Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • March 13, 2013 Area Sharon Luberto of Midland Park, the physical therapist at the ECLC of New Jersey school in Ho-Ho-Kus, has been named the state’s Related Services Provider of the Year by ASAH. For the past 15 years, Luberto has been helping students who are diagnosed with Down syndrome, autism, complex learning or multiple disabilities, do everything from improving their balance and coordination to better visually tracking words on a page to navigating the school’s stairs to get to class. She was singled out for using creative thinking and approaches in working with her students and looks to many different sources for inspiration, from the school’s facility, dog, Patrina, to high-tech toys, like the Wii. Recently, she started a morning Zumba class to help students transition from sitting during long bus rides to activities of the school day. Listening to the music and moving to the fast rhythms make students more alert, awake, and ready for class. The annual award is given by ASAH, a nonprofit organization of more than 125 private schools and agencies in New Jersey that provide education and services to people with special needs. The competition draws nominations from member schools throughout New Jersey, and Luberto was initially chosen as the Region I winner from a long list of educators working at schools in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic, and Union counties. The final selection from finalists representing four regions across the state was set to be announced on Nov. 2, 2012, during ASAH’s annual conference in Atlantic City, but the event was postponed after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy just days before. Luberto finally learned of the Local school’s physical therapist wins state award award at a special lunch held in February. Outside of ECLC, Luberto has been involved with running special needs play groups in Waldwick and offers afterschool physical therapy sessions for students who do not receive services in their schools. A private, nonprofit organization, ECLC of New Jersey provides a network of lifelong services -- education, enrichment, and employment -- to children and adults with special needs. ECLC operates schools in Ho-Ho-Kus and Chatham, educating more than 300 students with autism, Down syndrome, and other severe learning and/or language disabilities. Sharon Luberto, the physical therapist at the ECLC of New Jersey school in Ho-Ho-Kus, has been named the state’s Related Services Provider of the Year by ASAH. Village mulls budget, board (continued from page 3) ready for introduction. In other business, the council moved closer to formulating an advisory group to provide expert outside information about the budgeting process for future budget events. Mayor Paul Aronsohn submitted his tentative draft for what may now be called the Ridgewood Financial Advisory Board, rather than the Ridgewood Financial Oversight Board. The draft calls for the Financial Advisory Board group to meet on a monthly basis and to provide the council with a report on Jan. 31 for each year. The council would retain final authority over financial policy. Based on the mayor’s proposal, the advisory board would have seven members. They would be residents of Ridgewood with strong backgrounds in finance, accounting, and business. The three additional liaison members would include Ridgewood’s chief financial officer, currently Steve Sanzari, and one member each from the village council and the Ridgewood Board of Education. Board members would serve for staggered three-year terms. The initial board members would be appointed by July 1, 2013, and four of the appointed members would serve for only two years, until June 30, 2015. The other three members would serve for a regular four-year term. The leadership of the new board would be chosen annually on July 1. The chairperson would be chosen by the village council, and the vice chairperson and secretary would be chosen by the members. Council Member Riche said he did not agree with bringing the Ridgewood Board of Education onto the advisory board. Riche and Councilwoman Walsh also said that giving the as yet unformed board access to private financial information, as opposed to public financial information, could lead to a climate where Ridgewood employees feel they are over-supervised. “To me, that’s micro-management,” Riche said. “I think that would just encumber the staff.” Mayor Aronsohn agreed that the private citizens would only have access to public financial information and said his draft was for discussion rather than hasty adoption.