Engravalle Now 'Interim' Superintendent, BOE to Televise Meeting in Top Local News

Formerly Acting Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle is officially “acting” in the role no longer, after the approved a walk-in resolution at its regular business meeting Monday approving his contract as Interim Superintendent through Feb. 29.

But the meeting, which grew heated at times, was dominated by discussion of when a search for a permanent superintendent would be conducted and where the search process stands now, with some members of the public openly criticizing the board for what they saw as a lack of transparency and potentially doing damage to its own public image and trust. (Full Story)

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New Jersey Senate Bill 2925 and Assembly Bill 4132 seek to give school principals—rather than a school district’s superintendent or school board—sole authority to hire and fire school staff and administration.

Also at Monday’s regular business meeting, the Fort Lee Board of Education voted in favor of a resolution urging the New Jersey Legislature to amend that legislation “to ensure that personnel hiring and placement decisions remain under the authority of the district superintendent with the approval of the local board of education.”

The Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey—or TEACHNJ—Act, introduced in June, would give a school's principal, in consultation with a school improvement panel, the “sole authority to appoint or remove an employee in the position of teacher, assistant principal, or vice-principal.”

In addition, the BOE approved a resolution opposing Senate Bill 1972 and Assembly Bill 2810, or the Opportunity Scholarship Act, which provides tax credits to “entities contributing to scholarships for low-income children eligible to enroll in certain districts.”

The Fort Lee BOE resolution states in part that the board opposes “any government policy that would divert funds from the state’s revenue stream to private schools when sufficient revenue is not available for New Jersey’s public school finance law.” (Full Story)

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The meeting Monday will air on Time Warner Cable after all, according to school board officials. But that doesn’t necessarily mean viewers will be able to hear—or even see—very much.

Board president Arthur Levine made the decision Friday to broadcast the meeting next Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 5 p.m., reversing a decision earlier in the week not to run it as scheduled on Tuesday the 10th because of poor audio quality and other technical problems. (Full Story)

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Fort Lee emergency responders rescued a woman Wednesday afternoon after she fell off the rocks near the Hudson River at the Ross Dock picnic area, and shortly thereafter Fort Lee firefighters performed a “door pop,” rescuing another woman trapped in the passenger seat of a car after a two-vehicle accident at Route 5 and Palisade Avenue in Fort Lee, authorities said.

Both women were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. (Full Story)

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The Fort Lee Mayor and Council discussed the possibility of putting out a request for proposals (RFP) for a red light camera program Thursday but took no action on the matter.

“This isn’t to authorize the program, but I would like permission from the Council to at least explore it and see what responses we get by way of proposals,” said Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich of the discussion item on the executive session agenda. “You have my word; no action is being taken other than I’d like to see what the proposals offer to us.”

But several residents turned up at the meeting specifically to voice their opposition, expressing reservations and concerns about a program they say has failed or proven ineffective in other communities around the country. (Full Story)

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A film shot in Fort Lee in 1912 and restored by the Fort Lee Film Commission, Eclair Studio's Robin Hood, will be screened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 14. member Richard Koszarski will introduce the film and discuss Fort Lee's role with regard to the legacy of French filmmakers—and Eclair Studios—at the screening, the film commission announced.

The screening in D.C. kicks off a year in which Fort Lee will celebrate the centennial of a number of important film studios established in Fort Lee in 1912, and the film commission hopes to screen the restored version of Robin Hood locally sometime in the fall, according to Fort Lee Film Commission executive director Tom Meyers. (Full Story)

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And in sports, the Fort Lee Bridgemen basketball team took sole possession of first place last Thursday evening after a 58-51 overtime thriller of a victory against Dumont.

Not only was it an important win, but also a monumental one, as head coach John Ziemba earned his 300th career win as a basketball coach. (Full Story)

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