Glen Ridge Schools Set April 26 Return to Full Days as Parents Press Board on Masking, Guest-Speaker Concerns

Glen Ridge Public Schools continued reopening classrooms in stages as of the Board of Education's April 5, 2021 meeting, held remotely via Zoom, even as new COVID-19 cases kept surfacing. Superintendent Dirk Phillips reported that quarantines tied to activities outside of school had sidelined a number of students at Ridgewood Avenue School and the high school, and that two more COVID-19 cases had been logged, on top of the roughly 50 new cases townwide the district had been seeing each month for several months. High school seniors had been attending in person daily since March 22 after enough of their remote classmates switched to hybrid to preserve six-foot spacing, and Ridgewood Avenue School moved to daily attendance under the looser three-foot elementary rule on March 29. The board plans to end its AM/PM half-day cohort system districtwide on April 26, putting all in-person students in the classroom together, with a full day targeted for May pending a solution to the toughest logistical hurdle: finding space to seat students six feet apart, masks off, for lunch. Over April break, crews were also set to work on facility upkeep -- edging the playground surface at Central School, removing trees and brush at Linden Avenue School, replacing the playground surface at Forest Avenue School, and repairing the front driveway and cleaning the facade at Ridgewood Avenue School.

The board accepted three resignations: payroll employee Katherine Hiromoto, effective May 21; Forest Avenue School permanent substitute Rosemary Madden, effective April 9; and Ridgewood Avenue School paraprofessional Edmund Myszkowski, effective April 27.

On the financial side, the board ratified $2,566,497.69 in bills for payroll and services, approved submission of 2021-2023 CRRSA grant applications worth $567,319 for ESSER II, $36,407 for Learning Acceleration and $45,000 for Mental Health funding, and accepted a $1,625 donation from the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation to add five VHS Learning seats for the 2020-2021 school year. Phillips also confirmed the district had chosen AlphaBEST, selected from seven bidders, to take over its before- and after-care child care program, which had become harder to manage amid pandemic-driven enrollment drops; rates, hours and current staff will stay the same, and a parent orientation is planned before next year's sign-ups.

Phillips recognized several students for recent honors: junior Holly Vincent won a 2021 scholarship as a premier destination for a domestic immersion experience, senior Josie Lange earned honorable mention in the New York Times' critical review contest, and freshman Spencer Marvillo won the school's Shakespeare competition and is advancing to nationals. He also noted that Jostens, the district's yearbook vendor, nationally recognized the Class of 2020 yearbook for its cover design, one of roughly ten covers honored each year. In liaison reports, Board President Elisabeth Ginsburg said the high school Home & School Association discussed a golf outing and plant sale supporting Project Graduation and an eighth-grade "move-up" carnival; Jocelyn Gottlieb reported the Glen Ridge Association for Special Education's next meeting will cover Effective School Solutions and Orton-Gillingham training; and Ginsburg reported the Glen Ridge Black Diversity and Inclusion Association held a women's history month scavenger hunt on March 12. Ms. Boyle-Vellucci reported that the Glen Ridge Arts Patrons Association, whose president, Lou Mercurio, has long supported the fine arts in town, will award scholarships to art honor students at this year's art show, and that the Gas Lamp Players are planning a summer junior program and a teen program performance next month.

Written correspondence to the board included a complaint from Lavanya Raghavan, relayed through board members Duval Graham and Jocelyn Gottlieb, about anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander hate and discrimination. Phillips said high school and middle school clubs were already working on awareness efforts and a public service announcement, with May designated Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Other emails included one from Julia Stolte questioning a capital expenditure for copper gutters and one from Kylie Krabbe raising concerns about "To Kill a Mockingbird" in the high school curriculum; both were still awaiting a full response as of the meeting.

During public comment, Jacob Schwam pressed the board on how long masks would remain mandatory for elementary students given no timeline for childhood vaccination, and said he had seen children playing outside at Central School without masks -- calling it "hypocrisy" as he gestured toward board member Dr. Yaros-Ramos. Phillips said he was unaware of the issue and would make sure mask rules were enforced outdoors as well. Later, resident Raymond Donnelly told the board that a guest speaker who addressed students about Ruby Bridges had been announced by email to Linden Avenue School parents but not to Ridgewood Avenue School parents, where his daughter learned of the visit only after the fact. Donnelly said the speaker's social media posts, which he had reviewed, touched on white privilege, images tied to gun violence against certain demographics, and "modern day lynching," and he questioned whether those views were reaching students. Phillips replied that he had sat in on one of her presentations, that it stayed focused on Ruby Bridges throughout, that the speaker had presented in the district before without incident, and that he was not on either school's mailing list and could not confirm whether Ridgewood parents should have been notified, but would follow up with the building principal.

Action items

• Accepted resignations of payroll employee Katherine Hiromoto, Forest Avenue School substitute Rosemary Madden, and Ridgewood Avenue School paraprofessional Edmund Myszkowski.
• Approved AlphaBEST as the new before- and after-care child care vendor, keeping current rates, hours and staff.
• Approved submission of 2021-2023 grant applications: $567,319 (ESSER II), $36,407 (Learning Acceleration), $45,000 (Mental Health).
• Accepted a $1,625 donation from the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation for five additional VHS Learning seats.
• Ratified $2,566,497.69 in bills for payroll and services.
• Approved second reading of several revised and new board policies, including remote public meetings during a declared emergency, medical cannabis administration, and lead testing of school water; abolished the district's older school safety policy.
• Tabled a curriculum item and a book-disposal item after board members found the posted exhibit list was incorrect.

Watch key moments

• 47:49 — Resident Jacob Schwam calls out "hypocrisy" over inconsistent mask enforcement, gesturing toward board member Dr. Yaros-Ramos.
• 1:15:52 — Raymond Donnelly confronts the board over a guest speaker's social media posts on white privilege and gun violence after only one school's parents were notified of her visit.