District Breaks Down School Rankings, State Report Cards

"It's trends that matter not snapshots," Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield said about the recent state school report cards.

With the recent volume of rankings and state report cards released for Millburn schools, the superintendent detailed the district's performance at Monday's Board of Education meeting. Although school ranks might have changed from last year, for the good and the bad, the administration won't be making many decisions based on them. "Any district would be extremely happy for those national and state results," Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield said. "But at the same time we cannot be complacent." Crisfield explained in his presentation, the district analyzes more detailed reports than what is compiled in the state report cards. Instead of using percentages of how students perform on test scores the district uses actual numbers. He explained, …

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District to Address Recent Ranking and Reports

Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield will give a presentation on the recently published NJ State Performance Reports and the high school rankings.

Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield will give a presentation at next week's school board meeting to address the recent rankings and reports published, the Millburn school district announced. The presentation will include an explanation of the new state Performance Reports, how they differ from the former NJ state report cards and what they mean for Millburn Schools, according to the announcement. He will also be reviewing recent national and state high school rankings and looking at where the schools stand and why, according to each publication’s methodologies. In the recent rankings and report cards: "We don't really use this report the way the state thinks we use it," Crisfield said previously, referring to the state school report cards…

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Crisfield, Birnberg Talk School Budget

[VIDEO] 'Spotlight on Education' an interview with Millburn Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Crisfield and School Board Finance Chair Michael Birnberg on Hometowne TV.

Millburn Superintendent of Millburn Dr. James Crisfield and School Board Finance Chair Michael Birnberg talk to Hometowne TV about the 2013-14 school budget. The two discussed surpluses, capital projects, staffing and more.  The interview begins airing Wednesday on HomeTowneTV through mid-April on FIOS Channel 33 or Comcast Channel 36. Times are as follows: Wednesdays 5 p.m., Thursdays 3:30 p.m., Fridays 8:30 p.m., Saturdays 10 p.m., Sundays 10 p.m., Mondays 8:30 p.m. or watch online at anytime here.  The 2013-14 school budget will be voted on by the Millburn Board of Education at a public budget Hearing on Sunday March 24 at 7:45 p.m. in the Education Center.

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Letters to the Editor

Millburn Superintendent Weighs in on District Budget

Dr. James Crisfield uses letter to the editor to explain administration's philosophy on the 2013-14 budget.

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 to ensure excellence from one year to the next.  We include contingencies in many of the budget accounts, hoping we won’t need to spend them but …

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MSPEC Releases Statement on District's New Advisory Committee

Millburn-Short Hills Special Education Committee executive board writes a letter to the editor in response to the Millburn School District's recent actions.

At the Jan. 14 Board of Education meeting the Millburn-Short Hills Special Education Committee (M-SPEC) showed up in protest of the new parent advisory committee for special education in the district. Following the meeting, Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield responded to the organization's concerns to in the letter to the editor on Jan. 17. The following is a letter to the editor from MSPEC's executive board, sent to Patch on Jan. 19, in response to the administration's recent actions: We, as members of the Millburn-Short Hills community, are all rightfully proud of our school system and the quality of students it has produced for decades.  This is the singular reason that many of us have moved here; to raise our children in an environment…

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Sue Freivald

11:25 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013

"More rational voice at the table?" There will be NO voice at the table, not from informed parents, anyway. Here's the thing--when the parents in the committee are picked by the administration and are run by the administration, then they are not a voice, they're just placeholders to fulfill a legal requirement. Regardless of what else one may think, WHY would a superintendent choose this type of …   more ›

Crisfield Responds to Concerns with New Parent Advisory Committee

Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield writes a letter to the editor in response to MSPEC's comments in the most recent board meeting.

After a strong reaction from the Millburn-Short Hills Special Education Committee (M-SPEC), at the Board of Education meeting on Jan. 14, to the formation of a new parent advisory committee for special education, Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield responds in the letter to the editor below: January 17, 2013 I would like to take this opportunity to publicly clear up some misunderstandings and answer some questions, to the extent I can in public, concerning a recent call for volunteers for the new “Special Education Parent Advisory Group” in the Millburn public schools. On January 11, 2013, we sent out a call for volunteers for this new group.  The purpose of the group is to “provide input to the district on issues concerning students with …

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Crisfield Comments on Proposed School Panic Button, Introduces Option for District

Millburn's Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield comments on the new bill proposed by Democratic Assemblyman Ralph Caputo to install panic buttons in schools; also suggests district option for increased safety.

As a step to increase student safety statewide, Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, D-Belleville, introduced a bill last week that would require schools to install a silent panic alarm to alert police of a potential life-threatening emergency. The Essex County assemblyman said that it makes sense to link a panic button from schools to local law enforcement. Millburn's School District Superintendent Dr. James Crisfield agreed. He added, "If it enhances communication between schools and police I'd be in favor of doing it." The bill comes almost a month after the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 dead, including 20 children. Following the event, many schools across Essex County have addressed the issue of their students' safety. At Monday's Board…

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