TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON—At the annual reorganization meeting of the Westwood Regional School district board, held Jan. 5 in the Hurley Theater in the high school, Westwood’s Michael Pontillo was elected BOE president. Kristen Pedersen was elected vice president.
New members Laura Cooper, Jay Garcia, and Doug Cusato took their oaths as well.
Pontillo — also Westwood’s chief of police — was nominated by Stacey Price of the township. In the vote, Jay Garcia of Westwood abstained, and Westwood’s Andrea Peck said no.
Garcia said, “We had a great conversation last night, Mike. Over the months we’ve had more conversations. I think we’re really aligned in terms of moving the district forward together cohesively, but being a new member right now, though, I feel it’s most appropriate for me to abstain.”
Peck, reading from prepared notes, explained: “In order for me to endorse someone for board president I would need to see evidence of solid leadership and efforts to bring our board together. Having sat on this board for the past year I have not seen actions that would make me feel comfortable voting for Mr. Pontillo for board president. Please do not interpret my vote of no as a lack of hope for our future or a lack of willingness to work with everyone. I remain hopeful and motivated that we will all improve the year.”
Following nomination from Cooper, the outcome was the same for Pedersen, with Garcia and Peck giving the same rationale for their abstention and no votes, respectively.
After board secretary Keith Rosado confirmed Pontillo’s win — he and Pedersen were sole nominees — the new president relocated himself from stage left to center seat, then introduced the next agenda item.
Honored to serve
In Pontillo’s later remarks to the board — shared Jan. 6 as a letter to district families — he said he was “incredibly honored and excited to serve in this capacity. I would like to thank my board colleagues for having the faith in me to serve them and our community.”
He said, “There is nothing more important than a quality education and the advancement of young minds. I am eager to help our board and our students reach their respective goals with the primary objective being to ensure that every child in our community has access to quality education.”
After promising that “We are poised to elevate this district to higher levels of achievement,” he called for unity. “Our covenant to the community, and to one another, needs to be built on a foundation of integrity, credibility, trust, respect, and mutual reliance.”
Pontillo said, “This group needs to be able to trust one another, to believe in the integrity of one another, to be sure that we can depend on one another. The viability of this district depends on this. My goal, as president of this board, is to quickly get us to a place of operational harmony where we can make efficient and productive outcomes for the benefit of this district and the well-being of the students.”
He also said he would “keep a laser focus on what should be our collective priorities, through our allowable practices.”
He listed:
- Student academic achievement and ensuring the viability of special education programs;
- Improving the district’s overall performance;
- Empowering the administration and supporting teachers;
- Having financial discipline in decision making;
- Reducing HIB [harassment, intimidation, and bullying] occurrences and improving socialization among students; and
- Effective policymaking that solves issues, closes gaps, and aligns expectations.
He thanked former board president Frank Romano III and Maureen Colombo for their service — both from the township, they quit the board in December, leaving one-year unexpired terms — and wished them well.
(To that point, the district is seeking township candidates to fill these seats, both of which expire on Dec. 31. Interested individuals must be registered voters in the township. Send a resume and letter of interest no later than Jan. 17 to Keith A. Rosado, Board Secretary, Westwood Regional Board of Education, 701 Ridgewood Road, Township of Washington, NJ 07676 or via email at keith.rosado@wwrsd.org. The board says it anticipates interviewing candidates individually during the public session at its Jan. 26 meeting.)
Public comments
Several residents spoke at the meeting’s two public comment periods. At least two wondered whether the board would pursue rumors of campaign improprieties from now-seated members.
Resident Lisa Bontemps of Westwood, however, drew applause from what read as a sparse audience on video by saying, “The election is over, and it was a legitimate election, and we need to move on. My suggestion is we get over it, move on, and start fresh. … I have every faith in every single one of you on this dais.”
Kelly O’Melia of Westwood asked for an update on harmful messages disseminated to the school community via an innocent student’s account over Yom Kippur 2022. She said, “This was a hate crime and … it’s really disgusting and it’s not going away.”
Eric Dougherty of Westwood, father of a first-grader, asked about building projects for Berkeley school and urged the community to “take a deep breath. We’re examples for our children. It would just be better for our towns if there was less hostility and drama.”
Toby Anderson of Hickory Street in the township owned up to having distributed materials critical of school district test scores and said “I’m not going away” on the issue. “For anybody who’s still confused, I handed them out, I printed them … I also went on to the school … the sidewalk, I did not go on school grounds … I didn’t put them in people’s cars.”
He also asked for clarification on penalties for infractions of the district’s HIB policy.
In November he explained he was behind anonymous texts to select district parents and their families over district testing. The message was signed “Paid for by Concerned WWRSD Parents.”
The district’s IT team investigated. On Nov. 17, superintendent Jill Mortimer wrote parents, who were alarmed, “We have the name associated with one of the numbers that the text originated from. It is not the name of a parent in the district. Another phone number that was associated with the text message was identified as being ‘spoofed,’ meaning that the sender is making efforts to remain anonymous. Our Technology Team also concluded that Genesis, our student information system, was not breached. Therefore, although what occurred is alarming, at this point in time it is not a police matter.”
Mortimer added, “I understand very well that the text was disturbing on a number of levels. First, parents were worried their personal information had been compromised. Moreover, the tone was insulting to our valued staff members who work very hard with your children every single day. I was very clear in my previous communication that the District’s State Test Scores are in many cases similar to those in other Bergen County districts.”
She said, “To unfairly target us and to malign the reputation of this fine District is upsetting and wrong. The individual(s) who crafted the text is/are acting in an inflammatory, judgemental, and irresponsible manner. To try to incite an angry crowd at tonight’s meeting based upon one data point that is not in its proper context is threatening and manipulative behavior. We will not be intimidated.”
No new details on offensive content sent to high-schoolers
To O’Melia’s question, Mortimer said she was “not authorized to speak for the police department… I will say it was not one of our students who was the actor in this case. And anything else related to our students I cannot comment on publicly on any student discipline matters.”
In October, Mortimer confirmed, “Highly offensive content was sent from a high school student’s account to most of the high school’s students’ emails. Hurtful content was directed at multiple groups/individuals (i.e. Jewish, Black, and gay people, a female employee, and an individual with a disability).”
She said at the time, “All students were encouraged to change their passwords on their school-issued devices. We encourage all students to create a password that is secure and not shared with anyone. Please know this was not a breach of our network or system. We were not ‘hacked.’ I reported what happened to the Bergen County Office of the New Jersey Department of Education, and I spoke to the Executive County Superintendent of Schools. Moreover, I have spoken to some of my peers who have had similar experiences in neighboring districts.”
She said, “The board of education and administration hope our quick and deliberate actions demonstrate our commitment to maintaining a welcoming and positive climate for students and staff members. They should not have been exposed to what they witnessed on their devices, and we regret this incident took place. Please know we are committed to continually supporting our students and staff members. There will not be a ‘one time’ response to what occurred.”
About the new board leadership
Kristen Pedersen is a district mom of two, and “a finance executive with more than 16 years experience in the investment, global investment, annuity and life insurance industry.”
In January 2022 she maintained the treatment of children under then-existing state DOH quarantine rules was unfair. She said “there is no one-size fits all solution” and called for the district “to implement protocols that put the decision-making [on whether to allow exposed/unvaccinated children in physical classrooms] back with the parents.”
She said that if a child is sick, parents should “do the right thing” and keep them home.
In 2020 she launched a petition to remove then-superintendent Ray González in part over school closure and transparency issues.
She endorsed Pontillo in 2020, saying in part, “The board has been lacking for quite some time now. This is our opportunity to have true and ethical leadership, transparency and someone with a genuine desire to better our children’s educational experience.”
Michael Pontillo, a father of three students here, was sworn in April 2018 as the borough’s youngest police chief after he rose from sergeant to replace chief Frank Regino. He attended St. Joseph Regional High School, has a bachelor’s degree in social science and human service, a master’s degree in human resource training and development, a master’s certificate in leadership and management, and is a graduate of the West Point Military Academy Command and Leadership program through the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police.
Pontillo and Pedersen were among residents sharply critical of the previous board administration over issues related to transparency and handling of the coronavirus.
As board members, both have spoken for many residents critical of the New Jersey State Board of Education’s adopted 2020 revision of the Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Standards section of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards, saying some sensitive material is age-inappropriate.
In contrast, other residents have spoken in support of the curriculum overhaul, agreeing with the state DOE, which says in part, “Building on a robust body of research, the New Jersey Student Learning Standards provide clear and consistent learning goals across nine distinct content areas to help prepare students for postsecondary success. … They offer the foundation on which districts build coherent curriculum and plan instruction to prepare each New Jersey student with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in our rapidly changing world.”
Pontillo made his first run for a board seat in 2019, alongside Michelle Sembler, in the wake of the school board backing the administration on keeping three gritty non-required novels in the middle school. Measures later adopted included greater online controls for parents on what kids districtwide have at their disposal to read and discuss.
As a trustee in 2021, he called for the resignation of Romano’s predecessor after demonstrating that the president had copied a congratulatory memo for the recently departed superintendent, with next steps toward finding his replacement, from that of a different district involving other personnel — and issuing it without the board’s backing.
Though the board attorney found the incumbent had not violated any legal provision or code of conduct, pressure remained high and the board president resigned. Romano, a trustee for six months at that point, was elected unanimouslty to take the helm.
Calendar notes
Amid additional business at the Jan. 5 BOE reorganization meeting, members approved the calendar for the 2023-2024 school year. Schools will be closed on Jan. 16 in observance of Martin Luther King Day and on Jan. 17 for professional development.
In a note to families Jan. 6, Mortimer said she looked forward to working with the new board. She also said January staff development day topics include the following highlights:
- Responsive Classroom training on the elementary level;
- Student progress data analysis tools in our LinkIt! Data warehouse system and iReady;
- Planning the curriculum for the new cybersecurity and business law course that will be offered at the high school next year;
- A site visit to SUNY Maritime by the high school guidance counselors;
- Environmental education lesson development in the area of visual and performing arts;
- CPR recertification training for the nursing staff; and
- Goal-focused instruction and learning in ELA.
Kindergarten registration for September is under way. Visit the district’s registration page for more information.
— With some reporting by Michael Olohan