Glen Ridge Schools Approve $1.27 Million in Federal Relief Funds, $231,000 Roof Contract as Mask Questions Persist

The Board of Education awarded a $231,000 contract to Laumar Roofing Co. Inc. for a partial roof replacement at Ridgewood Avenue School, the lowest of seven bids that ranged as high as $513,683 from D.A. Nolt Inc. Superintendent Dirk Phillips also updated the board on other summer facility work: a gutter replacement at Central School is about 80 percent finished, Linden Avenue School's playground wall is being repaired and repainted — meaning the removal of a longtime painted mural of "Dr. Caravello's character" that generations of students have seen there — and the high school media center is due for upgrades. The lack of air conditioning at Glen Ridge High School also came up in public comment: resident Nihal Bhujle asked what the district planned to do about the string of half-days called last spring because of hot weather combined with mask requirements. Phillips said the district had priced out air-conditioning the high school at just over $4 million during a past bond referendum and decided not to include it, so no fix is planned before students return this fall; instead, officials are looking at adding air-conditioned spaces students can rotate through on the hottest days.

The board accepted, with regret, the resignations of five staff members effective June 30: music teacher Elaina Frissell (Linden Avenue and Forest Avenue schools), Spanish teacher Monica Nieves (Ridgewood Avenue School), aides Daniel Hooks (Glen Ridge High School) and Nicole Gomez (Linden Avenue School), and paraprofessional Olivia Kinloch (Central School). The board also accepted the resignation of Aaron Pacheco, head custodian at Ridgewood Avenue School, effective July 26. On a happier note, the board welcomed Kimberly O'Donnell Picker, the district's new assistant principal for the middle school and high school, who was recognized from the audience with applause. Separately, a pointed round of questioning from board member David Campbell drew out that the high school's media specialist position — cut earlier this year during a difficult budget process — will effectively be restored using federal relief money: the part-time elementary librarian position that had been eliminated is being reinstated to split time between Forest Avenue and Linden Avenue schools, which under seniority rules allows the district's existing high school media specialist, who was set to move to the elementary level, to remain at the high school instead.

The board voted to submit an application for $1,274,117 in American Rescue Plan (ARP) grant funding, with Mr. Campbell abstaining. Phillips said the money, shaped by input from a school community committee, will fund two elementary academic support teachers split among the district's four elementary buildings, language-arts professional development, a middle/high school reading interventionist, and three part-time counselors for social-emotional learning. Resident Harris Teran questioned why the interventionist position was budgeted at $111,000, well above current pay scales; Phillips explained the figure includes full salary and benefits. Other ARP-funded items include an expanded summer program, an after-school homework club staffed by teachers, new WiFi access points at Ridgewood Avenue School, replacement interactive whiteboards, and additional media-center funding at the high school. The board also ratified $908,530.86 in bills and claims and $3,669,236.72 in payroll and related disbursements, with Ms. Ginsburg abstaining. The board accepted a $3,500 donation from the Glen Ridge Field Hockey Booster Club for uniforms, along with a $9,336.86 Emergent Grant and a $2,855.81 Orton-Gillingham grant from the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation. Foundation volunteer Fran Wong told the board the Emergent Grant alone had funded requests from all 44 teachers in the district, with purchases ranging "from sand to robotic cameras" for tracking teachers during virtual instruction.

In community news, the Glen Ridge Arts Patrons Association awarded scholarships to three students, Janelle Austin, Lily Malone and Andre Ishnak, and the Gas Lamp Players thanked Freeman Gardens for hosting a "Spring Awakening" teen show in May and a "Lion King" program at Carteret Park, with a new teen production of "Into the Woods" rehearsing in August. The high school's first-ever eighth-grade carnival, which replaced the traditional eighth-grade dance, had to be moved indoors because of thunderstorms. The Forest Avenue and Ridgewood Avenue Home & School Associations held their final meetings of the year in person, seated new executive teams, and discussed summer play dates at Forest Avenue and a newly revealed courtyard space at Ridgewood Avenue. Board President Elisabeth Ginsburg also remembered Jeff Gill, a "public-spirited" Glen Ridge parent and longtime soccer coach who died recently; his wife, Patty, has long been active with the Home & School Association, particularly at Forest Avenue.

The board approved first reading of a dozen new and revised policies, including formally abolishing the district's Families First Coronavirus Response Act policy, adopting a new Bridge Year Pilot Program policy, and updating policies on teacher and administrator evaluations; a second reading is scheduled for the next meeting. The board also approved the 2022-2023 school calendar, which moves the first day of school to after Labor Day (reversing this year's pre-Labor Day start), sets the last day for June 16, trims a day from the February break, and shifts the April break to the first full week of the month.

Much of the public comment centered on pandemic protocols heading into the fall. Phillips said the state has ruled out a remote-only option and left masking decisions to local districts, even as the CDC recommends masks only for unvaccinated students and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends masks for all students. The district is awaiting guidance from the New Jersey Department of Health before finalizing reopening plans. Resident Lauren Johnson asked whether the district could survey vaccination rates among students and staff to help inform a masking decision; Phillips said he planned to do so, through the county and a parent survey. Another resident asked whether students who had already had COVID would count as "vaccinated" in that data; Phillips said such students have a 90-day exemption from quarantine requirements before falling back under standard protocols. A resident who identified himself only as Tom asked whether ARP funding was contingent on mask mandates, social distancing or promoting vaccination (Phillips said he was not aware of any such correlation) and then asked about religious exemptions from masking and vaccine requirements, citing Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Board attorney Athena Cornell, participating remotely, said vaccination mandates do carry religious exemptions, but that the state's masking guidance has been treated as a health-and-safety measure with exemptions limited to medical and disability-related cases rather than religious belief.

Action items

• Approved submission of a $1,274,117 American Rescue Plan grant application (Mr. Campbell abstaining), funding a reading interventionist, elementary academic support teachers, SEL counselors, restored media specialist coverage, and technology and facility upgrades
• Awarded the Ridgewood Avenue School roof-replacement contract to Laumar Roofing Co. Inc. for $231,000, the lowest of seven bids received
• Accepted the resignations of five staff members (Elaina Frissell, Monica Nieves, Daniel Hooks, Nicole Gomez, Olivia Kinloch) and Head Custodian Aaron Pacheco
• Approved the 2022-2023 school calendar, moving the first day of school to after Labor Day
• Ratified $908,530.86 in bills and claims and $3,669,236.72 in payroll and related disbursements (Ms. Ginsburg abstaining)
• Accepted a $3,500 donation from the Glen Ridge Field Hockey Booster Club and $12,192.67 in combined grants from the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation
• Approved first reading of a dozen revised and new board policies, including abolishing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act policy and adopting a new Bridge Year Pilot Program policy

Watch key moments

• 34:02 — Superintendent Phillips tells a resident that air-conditioning Glen Ridge High School was priced at over $4 million and left out of a bond referendum, so no fix is planned despite last spring's heat-related half days.
• 59:52 — A resident identified only as Tom presses on religious exemptions from masking and vaccination under the 1964 Civil Rights Act; board attorney Athena Cornell clarifies that masking exemptions are limited to medical and disability cases, not religious belief.
• 1:04:14 — Educational Foundation volunteer Fran Wong reveals the $9,336.86 Emergent Grant reached all 44 teachers districtwide, funding purchases "from sand to robotic cameras."