Board restores AP self-study for 2026–2027
After debate over course limits, equity, and staffing, the Ridgewood Board of Education brought back AP self-study using the same approach in place in 2024–2025.
Two hosts walk through the week’s edition in conversation — board debates ap self-study and restores, public comment (opening) — flooding, turf, and what’s coming next. Generated by Aware, from this week’s verified summaries.
The board took up AP self-study early, then voted to return to the prior model for 2026–2027 after debating logistics, resources, and student impact.
A familiar option is coming back for Ridgewood students.
The Ridgewood Board of Education reordered its agenda to take up AP self-study and AP course limits before other business. Members asked that individual positions be recorded and that roll call be used when applicable. Staff then laid out the rationale behind the current approach, and board members worked through the practical questions: how self-study fits with course limits, what support students would need, and how the policy affects access across the district. By the end of the discussion, the board approved reinstating AP self-study for 2026–2027.
The decision was specific. Rather than build a new system, the board chose to use the 2024–2025 approach. That gave members a clear reference point as they weighed competing concerns about equity, available resources, and the effect on students trying to balance demanding schedules.
What comes next is implementation. The vote settles the immediate question for the 2026–2027 school year, but the discussion made clear that AP course limits and self-study rules will keep drawing scrutiny as the board reviews workload, staffing, and student access. For now, families and students have an answer: the prior self-study option is back.
Public Comment (Opening) — Flooding, Turf Fields, Environmental/Safety Concerns, and Long-Term Planning
Flooding around the athletic fields returned to the microphone.
During opening public comment, residents in and around North Irving Street said flooding has become more frequent and more severe, affecting both school property and nearby homes. Speakers questioned whether repeated turf remediation makes sense in a flood zone and asked the district to work with neighbors, engineers, emergency management, and the Village on short- and long-term planning.
Several comments focused on health and cost. Residents raised concerns about sewer-contaminated water, possible mold or bacteria risks under turf, and whether infill materials near the brook had been affected by flooding. One speaker described repeated home flooding and basement cleanup, while another argued the district cannot keep spending on remediation without a longer-range plan.
Dr. Schwarz said the district plans to convene a think tank-style group with neighbors and technical experts and said all options were on the table, including grass. He said the recent flooding was spillover from the brook, described the infill bags as sturdy and not impacted, and said dust from the vendor’s cleaning process led to more dust suppression. No vote was taken.
Community fundraising restores RHS club support
Mr. Ross said community donations, HSA support, and student fundraising replaced money lost after major cuts to Ridgewood High School clubs and extracurriculars. He said the restored funding will cover this year, while board members said private fundraising should not become the long-term model and discussed attendance and reporting standards.
Community fundraising restored high school club support after budget cuts, affecting student activities this year.
Board reviews NJGPA graduation readiness results
Administration presented grade 11 NJGPA results and the three ways students can meet graduation readiness requirements. For 2026, the district reported 94% passing ELA and 89.5% passing math on the exam, while board members reviewed state comparisons, subgroup trends, and plans to offer the PSAT during the school day in October.
NJGPA results and graduation readiness pathways affect high school students’ testing and diploma options.
ACCESS results show exits and long stays
Administration reported that 127 students took the WIDA ACCESS assessment and that 30 exited the ESL program after reaching the 4.5 proficiency benchmark. The board reviewed three-year trends and focused on students who remain in the program for five-plus years, a group members said needs closer analysis.
Board reviewed multilingual learner ACCESS trends, exit data, and long-term participation concerns affecting a smaller student group.
State of Schools highlights strengths and gaps
Mr. Ross gave a condensed State of the Schools Address built around enrollment, achievement trends, survey results, recognitions, and Vision 2030 goals. He said district enrollment was 5,409, and board members pressed on survey wording, subgroup perceptions, and how to interpret senior responses about top-choice colleges.
State of the Schools highlighted rankings, enrollment, surveys, and Vision 2030 progress without taking action.
- Ridgewood Board of Education. Residents and remote commenters described repeated flooding affecting neighborhoods near the fields and questioned the sustainability of continued turf remediation. Speakers urged coordinated planning with neighbors, engineers, and the Village, raised concerns about infill and potential contamination, and asked for accountability and long-term solutions.
What we didn’t fit in this Sundays edition
Ridgewood had 2 more items this week. Here are sixfour — the rest are on Aware.
- GOVERNANCEAppointment of Board Secretary Pro Tempore. The board opened with a resolution to appoint Dr. Schwarz as board secretary pro tempore for the evening. The resolution was moved, seconded, and approved.
- GOVERNANCEPublic Comment (Closing) — None Offered. The board opened a closing public comment period late in the meeting. No speakers came forward and no remote hands were raised, and the board closed public comment.
- The week’s most important Ridgewood decisions
- Plain-English explanations, every Sunday
- Delivered to your inbox — one email a week
No charge, ever. Unsubscribe anytime.
- Everything Aware covers in Ridgewood — the full record, not just the highlights
- Plus full coverage of 3,000+ cities, not just yours
- Source documents, Ask Aware & Aware Explain
- Follow up to 5 towns · email meeting alerts
Snapshot is the starting plan — larger plans (Insight, Intelligence) add more towns, countries & usage. Sundays is the free weekly read; Aware is the platform that powers it.
Got a neighbor in Ridgewood who should read this?
Forwarding this Sundays edition is how Sundays grows. No paid ads — just neighbors telling neighbors.
FORWARD TO A NEIGHBOR →See an error? Email us.
Sundays is generated by the Aware platform (www.awarenow.ai) and verified against the official meeting record. If something looks wrong, please tell us — we respond within 24 hours and publish corrections directly on this page. corrections@awarenow.ai
Common questions
- What is Sundays?
- Sundays is a weekly civic newsletter for Ridgewood, NJ. Each Sunday morning we summarize what the town council, school board, planning board, and other public bodies did that week — in plain English, with links to the official meeting record.
- How are these summaries generated?
- Sundays is produced by Aware (awarenow.ai), which creates short summaries from publicly recorded meetings. Summaries are generated by AI technology and can make mistakes and do not represent official public record or positions portrayed in the videos. Official recordings are available on the town's video library. Each town maintains video libraries in different ways. Summaries are subject to our terms of service. See below on how to report corrections for these summaries.
- Where can I read past Sundays editions for Ridgewood?
- Every edition for Ridgewood is archived on the Ridgewood town hub. State-level archives live at sundays.news/nj.
- How do I subscribe?
- Sundays is free. Subscribe at the bottom of any edition or on the Ridgewood town hub — one short email every Sunday morning.
- Found an error?
- Email corrections@awarenow.ai. We respond within 24 hours and publish corrections on this page.
