Fire Alarm Glitch, Five Staff Departures Mark Glen Ridge Schools' Opening as Board Presses HIB Clarity

Superintendent Dirk Phillips told the board that the district's first day of school went smoothly overall, marred only by a brief scare at Glen Ridge High School when a faulty fire alarm head sensor set off the building's first fire drill of the year late in the afternoon. Phillips said the district is also working with school safety consultant Stonegate Associates to review and update its safety plan, and has asked Glen Ridge police to increase their visibility around schools during morning drop-off and afternoon dismissal — a request he said police have been receptive to.

The board accepted, with regret, five staff resignations: teacher Nicole Kapushy at Linden Avenue School, custodian Oliver Villamarin at Ridgewood Avenue School, aides Andrew Kanasky and Ageliki Kritoulis at Forest Avenue School, and aide Victoria Ramirez at Glen Ridge High School, all effective in August. The board also approved the termination of one employee. Phillips announced two new hires taking on newly created roles: Robert Gomes as director of building and grounds and Gabrielle Marks as supervisor of intervention programs. He said the district also added a second board-certified behavior analyst and a part-time occupational therapist to ease staff caseloads, citing continued difficulty recruiting teachers, paraprofessionals and bus drivers amid what officials described as a nationwide teacher shortage.

The board approved bills and claims totaling $596,777.97 and ratified payroll and related expenses of $3,059,947.88 for the month. It also accepted a wave of donations: $59,247.32 from the Forest Avenue Home & School Association for classroom furniture and materials, $5,790 from the Linden Avenue Home & School Association for a Promethean board in the art room, and $29,378.70 more from the Linden Avenue Home & School Association for furniture in two kindergarten classrooms. The Glen Ridge Educational Foundation increased a mini-grant to Andrew Shohen for a vinyl cutter project by $108.79, bringing its total to $2,116.79. Separately, the board terminated three out-of-district special education placements and approved a new placement at West Essex Regional High School for the 2022-2023 school year at a cost of $34,560.

Board members also approved a new dress and grooming policy and a new student journalism policy, and abolished the district's school-sponsored publications regulation, as part of a broader second reading of revised policies covering the high school's student representative to the board, quorum rules, website accessibility, lesson plans and care of school property.

The board also accepted findings that two separate Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying investigations — one at Ridgewood Avenue School and one at Glen Ridge High School — were not substantiated. During public comment, resident Charles Breslin praised progress since the district's recent special education and DEI audits, including the new behavioral-analysis and occupational therapy hires, but pressed the board to do a better job explaining HIB's rules and penalties to the community, saying that after years of discussion he still finds them hard to understand. Resident Harris Teran followed up, urging the board to make clear that even when an HIB complaint isn't legally substantiated, schools can still pursue code-of-conduct discipline and support the alleged victim rather than treating an unsubstantiated finding as the end of the matter.

In its annual self-evaluation, conducted partly in closed session, board members identified equity in student achievement, teacher shortages, school climate and lingering pandemic effects on learning as top challenges, and acknowledged community relations and communication with less-involved parents as areas needing improvement.

Action items

• Accepted findings that two HIB investigations, at Ridgewood Avenue School and Glen Ridge High School, were not substantiated
• Accepted resignations of five staff members: Nicole Kapushy (teacher, Linden Avenue School), Oliver Villamarin (custodian, Ridgewood Avenue School), Andrew Kanasky and Ageliki Kritoulis (aides, Forest Avenue School), and Victoria Ramirez (aide, Glen Ridge High School)
• Approved bills and claims of $596,777.97 and payroll/related expenses of $3,059,947.88
• Accepted donations of $59,247.32 and $29,378.70 from the Forest Avenue and Linden Avenue Home & School Associations for classroom furniture, $5,790 from Linden Avenue's Home & School Association for an art room Promethean board, and a Glen Ridge Educational Foundation mini-grant increase to $2,116.79
• Terminated three out-of-district special education placements and approved a new placement at West Essex Regional High School for $34,560
• Approved new policies on dress and grooming and student journalism, and abolished the school-sponsored publications regulation

Watch key moments

• 34:16 — A faulty fire alarm sensor triggers Glen Ridge High School's first fire drill of the year on the district's first day back.
• 1:14:41 — Resident Charles Breslin praises post-audit progress on special education and DEI but tells the board he still can't get a straight answer on how HIB works after a decade of trying.
• 1:17:16 — Resident Harris Teran presses the board to pursue code-of-conduct discipline for the victim's sake even when an HIB complaint can't be legally substantiated.