CLOSTER, N.J.—Approximately 30 residents at the second “town hall” forum held Sept. 9 by the borough’s Republicans to address school issues heard mostly positive news—including school accomplishments and challenges at the regional high school and local middle school.
At the first town hall Aug. 5, residents were told by Closter Public School Board President Gregg Lambert that up to 50 new students were expected in 2022 or 2023 from planned affordable housing units, including the Village Knoll—a 35-unit, 100 percent affordable complex planned at historic Village School.
Lambert said current space could accommodate such a number, but if enrollment increases exceed expectations, it might require a future bond referendum to build an addition to the elementary school or middle school.
On Sept. 9, residents heard from Northern Valley Regional High School District Board President Joseph Argenziano and Tennakill Middle School Principal William Tantum.
The forum was the second of three question-and-answer sessions to hear about and discuss school issues.
“We think it’s very important for both the town and schools to be on the same page in terms of what we have in Closter,” said Mayor John Glidden, kicking off the forum by praising local schools.
Glidden said Closter’s schools are one of the town’s most important assets. He said Closter was ranked by New Jersey Monthly recently as the 10th “most sought after” municipality out of the state’s 565 towns in the magazine’s poll.
Argenziano said four-plus years ago Northern Valley-Demarest was once ranked 83rd out of about 450 schools statewide which was “completely unacceptable” for a high-achieving community. He said the ranking also likely affected area property values.
The school now ranks 15th, but Argenziano said the goal is to rank in the “Top Five” of high schools.
He said to improve the ranking, they doubled the amount of “advanced placement” courses, including a new theater arts program.
Also, the district initiated new Career Technical Education (CTE) courses in biotechnology, engineering and computer science. He said these courses have helped improve educational offerings for students.
He said both district regional high schools—in Demarest and Old Tappan—have been upgraded with new STEM labs, physical labs and forensic labs.
He said one district goal is to also have students take a career experience or internship prior to graduation to “get some outside-world work experience.”
Later, when a parent wondered whether a student could seek out their own internship experience, he said it was possible but that all such internships need to be reviewed and approved by district administrators.
‘Highest paid teachers’
Three-decade resident Steve Isaacson, whose kids went through Closter Schools and Northern Valley-Demarest, questioned why the district has “the highest paid teachers” and noting that his calculations indicate the Northern Valley regional district spends almost $30,000 per student per year.
He also questioned Argenziano on “plans for when COAH hits,” referring to a future increase in students and Argenziano said the regional board had not yet discussed impacts of a possible student increase.
Argenziano said the “actual cost” was $28,000 per student per year and said that “we are not unaware that that’s not a great thing to be number one in,” referring to the highest district teacher salaries statewide.
“But you can’t change that overnight,” said Argenziano, noting the district has been known for having the highest teacher salaries for at least a dozen years.
He said the last two contract negotiations may not have been as “fiscally responsible as we could be…but I think you can measure my unpopularity with the teachers with how the last couple negotiations went,” said Argenziano.
He said the last contract settlement in February 2019 “was among the lowest settlements in the state in the last 10 years.”
Argenziano said the regional high school has a 98-99 percent graduation rate and “well over” 95 percent go on to college.
Middle School upgrades
Tantum said security upgrades at Tenakill Middle School included new camera systems that tie in with local police, a new “man trap” entrance to prohibit visitors from building access, and an upgraded lockdown system, and he thanked the Parent-Teacher Organization for their support.
He said the school’s former technology lab was transitioned into a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) laboratory, and also added a fitness room, with PTO support, to provide opportunity for exercise.
He said the middle school now offers “electives” for seventh and eighth graders including robotics, coding, music, fitness, general arts, and creative writing.
Other programs for gifted and talented students include debate for seventh graders and forensics for eighth graders.
‘Executive function’ focus
He said one concern being addressed for students transitioning from middle school to high school is improving “executive function skills” such as time management, prioritizing “and trying to keep themselves on some kind of plan,” said Tantum. He said a program for “executive function” was “infused” into the seventh grade curriculum this year.
He said “we couldn’t predict what’s going to happen in the area of social media” and its impact on students. He said to address that, efforts would be directed into social and emotional learning.
He said a “character education course” introduced last year provides a counselor to speak with groups of students about emotional and social issues.
Vaping concerns
Councilwoman Victoria Amitai questioned if vaping was a concern at Tenakill.
Tantum said “we’ve never had issues within school that we’ve noticed” and credited health and physical education teacher Paula Cummings with teaching about vaping and bringing in speakers as well as a school-wide assembly on vaping’s negative impacts.
“I think in our school kids are contemplating things like that…it’s a bigger issue in the upper grades,” said Tantum, who agreed the “smell can be masked” and that the middle school offers regular education to kids about vaping.
“It’s something that can take place very easily…we always want to keep our eyes open for something of that nature,” he added.
He said 535 students encompass the fifth through eighth grades at Tenakill.
Isaacson, an environmental commission member for 13 years, later made an appeal for “more young kids” to get involved with the commission.
Glidden urged any residents interested in serving on local boards or commissions, including environmental, should come and see him because the volunteer boards are often looking for new members.
