Girls Basketball's First Sectional Title Highlights a Night of Teacher Honors
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The Board of Education's April 1 meeting opened with Athletic Director Rob Hill and Principal John Lawler celebrating the 2025 GRHS girls basketball team, which finished 23-9 and reached the Essex County Tournament semifinal -- an achievement Superintendent Kyle Arlington's staff and coach Christina Danela, the Super Essex Conference's Coach of the Year, said was the first sectional championship in program history. NJ.com ranked the team 20th in the state. Each player received an NJSIAA championship certificate.
The board then honored a Governor's Educator of the Year and Educational Services Professional of the Year from every school: Central School's Lyndsay Batikha and Francesca Roselli; Linden Avenue School's Jodie Schnack and Patricia Swantek; Forest Avenue School's Lauren Hertz and Manuel Holguin; Ridgewood Avenue School's Anthony Elia and Anousone Xayyalath; and Glen Ridge High School's David Majewski and Marlene McMillan.
The board accepted, with regret, the resignation of Ridgewood Avenue School teacher Sydney Quinn, effective June 18. Board member Jocelyn Gottlieb reported the district has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Glen Ridge Education Association, a first step toward finalizing a new contract set to begin July 1.
During public comment, Forty Windsor Place resident Rachel Bryan -- who has two children at Linden Avenue School -- raised concerns about the district's request-for-proposals process for its before- and after-care vendor. She said the district received five proposals and was recommending AlphaBEST continue as the vendor, but that no information about the competing bids or parent feedback had been shared publicly, and asked whether prior state inspection reports were factored into the decision, citing "troubling lapses" in AlphaBEST's service at Linden during the 2023-2024 school year. Business Administrator Barbara Murphy agreed to share the vendor evaluation matrix with her.
Board President Elisabeth Ginsburg told the board a proposed $85 million federal clawback of COVID relief funding, tied to spending extensions granted to some districts, would affect only Newark and East Orange in Essex County and not Glen Ridge.
The board approved $589,530.81 in bills and claims, ratified $1,723,623.80 in payroll and related payments, approved $77,338.31 in open purchase orders, set 2025-2026 meal prices, and approved a slate of student field trips including a Community Service Club visit to a Newark soup kitchen and a National Honor Society trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Recognized the GRHS girls basketball team's first sectional championship in program history
- Honored a Governor's Educator of the Year and Educational Services Professional of the Year from every school
- Accepted the resignation of Ridgewood Avenue School teacher Sydney Quinn, effective June 18
- Signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Glen Ridge Education Association toward a new contract starting July 1
- Approved $589,530.81 in bills/claims and ratified $1,723,623.80 in payroll
Watch key moments
- 5:40 — Athletic Director Rob Hill and the girls basketball team celebrate the program's first-ever sectional championship
- 40:59 — Ridgewood Avenue's principal recounts third-grade teacher Anthony Elia's own board of education campaign in another town
- 51:31 — Resident Rachel Bryan presses the district on transparency in its aftercare vendor selection process