Storm Damage, Staff Departures and a Surprise Tribute to Ginsburg Mark Glen Ridge School Board Meeting

The Glen Ridge Board of Education's September 13 meeting opened with lingering cleanup from Tropical Storm Ida, which Governor Murphy had declared a state of emergency under Executive Order 259. The board voted to authorize Board President Elisabeth "Betsy" Ginsburg and Business Administrator Barbara Murphy to enter emergency contracts to repair storm damage to district buildings. Superintendent Dirk Phillips said Ridgewood Avenue School took the worst of it, with flooding that forced an emergency two-day closure; he singled out Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds John Baumann, who spent the night in the building pumping water out of the basement, along with custodial, maintenance and technology staff who worked with the fire department and PSE&G to get buildings reopened by Wednesday. The storm's aftereffects also showed up later in the meeting, when the Ridgewood Avenue Home & School Association reported that courtyard flooding will push its book fair from fall to spring.

The board accepted, "with regret," the resignations of six staff members and the retirement of one: aide Beverly Birnbaum and teacher Courtney Warren at Glen Ridge High School; teacher Nicole King and paraprofessional Nancy Parlapiano at Ridgewood Avenue School; paraprofessional James McCarren at Forest Avenue School; teacher Vallerie Cogliati at Glen Ridge High School; and custodian Imtiaz Nabbi at Ridgewood Avenue School, who is retiring effective January 1.

On the financial side, the board approved $333,999.36 in bills and claims plus $3,715,852.79 in payroll and other bills for the period, and accepted a donation of 30 Chromebooks and licenses valued at $7,350 from the Linden Avenue Home & School Association, which Ginsburg thanked by name. The Glen Ridge Educational Foundation reported $44,000 in emergent-needs grants funded for teachers so far this year and a record number of donations to its teacher recognition program; foundation chair Fran Wong was recognized by the board.

Much of the evening's warmth centered on a surprise tribute to Ginsburg for 20 years of service on the board, 20 of which have included stretches as board president. Phillips and several board members praised her steadiness through, in one member's words, "the various things in the uh turmoil," calling her "a rock that holds it together" and someone for whom, one member said, "it is now and always has been about the kids." A visibly caught-off-guard Ginsburg replied, "I feel like I'm at my own funeral, but thank you all... it's a labor of love, it's not really a labor, it's just love." Elsewhere, liaison reports described a Central School Home & School Association energized enough to have adopted a daily cheer ("we like you, we love you, we can't get enough of you"), a Ridgewood Avenue HSA rolling out a new daily social-emotional check-in for students, a Linden Avenue HSA planning a book fair for September 23 and a repainted playground mural, and a Forest Avenue HSA running a fall plant sale through September 24. The Educational Foundation also announced the Ashenfelter Race will return this Thanksgiving, and the AAPI group is hosting a picnic the following Saturday.

The board approved first and second readings of numerous revised policies, including a new School Employee Vaccination Requirements policy, the abolition of several pandemic-era remote-learning policies, and the district's state-mandated Comprehensive Equity Plan. Phillips reported the district's equity audit is complete, with findings to be presented by an outside auditor at the September 27 board meeting, while a special education audit and a Madison Institute-facilitated strategic planning process are both underway.

Public comment ran heavily to COVID-19 protocols and school funding. Resident Michele Militello, whose younger daughter was already in quarantine four days into the school year, pressed the district on lunch protocols at Ridgewood Avenue School and asked administrators to consider outdoor eating there when weather allows; Phillips said he would raise it with the school's principal, Dr. Donovan. Resident Robert Fardon congratulated Ginsburg on her tenure, asked the board to consider restoring the high school librarian position to full-time, and asked whether an entire family must quarantine if one member tests positive; Phillips said yes, unless vaccinated. Asked whether the district's funding squeeze would "essentially guarantee future cuts," Ginsburg said "there are no guarantees in school funding," laying out how Glen Ridge draws over 90 percent of its budget from property taxes, receives little state aid under the SFRA formula, operates under a 2 percent tax levy cap, and has turned to a shared health-insurance fund to blunt rising premiums. Maureen Myka, who has pressed the issue for months, told the board that Glen Ridge meetings overlapped with Town Council meetings 41 times over the past six years to the council's 34, and that in 2021 alone the overlap rate hit 63 percent for the board versus 43 percent for the council; the board said it is working with the council on next year's schedule. Separately, the board discussed a request from the AAPI group, relayed by Linella Gavin and Felice Bettenbender, to sponsor a webinar and to support draft legislation broadening curriculum around Asian American and Pacific Islander history, and a proxy comment from Erin Ackerman during the second comment period noted that the district's YouTube livestream, unlike Zoom, does not allow real-time question submission during the meeting.

Action items

• Authorized emergency contracts for Tropical Storm Ida-related building repairs
• Accepted the resignations of six staff members and the retirement of custodian Imtiaz Nabbi
• Approved $333,999.36 in bills and claims and $3,715,852.79 in payroll and related bills
• Accepted a $7,350 donation of 30 Chromebooks and licenses from the Linden Avenue Home & School Association
• Approved a new School Employee Vaccination Requirements policy and the district's Comprehensive Equity Plan
• Approved revised 2021-2022 school meal prices

Watch key moments

• 35:39 — A visibly stunned Board President Betsy Ginsburg reacts to a surprise 20-year service tribute: "I feel like I'm at my own funeral."
• 1:00:14 — Resident Michele Militello tells the board her daughter is already in quarantine four days into the school year and pushes for outdoor lunch options at Ridgewood Avenue School.
• 1:13:37 — Maureen Myka lays out six years of data showing 2021's Board of Education meetings overlapped with Town Council meetings 63 percent of the time.