Board Accepts Record $40,000 Kitchen Tour Check as Parent Presses for Answers on Linden Avenue Playground Grant

The district's biannual student safety data report showed 19 confirmed incidents of violence, vandalism, substance use, weapons or bullying across the district for the school year, plus 30 additional bullying allegations that were investigated but not substantiated. Staff used physical restraint with special-education students four times during the reporting period — three incidents at Linden Avenue School and one at Ridgewood Avenue School, all lasting under two minutes — with no use of seclusion or mechanical restraint. The board's Finance Committee also confirmed that a pipe leak flooded the high school's weight room, damage that is being covered by insurance, with further repairs to the fitness center planned over the winter break.

The board accepted, with regret, the resignations of Anita Cimera, a teacher at Central School, effective December 20, and Kathleen Kaveny, a paraprofessional at Forest Avenue School, effective November 22, along with the retirements of longtime Linden Avenue School teacher Helen Maia and Ridgewood Avenue School paraprofessional Shirley Wujek, both effective June 30, 2025. Separately, the board found two Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying investigations — Report #270103 at the high school and Report #269946 at Central School — not substantiated.

Representatives of the district's Home and School Associations presented the board with a $40,118.94 check, the proceeds of this year's Kitchen Tour, which organizers called the largest amount the fundraiser has ever raised. The board also accepted an $892.50 donation from the Glen Ridge Music Parents Association to cover bus costs for the chorus's upcoming trip to Radio City Music Hall.

Rachel Brian, a Glen Ridge resident and secretary of the Linden Avenue School Home and School Association's executive board, told the board she was speaking in a personal capacity to raise concerns about a $40,000 matching-grant donation for playground equipment upgrades at Linden Avenue School. She said the HSA, which raised the money from parents, had not been given details on the scope of the project, the terms of the state grant funding it, the vendor-selection process, or a detailed budget, despite asking for that information. Business Administrator Barbara Murphy responded that the district had secured a $67,000 equipment-only grant from the state Department of Community Affairs contingent on matching funds — $40,000 from the district and a hoped-for $40,000 from the Linden HSA — and that the district planned to use a state purchasing co-op, rather than a low-bid process, to select a vendor, with work slated to begin the day after the school year ends because the funds must be spent this fiscal year. Board President Elisabeth Ginsburg said the board would proceed with approving the donation that night since the HSA had not formally requested it be tabled, while acknowledging further conversations were needed. Brian later returned to the podium to share that her second-grade son had embraced the district's "Capturing Kids' Hearts" social-contract program at home.

On the athletic and arts front, the boys soccer team won its sectional championship before falling 2-1 in the state semifinals, and the marching band placed third at Nationals at MetLife Stadium. The Gas Lamp Players are opening a production of "Follies" at the Glen Ridge Women's Club's newly renovated Williamsburg Ballroom.

Ginsburg also recognized Maia's and Wujek's upcoming retirements from the dais, reported that the "Freedom to Read Act" has passed both houses of the state legislature and awaits the governor's signature, and noted the district is heading into budget season amid unusual uncertainty over how much state aid Glen Ridge and other "fully funded" districts will receive next year. Superintendent Kyle Arlington reviewed newly drafted district and board goals built around social-emotional learning and English language arts curriculum work, and announced upcoming negotiation sessions with the teachers' union on December 17 and January 7.

Action items

• Accepted resignations of Anita Cimera (Central School teacher, eff. 12/20/24) and Kathleen Kaveny (Forest Avenue paraprofessional, eff. 11/22/24), and retirements of Helen Maia (Linden Avenue teacher) and Shirley Wujek (Ridgewood Avenue paraprofessional), both effective 6/30/25.
• Found two HIB investigations (Reports #270103 and #269946) not substantiated.
• Approved bills and claims of $512,084.21 and payroll of $1,641,641.73.
• Accepted donations of $40,118.94 in Kitchen Tour proceeds, a $40,000 Linden Avenue Home & School Association matching grant for playground equipment, and $892.50 from the Glen Ridge Music Parents Association for chorus bus transportation.

Watch key moments

• 18:53 — Home and School Association volunteers present the board with a $40,118.94 check, calling it the largest Kitchen Tour proceeds ever raised.
• 1:02:37 — Resident Rachel Brian tells the board the Linden Avenue HSA wasn't given basic details before being asked to fund a $40,000 playground equipment donation.
• 1:29:47 — Board members catch a decimal-point typo that would have shown the Kitchen Tour donation as $411 instead of over $40,000.