RHS fields receive excellent G-max ratings for safety.

I just saw on the District homepage that the G-max tests that measure the softness (and safety) of the RHS Stadium and Stevens fields came in, and they show that the fields are rated well within the safety levels for artificial turf fields. Those who are worried about the results of flooding possibly affecting the cushioning of the fields can rest a little easier now. There was some dispute at last night's BOE meeting between neighbors who feel important information is being withheld, and there was confusion among some neighbors who felt that G-max tests had something to do with drainage. I haven't had time yet to write anything on this topic this week, but the good news is the fields are playable, they are being cared for according to the recommendations of the turf manufacturer, FieldTurf, and they are safe. This is good news in time for LAX Day, which is this Saturday, May 14, the primary events for which will take place at the RHS fields.

Fields Committee farewell.

Went to my last 7:00 AM meeting of the Fields Committee this morning. Not going to miss the hour, but will definitely regret not being around in the future to witness this monthly example of collaboration and problem-solving. The challenges of scheduling and managing the athletic fields in the Village take a lot of effort to resolve and address efficiently. They are all definitely addressed – not always efficiently, but always with the best intentions.

Today’s meeting had two highlights for me. First, two 4th grade Girl Scouts and their moms/troop leaders came to speak to the Committee about the problem of litter in the Village, particularly on the sports fields. They are asking the sports groups to spread some ideas to coaches and to pass along to kids and other athletes the need to pick-up litter, improve trash can locations, designate team litter monitors, etc. They’ll be posting some handmade, laminated signs on sports field trashcans, too.

The other notable portion of today’s Fields meeting was a conversation with representatives of the Church League softball league. The Church League was started in approx. 1987 and is made up of 250 players on 10 teams (representing 9 churches). Approx. 85% of the players are Ridgewood residents (aka taxpayers) and they are frustrated at the year-after-year reduction in their access to softball diamonds (made considerably worse by the loss of diamonds at BF). They just want to make sure consideration is being given to their program when fields are scheduled. It was helpful for the committee to be reminded of the adult users of our sports fields – too often we think in terms of children only. The number of kids playing all sports has increased over the decades, but let’s not forget that Dads and Moms have a right to use our fields, as well. (In addition to the Church League, there are also Men’s, Mom’s and Adult Leagues playing on Ridgewood fields. These are just softball – there are also adult soccer, flag football and other programs.)

The reps from the Church League did say that they would be communicating their message to the Village Council, as well, since the Council will be determining the use to come at the Schedler property and the Habernickel Horse Farm, etc.

There were plenty of other topics discussed at today’s meeting, including: the upcoming lighting tests at RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields (tentatively scheduled, pending weather, for tomorrow night), the draft Fields Policy being voted-on by the Village Council on May 11, a potential auto-call program to alert parents about field closures, new parking regulations adjacent to Stevens Field on North Irving Street, and the structure and function of the Committee itself (vis-à-vis input by athletic field neighbors). I’m not sure who will be the BOE liaison to the Committee going forward – it will be decided after the Board’s reorganization meeting, which takes place next Monday.

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.

What have I done?

Someone asked me today to "bullet point" some of what I've been up to during my time on the Board of Education Here's a quick snapshot:

I have been a member of the Communications and Facilities Committees all three years, as well as the BOE liaison to the Fields Committee. I am also a member of the Board’s Negotiating Committee in our current negotiations with the REA.

In terms of communications, I’ve worked on implementing the District’s new website and Skyward systems, helped with communications on the budget and referendum, where we instituted more public meetings and public input than ever before…I also worked with the committee on the parent survey which we started last year and will repeat this spring…I’m proud of that survey experience, as that was one of the goals I talked about during my campaign three years ago.

I have worked hard on my personal communications as a Board member, writing this blog for three years, and incorporating social media like Facebook and Twitter to dialogue with residents.

On Facilities, I -– and the committee -- worked hard on first prioritizing facilities needs and designing the referendum projects, then explaining the needs and the referendum to the community and now reviewing and monitoring the projects on a regular basis.

On the Fields Committee, I have represented the BOE (and our constituents, including students, parents, staff or neighbors) to the committee in discussions and work, and I’ve reported in detail back to the full Board to ensure all BOE members are educated and informed regarding fields issues.

As a member of the Board’s Negotiation Team, currently in negotiations with the REA, I’m excited by the potential and opportunity that contract negotiations represent – for both “sides.” Obviously I can’t speak to any specifics regarding negotiations (they are confidential), but I can say that my (and the Board’s) goal is a productive negotiation process that results in an agreement that is mutually satisfactory to the BOE, the membership of the REA, and the community, and that meets the needs of our students. I will work tirelessly to fulfill my responsibility to our students and taxpayers.

Other than those committee highlights, I have not missed a Board meeting and I've only missed committee meetings when there was a rare conflict with my "real" job. I thoroughly prepare for every meeting, I receive and respond to questions from the community, I attend several HSA meetings and the Federated HSA meeting each month, and I love more than anything attending school events throughout the District, such as International Day at Hawes, Celebration of Learning at Orchard, the Ridge Restaurant, the BF Turkey Trot and more. My very favorite thing is watching our students and teachers at work...it still gives me chills any time I can spend some time in a classroom. That is what it's all about.

Revised Fields Policy is online; will be presented/voted-on Monday night.

An updated proposed revision to the Fields Use Policy will be presented to the Board of Ed tomorrow night at our regular public meeting. The draft policy is available as part of our agenda -- click here to download and read. Members of the Fields Committee will attend the meeting to respond to questions and concerns raised by BOE members and residents. I'd say it's likely that the BOE will vote on the proposed revision tomorrow night.

Also at tomorrow's meeting, the Board will receive a budget update from Dr. Fishbein and Mr. DeSimone. Last Monday we were presented with a budget that contained no cuts to staff or programs -- and yet, many lines on the budget were lower than last year. My hope is that tomorrow, we'll receive the details that can explain how those lines have been reduced, without loss of staff or programs. Of course, the recent $850,000 "gift" from Trenton has allowed us to eliminate the deficit which was reflected in our original budget. It's allowed us to not raid our capital reserve this year, which is a good thing. But, of course, with a 12% increase in healthcare costs, and increases in some other areas, we're not out of the woods. Hence, the proposed 2% increase in the tax levy.

In addition to tomorrow's BOE meeting, Dr. Fishbein is scheduling a number of open community meetings to review the budget and answer any questions from residents. I'll post those dates here as soon as they are confirmed.

Those are the main events on tomorrow's agenda. Please come to the meeting if you'd like to share your opinions during public comment, or if you'd just like to watch. You can also watch on CableVision Channel 77 or watch live on the web (click here).

History of the Fields Committee.

There's been a lot of talk -- and a lot of misconception -- about the Joint Village-BOE Fields Committee in recent months. I thought it would be helpful to take a look back at how the committee came to be.

According to BOE member Charlie Reilly, who was the first chair, the Fields Committee was formed around 1994-95 and arose out of two problems: poor maintenance of the fields and conflicts over scheduling.

The committee worked to convince the youth sports groups to donate funds for sprinkler systems for the fields in order to provide better maintenance. Marriott, which was responsible for maintenance of fields and buildings after 1993 or so, did a great job for many years, according to Reilly, but the fields were beaten up with overuse. Since the fields were owned by the BOE and the Village, Reilly worked with Councilman Pat Mancuso to have Village representation in the form of Village Parks & Rec Director Tim Cronin and the Village Fields Manager. The plan was to meet monthly with the RHS athletic director and any sports group representatives who wished to attend. The Committee worked out which fields would get sprinkler systems as
funds became available, mainly donated by the sports groups. The committee also discussed and prioritized improvements that could help make fields more playable.

Reilly recalls one early Fields Committee project, which was to encourage the Village to dig up tons of heavy debris, such as cinder blocks, that had been deposited at Brookside Field from the time it was a dumping area for construction debris. After digging up the debris, field was leveled off to make it more playable. The Committee tried to do improvements to at least one field every year.

At the request of the BOE and Council, the Committee also worked on the scheduling of fields. Tim Cronin handled all field scheduling for several years until resident Ed Seavers took over that responsibility within the Committee. Before scheduling was taken over by the Fields Committee, sports groups would come to BOE meetings and fight during public comment over what sport should be on what field. Needless to say, it was not an efficient way to manage schedules.

Currently, the Fields Committee is chaired by the RHS Athletic Director Nick Scerbo and Tim Cronin, the Village Parks & Rec Director. The Committee continues to manage the scheduling and allocation of fields, with input from the school programs and youth programs. Each outdoor youth sport has a representative on the committee. I'm there as the BOE liaison, and Bernie Walsh is there from the Village Council. A representative from the District's field maintenance company attends. There are also two "at large" members who are members of the community, not affiliated with any sport. They are there to represent the interests of neighbors of the fields.

As a final note, Charlie Reilly has owned up to being responsible for the 7:00 AM meeting time. His rationale was to ensure that the Village fields manager and Marriott people could come to the meetings before going off to work. This way, the sports groups had the direct ear of the people actually responsible for the work being done. Charlie (and other volunteers, I presume) also wanted to get to work at a decent hour.

What I find most interesting about the Fields Committee is that it is one of the few, if not the only, truly joint groups in town, taking a collaborative approach to managing a complicated set-up of fields, owners and users.

Representatives of the Fields Committee will attend our BOE meeting on Monday night to give feedback, provide information and present a revised draft of the Fields Use Policy. The expectation is that the Board will also hear public comment, and will probably vote on Monday night. If the policy is approved, it will go to the Village Council (tentative date March 23) for discussion during a work session and then for approval at a subsequent meeting. Public comment will also be available at Village Council meetings.

Meanwhile, the snow is melting and the spring sports season -- guided by the existing Fields Use Policy -- opens this weekend. Go Maroons!

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.

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!

On the BOE agenda for January 24.

Updated 1/24/11 @ 12:42 p.m.

The Ridgewood Board of Ed will meet tomorrow (Monday) night at 7:30 p.m. As always, the meeting is open to the public and we have plenty of seating available :) so come on down. You can also watch live on Cablevision Channel 77 or webcast at this link.

A few highlights from the agenda:

• Dr. Fishbein will give an update on referendum budgets and costs. Good news – we’re still under budget!

• We’ll get a presentation on middle school schedules and the 6th grade world languages program.

• Dr. Fishbein and Mr. DeSimone will present the first pass of the working budget for 2011-12. This is an in-process document, but it’s important to share with the community so you can see where things are as of right now.

• The Communications Committee (Sheila Brogan and myself are the BOE members) will discuss the document responding to neighbors’ concerns regarding RHS and Stevens Fields.

• Finance Committee (Michele Lenhard and Bob Hutton are BOE members) will report on the 2009-10 audit and the status of software corrections.

• I will give a brief update on the status of the revised Fields Use Policy, currently being worked on in the joint Fields Committee. (Please note: the revised Fields Use Policy itself will not be presented or reviewed tonight. There may be general discussion, but the committee is not presenting the revised policy tonight.) (Updated 1/24/11 @ 12:42 p.m.)

Any questions, let me know.

Discussing the Planning Board "invitation."

One of the more challenging parts of the job of being a member of the Board of Education is reading the newspaper stories that purport to tell the facts of this or that BOE event, and to see the difference between what is reported and what actually happened. Our small-town press, with a rotating cast of reporters, is imperfect (as is the national press, of course, though not usually to the same extent). Most of the time the facts are correct, but often the choice of quotes can skew the picture.

Anyway, my latest frustration was in reading the quotes attributed to me in the North Jersey.com story about the Board of Ed declining to participate in another Planning Board hearing. A quote from me about "moving forward" made it sound like I wanted to "move on." That isn't what I said or meant! So, I’d like to reprint here my comments from Monday night and, through the magic of the Internet, improve those comments further in order to make myself as clear as possible.

Monday night, I started by looking at the lengthy invitation (resolution) from the Planning Board. There were page after page of whereas this and whereas that. And then on page 5 they finally got to the point:

WHEREAS, although not an "official" action pursuant to law, the Planning Board wishes to memorialize its vote to confirm its intent to create an amicable forum and opportunity for open dialogue among the persons in interest, recognizing that an opportunity to be heard and to have issues vetted is appropriate for the community.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Planning Board of the Village of Ridgewood does hereby memorialize its vote "to invite and encourage" the BOE to attend an additional courtesy review meeting, together with the neighbors of the subject Properties for purpose of discussing the issues of field lighting for RHS and Stevens fields…

Monday night, I said that if the point of the proposed hearing (or “courtesy review”) was to give persons an opportunity to be heard and have open dialogue, then we don’t need the Planning Board to do that. Yes, I facetiously did say that we have plenty of space at the Ed Center to hold meetings and have dialogue. But I also said to my colleagues on the Board and to Dr. Fishbein that if our position is that we are already working with the neighbors to resolve our differences, then we need to keep working with the neighbors. We need to keep moving forward and show progress.

We tried to meet with the neighbors to get input on the Fields Policy, and they didn’t want to participate – choosing to wait for a decision regarding the Planning Board. Now that we’ve made our decision, we need to answer the neighbors on our own.

My concern is that we “on the inside” – on the Board and in the Ed Center – feel like we’re making progress (and we are), but it doesn’t look that way from the outside. We already know the answers to many of the neighbors’ questions. We’ve taken steps on things like signage at the fields and porta-johns and revisions to the Fields Policy and communicating standards of conduct to athletes. We on the Board know these things are happening – and that’s part of the reason we don’t feel the need to go to a Planning Board hearing. But we have not done a good job of communicating this information.

We have been talking about a “master list of concerns,” with answers and solutions, which will be shared with the neighbors and the entire community. We’ve been talking about the list for over a month, but we haven’t accomplished it yet. (Note: Monday night Dr. Fishbein updated the Board…the list will be done soon.)

I know we have the answers. I know we are or will be taking steps to address everything. I have no doubt and I am quite secure in the “rightness” of the things we’re doing. But I can see that from the outside, the answers and the info aren’t visible.

I don’t want to just keep inviting the neighbors to meetings where we “listen.” There’s really no reason for us to keep hearing the same concerns and the same questions. We have some answers, we'll get some more, let's start sharing them.

As I said Monday night, I am opposed to participating in a Planning Board hearing, but I say that with the understanding that, in my opinion, we need to that we are putting the neighbors’ concerns to bed.

(Note: The Board will send an official response to the Planning Board and I'll post it here when it's available.)

On my BOE radar this week.

Sorry I’ve been posting a little less frequently than normal…it’s been a busy time around Thanksgiving, I had my mother and her husband visiting for 10 days, and my workload for clients has been extremely heavy. But just because I haven’t been blogging much, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been consumed by Board of Ed business as well. There’s always plenty to do in that area!

Tomorrow night the Board will have a regular public meeting (7:30 p.m., Ed Center, 3rd floor; streaming live click here). A few highlights from the agenda:

• Sheila Brogan and I will present a report on the Facilities Committee meeting which we held last Monday at Ridgewood High School, to listen to concerns from the RHS neighbors regarding the fields and lights. The Board will discuss neighborhood concerns and consider next steps.

• Asst. Superintendent Regina Botsford will present the Districtwide Testing Report for 09-10.

• Dr. Fishbein will give us an update on referendum construction projects

• We’ll get an update on meetings to develop the 11-12 district budget

• The Board will review and approve some course changes at RHS.

• As always, there will be two opportunities for public comment.

Other than tomorrow’s BOE meeting, I have some other Board business I’ll be taking care of this week:

• Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be watching the film Race to Nowhere along with the RHS faculty. The movie, sponsored by the RHS Home & School Association, is being presented to Ridgewood parents at 7:00 p.m. at GW Middle School, but since we have a BOE meeting, some of us will be watching with the faculty. I wonder if it will be a different experience to watch with teachers vs. parents?

• Tuesday night I will join a couple of other Board members and Human Resources Manager Gary Hall at a presentation of the New Jersey School Boards Association, titled “Negotiations and the Toolkit.” This is a roundtable discussion about “negotiations, superintendent contracts, and other employee relations issues in this changing legislative environment.” Supposedly, we’ll learn how the governor’s proposed "toolkit" of bills can affect our negotiations efforts with the REA.

• Wednesday morning I’ll be at the Fields Committee at 7:00 AM – I suffer through these early morning meetings but I have to admit – it’s kind of cool how much time I still have left in the day to get things accomplished.

• Thursday I’ll be at the “You Make a Difference” Breakfast at RHS at 7:15 (another early day!). This breakfast is hosted by Principal Jack Lorenz to recognize students who normally may not receive accolades but who have accomplished small victories at school. After the breakfast I’ll attend the Federated HSA meeting with the presidents of all the schools’ Home & School Associations. Then after that I’ll go to the Somerville Holiday House Tour fundraiser. Whew…busy day Thursday!

I’m telling you my BOE schedule this week just to report on what I’m doing. I’m sure some of you wonder…what does she do anyway, besides attend those boring meetings twice a month? Now you know. As a BOE member, there’s a lot more to do than I originally understood. I truly love being around the schools, though, so when I can, I’m eager to take part in activities that get me into school buildings and that give me a good view of what goes on every day. (My clients aren't quite so enthusiastic about our schools, so sometimes I have to play a little hooky...fortunately as a freelancer I have the flexibility to catch up on work later...sometimes much later...like a few minutes from now.)

After tomorrow night’s BOE meeting – maybe by Tuesday or Wednesday – I’ll write something about the Board’s discussion about the fields and lights (one of the more popular topics in my inbox lately!). Have a great week!

Board of Ed is waiting for legal input before commenting on field lights.

Since the story in last Friday's Ridgewood News failed to present a balanced account of the discussion at last week's Board of Education meeting, I thought it would be helpful to share the following statement, which was made by Board of Ed president Michele Lenhard at that meeting. This statement has been posted on the District website:

We are aware that some members of our community have concerns and questions about the field lights currently being installed at RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields. When the project is complete and fully powered by PSE&G our lighting engineer will undertake tests to measure light output to adhere to the specifications in the design plans. This includes light spill surrounding the fields.

Recommendations for the usage of the fields and the lights will be made by the Fields Committee in the form of policy. They are currently revising the Field Use Policy to reflect the changes to the Stadium and Stevens Fields. The policy will come before both the Village Council and BOE for approval. The spring 2011 schedule of sports activities is being developed and will be posted to both the BOE and Village website when complete.

On October 27th [resident] Jim Morgan presented a statement to the Village Council on behalf of his neighbors, which differed significantly from the concerns recently brought before this Board. In the past when concerns were raised, we met directly with the neighbors and supported requests for adjustments to fencing, traffic, parking and landscaping. Mr. Morgan emailed a copy of the statement to BOE members, and on 10/29 Dr. Fishbein and I met with Colleen Kossoff, Jim Morgan, and Mayor Killion to better understand concerns. Unlike concerns raised to date, it questions Village Council or Planning Board authority over Board of Education activities. Prior to commenting on specific allegations raised by Mr. Morgan we are consulting with legal counsel.

Understanding our neighbors’ concerns is an important part of our evaluative process as we look to institute policy to manage the use of RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields. We hope that we can continue to work together to achieve mutual satisfaction for the neighbors, the Board of Education, and most importantly the children of the Village of Ridgewood, whose best interest we strive to serve.

Believe me, I wish we could just talk more freely as we work everything out (and I personally believe we will work it out), but once the possibility of lawsuits was raised, the Board had an obligation to consult our attorneys. Hopefully we'll be able to say more at our next BOE meeting, on November 15.

News from the BOE

What's that? You didn't watch tonight's meeting on webcast or on Cablevision Channel 77? Here's a little bit of what we covered:

Dr. Fishbein presented the Opening of School Report, the key fact of which was how much the District's enrollment has grown since last year.

Enrollment Figures as of 9/10/10*
(9/09 figures are in parentheses)

Glen (36) 44 +8
Hawes (408) 409 +1
Orchard (323) 340 +17
Ridge (478) 496 +18
Somerville (533) 540 +7
Travell (410) 408 -2
Willard (456) 501 +45
TOTAL ELEMENTARY (2,644) 2738 +94

BFMS (687) 694 +7
GWMS (675) 693 +18
TOTAL MIDDLE SCHOOL (1,362) 1387 +25

RHS (1,666) 1692 +26

Total Enrollment (5672) 5817 +145

*These numbers can be expected to change a little still, as families who moved away are removed from the rolls.

Also at last night's meeting, Dr. Fishbein recognized Jane Blakely, who was the recipient of the 2010 Ashby Award for her contributions to Ridgewood High School over the past 26 years.

Michele Lenhard read a list of all donors to the Ridgewood Public Schools for the 2009-10 year. It's a long list (maybe I'll post it here later), but the total was $546,695. That's amazing! Thank you, Ridgewood!

The Board's new Student Representative, Max Z., reported on the opening of the high school. Bottom line: the new lockers are a big hit.

We had a great presentation from our architect, engineer, and construction managers on the status of various referendum and capital projects throughout the District. The detailed report, complete with photos, amounts spent and percent complete, will be posted on the website, hopefully tomorrow. I'll post a link when it's there.

Business Administrator Angelo DeSimone presented the reorganization of the IT (formerly MIS) Department and described some of the many projects that department has been busy with all summer. Right now, the big effort is in getting all students and families set-up in Skyward, the new student information system. There were some "glitches" with the initial mailing of instructional letters to parents: apparently there were old, out-of-date address still existing in the old SASI system, and they were mistakenly imported into Skyward. So about 250-300 letters were unable to be delivered, and those parents are having to correct their information (and prove residency, if their address has changed). It's definitely a lot of work for everyone (including parents), but they are working through it and the system is going to be a huge improvement once it's all in place.

Mr. DeSimone also spoke about many hardware projects completed or currently underway, including replacing 350+ computers and upgrading our wireless internet service. When it's complete, there will be full wireless service in every school -- no more hot spots or dead zones. And, I was glad to hear that students will be able to access the internet eventually, once they can install good firewalls that can't be hacked, with students trying to get in and change grades, etc. Full wireless access in our schools -- especially the high school -- will be a great step forward in terms of our students' connected learning.

Sheila Brogan gave a legislative update, and said the Obama administration has announced a third round of Race to the Top grants -- will the third time be the charm for New Jersey?

Finally, Regina Botsford reported that, while we are waiting for official scores, it appears that Hawes Special Ed students may not have met AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) in Language Arts, which would place Hawes on the "Early Warning List." I'll write more in the next few days about what this means, but it appears we will have plenty of company from some very high performing districts. (The last time Ridgewood had a school on the Early Warning List was RHS in 2005-06, again due to special ed students' scores in Language Arts). More to come on this...

Help me test this new live anonymous polling feature!

UPDATE 9/14/10: I took down the poll test. It was pretty cool, but it has a few issues that I need to work out, namely that it was a little hard to read (too small). I'll play around with it more later, but for now it was cluttering up my page so I've taken it down. I'll keep you posted.!)

You may have noticed a window at the top of this page. I'm testing out a really cool app called Poll Everywhere. It is mainly designed to be used during meetings or presentations or classroom sessions. It allows the audience to use their cellphones to text-in feedback or answers to questions, which are then displayed live on a screen. It's a cool way to engage the audience in the discussion, better than having people raise their hands to comment, nobody can hear what they said, taking turns, etc. Much more dynamic. Anyway, there is also a web component, so that answers can be displayed online, like here on my blog.

I thought I would test it out here first, before I try using it in some meeting scenario.

So text in your answers, whenever, wherever, as many times as you like...share with your friends...let's see how this thing works!

See the instructions above the poll window -- text 112137 plus your response to 22333.

I'll keep this up for a few days and see what happens...

Fields were inundated last night...drained quickly today!

This is an unofficial and unscientific assessment, but my initial reaction to what I saw yesterday and today is that the new -- and as of now incomplete -- athletic fields at RHS and Stevens performed extremely well in the rain yesterday and last night. Yahoo!

Last night, the Stadium field was a giant lake...you could see the streetlights reflecting off the surface. (I'm trying to get a photo to post -- I forgot my camera last night when I just went to look.) Water was gushing over the bridge between the Stadium and Stevens. It was way too dark to see Stevens last night.

This morning...the water is drained! There is still standing water around the perimeter of the Stadium field, in the locations where it's just dirt and grass. But the actual playing field with its new drainage system is quite dry! (See photo) I don' think I've ever seen the Stadium that clear of water so soon after flooding.

That's not to say this rain isn't causing problems. I heard an unofficial report that every building that is currently undergoing a roofing project was leaking this morning. What a mess. Crews are currently assessing and coping with the rain, which is supposed to fall off-and-on for the next couple of days. It's never easy when you undergo major construction and the weather doesn't cooperate, so the contractors will certainly have their work cut out for them to get things in order before school starts in two weeks.

The week ahead: the natives are getting restless.

Some random thoughts for a Sunday night:

Things are starting to pick up a little speed this week. Tomorrow the District's new teachers will begin their three-day orientation process at the Ed Center. Board members will meet them over coffee and such before their program begins. I always think how exciting it must be to begin teaching in Ridgewood. The mood is always so upbeat and positive. Great way to start my week! (I can't remember how many new teachers will be starting tomorrow...I'll report back with that info later.)

Work on the athletic fields will get back underway tomorrow and I'll be interested to see how the under-construction fields look after today's ridiculous amount of rain. I drove by late tonight and Stevens appeared to be free of standing water. (It was dark, so visibility wasn't great.) The Stadium field was a big lake earlier in the evening, and still had quite a bit of water all around the perimeter by 11 p.m. Of course, we've known all along that there will continue to be flooding at the fields. Flooding is inevitable. What's important -- and what's supposed to be improved -- is the drainage after the floods. So...tomorrow will be interesting.

Also this week, I'll be accompanying my daughter back to New Hampshire to help her move in for her senior year at UNH. Pretty speechless on that one -- cannot believe she is a senior. And she submitted her application for Graduate School today...if she gets accepted into the program, she'll be able to get her Master's in 2012 and begin teaching. She still wants to be a teacher, but the future looks a little scary to students currently in teacher education programs. I just tell her to keep her head down and work hard on becoming the best teacher she can be...the economics and politics and such will work themselves out (I hope) while she's studying. I've also told her to keep an open mind...she may want to start her teaching career somewhere other than New Jersey.

Interesting story in the New York Times today about "redshirting" kindergartners. Redshirting is the practice of starting kids later so that they will be among the older children in their class, throughout their entire K-12 education. I've heard of some super sports-minded parents doing this now and then (honestly, how do you know your son will want to play football 10 years from now?), but apparently now it is becoming much more common with girls and boys. Read the full article here.

Have a great week!

Why the police at RHS field?

Someone asked me today why there has been a police officer standing at the Heermance entrance to RHS for the past few days. This was a requirement by the Village for the work on the Stadium field. They said it would be mandatory that a police officer be stationed there for "safety" reasons, due to the trucks entering and exiting. The cost is being paid by the District. And if you think this is a waste of money, you're right. But it was a requirement in order to get our permits.

Aside from that, the fields are looking great. I haven't been by yet today, but yesterday the gravel on Stevens was so flat and level and smooth. What a great improvement that is going to be for the kids playing on that field. Maybe I'll post a picture or two later.

The rest of the construction projects are rolling along. It's truly amazing to go through town and see all the activity. I think at this point I'm most excited about the RHS roof finally being complete and the field improvements. Speaking of roofs, several are being repaired throughout the District, but one that's not -- and which really, really needs it -- is the Ed Center roof. There are so many leaks, birds getting into the attic, other critters...I believe estimates are being prepared, and research is being done to learn what repairs can and cannot be done on a building that's on the National Register of Historic Places. There's a (probably slim) possibility of grant money that is being explored as well. The slate roof on the beautiful landmark building is probably the most durable, long-lasting roof they could have installed. I'm sure the builders were impressed with the projected 100-year lifespan. But it's been 115 years, so...

Who says summer meetings are quiet?

Tonight's meeting of the Board of Education was for the most part a quiet affair, as meetings during the summer usually are. Dr. Fishbein updated us on referendum construction projects, which are rolling along. Big work starting at Hawes...Stevens Field is dug and draining is being installed...roofing projects all over the place. So far, so good. Our construction management company, Epic, is doing a great job of overseeing things and updating the administration and Facilities Committee.

We actually conducted some important business at tonight's meeting:

The Board passed a resolution opposing Governor Christie's proposal to cap school superintendents' salaries. We made some revisions during the meeting, so when the revised version is available in a day or so, I'll post it here.

The Board also approved going forward with a plan to install lights at the RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields, thanks to a financial partnership with many of the community sports programs, and high school parent booster groups. If you recall, during the referendum discussion last Fall, we talked about the need and desire for lights, but we wanted to wait and see if community sports groups were able to contribute to the funding. Over the past few weeks, a few remarkable things happened to lead to tonight's decision: first, the District solicited bids for the best, high-tech lights out there -- Musco lights are efficient and so well-targeted that there is no "light spill" just a few feet from the field. Next, the bids came in much lower than expected, and one contractor's prices were about $300,000 lower than the next bidder. Next, several youth sports groups and high school booster groups committed to funding over half the total cost, and Dr. Fishbein outlined a plan for the District the fund the remainder through a combination of donations to the District in exchange for "naming rights" of various facilities, through annual savings of approx. $10,000 in water expenses that will not be needed to water the turf fields, and, if necessary, with money saved in referendum project costs coming in much lower than projected.

Basically, the total cost of the lights is roughly $500,000 and it's a 5-year lease-purchase program. The sports groups will fund 100% of the installation -- $106,000 -- in the first year, then in years 2 through 5, the sports groups will fund $40,000 per year, and the BOE will fund $65,000. We could raise all the remaining funds through additional donations. It's definitely within reach. In any event, we'll have access to the leftover referendum funds in years 4-5 (that's when the projects will be complete), so the only "unknown" is our portion for years 2-3, which is about $130,000 (or $110,000 if you deduct the money we're saving by not watering the fields). There are already potential corporate donors "in the pipeline," who are eager to make donations in exchange for naming rights to fields or other facilities. (The Board already has a policy for naming rights...it is currently being updated.)

I'm really proud that we were able to work together, in partnership with the community, to make this happen. The arrangement is similar to what happened in the construction of Maple Field, when the sports groups worked with the Village and were so successful in their fundraising, that they were able to fulfill their financial commitment early.

Also at tonight's meeting, we approved a change to the school calendar for this year, 2010-11. As part of our budget cuts for this year, we eliminated paying teachers for extra time to conduct parent conferences outside of school hours. Instead, elementary schools will hold a half-day session on Election Day November 2, with teachers holding parent conferences in the afternoon. Additionally, all schools grade K-12 will be closed on November 3. On that day, grade K-5 teachers will conduct conferences, and grades 6-12 will do professional development. This will flow into the Teacher Convention Days, which are November 4 and 5.

The next Board of Ed meeting will be August 30. This will be our annual "Retreat," where we will set goals for the 2010-11 school year, and discuss our evaluation of our operations and effectiveness.

DEP APPROVES permits for RHS Stadium & Stevens Fields renovations

I spoke too soon! There I was, earlier today, already making excuses for not receiving an answer from the DEP today on our application for a permit to renovate the RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields...and we just found out that the permits have been approved!

I don't have any further details at this time. We still need the soil moving permit from the Village Council, but for now, this is what we know.

Details to come.

DEP Hearing on artificial turf fields

Just wanted to remind you that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection will hold a hearing for public comments on the turf fields we'll be installing at the RHS Stadium and Stevens Fields. Such a hearing is standard procedure whenever the DEP receives letters from the public regarding a project and, since they received a few letters from Ridgewood, they'll have the hearing.

The hearing will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, March 15, at the Ed Center, 3rd floor. This is one hour before the start of our regular Board of Education meeting, at 7:30 p.m. We're not exactly sure about the format for the hearing -- it's being run by the DEP and they have not answered most of our questions -- but we do know that all speakers will have a maximum of three minutes to share their thoughts. I do not know if the DEP representative(s) will answer questions.

If you support the turf fields -- as you know I do -- I hope you will come out and share your views. If you have environmental concerns, I hope you will come express those as well.

Please arrive early. Between the DEP hearing and our budget discussions, I'm sure the room will be a little more full than it usually is on Monday nights!

See you there!