Glen Ridge Board Honors Retiring Teacher and Superintendent's Statewide Award, Adds Diwali to School Calendar

Forest Avenue School second-grade teacher Diane Blazier, who has taught in the district for 38 years -- first at Linden Avenue School, then at Forest Avenue -- is retiring effective Oct. 1. Forest Avenue Principal Matt Murphy called her a "first-ballot Hall of Famer" among teachers, telling the board he wished he could have modeled his own teaching after her approach, and noted she is the district's most tenured staff member.

The board also spent much of the evening celebrating Superintendent Dirk Phillips, who has been named the 2023-2024 Essex County Superintendent of the Year. Board members took turns reading tributes from principals and administrators, including an anecdote from Business Administrator Barbara Murphy that when a bus aide once called out sick, Phillips personally rode the bus to safely deliver 20 special education students to school. Other colleagues recalled years of good-natured ribbing over a bird feeder that neighbors blamed for a flock of birds roosting near Central School. Phillips has led the district since 2015, seeing it through the Central School purchase, a bond referendum and the pandemic.

On the financial side, the board approved a $10,000 settlement agreement with a former paraprofessional identified only as employee #7048, ratified bills and claims of $406,889.02, and approved payroll and related bills totaling $5,577,961.13, along with an open purchase order report of $1,713,015.34 for the 2023-2024 school year. The board also accepted a $6,352.67 donation from the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation to fund spring 2023 Innovation Mini-Grants and about $4,655 worth of classroom furniture for Glen Ridge High School donated by St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish-Immaculate Conception Church in Montclair.

Superintendent Phillips also recognized two staff members for statewide honors: high school Spanish teacher Maria Dessipris, named a Global Learning Fellow, and Shihong Zhang, elected president of the New Jersey Chinese Teachers Association and a key organizer of its conference at Montclair State University. He reported that U.S. News & World Report ranked Glen Ridge High School 13th among 476 New Jersey high schools -- the top-ranked non-admissions public school in the state -- and 311th out of 17,680 nationally. Phillips also updated the board on summer facility work, including new high school air conditioning and stair treads, a fitness center renovated with the Home and School Association, and new flooring, furniture and a planned "steam lab" for the library at Ridgewood Avenue School.

The board voted to approve the 2024-2025 school calendar, which for the first time recognizes Diwali as a school holiday, running from Sept. 3, 2024 to June 18, 2025. Several residents -- Sushma Jindal, Lavi Raghavan, Nina Patel, Kavita Kumar and Nina Kundra -- thanked the board during public comment, with Raghavan saying the decision "means the world" to South Asian families in town and Kumar noting that roughly 400 residents had signed a petition supporting it. Resident Mary Ellen Cusumano asked the board, in two separate public comment periods, to also formally name Christmas Day on the written calendar the way the district already names Yom Kippur.

Board President Elisabeth Ginsburg told the board that the Essex County School Boards Association is asking each district to weigh in on a resolution on "freedom of expression and book banning" ahead of a December NJSBA delegate assembly, with a county vote set for Sept. 13; every board member present voiced support. During public comment, resident Fran Deacon pressed Ginsburg for specifics, saying the board had voted on something described only as a "book ban" resolution without ever defining what a book ban is. Ginsburg reread the full resolution -- which centers on affirming "free access to a wide range of ideas and information" -- and said she considered its meaning self-evident; Deacon said he did not.

In the evening's most emotional moment, resident Robin Renteria used the public comment period to press the board on suicide prevention, telling members that a 14-year-old from Bayville died by suicide in February and that a Glen Ridge graduate had died by suicide months earlier, shortly after starting college. Renteria identified that student as her son, Max Renteria, and asked the board directly what it is doing now and what else it could do, noting suicide is the third-leading cause of death among teens. She said she had emailed Superintendent Phillips and offered help through a foundation established in her son's name.

In liaison reports, board members noted that this year's Mayor's Gala, set for Oct. 21 at the Glen Ridge Country Club, will benefit the Gas Lamp Players and will be hosted by Tony Award-winning performer Kelly O'Hara; upcoming Gas Lamp shows include a Finding Nemo-themed production for younger students, "Mean Girls Junior" for middle schoolers and "Rent" for teens. The former Glen Ridge Arts Patrons Association has been renamed the Glen Ridge Visual Arts Association. The board also welcomed two new student representatives, David Kelly and Dylan O'Neil, who reported that a new no-phones-in-class policy has gone smoothly and that the district used early dismissals last week because of extreme heat.

Action items

• Approved the 2024-2025 school calendar, which for the first time recognizes Diwali as a school holiday
• Voted to support the Essex County School Boards Association's resolution on freedom of expression and book banning ahead of the December NJSBA delegate assembly
• Approved a $10,000 settlement agreement with a former paraprofessional (employee #7048)
• Approved bills and claims of $406,889.02, ratified payroll and related bills of $5,577,961.13, and approved a $1,713,015.34 open purchase order report for 2023-2024
• Accepted donations of $6,352.67 from the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation and about $4,655 in classroom furniture from St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish-Immaculate Conception Church for Glen Ridge High School
• Accepted the retirement of Diane Blazier and the resignations of teachers Mia Riggi and Jackie Cerone, custodian David Rotondo, and several paraprofessionals and support staff
• Approved first reading of a revised Sick Leave policy and a new School Threat Assessment Team policy
• Found Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying complaints not substantiated in three separate investigations
• Approved termination of two students' out-of-district school placements

Watch key moments

• 30:38 — Business Administrator Barbara Murphy recounts Superintendent Dirk Phillips personally driving the school bus to get 20 special education students to school safely after an aide called in sick
• 1:09:36 — Resident Fran Deacon presses Board President Ginsburg to explain exactly what the board's "book ban" resolution vote means
• 1:30:49 — Resident Robin Renteria's emotional public comment urging the district to do more on teen suicide prevention, naming her late son Max Renteria