard and GW.

We’ll also have regular business such as retirements, movements of staff, approval of some summer stipends, public comment, etc.

As always, the meeting will be televised on Cablevision Channel 77, webcast live on the District website, and archived for later viewing.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Rainy day pre-election thoughts.

Election day is coming -- Wednesday April 27 -- and the rhetoric and all the stuff I hate about the process is in full swing. Signs on lawns. PR pieces in the newspaper. Blog posts with their anonymous comments and unique "spin" on facts. I've always been up front about my lack of political savvy. I don't play the games and I just try to call it like it is. There's really not a lot I can do to change some people's minds, once they've got certain ideas stuck there.

It's frustrating (and sort of funny, if it weren't so serious) to see myself portrayed as "the establishment." I have spent the past three years feeling like the outsider on the BOE. Many of the things that frustrated me before I was elected still cause me to bang my head on my desk -- even more -- today. The answers or solutions were not as easy as they looked from the outside. And they're not always easy to explain to others.

I am still the first to agree that the Board needs more openness and transparency. I've been working on it for three years. Not everyone on the BOE or in the administration agrees with me. We have improved, but not enough. It is like turning an aircraft carrier, the culture is so ingrained and the bureaucracy is so entrenched, that one board member can only impact so much. I will keep working on it -- I know it can get better. In the meantime, I've tried to fill some of the gaps with my own personal communication via this blog, even though it's a bit of a minefield to navigate the boundaries of free speech, confidentiality and "appropriate" Board member behavior.

As for the budget (tax levy) you're being asked to approve on Wednesday -- we have kept spending flat in all areas except health care, and that is contractual so there is nothing we can do about it with this budget. (In fact, if it weren't for the health premium increase, the budget would be going down $75,000.) We are working on the next contract now and the entire Board is well aware that salaries/benefits -- especially health insurance -- cannot remain as is. We simply cannot afford it. The system cannot support it.

I'm still hoping my serious commitment to these issues -- and others, as I've described before -- will convince enough voters to return me for three more years on the Board. I'm still the "new" member. I'm still the one on the Board who has not been part of the establishment for years and years. There is a lot more I can do and I'm willing to keep working.

I chose not to raise a bunch of money and pay for expensive signs (the ones you see now are all those that I saved from three years ago), postcard mailings, etc., because I felt I couldn't ask people to spend money on that stuff in this economy. I'm still silly enough to believe that elections should not be about who has more signs, who had more coffees or whose name is in what ballot position. I know what I've done, I know what can be done, and I know I can make a positive difference...if you'll re-elect me on Wednesday.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

“The Fabric of Ridgewood.”

Have you ever wondered about the full-wall mural on the 3rd floor of the Ed Center? I have…to my mind, it’s always been there, but I also know that some of the portraits were done my the children of friends, so it can’t be that old (because I’m not that old!).

So I asked around and got this story:

The mural’s theme is The Fabric of Ridgewood. It was created during the 1997-98 school year and was coordinated by Somerville Art Teacher Samantha Stankiewicz (nee Bennett). The mural was created by artist Michael Smyth and funded by a grant from the Ridgewood Education Foundation. The concept was that the mural should reflect the children's idea of Ridgewood. As research, he gathered sketches from students at every elementary school and created the mural design based on their ideas. All the art submitted by the students was collected and placed in a bound scrapbook, which I saw the other day in the smaller 3rd floor conference room. (It was neat to see art from kids’ who I remember from long ago, who are now college graduates!) The self-portraits that surround the mural were done by Ridgewood students in their art classes. The handprints are of children in the Village. On a set day, all children who wanted were invited to come to the Ed Center, dip their hands in paint and make a print on the wall.

I discovered that there is a large plaque on the wall in the 3rd floor Board Room which describes the process and lists the names of each student who contributed to it. Nest time you’re on the 3rd floor, check it out: if you are facing the mural, the plaque is in the right-hand corner of the room (behind a large plant).

One of the Ed Center staff told me that the artist’s small son would sometimes accompany his father when he painted, and amused himself by hammering with the Board President’s gavel. So cute!

The next time you’re at the Ed Center, take a closer look at the mural…it’s really something and a Ridgewood treasure. (I should have taken a photo to include here...I'll try to grab one next time and post.)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Khan Academy

Last September I blogged about the Khan Academy, an amazing web resource for students, consisting of hundreds of teaching videos for subjects including algebra, geometry, physics, basic math, biology, chemistry, finance, etc. They were featured on 60 Minutes and other media because of the remarkable quality of the teaching and the consistently excellent results experienced by students who use them -- and the fact that the site's founder, Salman Khan -- did all this for free. Khan Academy started out as Sal making a few algebra videos for his cousins and has grown to over 2,100 videos and 100 self-paced exercises and assessments. It's remarkable.

Once again, I strongly urge you and your middle school and high school students to check out Khan Academy and try one of the short videos. I found myself fascinated by one of the lessons on geometry -- a course I never took in high school.

I'm told that some RHS teachers are suggesting that kids explore the Khan Academy offerings as additional homework help or to delve deeper into concepts. High school kids seem to like the short lessons, and there's just something "right" about the way the teacher presents and explains the material. The district website now has a link to Khan Academy on the Curriculum & Instruction page, under "Internet Resources for Parents, Teachers & Students.". Click here.

The myth of the “budget vote.”

Yes, it’s an intentionally provocative title, but I wanted to share a perspective that I’ve commented on before, especially when I hear Ridgewood residents arguing about the upcoming election and whether they plan to vote for or against "the budget."

In addition to electing members of the Board of Education*, on April 27 the ballot question will read:

Resolved, that there should be raised for the General Fund $81,323,178 for the ensuing school year (2011-2012).

Voters (whether they are taxpayers or not, by the way) are asked to approve the total amount of taxes, for the schools, to be levied via property taxes. That’s it. We are not voting for or against the budget – not voting on how that tax levy is spent, and not voting on how much is allocated to the various lines and cost centers.

Based on that understanding of the fact of the vote process, and with New Jersey’s government-mandated 2% cap on how much the tax levy is allowed to grow, I can understand the occasional argument from Trenton that the annual “budget vote” is unnecessary if a district’s budget is under the legal cap. Sure, the vote is a rare democratic access point between residents and the delivery of their money to the “public good,” and people do like to feel like they have a say in what happens with their hard-earned taxes. (Imagine if we could vote on the Federal budget…or the state budget…the mind reels at the prospect of TV ads bought by PACs and political parties.) But how much of a say is that vote in April?

If you think the school district should spend more money on this program or that program, your vote really doesn’t affect that. If you want the school district to hire this teacher or fire that administrator, your vote doesn’t affect that. If you think your vote will send a message to the teacher’s union, I’m not so sure how your vote would affect that. The only thing our vote does is decide how much money will be collected from all the taxpayers in Ridgewood and delivered to the school district. How the money is divvied up is proposed by the administrators and approved by the BOE…whom you elect to do so.

I understand how some can feel powerless…that the vote is sort of futile, because it’s already a done deal by the time it’s on the ballot. I happen to think that we can do a better job of ascertaining what residents think about the budget – before the annual school election. I’ve talked about creating opportunities for more citizen involvement, earlier in the process. Practically speaking, I’m not entirely sure how. Fact is, the budget is big and complicated and not really something that can be reduced to “sound bites” – despite the public’s penchant for framing issues that way. Typical political polarization doesn’t really work on something this complex, with direct results on 5800+ individual students with individual needs, individual preferences and individual issues.

So, I just wanted to add a little education as to what you’re truly voting for or against on April 27. It's not "the budget." It's the proposed tax levy as indicated above. This tax levy reflects the lowest tax increase since the mid-1980s. It represents 0% total growth in the total budget, except health insurance, which we are estimating to rise 12%. (In fact, if it weren’t for the increase in health benefits, the budget would be going down $75,000.) And it keeps the education our children are currently receiving intact. A “yes” vote sets the tax rate. A “no” vote charges the Village Council with setting the tax rate. They don’t get to recommend cuts. They don’t order changes in spending on this vs. that. They just set the tax rate, presumably lower than what the Board asked for on the ballot.

However you feel about the tax levy, I hope you will get out and vote.

*Should probably mention again that I hope you will re-elect me to the Board. Our schools are facing the toughest time in their history. Rising costs, dwindling resources and increased regulations from the state have contributed to an environment where providing the quality education Ridgewood expects and deserves is more difficult than ever. I have worked hard for the past three years, and I believe I have so much more to give to our schools and our community.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Christie proposes education reform bills that would eliminate current tenure system for teachers.

This entire post is reprinted from NJ.com:

Gov. Chris Christie sent a package of education reform bills to the Legislature Wednesday that would eliminate tenure as teachers know it and offer job protection only to those who consistently show a high level of performance based on new statewide evaluation system.

Under the tenure proposal, teachers would be given one of four ratings — highly effective, effective, partially effective or ineffective — based equally on student performance and classroom observations. Acting Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf first unveiled the evaluation system during an address at Princeton University in February.
Teachers who receive the two highest ratings three years in a row would be eligible for tenure and merit pay, at their district’s discretion. Educators rated partially effective for two consecutive years or ineffective for one year — even if they have previously been highly rated — would lose tenure and could be fired.

"We want tenure to become something good teachers earn," said Christie, who has been advocating education reform for months. "It will not protect bad teachers who stay in front of the classroom.

"What we want is the most effective teachers at the front of every classroom regardless of seniority. Teachers who are effective are not worried about losing their jobs."

Under the current system, most teachers receive tenure after three years and one day on the job. The state has revoked tenure from just 17 teachers over the past 10 years. The process can drag out for years and be very costly to districts.

The tenure proposal is one of seven education reform bills Christie said he hopes will move through the Democrat-controlled Legislature quickly and be implemented by the 2012-13 school year.

Other proposals include:

• Ending the practice known as "last in, first out," which requires districts to lay off less experienced teachers first.

• Promoting what’s known as "mutual consent," which requires principals and teachers to agree on teachers’ assignments to schools.

• Offering bonuses to teachers who work in high needs districts and difficult to staff subject areas like math or science.

• Placing a 30-day deadline on tenure revocation decisions.

• Allowing school districts to opt out of the civil service system.

None of the bills has a sponsor, leaving some legislators questioning the likelihood they will move forward at all.
Tom Hester Jr., a spokesman for the Assembly Democrats, said the caucus would review the bills and may introduce competing legislation.

Assembly Education Committee Chairman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex) said he does not support any of the measures, as proposed, and would likely vote against them if they came before his committee.

"Everyone in education agrees that there are no reliable evaluation tools to accomplish what the governor continues to say should be the standard for hiring and retaining teachers," Diegnan said. "Test scores have been tried across the country and consistently produce unreliable results."

Steve Wollmer, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, said an evaluation system might drive performance in the corporate world, but won’t in the state’s public schools.

"You should not use standardized test scores to make high stakes personnel decisions," said Wollmer, whose union has consistently battled the governor over education reform. "There are too many factors that affect student test scores that teachers cannot control."

Adam Bauer, a spokesman for the Senate Republicans, said it is "highly likely" the bills will garner support — and sponsors — from the Republican caucus, including Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union), who supports the governor’s education reform agenda.

"(Sen. Kean) looks forward to continuing to work with the administration on their shared commitment to saving kids from failing schools and measuring educational success based on outcomes," Bauer said.

Kean could not be reached for comment.

Lynne Strickland, executive director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools, a group of about 100 suburban districts, said Christie’s proposals will prompt "a real dialogue and conversation" about education reform in New Jersey.

She said a number of "stumbling blocks" from teachers’ perspectives, including the proposed changes to teacher compensation and the evaluation process based on assessment.

"The details in the legislation are going to be dramatically important," Strickland said. "That’s why it’s clear this is going to be hashed out. It should be, because this is significant change."

Click here to read original story and accompanying video and reader comments (always one of my favorite parts of any story!).

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

How a school budget is built.

Here's a video of the Bernards Township Superintendent of Schools (from the VoteApril27.com website) explaining what goes into their school budget -- which is remarkably similar to Ridgewood's. It's all stuff that our Dr. Fishbein or BOE members have stated at various times, but it's interesting to hear it from another perspective. I did notice her emphasis on a couple of points that I don't know if our community is always aware of. For example, when looking at Special Education costs, it's important to remember that the state law requires that our District (all districts) must provide special education to all youth from age 3 through 21. That's five years longer (or almost 40% longer) than we provide services to our regular education students, and it helps explain the size of the Special Education share of our budget. I wonder how many Ridgewood residents are aware of that.

Helpful website all about April 27 school election.

The New Jersey School Boards Association has created a website focused on the April 27 statewide school election, at www.VoteApril27.com. According to the site, its mission is:
We want as many New Jersey citizens as possible to participate in the April 27, 2011 school election.
Some text from the intro on the homepage:
As a citizen of the State of New Jersey, voting in your local school election is a civic duty. Statewide, on April 27, voters like you will act on a combined total of more than $13 billion in proposed locally funded school expenditures. They will also select more than 1,500 local school board positions. But as impressive as these statewide numbers are, the true significance of the Annual School Election takes place at the local level—in your community. You will be able to vote on your school district’s individual budget proposal, an opportunity available to citizens in only a handful of states. You will also choose the men and women who will represent you on your school district’s board of education.

When you were young, you went to school in your hometown. Your parents likely chose that town because they believed that it offered the best possible education for you. Your education played an important role in making you the person you are today. It may have enabled you to attend the college of your choice, to get the job you want and much more.

Your participation on April 27 goes beyond personal impact, however. Your school property taxes can be viewed two ways: first, as a levy that funds a government service and, second, as an investment that has a far-reaching impact on the children and the residents of your community. A community’s property values, its quality of life and its social fabric are all related to the strength of its schools.
It's an interesting site, and includes things like a video explaining how school budgets are developed (disclaimer: I haven't watched it yet), and special sections for parents, senior citizens, students and voters. Click here to check it out.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Answering questions about the District calendar and holiday decisions..

In the comments for another post, a reader questioned the District's calendar policy and how breaks and holidays are determined. I thought I'd share my most recent response here, in case others have wondered.

First, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Passover is “overlooked”. I'm told that Passover has been considered by the Calendar Committee every year. The creation of the District calendar is more complicated than most people realize.

Generally speaking, each year’s school calendar has to account for statutory holidays first, and then account for recess periods that the community has come to expect (e.g., in Ridgewood we are used to a full week in December, a full week in February and a full week in April)…all while ensuring the calendar starts out with 182 school days scheduled for students and 187 work days scheduled for teachers.

The challenge with Passover is that its dates typically vary from late March to mid- to late April. The Calendar Committee tries to avoid scheduling the “Spring Recess” week too close to, or too far away from, the “Winter Recess” week in February. Generally it looks to schedule the Spring Recess as close to eight weeks after the Winter Recess as possible to provide the best balance of rest and instructional continuity for the students. The challenges they face doing that are: 1) not closing school on dates around this time when state tests are typically administered (normally sometime in April) and not closing school the weeks before testing so that students have the best opportunities to be prepared; and 2) trying to make sure that schools are open on the annual school election date so that Village residents who can only take vacations during the school recess week are not forced to miss the election or vote with absentee ballots.

Days off for Passover might also be scheduled outside of Spring Recess, but that would add additional length to the overall school year. Depending on who you talk to, the important Passover celebration days may be the first day, the first two days, or the first two and last two days. Using this year as an example, that could have pushed the students’ last day of school to Friday, 6/24 (which creates conflicts for many families of graduating seniors who want to leave for vacations), to Monday, 6/27 or to Tuesday, 6/28. The later in June schools must be open: 1) the more “hot summer days” we may have to deal with in classrooms; 2) the more we will interfere with families’ vacation plans and students’ summer job and/or summer school plans; and 3) the smaller our “cushion” will be in the event we have a large number of inclement weather closures during the year and we need to stay open longer at the end of the year.

Some people feel that scheduling Good Friday off and not scheduling Passover off is unfair. Whether it’s “right” or “wrong”, Good Friday is a statutory holiday in New Jersey.

If we had fewer educational challenges, and more flexibility, to schedule our Spring Recess where we wanted to, I believe Passover would be a priority for scheduling Spring Recess in Ridgewood. The district has a history of scheduling school closures for both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur when they fall on school days, even when it results in single days off in the middle of the week.

Finally, Regulation No. 8810 (Religious Holidays) in the Board Policy Manual (on the District website) specifically addresses the rules for homework and tests/quizzes around religious holidays. If a parent feels that teachers are not following the Regulation, they should bring it to the Principals’ attention.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Resident Gerry Clark has withdrawn from BOE race.

It has been reported by Patch.com that Gerry Clark, one of the challenges in the Board of Education election to be held on April 27, has withdrawn from the race. Click here for the full story.

In the meantime, the remaining candidates will be at the RHS Home & School meeting tonight to introduce ourselves and answer questions. Dr. Fishbein will also be there to present the 2011-12 budget which is up for vote.

The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. and takes place in the RHS Library (Media Center) on the 2nd floor.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Must be a late April Fool's joke?

He's got to be kidding, right? Yesterday Governor Christie announced his big idea to have a task force review all the mandates placed on schools and "return more of the power back to school districts and less from the central office in Trenton." Does he not read his own press? He hasn't cared about local control when it comes to the leadership of school boards, effectively taking away a community's right to hire and pay whom they want as their superintendent, the educational leader for their schools.

Let's just review quickly...do I have this right?

1. Cap superintendent pay so that more experienced superintendents who cannot afford to take significant pay cuts move to close-by districts like Nyack.
2. When districts complain that there are not enough qualified superintendents willing to work for lower salaries, relax the qualifications necessary to be a superintendent
3. Remove Executive County Superintendents who could have added some support to untried superintendents.
4. Give control over educational decisions back to the local level, to those inexperienced, unqualified superintendents.

Got it.

Yesterday's full story in the Bergen Record is here.

Referendum projects under budget...what does it mean?

At tonight's Board of Ed meeting, Dr. Fishbein updated us on the status of the referendum projects. As of last week, the final bids have been opened. We are currently still running at approx. $2 million under budget. (So-called "soft costs" still need to be calculated.) This leads me to share some info that I sent to a resident earlier today, in response to a question: what will the Board do with the leftover funds?

Once all the referendum projects are complete and closed out (ETA April 2013), the Board will basically have two options:

1. Spending unused referendum monies on projects "not specified in the referendum." If the projects are "within the scope" of the referendum, the BOE can decide to go ahead and do them. If they are not "within the scope," then the BOE would need voter approval first. For example, the BOE could repair an additional roof at BF, because the referendum included roofs at BF. But the BOE could not use the money to upgrade the library at RHS (without asking the voters), because the scope of the referendum did not include renovating the library at RHS.

2. Return the unused referendum monies to the taxpayer. This would most likely be done by applying the funds to the annual debt service portion of the taxes we collect, and would only provide tax relief in that given year. For example: every year, the tax revenue we receive includes a portion that is used to pay our debt service for all the outstanding bonds -- not just the most recent referendum -- on which we make payments. In the 2011-12 budget, that amount of debt service taxes is $3,173,000. In 2013 when any unused referendum money becomes available, the BOE will not be allowed to apply the funds to the outstanding principal, nor can the bonds be called (not until at least 2020).

Another bit of (helpful) information -- I believe the decision as to what do with unused referendum funds must be "all or nothing." For example, the Board would not be allowed to apply some to projects and some to debt service.

All this info was in response to a resident's question, which was as a candidate for re-election, which of the two options will I favor. My answer to that question was: I cannot in good conscience predict what I would favor in April 2013. It will depend on what is happening with the District's overall budget, education needs, and facilities needs at that time. A lot can happen in two years. There can also be different people on the BOE. I can say that if I'm there, I would be open to any option and I would want to have a robust public discussion, all of us in the community together. I'm sorry my answer wasn't one of the two choices, but it is my honest and sincere belief. I think it would be irresponsible for me to make a more pointed prediction now.

One last note: Dr. Fishbein noted that work on the GW Middle School addition will officially begin tomorrow, and work at Willard begins next week! The Ridge and Hawes additions are coming along great. Many other projects are completed or in-process. It has been so great to see these projects through, and to see the differences in our facilities. This work truly will benefit the children of Ridgewood and the community for generations.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Let's all watch our behavior as our new fields get busy.

Our fields at Stevens and RHS Stadium were busy today on a chilly Spring day. It's so great to see the kids out there -- and their parents, friends, neighbors and others watching from the sidelines, chatting, hanging out. Great day! (Unfortunately, my family was watching my son play soccer on a muddy, uneven, ankle-breaker grass field in Union, NJ.)

While I'm thrilled to see our fields being used, I gotta say I heard a couple negative reports, mostly of trash left on the fields. (Really, people, did you grow up in a barnyard? Pick-up after yourselves!) Also there was at least one (leashed, well-behaved) dog at Stevens. No one understands more than me the lack of places to walk your dog in this town, but they cannot can NOT be on the turf fields! Please, it's been hard enough to get these fields open and used, we really don't need our players and families to be our own worst enemies!

If you're on any athletic field or park in Ridgewood tomorrow -- any field, whether it's BOE-owned, Village-owned, grass, turf -- look around and pick-up any trash or water bottles that you see.

The pitfalls and promises of Facebook, social media, and kids.

Great article on social media and kids and schools at the Mindshift website*. Click here for the full article.

A couple of key excerpts:

“Parents have to give kids the opportunities to figure out what it means to be digital citizens.”

“We can’t fault kids for doing something wrong on Facebook or Twitter because we’re not teaching them.”

Ridgewood's Tony Orsini (BF Middle School Principal) and New Milford's Eric Sheninger (New Milford High School Principal) are both quoted in the story.

I found this to be a refreshing and thoughtful essay on digital citizenship and tech literacy -- without the fear-mongering and sensationalism we usually see in the mainstream media.

*I love the Mindshift site. It's presented by KQED, which is the NPR affiliate in San Francisco. According to the site, Mindshift is for anyone interested in the ways that "technology is revolutionizing the world of education – replacing familiar classroom tools and changing the way we learn. MindShift explores the future of learning in all its dimensions – covering cultural and technology trends, groundbreaking research, education policy and more."

Mindshift devotes an entire section of its website to children and social media, with lots more intriguing articles.