Glen Ridge Schools Substantiate Bullying Complaint, Approve Tax-Raising Budget for 2020-2021

The Glen Ridge Board of Education's most sensitive action came on a student matter: the Board accepted the Superintendent's recommendation on a Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) investigation at the high school, formally finding that bullying was substantiated in the case, identified in district records as HIB Report 19-20 HS#8.

On finances, the Board approved a tentative budget for the 2020-2021 school year totaling $37,995,427 in spending, with $32,997,188 to be raised through property taxes. The plan uses a special "banked cap" provision to raise the tax levy by $353,225 above what would otherwise be allowed, in order to pay for a new self-contained special education class, an Orton-Gillingham reading specialist teacher, and an additional first-grade teacher. As part of its capital spending for the same year, the Board approved $675,000 for roof and rooftop unit replacement at Ridgewood Avenue School, along with $87,531 for new classroom "Promethean" display panels, $24,241 for a state assessment tied to a New Jersey construction grant program, and $9,000 in interest funding set aside in reserve.

The Board also approved a new three-year contract with the Glen Ridge Education Association, the union representing teachers, covering July 2019 through June 2022, and separately ratified $448,083.85 in routine bills along with $2,433,171.53 in payroll and other payments for the month. Superintendent Phillips told the Board the district is coordinating with the state Department of Education and the local Board of Health on the coronavirus and will follow guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Resident Joe Marigliano pressed for an update on the district's ongoing impasse with the state Department of Education over implementing "Structured Learning Experiences," and on a meeting with the County Superintendent aimed at resolving it. On a lighter note, Phillips reported that student Julia Kolinski placed first in a regional Shakespeare recitation competition, qualifying her for the national competition, and announced that Mary Beth Tinker — the plaintiff in the landmark student free-speech Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines — was scheduled to speak to the Junior Class that Wednesday.

In other business, the Board approved an amendment to its employee "Cafeteria Plan" allowing staff to pay transportation costs with pre-tax salary deductions, effective March 1, 2020; hired Ludovico Arico as a custodian at Ridgewood Avenue School effective March 16, 2020 through June 30, 2020, pending district and state approval; raised the rate paid to Dr. Lori Catania for neuropsychological evaluations to $4,200 per evaluation; and approved home-instruction services for two individual students through outside vendors LearnWell and Professional Education Services, Inc. The Board also signed off on several construction change orders: $15,240.03 to add heating to four rooms at Ridgewood Avenue School, $2,102.27 to repair stairwell steps at Central School, and a $1,349.25 credit related to fencing around a chiller enclosure at Central School. Finally, the Board set maximum spending caps for professional services in the 2020-2021 budget, including up to $169,200 for legal services, $67,884 for accounting, and $388,740 for repair services.

What to watch

• The district's impasse with the state Department of Education over Structured Learning Experiences remains unresolved, with a meeting involving the County Superintendent still pending.
• The 2020-2021 budget approved as tentative will require further steps before final adoption.