Residents Protest Staff Cuts at Montclair BOE Meeting

The Montclair Board of Education had a light agenda for its June 7 workshop meeting, but the meeting itself lasted a long time due to the overwhelming number of comments from residents protesting the various cuts in the 2017-18 school-year budget and the proposal to cut 55 paraprofessionals and 35 teachers. At the same time, 10 science teachers were present to receive awards for their participation in a science fellowship.

Parents of Nishuane School students were out in full force to protest the proposed dismissal of Assistant Principal Evan Kozak, who was lauded by one Montclair resident after another for his attention to the students and for his innovative program of elective classes. Kozak had developed an elective curriculum allowing first-graders to select classes that included instruction in Shakespeare, architecture, and astronomy. Nishuane parents also praised him for being engaged with families with children in the school.

Several other residents spoke out in favor of the paraprofessionals, and a few students also spoke on their behalf. Student Ezra Rifkin credited paraprofessionals for helping him overcome a speech impediment and said he is now a thriving student who plays the clarinet and is involved with Jazz House Kids, while student Lincoln Saltzman credited paraprofessionals for discouraging bullies. As a parent, resident Rachael Quinn Egan noted that a teenager she’d adopted began school speaking no English and, thanks to aid from district staff, was now an accomplished honors student at Rutgers-Newark. She also expressed dismay that Glenfield math teacher Russ Murray had received word that his contract would not be renewed, despite his sterling contribution to the district. Several other residents expressed similar outrage over the dismissal of Montclair High School Athletics Director Jeff Gannon, and resident Walter Springer produced a petition with 1,050 signatures demanding that Gannon be reinstated.

Montclair Education Association Vice President Petal Robertson noted that 11 staffers were retiring, and that their combined salaries amounted to $400,000 that, theoretically, could allow for replacements to be paid at a fraction of the cost of the retiring staff members.  She wanted to know if the school board had other ideas for the money freed up by the retirements.

Board President Laura Hertzog tried to provide some answers.  She said that while she and her fellow board members listened to the concerns and protests regarding the staff reductions – particularly those involving Nishuane Assistant Principal Kozak – the proposals advocated by former Interim Schools Superintendent Ronald Bolandi to minimize staff reductions were subject to changes in the budget numbers.  She added that new information regarding the budget also played a factor into staffing decisions, and that people who are being let go may be brought back if there are further changes in the numbers.  Board member Anne Mernin reminded residents that the board cannot discuss personnel issues in public.  Mernin also called for a comprehensive evaluation of special education, a move endorsed by several residents, including Geoff Zylstra, a regular at the school board meetings.  He said special education had to be shored up to protect the disproportionate number of black male students in need of it.

The current interim schools superintendent, Barbara Pinsak, gave some information regarding the curriculum and personnel changes.  She said the health curriculum has been updated to conform to state standards and the human relationships and sexuality component of the curriculum – formerly known as “family life” – was being rewritten; a draft of the new curriculum would be made available on the district’s Web site for parental review.  Superintendent Pinsak also said the position of student advocate was being reviewed prior to hiring someone for the position, and the board wanted to be very careful in filling it.  Also proving difficult to fill was the position of Director of Pupil Services, which is a rigorous, demanding job that Superintendent Pinsak said was being held to the highest standard.  She said she hoped to find candidates who met the standard, and that an interim pupil services director was in place for the time being.

Superintendent Pinsak’s own interim status prompted Hertzog to update the township on the search for permanent superintendent.  She regretted to say that attempts to find suitable candidates have been unsuccessful and that the hiring of a permanent superintendent by September was not going to happen.  Hertzog also said she was not anticipating a hire in the middle of the 2017-18 school year, preferring to have someone who can start at the beginning of the following school year (2018-19) that starts in September 2018.  She said two additional consultants were joining Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates in looking for a new superintendent at no extra cost to the district, with the idea of refreshing the search and ultimately getting the public involved in the vetting process.  Superintendent Pinsak is able to stay on in her position until March 2019.

The board also approved field trips that had been set up prior to the policy change designed to minimize the cost to parents unable to afford the fees, but Mernin still found it objectionable that parents had to pay money they should be able to spend on other expenses. She said the district needed to find other ways of paying for field trips.  Board member Jessica de Koninck expressed similar reservations.  The approval passed 6-1, with Mernin voting no.

Also, Dr. Monica Taylor of Montclair State University presented the awards for Montclair science teachers taking part in WiPro, a professional-development program for science instruction overseen by Montclair State, for their excellence in the endeavor.  The recipients were Owen Ambrose, Joyce Weeg (Montclair High), Emily Cullen (Renaissance), Monika Tiwari, Leslie Masuzzo, Susan Berneo (Hillside), Delia Maloy, Emma McKeon, Lynn O’Sullivan (Glenfield), and Gloria Lepari (Edgemont).