During the course of the deliberations concerning the Millburn Schools’ 2013-14 budget, some questions have come up regarding the budgeting philosophy we deploy when constructing the annual school budget. What we attempt to do in the budget is predict how much money we’ll need in each of the 900+ budget accounts so that our schools continue to operate at peak performance. I feel it is important to come right out and say this: We do not set out to cut as many things or as much money as possible. We do look to save money and capture efficiencies wherever possible, but the overriding priority is…

June 11, 2012 It’s no secret that Millburn residents are (on average) extraordinarily engaged with what’s happening in their schools and community, especially when compared to other towns. Media outlets such as Patch are abuzz with commentary and opinion, and schools and township offices have no shortage of interested visitors who stay involved and weave themselves into the fabric of things. This is great, and we certainly appreciate the support the community provides us in the schools. It is also in many ways a mandatory ingredient for a vibrant and desirable community. One thing such “über-…

The Millburn Township Green Team would like to express a heartfelt THANK YOU to the volunteers, exhibitors, performers, Township employees, contributing businesses, attendees and Mayor Sandra Haimoff, whose combined participation in the Sunday, April 22 Green Fair created an event that was informative, memorable and joyful. The following local and nearby "green" businesses made generous donations of items which were raffled off to Millburn Township residents who took a pledge and entered the Green Challenge: Oscar’s Sandwich Shop, Bagel Chateau, ShopRite of Millburn, Suki’s, Babyland, High …

Dear Editor, I’ve lived in Short Hills for 14 years. I’ve been to my fair share of Board of Education meetings, Special Education Committee meetings, I get The Item and I read the Patch daily. I consider myself well informed about what is going on in my hometown. I know about the budget woes, the teacher contracts, and everything else that has made the front page of the news lately. But none of those things worry me half as much as the way the people of this town treat each other. What am I talking about, you ask? Well, take a minute and look at the comments after some of the articles on the …

Dear Editor: On behalf of the Millburn-Short Hills Chamber of Commerce, I would like to thank the Township of Millburn, its Police Department and Department of Public Works, the business community, residents and the more than 100 expected vendors for their understanding of the decision made to cancel the annual Street Fair scheduled for Sunday, April 22. With the threat of major wind and rain storms, a determination was made, that despite the policy to hold the show “rain or shine,” public safety needed to be the primary concern. For those of you who were disappointed that Street Fair was …

To the Editor: March is Brain Injury Awareness Month! In recognition of this month, we would like to remind the public of two laws that will keep our youth safer. One addresses concussion recognition and management; the other addresses safety on the ski slopes of New Jersey.Awareness of these laws can lead to prevention of one of the most devastating of disabilities: traumatic brain injury.The concussion law requires that a brain injury safety program for athletes be created in each school district; the fact sheets explaining the signs and symptoms of concussion are distributed and …

Dear Editor, We want to express our heartfelt appreciation to the Millburn-Short Hills Volunteer First Aid Squad as well as the Millburn Police. Recently our family has had to call upon their assistance several times.  Each time a different group of squad members responded to the call, and each crew exhibited both professionalism and compassion. When a loved one suddenly becomes unresponsive, anxiety immediately sets in, and it’s extremely comforting to know that help is just a 911 call away.  The anxiety seems to subside a bit once the 911 call has been placed. The police officers and squad …

Posted Feb. 24, 2012 On Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012, Millburn awoke to its own St. Valentine's Day Massacre: Six of the nine members of the Millburn Board of Education the night before unilaterally usurped our right to vote on our school budget and school taxes – essentially forever. Rather than allowing the TAXPAYERS to decide whether they wished to give up an inherent property right in voting for school taxes, a majority of the Board of Education – under the cover of darkness, without providing the township proper notice or a hearing – implemented a barely month-old New Jersey law that moves BOE…

Millburn Township will always be home to my family.  We moved to Florida in 1999 from Short Hills, but have kept in touch with many close friends and family in Millburn and Short Hills these past 13 years.  In 1994, I ran for Millburn Township Committee – as a Democrat.  (Running for Township Committee in 1994 as a Democrat truly reflects the love I had for the Township.)  I also had the pleasure of practicing law for several years at a firm in Short Hills. While living in first Millburn and then Short Hills, my family never missed a Forth of July celebration or Halloween parade.It is with …

Over the clear and eloquently articulated objections of an ardent group of concerned residents, the Millburn Board of Education disenfranchised the community in a defiant vote to not only extend their own terms by nearly nine  months, but to unilaterally rescind the rights of Millburn-Short Hills residents to vote on the annual school budget. The vast majority of those that spoke asked the BOE to allow the community to vote on this measure by adding a referendum to November’s election ballot.  After all, the strongest argument for moving the vote to November is to increase voter participation…

Dear Editor, I have spent the better part of six years working tirelessly to ensure that our school district is responsibly managed.  I have actively participated on multiple committees including the CSA Search Committee to identify a new superintendent and have dealt with the preparation all of the budgets for the past six years via my ongoing service on the Finance Committee.  That said, however, of all the things that I have volunteered to do, the most important from my point of view has been my participation on the .  Ensuring that the teachers are compensated fairly and treated …

“Make our schools better, Mom,” said my son by way of goodbye as I walked out the door last night en route to the BOE meeting. I turned around, smiled and hugged him and then drove away wondering exactly how my attending the BOE meeting would make what are arguably already great schools any better. It also begged the question as to whether attending was more important than tucking him in for the night. I got my answer: I should have stayed home. There may be endless debate online about the vote to move the school board vote to November. I am not really going to write about that because as far…

To the Editor: Election season is, among other things, the time of year that campaign signs sprout everywhere. We recognize that many towns have local ordinances forbidding their placement on public property and that these randomly placed signs can be an eyesore. We want you to know that we respect these ordinances and our signs are placed only on private property at the request of the owners. Unfortunately, as we have driven through the district, we have seen signs from other campaigns that ignore these local laws.  We ask that all candidates obey the local sign laws going forward to stop …

Steve Jobs died Wednesday of an unusual form of pancreatic cancer known as a neuroendocrine tumor or islet cell carcinoma. If he had suffered the most common form of pancreatic cancer, adenocarcinoma, the chances are he would have died soon after his 2003 diagnosis. In 2004, nine months after his diagnosis, Jobs underwent surgery to remove the tumor. In 2009 he underwent a liver transplant, a procedure appropriate for only a small number of patients with this uncommon form of pancreatic cancer. Patch received the following letter, which is particularly timely in light of Jobs' death. Dear …

From:  Sandra H. Haimoff, Mayor, Millburn TownshipRe:    N.J. Mayors Closed Hearing with Board of Public Utilities and JCP&L, September 23, 2011 On Friday, September 23, 2011, I attended (along with other NJ Mayors) a closed hearing on JCP&L.  The Board of Public Utilities President, Lee Solomon, and JCP&L President, Don Lynch, spoke about the pre-storm planning, safety/damage assessment and then system repairs.  A Lieutenant from the State Police reviewed the chain of command.  It was stated that the goals and objectives of this meeting was to develop a plan of communication going forward …

The following letter to the editor was sent by Gerald Wachs, MD, a former resident of Millburn/Short Hills. As a former Vice-President of the Millburn Board of Education (for seven years) I think I have some insight into the question of charter schools. The public schools, the teachers and the the Board sincerely try their best to educate the vast majority of the students in their district. But we no longer live in a one-size-fits-all society. We live in an era of specialization. As a physician, I read some of the proposed charter school complaints with incongruity. It is the equivalent of …

July 6, 2011Dear Editor: On behalf of the Millburn-Short Hills Chamber of Commerce, I would like to offer sincere thanks to the many Township departments, community groups and individuals for helping to make the Investors Savings Bank 32nd Annual President’s Cup Night Race, held on Monday, June 20th such an overwhelming success.  More than 1,300 runners from the tri-state area and beyond registered for this year’s 5k run, making it one of the largest field of runners in the race’s 32 year history. The success of this type of event is truly dependent on the participation and cooperation of so …

Editor's Note: The Township Committee meets tomorrow to decide whether to move forward with parking deck plans and if so, which option is best for Millburn. This open letter was also sent to the Township Committee. Dear Members of the Township Committee, At the recent public hearing regarding the Phase I designs for a parking garage on either Lot 2 (Essex and Lackawanna) or Lot 7 (Glen Avenue, Millburn train station) one of the attendees asked, “What is the best solution to reach our goal?”  I would ask a somewhat different question, “What is our goal?” As presented to the architects and …

I am dismayed by the recent email I received from the PTA Presidents’ Council about charter schools because it seems to be missing some vital information, and it asks that we PTA members — a diverse group of parent volunteers — get involved in a one-sided political confrontation.  Sure, I will become an activist on behalf of the PTA (i.e., call my local and state representatives, raise money, etc.) to confront critical issues that will certainly affect my children’s education, but you want me to start calling legislators to ask them to do their best to crush true innovation in our school …