From the Superintendent's Desk - Ridgewood Public Schools

5/2/2017

RPS: Hot off the press: rps.eNews May 2 edition

Ridgewood Public Schools rps.eNews Volume 13, Number 19 May 2, 2017

The next Regular Public Meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education will be held on Monday, May 22, 2017 at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be aired live on television, FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77, and streamed via the “Link in Live” tab on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Meeting webcasts are generally posted to the district website within 48 hours.

In this Issue: From the Superintendent’s Desk Board Briefs: Highlights from the Board of Education Meeting Honors and Awards News from the Ed Center From the Village Community

Please note: News from the Ed Center and flyers are now posted below the Board Briefs.

From the Superintendent's Desk

Parent / Guardian Survey is Coming Out May 8 http://mailchi.mp/ridgewood/rpshotoffthepressrpsenewsmay2edition

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Ridgewood district parents and guardians will have the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback to the Board of Education in May, through a satisfaction survey distributed by email. Survey dates are May 8-19. Click here for details.

Dr. Fishbein Addresses the Topic of Teen Suicide Click here to read an April 25, 2017 letter to parents and guardians on the topic of the Netflix series, 13 Reasons, and teen suicide.

Coffee and Conversation is May 17 The Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Daniel Fishbein will host residents for coffee and casual conversation on Wednesday, May 17. The meeting will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood. All residents are invited to drop in to share their thoughts, questions, suggestions and concerns.

Water Test Results are Released The State of New Jersey requires all drinking water in our school facilities to be tested for lead during the 2016-2017 school year. The Ridgewood Public Schools are currently conducting those tests; the results of the schools we have received are listed below. We will post results within 24 hours of notification for the remaining schools. Please note that this summer of 2017 old water fountains will be replaced with filtered water fountains throughout the district. Links to the results for the schools: GWMS Orchard School Ridge School Willard School

Superintendent's Corner: April Column Click here to read "We Must Protect Our Public Schools," which appeared in The Ridgewood News on April 7, 2017.

NJ School Performance Reports are Out Each year, the New Jersey Department of Education releases school performance reports on every public school in New Jersey. The Ridgewood district's 2015-16 performance reports can now be found on the individual school web pages. Please contact your school with any questions. Click here to access the links to the Ridgewood Public Schools' individual school reports.

Click here to view the May 1, 2017 agenda as a PDF. Click here to view the webcast of the May 1, 2017 meeting. http://mailchi.mp/ridgewood/rpshotoffthepressrpsenewsmay2edition

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BOARD BRIEFS Highlights from the May 1, 2017 Board of Education Regular Public Meeting The webcast of the May 1, 2017 Board meeting is available on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us. To review official minutes of prior Board of Education meetings, click here.

PRESENTATIONS RHS DECA COMPETITIONS

DECA is an international organization that prepares students for leadership roles in business. Over 200

RHS students competed at regionals this year, and several students qualified for nationals in California, where they also excelled. RHS teachers Sean Kase and Karen Mendez are the advisors.

PUBLIC HEARING ON THE 2017-2018 BUDGET Following a review and discussion of the proposed budget, the Board voted to approved the 2017-2018 budget resolution as follows:

BE IT RESOLVED, by the Ridgewood Board of Education, to approve the 2017-2018 school district budget as follows, for submission to the Executive County Superintendent:

Budget

Tax Levy

Special Revenue Fund

$ 1,378,774

Debt Service Fund

$ 3,683,597

$ 3,265,783

Total Budget

$105,565,593

$94,784,956

General Fund

$100,503,222

$91,519,173

The district has proposed programs and services in addition to the Core Curriculum Content Standards adopted by the State Board of Education.

Information on this budget and the programs and services it provides is available from the school district. There should be raised for the General Fund Tax Levy $91,519,173 for the ensuing School Year: (20172018). The General Fund includes $300,000 which is to be withdrawn from Emergency Reserve and $200,000 which is to be withdrawn from Maintenance Reserve. CAPITAL RESERVE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Included in budget line 620, Budgeted Withdrawal from Capital Reserve – Excess Cost & Other Capital Projects, is $750,000 for the following construction projects: -Ridge ES Window Replacement -George Washington MS Nurse Bathroom Expansion -District Wide Filtered Water Fountain Installation -Somerville ES Parking Lot Paving -Paving at Other District Locations

The total cost of these projects represents expenditures for construction elements or projects that are in addition to the facilities efficiency standards determined by the Commissioner as necessary to achieve the core curriculum content standards.

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ADMINISTRATION The Board approved the first reading of revisions to various policies, found on the agenda as attachments B - N.

CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION The Board approved the Dual Enrollment Articulation Agreement with Bergen Community College for the 2017-2018 School Year, allowing for the following course equivalences:

High School

College

Course Code

English 12

English Composition II

Wrt-201, 3 credits

US History I

US History to Reconstruction

His-111, 3 credits

US History II

US History Since Reconstruction

His-112, 3 credits

Chemistry Honors

Intro to Chemistry

Chm-100 4 credits

Physics

Intro to Physics

Phy-185, 4 credits

Human A & P Honors

Anatomy & Physiology I

Bio-109, 4 credits

Human A & P Honors

Anatomy & Physiology II

Bio-209, 4 credits

Environmental Sci. Honors

Environmental Biology

Bio-108, 4 credits

English 12

English Composition I

Wrt-101, 3 credits

The Board approved the following changes at Glen School: Elimination of one pre-school disabled class, effective June 30, 2017.

Establishment of one general education pre-school class REACH (Ridgewood Early Achievement for Children), effective September 1, 2017.

The Board approved the following speaking contracts as part of the 2017-2018 Community Outreach Program for parents and guardians: Mindful Life, LLC on October 4, 2017: presentation on mindful living and mindful parenting ($14,645, funded by a donation).

Caren Baruch-Feldman, Ph.D. on February 28, 2018: “Grit, Self-Control, and a Positive Mindset: The Keys to Success” ($3,000, funded by a donation).

A Vision in Motion, Inc. and speaker Scott Chesney on March 28, 2018: “Change is Opportunity” ($5,000, funded by a donation). Dr. David Walsh on April 28, 2018:“The Brain Goes to School: What Science Tells Us About Student Achievement” ($5,950, funded by a donation).

The Board approved an agreement with Care Plus New Jersey to provide school-based mental health services that include individual, group and family counseling, teacher in service training and parent training for the period September 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018 in the amount of $100,000.

HUMAN RESOURCES The Board approved the Ridgewood Public Schools Salary List for all known positions and staffing as of May 1, 2017 for the 2017-2018 school year, as listed on Attachment Q of the agenda. The Board approved all Non-tenured Teachers, Administrators, and Nurse Aide for the 2017-2018 school year, as listed on Attachment R of the agenda.

The Board appointed Meredith Yannone as Equal Educational Officer for 2017-2018 School Year (stipend $ 3,081).

Appointments, Leaves of Absence and Changes of Assignment (Unless otherwise noted, the following appointments are for the 2016-2017 school year.)

Ridgewood High School Magaly Olivares, Spanish Teacher, will retire effective July 1, 2017, with 11 years of Ridgewood service. Ridge School Rachel Oldenburger, Fifth Grade Teacher, has resigned, effective July 1, 2017. Casey Gidich, Fourth Grade Teacher, will take Leave of Absence effective May 30, 2017 through June 22, 2017, and September 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017, with a reinstatement date of January 2, 2018.


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Education Center Kathleen Kiedaisch,

Executive Confidential Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent, will retire effective July 1, 2017, with 31 years of Ridgewood service. Jamie Rosado was approved as Accounts Payable Secretary ($ 44,792).

Substitutes Teachers: Jenna Abballe, Taylor Alessi, Marissa Ferrito

FINANCE The Board accepted the following restricted donations and gifts-in-kind for the 2016-2017 school year: $8,000 from Hawes HSA for field trip expenses; $ 300 from Korean Association for books for the Hawes School library; $3,400 from RHS Ski Club for chaperone stipends for ski trips in January 2017; $ 259.46 from RHS Student Congress for chaperone expenses during Spirit Week. The Board awarded the bid for Landscaping, Tree Removal, Snow Removal and Storm Clean Up Services to Jacobsen Landscape Design and Construction, Midland Park, NJ, in the total amount of $111,000.

BOARD MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS Sheila Brogan announced "Bluegrass Under the Stars," a Friends of Music fundraiser on Friday, June 9 at 8 p.m., at the Graydon Pool Pavilion. This event is for ages 15 and up. Proceeds benefit the RPS music program.

May 2017 Legislative Update (Sheila Brogan) School Start Times

In 2015, Governor Christie signed legislation that established a Committee to study the issue of later school start times for middle school and high school students and the advisability of establishing a pilot program among a selected number of districts who wished to participate and institute later start times. The Committee’s report was released last week concluding that school start times should be set by local districts and not the state and they did not recommend a pilot program. Some facts: · 86% of middle and high schools start the day before 8:30 AM · 91% of school districts did not plan to change the start time · The average start time is 8 AM · The most frequently reported issues preventing schools from having later school start times included transportation coordination and costs, athletic event conflicts, disruption to after school activities or jobs, and childcare issues. · A total of 10 people testified at the three public hearings – five parents, one principal, one administrator, and three former or current Board of Education members. All who testified supported a move to a later start time. · An email campaign was implemented to seek stakeholder feedback. The number one issue http://mailchi.mp/ridgewood/rpshotoffthepressrpsenewsmay2edition

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driving later start times was the need for increased sleep for adolescents. Seventy-nine percent of emails received from stakeholders favored later start times. The Committee’s conclusions and recommendations found on pages 8 and 9 of the report are as follows: “Based on the research, discussions, and deliberations as presented and discussed in the above summary of major findings, the Study Group has arrived at the following conclusions: 1. The scholarly research, including that by the AAP, is resolute in its identification of chronic adolescent sleep deprivation as a serious endangerment to adolescents’ health, safety, wellbeing, and academic performance. Moreover, the research strongly supports the many advantages and benefits of adequate sleep for adolescents. 2. Delaying school start times is fraught with obstacles and challenges, as it will undoubtedly affect not only middle schools and high schools, but elementary schools, as well. Chief among these obstacles and challenges are those associated with student transportation; after-school activities, including athletics, and childcare. The Study Group acknowledges these impediments to change; however, it also acknowledges that some school districts have chosen pathways that have enabled them to minimize such impediments. 3. A sustained public campaign about both the importance of adequate sleep for adolescents, as well as the serious negative outcomes associated with chronic sleep deprivation among adolescents, is necessary and beneficial. 4 Delaying the start of school times for middle schools and high schools, even for a short period of time, offers significant positive benefits and outcomes, including those attendant to students’ health, safety, well-being, and academic performance; however, it would be difficult to determine the impact of such delays in isolation of other factors. Recommendations 1. School start times should not be mandated by the New Jersey Legislature or the NJDOE. Any decision to pursue later school start times must be determined solely by local school districts and must be driven by locally determined situations, conditions, and needs. Given the myriad characteristics, factors, and variables that distinguish school districts and schools from one another, communities should not be confronted with a “one-size fits all” school start time mandate. The Study Group does, however, strongly recommend that school districts carefully review the issues attendant to later start times for middle schools and high schools. 2. The Study Group has determined that there is a sufficient number of middle schools and high schools currently implementing a later start time for the NJDOE to obtain ample implementation information without conducting a formal pilot study. New Jersey students would be better served if the NJDOE spent its time and resources on gathering and providing information from districts/schools already implementing later start times and providing it to educators and families to guide their decision-making and implementation. 3. The NJDOE should publicize both this report, as well as its accompanying research on its website, so that parents and educators are informed about the negative impact of chronic sleep deprivation on adolescents. Furthermore, the NJDOE should notify schools about this report via communication directly from the NJDOE, through statewide associations and through the organizations represented in the Study Group. “ Below is the link to the full report: http://www.nj.gov/education/students/safety/health/StartTimes.pdf

NJ State Budget http://mailchi.mp/ridgewood/rpshotoffthepressrpsenewsmay2edition

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The Office of Legislative Services prepared a report on the proposed budget and education aid. In the report they noted that proposed funding for special education and the state mandated preschool was flat. They also mentioned that the amount proposed for extraordinary aid was unchanged from this year. They went on to say that this year’s extraordinary aid funded approximately 55% of the total reimbursement for special education costs that schools would have been entitled to under the law. Next year the reimbursement rate may be less assuming that special education costs will be higher.

School Funding Formula

It is now sixty-two days since Governor Christie challenged the legislature to develop a new school funding formula. There is no new formula or proposed changes to the budget put forward by Governor Christie in late February. Recently the Department Education released information on what districts would receive if the school funding formula were fully funded by the state. If SFRA was fully funded Ridgewood would receive an addition $789,477, a 36% increase that would bring our state aid up to $2,985,477. Surrounding districts such as Glen Rock, Paramus, Fair Lawn and Paterson would all receive additional aid. Some districts such as Hoboken and Jersey City would see a reduction in their aid.

Honors and Awards

American Legion Post 53, Ridgewood, NJ, is sponsoring five RHS students to attend the 2017 sessions of the Boys State and Girls State program in June. Those with media permission to be named are Kelly Syz, Kumail Raza and Spencer Campbell. American Legion Boys State and American Legion Auxiliary Girls State are the premier programs for teaching how government works, while developing leadership skills and an appreciation of the rights and responsibilities of Citizenship. Participants run for office, learn public speaking, draft and debate legislation, and actively participate in all phases of creating and running a working government. Each year the Ridgewood Board of Education and the district Home & School Associations honor one teacher from each school, nominated by parents and staff members and selected by a committee representing each group. The honored teachers receive a stipend to fund an instructional initiative of his or her choice. This year’s recipients are: Hawes: Becky Catanzaro Orchard: Ellen Scott Ridge: Nicole Dorn Somerville: Elizabeth Fischetti Travell: Alicen Marchioni Willard: Tara Hutchison BFMS: John Fiocchi GWMS: Suzanne Simone RHS: Meredith Yannone Education Services. Michele Eng On Tuesday, May 9 at 7 p.m. the honored staff members will receive their recognition awards at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place. The reception, open to the public, acknowledges the contributions of all the past recipients and celebrates the profession of teaching. Congratulations to the following RHS orchestra students who were accepted http://mailchi.mp/ridgewood/rpshotoffthepressrpsenewsmay2edition

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Congratulations to the following RHS orchestra students who were accepted to AllState Ensembles: 2017 New Jersey High School AllState Orchestra Violin: Christy Chang (9), Ryan Rhew (9) Viola: Daniel Son (9), Jodie Suh (10) Cello: Eugene Park (9) 2017 Honors Chamber Orchestra Cello: John Mondi (9)

More News from the Ed Center

Community Outreach Program Series Concludes May 23 The final program in the 20162017 Wellbeing Series will be on Tuesday, May 23 with Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, pediatrician at CHoP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia). Dr. Ginsburg will speak at 9:30 a.m. at the Ridgewood Public Library Auditorium on Fostering Resistance. At 7 p.m. at GWMS, Dr. Ginsburg will talk on Authentic Success. Click here for more information on this program. Click here for the press release on the Wellbeing series, which is co sponsored by The Valley Hospital with support from The Foundation and the Home and School Associations.


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From the Village Community


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The Village of Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department is

sponsoring the following programs. Click here for program details/flyers and to print registration forms on the individual classes. Registration forms can be submitted in person or by mail (cash or check only). Online registration using Visa or MasterCard is done through Community Pass. Call the Recreation Office at 201-670-5560 with any questions or if special accommodations are needed.


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Events Around Bergen County


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Sign Up Early for Summer Programs


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Public Service Announcements


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rps.eNews is a publication of the Ridgewood Public Schools. For submissions, comments or suggestions, email the editor, Debra Anderson, at [email protected]. Previous issues are archived on the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us. Please note: In compliance with State of New Jersey law, no issues will carry students’ names or photos unless permission has been granted by parents or guardians. Our mailing address is: 49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences


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