Strategic Plan
The Superintendent will present the Strategic Plan for the District, which is laid out in 3 goals: Whole Child Development, Academic Excellence and Community Engagement. Over September 2026-November 2026 the goal of the District is to present the plan, define the 5-year vision plan by mapping the course of action by focusing on the objectives.
The presentation barely references academic achievement and references nothing that would actually measure it.
The only student outcome?
90% of K-5 students correctly self-identify their Zone during morning meetings.
That’s a behavioral health goal and an extraordinarily weak one at that.
But lets go with that for a second – If 90% of K-5 students can identify their Zone during morning meetings, how will the district measure whether that improves behavior, reduces disruptions or protects instructional time?
There is no other student outcome in the presentation – this is as problematic as the last version the District rolled out and then nixed.
If you recall, the Districts own survey of folks who attended the meetings last year received feedback that centered on
-Academic rigor
-Student achievement in math, science and ELA
-Instructional consistency
-Postsecondary Preparedness
-Clarity on expectations and accountability.
This presentation vaguely gestures at those areas – it’s virtually invisible despite it being a ‘pillar’.
Finance
Under Finance, the BOE will vote to approve annual activity and sports fees for 2026-27 at $100 for activity and $200 for sports at GL and $75 for activity or club and $150 for sports at CMS. Additionally, the Board will vote on the disposal of obsolete text books and a revised contract with Mountainside which, at a quick review, doesn’t appear to have any blaring difference
Policies
The more significant areas residents really need to pay attention to are the first read policies.
0162 Notice of Board Meetings
Shifts regular meeting notice language away from mailed/telephone/telegram/hand-delivered newspaper notice and to posting legal notices on the District’s site.
Is newspaper notice being eliminated for regular meetings? Emergency-meetings? How will residents who don’t check the district site get notice?
0162.01 Legal Notices
Appears to be a new policy. Establishes web-based legal notices, homepage link, Secretary of State link submission, one-year archive and optional use of eligible online news publications.
Will the district still use newspapers or online news publications in addition to the district site? Where will the legal-notice archive be posted? How will the public be notified that this is now the central location for legal notices?
1230 Superintendent’s Duties
Need Clarification. Removes “Job Goal,” and some reporting/action-plan responsibilities.
Which changes were mandatory? Items that were removed included district action-plan reporting, suspension reporting and Superintendent responsibility when duties are delegated -where do these go, if anywhere?
1643 Family Leave
Significant change. NJFLA eligibility moves from twelve months/1,000 hours to three months/250 hours.
How many newer or part-time staff qualify? What’s the impact on staffing and substitute coverage?
2200 Curriculum
Big improvement. Adds NJSLS alignment, curriculum transparency, public access to pacing guides and core instructional material citations, advanced coursework access, evidence-based literacy, professional learning and corrective action procedures.
Where will pacing guides and citations be posted, when will they be available? What data will be used to evaluate advanced-course access and curriculum compliance?
2260 Equity in School and Classroom Practices
Updates equity language, protected-category access, multilingual learner assessment, multicultural curriculum, counseling access and athletics/physical education language. Revises minority-representation wording.
2411 Career Education and Academic Counseling
Title changes from “Guidance” to “Counseling.” Adds and updates the comprehensive career education and academic counseling system, work-based learning, reference to ASCA standards and the role of certified school counselors and other designated teaching staff members.
3324 Right of Privacy
Red flag. Under this policy staff will be able to use their personal devices to photograph or record students or staff for ‘legitimate educational purposes’ if uploaded to district storage within 72 hours and then permanently deleted from the personal device.
Why is the district moving away from prior language discouraging personal-device use? How will deletion be verified and what audit trail exists for student images and recordings? What limits exist in using student images or recordings for district promotion or public-facing materials? Why, as students rights to record school actions continue to decline, is the District significantly increasing the extent to which students are recorded and their information monitored?
5460 High School Graduation
Significant Change. Major rewrite of graduation requirements, credit pathways, individualized student learning opportunities, proficiency pathways, multilingual learner provisions, students with disabilities, financial aid application requirement and State Seal of Biliteracy.
How will alternative pathways, dual enrollment, work-based learning and competency-based assessments be approved and monitored?
5461 High School Diplomas
Looks like a new stand-alone policy separating awarding of diplomas from 5460. Keeps annual public graduation reporting requirements.
5561 Use of Physical Restraint and Seclusion Techniques for Students with Disabilities
Confirms the district allows restraint and seclusion in emergencies. Adds and updates APSSD/educational services commission language, 48-hour written parent notification, annual staff training, monitoring, documentation, SSDS reporting and review process.
6112 Reimbursement of Federal and Other Grant Expenditures
Improvement. Adds internal controls and quarterly review requirements for grant expenditures and supporting documentation. Requires grant-compliance concerns to be reported to the Superintendent.
Are quarterly reviews documented? Are they already occurring? Are material concerns reported to the full Board?
6115.02 Federal Awards/Funds Internal Controls – Mandatory Disclosures
Improvement. Adds employee reporting requirement for potential fraud, bribery, gratuities, conflicts of interest, misuse of federal funds or grant violations. Administration must document, review, investigate, resolve and retain records.
Can employees report confidentially or directly to the Board/auditor if the concern involves central administration? When is the Board notified of compliance issues?
6311 Contracts for Goods or Services Funded by Federal Grants
Improvement. Adds documentation requirement of SAM/debarment checks.
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