Sunday, February 10, 2013
Two seats are up on the Ridgewood school board this spring.
The village school board agreed upon Wednesday, March 6 as the date to draw candidate names for ballot position in the annual School spring election. The drawing will take place at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, in the office of board secretary Angelo DeSimone. Ridgewood is among the few districts that has elected to keep traditional spring elections, despite the governor's urging. Two seats are up for grabs, currently held by Michele Lenhard and Jim Morgan. Candidates can file until 4 p.m. on Feb. 25.
Monday, January 14, 2013
The Ridgewood school board will draft a resolution pushing for new lobbying efforts in Trenton to overturn superintendent salary caps in place since 2010.
With its hands tied by state regulations, the Ridgewood Board of Education will draft a resolution to lobby for changes in the state salary cap that will either force current superintendent Daniel Fishbein to take a substantial pay cut, or restrict the board in negotiations with other candidates when his contract expires this summer. Board member Michele Lenhard, who proposed and will draft the resolution, said it is intended “to encourage school boards to look further at this issue and advocate on behalf of boards of education, from the standpoint that salary caps definitely impact the boards' ability to seek the best candidate for the superintendent position.” If the Ridgewood school board approves the language of the draft, it will be …
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Move to Horizon will save $1 million but won't impact this year's taxes, superintendent says.
For the second time in five years, school officials in Ridgewood have realized a big savings by switching health care providers. According to Daniel Fishbein, the projected 20 percent increase in health care costs to the district has been cut in half with the jump from Cigna to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield. The superintendent estimates it will save approximately $1 million with the move. Because the $90 million 2012-2013 budget has already been passed and the tax levy set (at a flat 2 percent increase), the savings won't help out the taxpayer this year. "It will most likely be reserved against future benefit premium increases," Fishbein said when asked how the money will be spent. During the 2010-2011 budget year, a switch to Cigna saved…
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Ridgewood Board of Education Vice President Bob Hutton is running for a one-year term on the platform of reaching a new teacher contract to keep down the single largest tax-driver in the village
Ridgewood Board of Education Trustee Bob Hutton is running for re-election on a simple platform – he says he’s seeking a one-year term to control the greatest local tax driver in the village. "It's a unique opportunity just having the one year term available because I certainly have invested too much time to date in not seeing the teacher negotiations through their conclusion,” he said in an interview. “It's not an item – looking at the total picture – to rush to conclusion. We knew going into it all the powers that be – a 2 percent cap, a 3-year contract, healthcare costs – in essence we'd have one bite at the apple.” The average resident in Ridgewood pays about $14,000 annually between school (about $10,000) and municipal taxes, which …
Monday, February 27, 2012
Jim Morgan and Bob Hutton square off for a one-year term; Gina Damasco and Vince Loncto looking at three-year term
Incumbents on the Ridgewood school board will face two challengers for both seats in April – one familiar, one less familiar. By the end of the filing deadline on Monday at 4 p.m., incumbent Bob Hutton, the current board vice president, will be running against Jim Morgan for a one-year term. Newcomer Vince Loncto, who took Charlie Riley's seat after he resigned during the fall, will contend for a three-year term against Gina Damasco. Hutton, in a letter to the editor published in The Ridgewood News on Friday, said his time on the board is nearly coming to a close but he has unfinished business – the longtime member wants to hammer out a contract with the teacher's union. Hutton is on the negotiating committee. The district has been at an …
Monday, October 3, 2011
Annual report on bullying, harassment and intimidation to follow a student-made video on bullying
Bullying will be the focus of the Monday night school board meeting at the Education Center. Ridge Elementary School Principal Jean Schoenlack, along with teachers Rachel Oldenburger and Andrea Petrone, will present to the board a student-made video on bullying, titled "Stand Up." Then, the administrators at Cottage Place will be examining the annual harassment, intimidation and bullying status report. The report last year had shown a significant decline in incidents and the cultural and legal landscape in schools is much changed from a year ago. At this time in 2010 the district was still reeling from the loss of Tyler Clementi, who has become an international symbol as a victim of bullying and harassment while a student at Rutgers. A …
Joe
9:29 am on Friday, January 18, 2013
Are you still here? Still not making any sense, I see. GET OVER IT. more ›