March 3
...serving up your daily dish.
The school boards of both Bloomfield and Montclair are meeting tonight -- Bloomfield to approve the district's tentative budget (PDF file) and Montclair to do what Montclair does best: fight. In Montclair's case, the "discussion" is supposed to be about the new school planned for the site of the old Washington St. "Y." Among the items of contention, how expensive the school will be (latest estimates put it at $46 million) and how green, or environmentally-friendly. There are also accusations and cross-accusations about whether Montclair really wants the school to be scrapped in order for private developers to build on the site.
We thought it interesting when we found the $46 million somewhere else: in the Bloomfield school's budget. To be exact, Bloomfielders pay $46,344,002 in taxes to their schools. So here's an idea: why doesn't Bloomfield just give up a year of education and pay for Montclair's new school? Just think of the advantages. Not only would Montclair get a free school, but with their schools closed for a year, Bloomfield could finish its own construction at the high school without *gasp* asphixiating anyone!
Both meetings are at 7:30 pm. Bloomfield meets at 155 Broad St. and Montclair meets at 22 Valley Road.
March 3, 2005 in Barista Does the Math, Controversy | Permalink
LOL, sorry, I think Bloomfield ALREADY gave up a year of education! GASP!
BTW, anyone in Baristaville want to share w/ me how their high schools managed to coordinate HSPA testing as well as regular school days for the rest of the student body?
In our district, yesterday was an early dismissal day, high school scheduled to be dismissed at 12:15 -- the HSPAs "ran long" and the other students, who were told to arrive at 9:30, were not admitted to class until 11:00. Yup, a whopping one hour and fifteen minutes of instruction yesterday! Today was slightly better: Told to arrive at 10, the students cooled their heels for only 60 minutes until they were allowed to go to class at 11, and were dismissed at 2:35 -- so we had a whopping 3 hours and 35 minutes of instruction today. (Well, allowing for lunch and walking to class, actually probably only 2and a half hours!)
So, I'd love to know how other districts managed this? Thanks.
Posted by: gc | Mar 3, 2005 5:53:50 PM
In Glen Ridge, the students all went to school at the normal time. The 11th graders spent blocks 1 through 3 taking the HSPA's, and then went on to block 4. The rest of the day was normal for them.
The HSPA tests did not affect the schedules of any other grade.
Posted by: Laura | Mar 3, 2005 8:21:32 PM
