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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, October 29, 2009

FAQ #4: Why don't we just re-open Glen School?

Occasionally someone will ask, "We already have an entire school just sitting across Route 17...why don't we re-open Glen School and solve our overcrowding problem?" Here's why that doesn't work:

Glen School has 15 classrooms. Five are used by our RED special-needs preschool program (which we are required to offer), and the remainder are rented out to a childcare program. The current set-up is ideal, because our RED students are able to interact with the daycare students, thus meeting our obligation and desire to educate the RED students in the most inclusive environment possible. If Glen were converted to a regular elementary school, we would lose the income from the childcare rental, and we would still need a place to house our RED students.

Glen School does not have a cafeteria, nor a library. Nor is it up to current code. If we wanted to re-open it as an elementary school, we would need to do costly construction to fix those deficiencies.

Glen School also does not have a staff. If we were to open it, even if there were some way to re-deploy teachers throughout the district, we would still need to hire a principal, secretary, nurse -- and these would become recurring additional costs in our budget.

On top of all this, re-opening Glen would not address the space needs at GW, nor the very real renovations needed at RHS, nor the roofs at Travell & Hawes, nor the asbestos at Willard, nor the electrical issues at Ridge and GW...and not the athletic/wellness facilities, either. So all those expenses would still exist, on top of the cost to renovate Glen and then staff it.

So as attractive as it might seem, re-opening Glen would not be cost-free and would actually impact our budget year after year going forward.

Response to odd comment Monday night

Just wanted to clear up any confusion...an attendee at Monday night's community meeting questioned the need for additional classrooms at Ridge School because, as she said, "there's one empty classroom there already." Actually, no, there is not. There are no empty classrooms at Ridge. I feel pretty confident saying there are no empty classrooms anywhere in the District (but I guess I'd have to confirm that.) On the contrary, at Ridge, there is a classroom divided into four smaller "rooms" with temporary partitions (in addition to OT/PT in the hallway/vestibule).

But this does remind me that there is still some confusion regarding the proposed school expansions. Most of what we propose to add are small group instruction spaces. These are rooms where specialized services like OT/PT and other special ed services can be provided to small groups of 6-8 students. Other proposed space includes convertible "kindergarten-style" classrooms. (Kindergarten-style rooms are rooms that can be divided if necessary, and that have bathroom facilities.) These are the most flexible types of rooms we could add -- they can be used by regular classes, or by self-contained special ed classes, or they can be divided and used for smaller group classes -- and will be a smart investment to accommodate future enrollment trends.

By adding this space at Ridge, Hawes and Willard, we will be able to open-up space at these schools as well as Travell, Somerville and Orchard. And we'll be able to give our special ed students a continuum of service in a single location. Students will enter a school in kindergarten, and stay there until 5th grade, just like their friends. This will be better than moving them around every year...better than forcing children in one neighborhood to attend other schools because their home school is too full...and better than spending lots of money to send students to other districts for special ed services.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Community Referendum Meeting at GW tonight; Principal will lead a tour after

The Community Meeting on the Referendum is tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Auditorium at GW Middle School. I just learned that after the meeting, GW Principal Katie Kashmanian will lead a tour to showcase some of the needs at her school.

This is a good chance to find out everything you need to know in order to make a decision. Don't rely on assumptions or rumors. Get the facts...you are being asked to vote on a detailed question with important implications for our district and our Village. After this meeting, whether you vote "yes" or "no," at least you'll know you made an educated choice.

If you can't make it tonight, a repeat meeting will be held on Monday, November 30 at GW. These meetings were especially set-up for voters who do not have children in the schools or parents who do not attend HSA meetings.

You can also find lots of Referendum documents, including drawings of proposed school additions, detailed spreadsheets of renovation costs, bond financing information, and much more, at the District website click here.

Referendum FAQ #3: Wy can't you take care of our facilities with the big budget you already have?

Think about this: the District has 11 buildings. The youngest of them are 43 years old. The oldest school building is 90 years old. I've used this analogy before: If anyone has an old house, you know that things deteriorate over time. In an old house, day in and day out we make the repairs that come up -- a broken window here, a squeaky floorboard there, a small roof leak over there. We absorb these small expenses into our regular budget. Eventually, however, no matter how diligent we are on basic upkeep, the time will come when the old house needs a new roof. I do not personally know any homeowner who can afford to replace his/her roof and fund it through their weekly budget. Instead, homeowners will take out a home improvement loan to put on the roof and probably to take care of a few more necessities that have been building up...maybe some plumbing repairs or adding a bathroom for a growing family.

With a new school roof costing around $1 million, there really isn't any way to handle that expense through our regular operating budget, where we typically budget around $2 million for capital improvements/repairs district-wide.

How much do we normally spend on facilities? Click here for a spreadsheet that lists the money spent on a school-by-school basis over the past 10 years. (Click "Detailed Annual Maintenance Worksheet.") You can also see that our District spends FAR MORE than is required by the state. (At that same link, click "Annual Maintenance Budget Worksheet.") Could we spend more on maintenance? Yes...but since our budget is capped at a 4% increase on the tax levy, any increases for facilities would have to come from somewhere else in the budget. The Board of Ed has been reluctant in the past to cut from those areas that more directly "touch" learning that takes place in the classroom. So we do the repairs that are absolutely necessary as they come up, and we save the big renovation, to carry us forward, for a Referendum such as this. It's time.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Community Meeting on Referendum 09 this Tuesday

If you've got questions about the Referendum, you're not sure what to think, or you're leaning toward a "no" vote, I hope you'll come to the Community presentation on Tuesday night at George Washington Middle School. Superintendent Dr. Fishbein and Board members will be on hand to present details on the projects to be included in the Referendum and to answer all your questions.

I feel like parents have been receiving quite a lot of details on the referendum (via HSAs and eNews mailings, etc.), but if you're a taxpayer who doesn't have kids in the schools, this is a good chance to find out everything you need to know in order to make a decision. Don't rely on assumptions or rumors. Get the facts...it's a detailed question with important implications for our district and our Village. After this meeting, whether you vote "yes" or "no," at least you'll know you made an educated choice.

Tuesday night's meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. in the GW Auditorium. If you can't make it Tuesday, a repeat meeting will be held on Monday, November 30 at GW.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Referendum FAQ #2: Managing so many projects

I've heard a couple people say something like, "How do we know all these school construction projects won't end up over budget and behind schedule, like Village Hall or the Vets Field bathrooms?"

First, remember this: the BOE is NOT the Village of Ridgewood. We are completely separate entities with our own budgets, management and -- this is important -- rules. You may be interested to know that the laws for school districts are much stricter than the laws governing certain aspects of municipal government. One example: the BOE is not allowed to go over budget. Period. If one of our projects requires more money, we can't just pass an ordinance to approve spending more than we have. We must remain under the budget. So, let's say we open up the roof of one of our historic buildings and discover things are much worse than expected, requiring more work and more cost. We will be forced to cancel other aspects of the project, to find the money. Maybe we would do without some locker replacement, or cancel some other renovation. Whatever it was, we would not go over budget. A) We don't want to. B) We're not allowed to. (This is why our $48 million proposal includes a 10% contingency -- because with buildings this old we know unexpected things will come up.

Second, it's good to know that we will not be managing concurrent renovations and/or expansions at nine schools using our current administrative staff. They already have full-time jobs -- and construction management isn't one of them. Instead, our plan includes hiring full-time construction management for the duration of the projects, to keep a close eye on the contractors, keep things moving on schedule, coordinate logistics with school activities, town activities, etc., and to manage the tons and tons of state-required paperwork. There will be weekly (at least) construction meetings with building principals and Ed Center administrators to keep the projects under control and spot problems before they actually become problems.

So if you're frustrated about the bathrooms at Vets, the cancelled parking garage or the previous Village Hall construction experience -- so am I. But those types of things simply can not happen with the projects proposed in this referendum.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Referendum FAQ #1: Why now? Isn't this the wrong time?

It's time I start addressing the various questions, rumors, misconceptions, confusions and other impediments to supporting Referendum 09. I thought I'd start with the perennial favorite: Why now? With this economy, this is the wrong time to ask for $48 million.

My position is, this is precisely the right time, I daresay the best time for this referendum.

First of all, as I mentioned before, we are well aware that we're in a recession. I realize Ridgewood is in trouble. I know that many Ridgewood families are struggling. My own family has been struggling through layoffs and unemployment. This is absolutely not about the "haves" on the BOE being oblivious to the struggles of the "have nots." But to put it bluntly, the Board of Ed is not charged with lowering taxes or improving the business climate. The BOE is charged with one thing: educating the children of Ridgewood. That must be our priority. And in order to do the best we can for all our children we need to take care of our physical assets -- the buildings.

Right now, interest rates are low...money can be borrowed at much more favorable rates than in the past and the future. As one friend of mine said, "they're having a sale on money, and we should get some!" If we go out for a bond now, when rates are low, our total cost will be much lower than itr would be if we wait till interest rates start going up again. This will save Ridgewood taxpayers' money.

Right now, construction costs are low. Contractors and builders are hurting. They want work. Gone are the days when you couldn't get a contractor to return your phone calls, because they didn't need your business. When we go out to bid for the projects in this referendum, we will see competitive bids like we haven't seen in decades. Planning for construction now, when prices are low, will save Ridgewood taxpayers thousands of dollars.

Right now, the state of New Jersey has awarded us almost $10 million in grants, and over $2 million in debt service aid. If the Referendum is not passed by voters, then that grant money goes back into the "pot." If the Board decides to go back to voters with a smaller referendum, there is no guarantee that those grant funds will still be available. Other districts are and will be proposing projects and receiving grants. The state is not going to wait around for Ridgewood to come up with a package of projects that the voters approve. Taking advantage of this grant money and debt service aid will save taxpayers millions of dollars.

We would be proposing this referendum whether the economy was booming or busted. Because the projects are absolute necessities. We must replace roofs. We must improve air quality. We must stop educating students in hallways and vestibules. And we must find a way to get more use from our fields. Now is exactly the right time for Referendum 09.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Public Meetings on Bond Referendum

I'm going to be at the BF HSA meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) night -- along with Dr. Fishbein (Superintendent), Mr. DeSimone (Business Administrator) and Board members Joseph Vallerini and Bob Hutton -- to discuss the upcoming Bond Referendum and answer questions.

While we're on the subject, following is the schedule of upcoming meetings throughout town. Feel free to attend any of these meetings -- either HSA meetings or come to one of the Community Meetings on 10/27 or 11/30. This is your chance -- every question answered!

10/27 7:30 p.m.
Community Meeting @ GW Auditorim

11/17 9:15 AM
Ridge School HSA

11/17 7:00 PM
Somerville School HSA

11/18 9:00 AM (beginning of meeting)
GW Middle School HSA

11/18 9:15 AM (end of meeting)
Hawes School HSA

11/30 7:30 PM
Community Meeting @ GW Auditorium

Also, there will be a day of school tours, so you can see some of the conditions and needs close-up. Date TBD -- I'll let you know.

(In case you're wondering, Dr. Fishbein and others have already attended meetings at Federated HSA, Learning Services HSA, Willard HSA, RHS HSA, Travell HSA, Orchard HSA.)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Intriguing session on "invasive parenting."


The Municipal Alliances of Franklin Lakes, Oakland and Wyckoff are presenting an interesting session on Tuesday: A Nation of Wimps: the High Cost of Invasive Parenting. It's a conversation with the author Hara Estroff Marano.

According to the event flyer: "A Nation of Wimps is the first book to connect the dots between overparenting and the social crisis of the young. Marano focuses on the what and how of this crisis, then turns to what we can do about it. She offers guidance for being supportive without being overprotective and for preparing kids for the real world, along with alternative approaches to educating the young and tips on how to find balance between freedom and control."

Session will take place Tuesday October 20 at 8:00 p.m. at the Ramapo High School Auditorium.

Any thoughts on this intriguing concept? Do you ever struggle with knowing how much to help your kids, vs. when to let them struggle and possibly fail? I do.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Amazing kids working for the environment.

Doing my part for Blog Action Day, I wanted to let you know about an amazing 14-year-old kid named Alec Lorze, who started his own website called Kids Vs. Global Warming. According to the homepage: "We are a group of kids that Educate other kids about the science of global warming and Empower them to take action. Through educational presentations, community activism projects, multi-media, and leadership training, we empower youth to use their voice, and remind kids that WE MATTER! and there really is something we can do about global warming."

Check out the website. Or, better yet, have your kids check it out. It's quite impressive, well-researched, lots of links to facts, and it appears that young Alec is now a sought-after speaker on the topic of global warming and youth environmental activism.

Dog Show Cancelled!

Received this message from the REF:

It is with regret that I inform you that we're canceling the dog show after all. The weather looks terrible, and the Chamber didn't want to go forward. We will try to reschedule for the spring. So, you are free to spend your Sunday afternoon without that wet dog smell, unless it is your own dog.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Math scores: NJ up slightly, nation is flat.

(Revised 9:42 AM)

A news release from Governor Corzine today proudly proclaimed:

NEW JERSEY'S FOURTH AND EIGHTH GRADERS AMONG NATION'S LEADERS IN MATH
Fourth grade scores surpass national average by eight points; Eighth grade scores eleven points higher than national average

Isn't that great news? Sure it is, if you define "great" as "not bad" or "better than it could have been."

Another story (New York Times), states that, for the first time in 19 years, U.S. math scores nationwide are "flat." No increase whatsoever.

According to the Times story, "The latest results on the most important nationwide math test show that student achievement grew faster during the years before the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law, when states were dominant in education policy, than over the years since, when the federal law has become a powerful force in classrooms."

NCLB requires schools to bring 100 percent of students to reading and math proficiency by 2014. Guess what, as a nation, we're not going to make it.

Sure, New Jersey's numbers are encouraging, in an inching-forward kind of way. According to the press release from the NJDOE: "New Jersey fourth graders continue to score higher on the NAEP math test than students in all but three other states, the report noted. The average math score of fourth graders in New Jersey was 247, while the average score for public school students across the nation was 239."

"This is good news for our kids, our families and our future," said Governor Corzine. "The average scale score for the grade eight students at 293 is four points higher that it was in 2007 and eleven points higher than the national average of 282. While there is still much more work to be done, the eighth grade results in particular show that the investments this administration is making in education is paying off, and that the efforts of our educators are yielding positive results."

Those are just a few excerpts from the press release. Click here to read the entire thing.

And click here to review the complete NAEP report card.

Dog Show Time Change: Sunday Noon-2:00 PM

The time for this Sunday's Dog Show, a fundraiser for the Ridgewood Education Foundation, has changed to Noon-2:00 p.m. This is going to be a fun event, people. Bring your dogs!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Families! Dogs! Fun! And raising money for a good cause, too!

The first annual Community Dog Show, presented by the Ridgewood Education Foundation and the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce, will be held this Sunday, October 18, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Graydon Pool parking lot. Grab your pooch and come on down! Contests include: Best Costume (on a dog, haha), Dog-Owner Look-a-Like, Best Dog Trick, Smallest Dog, Biggest (Lap?) Dog and more! Proceeds will benefit the REF's classroom grants and Arts Fund programs. Pre-registration us required. Fetch your form at www.ridgewoodedfoundation.org. See you there!

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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Everybody Loves Elwood Day October 18

Students and others in our community have come out year after year to show support and raise funds for former Ridgewood High School teacher Jack Elwood. This year the annual 5K run/walk in honor of Mr. Elwood will take place Sunday 10/18. This event is both a fundraiser and a way to bring attention to ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Registration for the 5K is at 8:00 AM and is $20 (includes t-shirt). The run/walk steps off at 9:00 AM at the RHS Stadium/Track.

Click here for the RPS website, for info and registration form.


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Friday, October 9, 2009

Do the folks in Washington ever connect the dots between funding and education?

Times columnist Paul Krugman today says, "Until now, the results of educational neglect have been gradual — a slow-motion erosion of America’s relative position. But things are about to get much worse, as the economic crisis — its effects exacerbated by the penny-wise, pound-foolish behavior that passes for “fiscal responsibility” in Washington — deals a severe blow to education across the board."

He goes on..."There’s no mystery about what’s going on: education is mainly the responsibility of state and local governments, which are in dire fiscal straits. Adequate federal aid could have made a big difference. But while some aid has been provided, it has made up only a fraction of the shortfall. In part, that’s because back in February centrist senators insisted on stripping much of that aid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a k a the stimulus bill."

He goes on to suggest that the Federal government should approve another big round of aid to state governments, as a solution. Can't they skip Trenton and just send the funds to the districts? The state of NJ has a poor track record for passing along funds to Ridgewood.

Click here to read the full column.
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Monday, October 5, 2009

Bergen Record mistake: no safety grant for Ridgewood

You may have seen the article in the Bergen Record last week -- saying that Ridgewood and Fair Lawn would be sharing a $100,000 grant for school safety. Well, that was a mistake. It's RIDGEFIELD that got the grant -- which is intended for things like metal detectors, locks and security lighting. I thought it was odd when I first read about the grant (do we need metal detectors?)...and no one at the District knew anything about it. Turns out, reporting mistake.

Am I the only one who thinks the Record is not the paper it used to be?
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Board of Ed meeting tonight 7:30

The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold its meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. (preceded by a closed Executive Session at 7:00 p.m.), at the Ed Center, 3rd floor. Highlights from tonight's agenda include
  • Discussion of Board and District goals for the 2009-2010 school year (a continuation of our discussion from July 20).
  • Various appointments, resignations, changes of assignment...
  • Recognition of National Merit and AP Scholars
  • Time for public comment -- got any comments or questions? Come on down!
You are invited to watch the Board meeting on Cablevision channel 77 or click here for the webcast (watch it live or watch it archived later -- the sound is better on the recording, rather than live, FYI)
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Sunday, October 4, 2009

New Jersey now has medical amnesty law for minors who report a drinking emergency

Last week Governor Corzine signed a law that grants legal immunity to persons under the age of 21 who have been consuming alcohol and call 911 for medical assistance. The bill previously passed the Senate and Assembly unanimously. This is a major step forward in getting realistic about youth drinking and the safety of our youth.

Please let your high school and college age kids know about this law.

Studies have consistently shown that young people are afraid to contact authorities in a medical emergency if alcohol has been present and the people involved are not 21. On college campuses, especially,  thousands of serious, alcohol-related medical emergencies are unreported as young people try to deal with the problem without help from authorities. Students will leave their friends to "sleep it off", which can lead to the drunken teen slipping into a coma in their sleep or asphyxiating on their vomit. There are approximately 1,700 alcohol-related deaths per  year among college students -- almost all of them completely preventable.

Many colleges have medical amnesty policies (also called good Samaritan or non-retaliation agreements) including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, Tulane, UPenn, William & Mary, Fordham, Duke, UVA, Smith and Hampshire College. These policies have one goal: ensuring that no matter the circumstances, students will get help when they or their friends need it.

Not many states have enacted medical amnesty laws -- but several are currently in the process.

I am glad to see New Jersey in the forefront on this. But -- in order for the law to truly save lives, young people need to be aware. So let them know.

Friday, October 2, 2009

"When the going gets tough, the tough support our schools."

Oh boy, do I wish I had written that. I discovered that great line on a website called YourSFPublicSchools.org -- it's a new website from the San Francisco Unified School District, designed to educate San Franciscans about their public schools and engage the city's residents in a conversation about the relationship between strong public schools and a strong city. It's part of a promotion and advertising campaign, at the heart of which are 16 "new rules for our public schools." The headline on today's post is actually San Francisco's New Rule #1. And I'd like to borrow it here in Ridgewood.

I have not had time to explore much of the YourSFPublicSchools.org website, but I like the tone and flavor of the whole thing. As they say, "It's the 21st century. The rules have changed. And with your support, our schools can change for the better."

I wonder what "new rules" we could use here in Ridgewood? I wonder if we have the capability to look at our schools and identify what should be changed...to have a real dialogue...to work together. Quite honestly, I do believe we have the capability. Do we have the energy?

Will you forgive me if I tie this "when the going gets tough" rule to our referendum? How could I resist?
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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Schools' Toughest Test: Cooking

Interesting story in today's NY Times about efforts to serve "real" food in New York City schools. And by "real," the article means food cooked from scratch, with fresh ingredients, and that doesn't rhyme with "ackaroni and ease" or "rench ries."

I wish we could do more of this in Ridgewood, but most of our schools don't have kitchens and all our lunches are provided by the Pomptonian Food Service. Our lunches are not terrible, but...I do believe there is MUCH that could be done to improve school lunches and I'm just sorry I don't have time to spend on this issue right now...still, wanted to share this article.

Click here for NY Times story.
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