Glen Ridge School Board Reorganizes for 2024, Finds Bullying Complaint Substantiated at High School

The Glen Ridge Board of Education held its annual reorganization meeting on January 3, 2024, seating newly elected and reelected members Darius Dehnad, Jocelyn Gottlieb and Duval Graham, who won their three-year terms with 1,149, 1,210 and 1,175 votes respectively. The board then unanimously elected Elisabeth Ginsburg as president, David Campbell as first vice president and Jocelyn Gottlieb as second vice president for the coming year.

In four separate Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying investigations at Glen Ridge High School, the board voted 9-0 each to accept the superintendent's findings that three complaints — incidents #254230, #254319 and #255363 — were not substantiated, while a fourth, incident #255364, was substantiated.

The board also accepted, with regret, the resignations of six staff members: paraprofessionals Sarah Melnik (Central School), Connor Faleski (Glen Ridge High School) and Angelica Gomez (Forest Avenue School); permanent substitute Katherine Crane (Linden Avenue School); and coaches Manjeet Singh, who stepped down as both football coach and weight room advisor at the high school, and Aileen Musynske, the girls lacrosse coach.

On the financial side, the board approved bills and claims totaling $611,599.85 and payroll of roughly $2.49 million for November, along with $407,265.88 in open purchase orders. It also accepted a $53,040 donation from the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation to cover tuition for five staff members to complete four semesters of Orton-Gillingham reading certification through Fairleigh Dickinson University, plus additional foundation-funded books for Orton-Gillingham students, and a $770.82 drum set with cymbals donated by the Gavin family for the Ridgewood Avenue School band and music program.

Much of the meeting's warmth came from the Glen Ridge High School Marching Band, which performed a selection from its fall production of the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" after a season that included a New Jersey Group 1 state championship and a group-one national bronze medal at MetLife Stadium, with the highest visual performance and visual effects scores in the country. Band director Darren Gage used the appearance to pay tribute to outgoing Superintendent Dirk Phillips, recalling a nearly 30-year friendship that began when a young Phillips chaperoned one of the band's school trips as a classroom teacher, and dedicating the performance to him as he prepares to leave the district in June.

Central School principal Dr. Keisha Harris gave the board a detailed look at the school's initiatives built around empathy, compassion and sharing, including a food drive for Tony's Kitchen that fed more than 100 families, "calm classroom" breathing and midday reset routines for students and staff, a certified therapy dog from Creature Comfort that students read to, and the Level Up Village program pairing Central's second graders with a partner classroom in Mexico on a bridge-building engineering challenge. She also described a new "diversity pillars" curriculum and a "Bookworm" vending machine that rewards students with tokens for acts of kindness, redeemable for free books.

Board President Ginsburg offered condolences on the recent death of Glen Ridge High School alumna Sonia Kinkhabwala, class of 2016, and reported that the superintendent search had drawn 31 applications following a community survey on desired qualities for Phillips' successor. She also briefed the board on state legislation moving through Trenton's lame-duck session, including a bill affecting teacher evaluation schedules and another that could limit districts' ability to hire online educators to cover teacher shortages.

Student representative Dylan O'Neil reported a successful "Ridge Day" competition and holiday tournament wins for both basketball teams, and Gottlieb noted the Ridgewood Avenue Home & School Association's first meeting of the year this Friday at 8:45 a.m. No members of the public spoke during either comment period. The board later adjourned to a closed executive session at 7:54 p.m. to discuss personnel, confidential pupil matters, and negotiations or litigation, returning to open session at 8:31 p.m. before adjourning at 8:33 p.m.

Action items

• Elected Elisabeth Ginsburg board president, David Campbell first vice president, and Jocelyn Gottlieb second vice president for 2024.
• Found one of four Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying investigations (Incident #255364, Glen Ridge High School) substantiated; three others were not substantiated.
• Accepted the resignations/retirements of six staff members, including GRHS football/weight room coach Manjeet Singh and girls lacrosse coach Aileen Musynske.
• Accepted a $53,040 Glen Ridge Educational Foundation donation for staff Orton-Gillingham certification, plus book donations, and a $770.82 Gavin family drum set for the Ridgewood Avenue School band.
• Approved financial reports totaling $611,599.85 in bills and claims and about $2.49 million in November payroll.

Watch key moments

• 11:38 — Band director Darren Gage's emotional tribute to retiring Superintendent Dirk Phillips, tracing their friendship back nearly 30 years to a school band trip.
• 29:26 — Central School principal Dr. Keisha Harris plays a recorded guided "belly breathing" meditation for the board, part of the school's midday reset routine.
• 33:53 — Central School second graders' video exchange with a partner classroom in Mexico, testing homemade bridges built from classroom materials.