Ridgewood BOE needs less Trenton 'interference'

Ridgewood BOE needs less Trenton 'interference'

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012  
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Board needs less Trenton ‘interference’
Charles V. Reilly

to the editor:

A recent letter ("Review projects to avoid future bond issues"; Feb. 10; page A7) is mistaken in urging the school board "to give careful consideration during this year’s budget process as to what [capital] projects and maintenance items need to be undertaken to reduce the pressure for future bond issues to fund ‘renovations.’"

http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/139496673_Board_needs_less_Trenton__interference_.html

RIDGEWOOD BOE MEMBER REPORT ON THE HISTORY OF NJ SCHOOL FUNDING

RIDGEWOOD BOE MEMBER REPORT ON THE HISTORY OF NJ SCHOOL FUNDING

School Funding in New Jersey:
A 42-year history of legal cases, legislation, and school funding formulas
By Sheila Brogan
Ridgewood Board of Education

“The Legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all children in the state between the ages of five and eighteen years.”  New Jersey Constitution, as amended effective September 28, 1875

BOE member Sheila Brogan has compiled a report on the 42-year history of school funding in New Jersey. Click here to view the report.

http://tinyurl.com/6tc3n5u

BOE Elections : the people who come out to vote in the spring are the only ones who actually know what they're voting for and care.

BOE Elections : the people who come out to vote in the spring are the only ones who actually know what they're voting for and care. 

People can twist this to suit their own arguments and spin it any way they want, but they can't get around the fact that the people who come out to vote in the spring are the only ones who actually know what they're voting for and care.

The vote is about money and yes, it's also about how the money is spent. It's about who will serve us best on the board and sometimes it's about what certain "groups" want. I don't agree with some of those groups and do agree with others, but "special interests" are in fact a real part of voting, in November as well. People who care should come out and vote. If you feel a group is getting the upper hand, then motivate others to vote. But none of us need more ignorant opportunists who just push the buttons closest to their party designation. Diluting the budget and BOE vote with that serves no good purpose.

Ridgewood News editorial: Keep voting in April

Ridgewood News editorial: Keep voting in April
Thursday, January 26, 2012   
The Ridgewood News


Governor Christie recently gave local school boards the option to decide whether to move elections to November in a cost-saving effort. The Ridgewood Board of Education made the right decision this week when members voted to keep elections in April.

One of the beauties of Ridgewood is its non-partisanship.

Of course there are disagreements, but keeping political affiliations out of arguments prevents discussion from getting mired in the muck.

Decisions made locally should not be based on the party line, but rather what's best for the village.

While no school board is partisan, mixing the district elections with general and presidential elections every November may pull politics into the process. Arguments that more voters will visit the polls during November elections can easily be countered: Will the extra voters who show up be informed on the issues, or will they see a name on one side of the ballot and pick their candidate that way?

http://www.northjersey.com/news/138181894_Keep_voting_in_April.html

BOE : for it before they were against it

BOE : for it before they were against it 

According to a Letter to the Editor written by Bob Hutton and published in The Record on January 14th, the BOE voted in November of 2011 not to move the election. Why the flip flop?

**********

Regarding "Losing a say" (Opinion, Page O-1, Jan. 8):

I agree. As a member of the Ridgewood Board of Education, I introduced a resolution at our last meeting clearly opposing moving school board elections from its traditional date in the spring to November. Incorporating school board elections into the general election in November is not a prudent change. The resolution passed.

I have always wondered why school board elections are treated differently from general elections. Annually, a board oversees the creation of a budget, passes a budget resolution and then starts a road show throughout the community to seek support for the budget. What other governing body is charged with that responsibility? None, in New Jersey. Why?

Should not all the elements that make up the property taxes of a municipality be determined by a vote of its electorate? Should not the voting public have a say on all bonding matters that affect their property taxes?

Where is the outcry that public education — a cornerstone of our democracy — is treated differently at every turn? One could look at eliminating the public vote on the school budget as leveling the playing field that our other municipal brethren have enjoyed for years. I don’t know if that is right, but I am one who would like consistency.

Bob Hutton

Ridgewood, Jan. 8

Resolution to Eliminate the Vote on the Annual Budget and to Move the Election Of School Board Members to the General Election in November

JANUARY 23, 2012 ATTACHMENT M

Resolution to Eliminate the Vote on the Annual Budget and to Move the Election Of School Board Members to the General Election in November

Whereas,
P.L. 2011, c.202 S-3148 provides that a local school district may adopt a resolution to eliminate the vote on its annual school budget that is within the statutory cap imposed by the State of New Jersey, and the above legislation provides that the above action would require districts to hold their annual election for school board members in November during the regular general election, and the Ridgewood Board of Education has determined that the statutory restrictions on the local levy tax increase for annual school appropriations is appropriate and sufficient to control and maintain a thorough and efficient education for the children of Ridgewood, and the Ridgewood Board of Education, consistent with the budgetary restrictions expressed above, believes that dispensing with annual school budget votes will save taxpayer dollars, and the Ridgewood Board of Education believes that school board member elections in November will attract a far greater number of voters than typically vote in April elections, and the Ridgewood Board of education believes that the elimination of the vote on the school budget and the movement of the board member election to November is in the best interest of the Ridgewood community, and the Ridgewood Board of Education understands that this decision shall remain in effect for a minimum of four years, Now, Therefore Be It Resolved, that the Ridgewood Board of Education does hereby determine that it will eliminate the vote on its annual school budget which shall be within the statutory cap and become effective for the 2012-13 budget, and Be It Further Resolved, that the Ridgewood Board of Education does hereby determine that the election of school board members will occur at the annual general election in November, 2012.

Ridgewood BOE hosts informal get-together

Ridgewood BOE hosts informal get-together

THURSDAY JANUARY 19, 2012, 1:37 PM
BY BRYAN WASSEL
NORTH JERSEY MEDIA GROUP
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

In order to give the community a more casual venue to meet with school officials, the Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) has started a series of quarterly get-togethers with a focus on personal interaction.

"People come to board meetings, they step up to the podium and it's very formal," Superintendent Daniel Fishbein said. "This is just an informal session where people can come to ask questions and get to meet the board members in a less formal setting."

On Tuesday, guests were greeted on the third floor of the Education Center by BOE members, who were ready to discuss issues and answer questions posed by parents. While the board has held casual meetings before, they have usually been based around a certain issue, such as the budget or a specific committee, not as a venue to discuss a variety of topics in a more personal setting.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/137685718_Ridgewood_school_board_hosts_informal_get-together.html

THE ANNUAL SCHOOL ELECTION IS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27

THE ANNUAL SCHOOL ELECTION IS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27


Please Remember to Vote! Polls Open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Click here to view the webcast of the April 7 Board Candidates Night :http://tinyurl.com/3dl9pq9

Any registered voter can choose to vote by mail-in ballot. Tuesday, April 26, is the deadline for mail-in ballots to be received. Click here for more information on mail-in ballots : http://tinyurl.com/3gd7zvz

SCHOOL 2011-2012 BUDGET PRESENTATIONS

Opportunities for the Public to Hear about the 2011-2012 Budget

Tuesday, April 12: Coffee with the Superintendent
Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, at 9 a.m.

Wednesday, April 20: Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

Please Remember to Vote on Wednesday, April 27

Have a question about the 2011-2012 proposed budget?

E-mail budget12@ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Your questions will be answered promptly!

Click here to read the superintendent's budget presentation : http://tinyurl.com/3fe3ekd

BOE needs to become more fiducially responsible

BOE needs to become more fiducially responsible

Look into the increased number of students that are tutored over the years. Ask parents why they are having their students tutored. Ask the tutors that are advertised as supported by the HSA what they are tutoring the students. The answers are close at hand. You just have to open your eyes and face the realities and then have the guts to require that the BOE become more fiducially responsible.

Every one of the 25,000 citizens in VOR have been faced with that same responsibility for their own families. Everyone suffers increased healthcare costs, etc.

Everyone suffers possible loss of job if they don't preform. There are no guarantees. This is not a dress rehearsal folks. This is the real thing

Readers are looking for roll back on automatic pay increases for Teachers

Readers are looking for roll back on automatic pay increases for Teachers

All I know is that this contract had better roll back some of the automatic pay increases that were granted while every other resident saw reduced income in the past 3 years. Pay increases should have nothing to do with seniority and everything to do with performance. Pay our best teachers more and reduce pay for our under-performing teachers. Eliminate tenure and let's get back to a truly high performing school district, instead of paying lip service to ideals from days gone by.

It is not acceptable to ask taxpayers for a tax increase in order to pay for budget to pay for endless annual pay raises for all teachers. Nor do I see any reason for the budget to increase over previous years. Let's start taking cost out of the school budget, by addressing the real driver of 80% of the costs in the budget

School Budget : Line item Employee Salaries

School Budget : Line item Employee Salaries

The Ridgewood News should devote a section (entire paper) to a line item audit of where each dollar of the budget has been spent in the past year.

Line item ... detailed. Don't lump salaries as one item do it employee by employee - you can put their title (like say, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, or generic middle school teacher, or generic elementary principal) ... but line item by line item...

BOE - where the heck is all the money going?????

Ridgewood Schools : 2011-2012 BUDGET UPDATE

Ridgewood Schools : 2011-2012 BUDGET UPDATE

In Addition to Scheduled HSA Presentations:

Three Opportunities for the Public to Hear about the 2011-2012 Budget

Thursday, March 31: George Washington Middle School Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 12: Coffee with the Superintendent
Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, at 9 a.m.

Wednesday, April 20: Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

Board of Education Budget Approval Meeting Will Be March 28 at 7:30 P.M.

Please Remember to Vote on Wednesday, April 27
Have a question about the 2011-2012 proposed budget?
E-mail budget12@ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Your questions will be answered promptly!

Click here to read the March 22 Budget Update : http://tinyurl.com/46bwa6n

BOE Elections : Reading Between the Lines of Kelly Ebbels Incumbent Candidate Interviews

Reading Between the Lines of Kelly Ebbels Incumbent Candidate Interviews:

Sheila Brogan: Sheila has been a member of the BOE for 15 years. 15 years! Brogan was “was heavily involved in the $48 million bond referendum” which she points out was for “construction projects at district schools and fields” code for projects and TURF fields in a flood zone which just cost the taxpayers of Ridgewood another $30,000 for clean-up and it stinks by that field right now. Brogan takes credit for sparking “move toward more online work and communication, encouraging the district to go paperless in its BOE document briefings, and setting the path toward the E-News” this is a serious misstatement. Brogan points out “she wants to help see through "unfinished business" code for keep re-electing me for eternity. On a final note Brogan states “"The challenge now is, we have to do more with less” funny thought since it should have been for 15 years that Brogan was challenged to “do more with less” and if her words are true why are we paying for field lights, recent admin raises and a letter opposing Superintendent salary caps?

Laurie Goodman: Unlike Sheila, Laurie has a diverse list of programs where she has readily volunteered her time, and let’s face it the first paragraph ends with a clunk “campaigned for the dog park at the Ridgewood Duck Pond” especially for the neighbors of the duck pond dog park. The dog park is a mess and people cannot enjoy a nice stroll in the park without the noise and sh** all over the place. The smell is disgusting. Now the plan is to move the eyesore closer to the street, sheesh! Goodman currently serves as “BOE liaison to the joint BOE-Village Fields Committee” and that has been a mess for some time. Regardless of which side of the TURF and light issue you fall on most everyone agrees that BOE handled this with a total disregard for the neighbors and the immediate surrounding community seeing the glow from everywhere. The visual impact from Crest and Hillcrest looks like an International Airport or blazing UFO landing at RHS! Imagine agreeing to a deal with the sports groups to fund the payment of lights without anything in writing likely holding the VOR taxpayers liable for these lights. and since the light up the lights have been on day and night. Finally Laurie reflects on the “steep learning curve” during her first term and states “For the last three years I've been learning ... and now I feel like I have even more of a chance to be effective” which is like a roll of the dice because she “feels like” she can be more effective after her first shining term.

Personally Sheila should look elsewhere to spend eternity and the VOR taxpayers cannot afford to pay for Laurie's education.

BOE budget : a bunch of obvious ways to save money that nobody wants to touch because they are too politically sensitive

There are and have been a bunch of obvious ways to save money that nobody wants to touch because they are too politically sensitive:

1. Increase class sizes by 10-20%. I had class sizes of 25-30 kids in the 60s and 70s.

2. Redistrict instead of expanding Ridge and Willard. It's absurd tht we are spending a big chunk of the bond issue to expand those two schools when we just needed to shift the boundary lines a few blocks and put more kids into underutilized Orchard.

3. Take a hard line in the upcoming teacher negotiations. Demand higher teacher contributions for medical and other benefits. Initiate a differentiated wage scale under which we can pay lower-skilled positions, such as gym teachers, less than tougher-to-replace positions such as math and science teachers. Don't cave when the teachers threaten to strike. The pain of a short strike will be worth the long-term savings generated for the taxpayers.

4. Figure out ways to save money on special ed, which is now over 20% of the BOE budget. It is an ultra-sensitive topic, but is the biggest line item in the budget after teacher wages and benefits.