Resident Tells Glen Ridge School Board 'Shame on You' Over Mispronounced Honor Student's Name

Board President Elisabeth Ginsburg used the meeting's written-communications report to address lingering community concern over a graffiti incident in town, an issue several residents had raised by email since the board's September 27 meeting. Sara Scarlet had asked about a notice Central School's Home & School Association president circulated on the incident, while Susie Carter argued the district's own parent letter on the graffiti should have said more, coming after a more detailed response from the mayor and Borough Council followed Police Chief Sean Quinn's more guarded public statement. Ginsburg told the board the district deliberately kept its letter less specific, following the police department's lead, "in order to not provide additional attention for the perpetrator of the act," adding that the approach "was not to detract from the seriousness of that act."

Superintendent Dirk Phillips also briefed the board on COVID-19 numbers, reporting that two schools had seen a spike in quarantines tied to positive cases — including three classrooms at Forest Avenue School, totaling 75 students quarantined — even as cases dropped sharply at the high school, which he credited to high vaccination rates among students and staff. The district is enrolling in a state on-site testing program and is weighing whether to extend COVID testing to students, in addition to staff who remain unvaccinated.

The tone shifted sharply during public comment, when Hamilton Road resident Greta Sawa criticized the district over what she called a "microaggression" at a prior meeting: the mispronunciation of a Glen Ridge High School student's name while announcing the student's selection as a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. Sawa, who said she has children "with names of different ethnic origins," told the board the student's surname — spelled S-H-O-H, "so it doesn't even look like the word shoe," she noted — was badly mispronounced, and that no one on stage corrected it even as the district was simultaneously discussing diversity, equity and inclusion. "If the board supports that kind of behavior then shame on you," she said, adding she felt "so badly for that student who wasn't here." Ginsburg replied that the board could only apologize after the fact and pledged to "make an effort that that not happen again."

Both Ginsburg and Phillips separately paid tribute to Duke Mendez, the district's longest-serving staff member, who is retiring at the end of the school year. Phillips noted Mendez joined Glen Ridge schools in September 1985 and has served as a health teacher, driver's education teacher and longtime football coach, building relationships with students that many maintain to this day; district personnel records list the retirement, effective June 30, 2022, of Glen Ridge High School teacher Nelson Mendez, matching the tenure and role described in the tributes. The board also formally accepted the resignations of permanent substitutes Carolyn Estrada (Central School, effective Oct. 1) and Lady Devereaux (Ridgewood Avenue School, effective Oct. 8), the resignation of Ridgewood Avenue School teacher Samantha Reindeau (effective Nov. 24), and the termination of an employee identified only by staff number, effective Oct. 8.

On finances, the board ratified $344,545.28 in bills and claims and $1,162,974.25 in payroll and related expenses, and adopted the district's Comprehensive Maintenance Plan. It approved travel for Principal Michael Donovan and Assistant Principal Tim Liddy to an education conference in Nashville, Tennessee, at roughly $925 in registration, $1,131 in travel and $204.50 in meals each, plus four New Jersey Association of School Business Officials trainings for Business Administrator Barbara Murphy at $100 apiece. Board members also accepted $5,000 from the Glen Ridge Municipal Alliance Committee for Heroes & Cool Kids Program training and $600 in Red Ribbon Week grants split among Ridgewood Avenue, Forest Avenue and Linden Avenue schools; Phillips briefly drew laughs by mistakenly announcing an "$80,000" donation of Chromebook chargers from faculty member Lisbeth Ellersick before correcting himself to $80.

Home and School Association leaders described a busy fall calendar: Central School's inaugural Fall Fest drew families to Hurrell Field with inflatables, sack races and face painting, and its book fair hit its sales goals, earning the school $1,000 in Scholastic Bucks for the library and STEM programs; the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation is streamlining its teacher mini-grant program and preparing for the Ashenfelter 8K Classic and an accompanying one-mile race, both moving to Thanksgiving Day with COVID protocols including at-home shirt and bib delivery to reduce crowding; and the Glen Ridge Athletic Association is exploring adding volleyball court markings to the Ridgewood Avenue School gym floor as part of its resurfacing while monitoring winter basketball scheduling. The high school held its first homecoming dance since before the pandemic, and the Gas Lamp Players have an October 23 event on the calendar.

On policy, the board gave first reading to a revised Emergency Virtual or Remote Instruction policy that eliminates remote learning as a parent choice, permitting it only when a district must close due to a declared health emergency, and voted to abolish its separate school-nutrition procurement policy. The Personnel and Policy Committee also discussed, without changing, the district's cell phone rules, which leave enforcement at the high school to individual teachers' discretion; Phillips said he is considering a "no-tech day" modeled on a program from his previous district. Responding to a resident's question about implicit-bias training, Phillips detailed ongoing equity efforts including staff training, a partnership with the Central Jersey human-resources group CJ PRIDE on diversifying hiring, and outreach to local colleges to bring in more diverse student teachers.

Action items

• Gave first reading to a revised Emergency Virtual or Remote Instruction policy removing remote learning as a parent choice (allowed only during declared health emergencies) and voted to abolish the district's school-nutrition procurement policy.
• Accepted the resignations of substitutes Carolyn Estrada and Lady Devereaux, the retirement of teacher Nelson Mendez (effective June 30, 2022), and the resignation of teacher Samantha Reindeau; approved the termination of one employee (staff #6255), effective Oct. 8.
• Approved $344,545.28 in bills and claims and $1,162,974.25 in payroll and related expenses, and adopted the district's Comprehensive Maintenance Plan.
• Accepted $5,000 from the Glen Ridge Municipal Alliance Committee for Heroes & Cool Kids Program training, $80 in Chromebook chargers from Lisbeth Ellersick, and $600 in Red Ribbon Week grants for Ridgewood Avenue, Forest Avenue and Linden Avenue schools.

Watch key moments

• 19:22 — Board President Elisabeth Ginsburg explains why the district's graffiti-incident letter to parents was kept vague, so as not to draw attention to "the perpetrator of the act."
• 22:31 — Superintendent Dirk Phillips's tribute to retiring 36-year staff member Duke Mendez, a health and driver's education teacher and longtime football coach.
• 53:20 — Hamilton Road resident Greta Sawa tells the board "shame on you" over the mispronounced name of a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist.