September 23rd Meeting Recap - Meeting Delays, Curriculum Controversies, Rewriting History & Unanswered Questions Leads to Concerns Over Transparency and Leadership

The Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District BOE meeting began about 30 minutes late. In a continued sign of disrespect for the community, Kim Ansh seems to forget that the public (including students) are sitting and waiting for the BOE to arrive for their scheduled meeting.

ACCESS and DLM Assessment Presentation

Dr. Quackenbush, Curriculum Director, along with Ms. Michele Thomas (District Supervisor of World Languages and Multilingual Learners) and Ms. Susan Confrancisco (Supervisor of Special Education Programming), presented the district's ACCESS and DLM assessment reports.

The ACCESS report highlighted growth in English Language Learners' proficiency across listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with the district noting consistent progress, particularly in reaching higher proficiency levels over the years.

The Dynamic Learning Map (DLM) assessment, which measures growth and mastery for students with significant cognitive disabilities, showed consistent improvement. The full presentation can be accessed on the district website at https://cdnsm5-ss11.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_237981/File/2023-2024%20RIH%20ACCESS%20%20DLM%20Assessment%20Report.pdf

Dr. Quackenbush also announced that quarterly assessments will be paused for the 2024-25 school year to evaluate their effectiveness.

Anti-Bullying Coordinator

During the Superintendent’s report, Ms. DeMarco announced she will take over the role of Anti-Bullying Coordinator, previously held by Dr. Quackenbush. This shift, along with the recent approval of a $100k position for a District Instructional Design person to assist Dr. Quackenbush and the costly supervisor reorganization, raises concerns about why we are paying so much for a Curriculum Director when much of the work has been shifted elsewhere.

Meeting Minutes Controversy

As part of her President’s report, Kim Ansh apologized for “a delay in approving minutes.”

As a reminder, the BOE had previously voted to table the minutes of all meetings from June 24th – September 9th, a total of 16 meetings. This was more than a delay.

A lengthy debate followed. Kim Ansh argued that ‘the board wants to make a consistent practice’ for approving minutes (which raised the question of what process has been in place for the last 60 plus years, and what exactly is the new process going forward?).

According to Dr. Aaron Lorenz, the minutes were originally written by Board Secretary Dora Zeno, and then they were rewritten, and the board leadership (Ansh and Emmolo) was responsible for that, with cooperation of legal counsel. Aaron Lorenz and Helen Koulikourdis both argued that history is being rewritten, while Brian DeLaite noted that the attorneys were not even present at the meetings in question, so how could they revise the minutes?

Helen Koulikourdis stated she would be voting no on approving the Minutes, because the revisions violated OPMA. Aaron Lorenz echoed this sentiment, stating 'Kim and Marianna are attempting to rewrite history and Board counsel is helping them'. Doreen Mariani claimed Aaron was wrong, but presented no concrete evidence. Marianna Emmolo dismissed the concerns, saying it was ‘political and it’s wrong’.

Melissa Kiel claimed it was “unfair” to accuse board leadership of rewriting history, but her statements didn’t address concerns about details being removed or the need for public discussion under OPMA. As Helen pointed out, the bylaws and OPMA only allows revisions for factual inaccuracies—not a rehashing of the discussion.

Kim Ansh said the public does not have a right to know what is discussed in private session, and Audrey Souders said legal counsel was present at the executive session to discuss this. However, it is not true that the public has no right to know what was discussed in private sessions if the topics violated OPMA by being withheld when they should have been discussed in public. So now taxpayer money is being spent on legal fees to hide things from taxpayers?

Marianna Emmolo claimed that it was on advice of counsel to summarize the minutes and make them shorter, saying, - 'it’s still there, it’s just shorter'. . Audrey Souders backed this up by saying, "The minutes were not whited out; they were just redlined. Nothing has been erased.” But redlined and summarized minutes clearly mean something that WAS in the original minutes has been removed, and that information was therefore hidden from the public. SO yes, something WAS erased from public view. And all of these conversations about what it was happened behind closed doors. HMMMM.

Kim Ansh made it clear that as long as she has five votes, the minutes will pass. My interpretation of her statement: I don’t care what’s right, I have 5 votes.

In my 12 years on the Franklin Lakes K8 Board, I’ve NEVER encountered an approval process for executive session minutes like this—nor for any minutes, for that matter. The 2023 efforts by Judy Sullivan and Kim Ansh’s Board to rewrite minutes, followed by last night’s public discussions, strongly suggest major disagreements over what should be documented in the public record. Regarding the OPMA violations mentioned, it seems likely that certain items discussed in executive session should have been discussed in public, with the minority pushing for full documentation and the majority resisting. When Marianna Emmolo claimed the edits were just to make the minutes “shorter,” it raised further suspicions. I believe minority members wanted specific statements kept in the minutes verbatim, while others wanted to remove or summarize them to avoid leaving a clear record of what was said. If my suspicions are correct, the actions to edit the minutes are indeed a “rewriting of history.”

Kim Ansh’s Board continues to hide and obstruct, with help from her majority and her hand selected attorneys.

Online Science Classes

Brian DeLaite raised a critical question about how many Science classes are currently being conducted online instead of by an RIH teacher, and in which building. No one, including the Superintendent, Board President or the Curriculum Director, could provide an immediate answer, despite the issue being on the agenda. This lack of preparedness reflects poorly on the administration, especially given the ongoing impact on students’ education.

Dr. Aaron Lorenz followed up by asking if the district could explore alternative solutions beyond relying on online science classes with in-person teacher. His suggestion highlighted the need for creative problem-solving, but unfortunately, the administration was unable to offer any concrete alternatives.

Helen Koulikourdis also raised another possible creative solution, questioning whether the district could temporarily bring back teachers from the supervisor pool—teachers who were moved out of classrooms after Ms. Quackenbush’s controversial supervisor restructuring plan. This idea was not addressed with a clear answer, as the Superintendent cited the need to review certification requirements, further delaying potential solutions.

While the district has partnered with NJCTL to provide temporary online instruction, this solution remains far from ideal. Students deserve in-person Science and Physics classes, and the failure to provide that, even as an interim measure, is a disservice to our students’ education. The district must urgently explore every avenue to get qualified teachers back into classrooms as soon as possible.

Air Conditioning Saga Continues

Marianna Emmolo noted that the BOE budgeted $900k for HVAC projects. Marianna attempted to clarify that budget is not just for 22 window air conditioning units. But she still has no cost for the 22 window units, even though she is proceeding to spend money for electrical upgrades before even knowing whether or not the Board will proceed with the window units. This makes the spend on electrical panels even more questionable - why are we throwing money toward electric upgrades before knowing if the upgrades will be needed? Why proceed without full information? Another point to be considered is the safety risks that would be presented by installing window air conditioners. I hope the board will be thoroughly discussing this aspect of the use of window AC units before proceeding.

60th Anniversary Celebration

Indian Hills 60th Anniversary celebration was held on Saturday September 21. Kudos to Athletic Director Mr. Duncan, who fundraised to cover much of the costs of the event. The district covered the costs of the fireworks and drone shows, along with the police, fire and ambulance needed for safety, with support of donations from the Boroughs of Franklin Lakes and Oakland. The celebration was much appreciated by all.