Week in Review: Engravalle Appointed Acting Superintendent, Bandlow Says Goodbye

After voting 5-4 in late September to table a resolution that would have appointed Fort Lee Assistant Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle “Acting” Superintendent when Raymond Bandlow leaves the district on Oct. 31, and subsequently holding a special meeting to take public comment on the issue the week before last, the Fort Lee Board of Education voted unanimously Monday in favor of appointing Engravalle to the post for the next four months. (Full Story)

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Meanwhile, outgoing Superintendent of Schools Raymond Bandlow likely attended his last Fort Lee Board of Education meeting Monday. Bandlow technically still has two weeks left on the job; he officially leaves the district on Oct. 31 to assume to the duties of Superintendent of the Beacon School District in Beacon, N.Y. the next day, when Acting Superintendent Steven Engravalle takes over for him for at least the next four months.

Bandlow opened Monday’s BOE meeting with a report on violence and vandalism—incidents of vandalism, violence, weapon possession and substance abuse are down by 42 percent across the district over a four-year period—but it was his farewell comments to the board and members of the public that highlighted the “Report of the Superintendent of Schools” that drew the biggest reaction, including polite applause at the end. (Full Story)

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District 37 Republican Assembly candidates John Aslanian and Keith Jensen said Friday that if they are elected, they intend to support legislation suspending New Jersey’s anti-bullying law, calling it “oppressive,” and saying legislators should focus on tax relief instead. (Full Story)

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A group of Fort Lee residents and fellow carpoolers from neighboring towns say the Port Authority is actually discouraging carpooling at the George Washington Bridge by ticketing drivers heading for the tollbooths for violations like illegally taking on passengers or stopping at a bus stop in what some of them describe as a “crackdown” and others see as a form of “harassment” on the part of Port Authority police. (Full Story)

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The Fort Lee Board of Education and school administrators invited the Fort Lee Mayor and Council to take a tour of some of the district’s schools a week ago Friday so they could get a firsthand look at the infrastructure and overcrowding issues plaguing the district and in the hope of getting the borough’s governing body to come out in full support of the board’s $30.2 million referendum for which voters will cast their ballots in January. (Full Story)

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Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich visited Tuesday to speak with three classes of fifth-graders about local government and what it’s like to be mayor. (Full Story)

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The Fort Lee Soccer held its “Peewee World Cup Tournament” last Sunday at the field on Stillwell Ave. for the boys and girls in the league.

The four teams comprised of players born between Aug. 1, 2005 and Aug. 1, 2006, represented the countries of England, Italy, Brazil and USA competed for the Cup. The players marched onto the field waving their country’s flags, and then played multiple round-robin matches to an ultimate final. (Full Story)

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And thanks to a $2,000 Bergen County History Grant, The Fort Lee Film Commission has produced a “Fort Lee Film History Map,” identifying important locations in the borough’s history as the birthplace of the motion picture industry.

The film commission will be distributing copies of the map during its upcoming historic jitney and walking tours of Fort Lee; the special project grant allowed the film commission to distribute it to the public at no charge. (Full Story)

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Fort Lee news from other news outlets

Woman Injured In Fort Lee Crash, Firefighters Extricate Driver

Former GWB Toll Collector Admits To Theft of Toll Funds

District 37 Candidates Square Off at League of Women Voters Forum in Paramus

Fort Lee Police Part of Six-Town, High-Speed Chase Monday

Brothers Take Fort Lee Steakhouse to East Village

The week in review appears every Sunday on Fort Lee Patch.