Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Schools to share $1M to pay for implementing New Jersey’s tough new law
The Christie administration will give New Jersey school districts until mid-May to seek their share of $1 million in new funding to pay for the rising costs of implementing the state’s anti-bullying law. But in its five-page application provided to districts Monday, it also acknowledged it may not be enough to go around and cover all costs. “An application will be funded to the extent that it is approvable and funds are available,” the application reads. “If the total number of approvable applications exceeds the available funds, district awards will be pro-rated and adjusted accordingly.” Such a demand is likely. School officials and their advocates estimate the statewide costs this year have well exceeded $1 million to pay for the …
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Fair Lawn High School's fourth annual fashion show is on Tuesday, April 3.
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Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Fair Lawn High School students and teachers will be strutting their stuff on the catwalk again this year at the school's annual fashion show. Male and female students, as well as teachers, will take to the runway to demonstrate various styles of attire during the school's fourth annual fashion show, scheduled for Tuesday, April 3 in the D Cafeteria. Proceeds from the show will support Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, whose mission is, "to foster a more accepting society, where differences are embraced and individuality is celebrated." The decision to support Born This Way comes on the heels of the enactment of New Jersey's anti-bullying law this school year. The law was enacted following the death of 18-year-old Ridgewood native and …
Friday, February 3, 2012
Last Friday's ruling that the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights is unconstitutional goes into effect 60 days after the judgment.
Fair Lawn superintendent Bruce Watson said he couldn't agree more with the recent court ruling that the state's comprehensive anti-bullying law is unconstitutional, because it constitutes an unfunded mandate. "Clearly the determination is right on the mark, it is an unfunded mandate," said Watson, who last month openly supported the legal challenge to the law. "All districts have suffered from the additional time it takes for taking your personnel out of the job they normally do and giving them an extra responsibility that's very time consuming and very paper-driven." The state's Council on Local Mandates issued the judgment last Friday after hearing a case brought by the Allamuchy School District, which argued the anti-bullying law was an…
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Missed any of this week's Patch coverage? It's all here.
Monday, Jan. 16 Naugle House Preservation to Move Forward The borough finally closed on the purchase of the historic Naugle House back in October, after more than six years of negotiations. But that was only half the battle. “Now that we’ve acquired [the Naugle property] we have to work with our Historic Preservation Committee to not only rehabilitate it to its historic status, but then figure out how to make it cost-effective for the taxpayers of Fair Lawn, so that it remains affordable,” councilman Ed Trawinski said at the time. “Everybody wants to save historic sites, very few people ever come up with plans as to what to do with them.” Council took the first step in the preservation process last week when it signed off on an …
Friday, November 4, 2011
Some school districts are voicing concerns about law's intractable timelines
The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights is one of the most consequential laws for New Jersey public schools in years, though hardly the most flexible. That's led some state officials to look for ways to make the measure less of a burden on schools. What changes, if any, will be suggested remains to be seen. But the law's supporters are standing firm that any modifications will need to come in administrative guidelines and not to the law itself. "We're not revisiting the bill itself, or its intent," said state Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen), one of the law's primary sponsors, who has been part of the early discussions. The legislation enacted last spring -- considered by some as the toughest in a slew of anti-bullying laws …
Monday, August 22, 2011
Administrators charged with implementing tough new Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, from new definitions to new jobs
Every school year brings changes and challenges, but few are as formidable as the one now facing administrators: implementing the state's new anti-bullying law. The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights requires districts to have a host of new procedures and protocols in place when schools open their doors, strengthening the rules put in place in 2002 and 2007. These include requirements that spell out the specific number of days allowed for a case to be reported, investigated and resolved. The law also expands the definitions of bullying, including the tricky issue of online or electronic harassment taking place outside of school. More than 1,000 school administrators have gone to day-long training sessions across the state over the past month, …
The Most Interesting Man in the World
11:59 am on Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Good intentions, a lot of money (a millions bucks), all to pay the salaries of the administrators, contractors, trainers and lawyers, but too little left to make even the slightest amount of difference in engineering a better society that makes a bully change his behavior. more ›