School board student rep channels support on Pride sign

BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS

Westwoodregionalschools

Following removal of a small Pride sign from the grounds of Westwood Regional Middle School — under order of the interim superintendent — a Westwood Regional High School student representative on the school board has proposed an alternate sign for the superintendent to consider placing in front of the middle school and high school.

Senior Mackenzie Fox, one of two 2022–2023 students representing Westwood and the Township of Washington, but lacking voting power, also launched an online petition that had garnered nearly 1,400 signatures by June 7 to support a Pride sign in front of the high school and middle school.

The petition says, “There is no policy prohibiting approved signs at the schools. Our principals support these signs. Please sign this petition to show the superintendent, Mr. [Kenneth] Rota, that the Pride sign is supported by the students and would be a welcome addition to the front lawn. This sign is the first step to us being a truly inclusive and welcoming community.”

The board is scheduled to meet next on June 15.

The signʼs removal by the administration came under fire because it was not seen by supporters to be a flag, and because it seemed the interim superintendent was interpreting board policy subjectively rather than following it to the letter. He has since deferred to

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the board to resolve the matter.

The backdrop includes several months of contentious school board meetings where stakeholders have argued over how the stateʼs new health and sex education curriculum is taught, with trustees on the defensive for alleged inappropriate remarks about teachers “going rogue” from the state-mandated curriculum, and creation of an ad hoc committee to review the new sex ed curriculumʼs age-appropriateness.

We reached out to Rota for comment on whether he would allow the alternate sign that celebrates Pride Month in front of the middle and high schools. He did not respond by press time.

We also reached out to Board President Michael Pontillo (who is Westwoodʼs police chief), and two trustees, Andrea Peck and Jason Garcia, who voted against the new flag policy.

Peck told us, “I would like to make it clear that I do agree that only the United States flag and the flag of the State of New Jersey should be on the flag pole. My reason for voting no on April 27, 2023 and May 11, 2023 had to do with my sense that its application was going to be broad and too general, and that would not serve the students well. I based it on conversations leading up to policy approval, including those that ensued that night. Interestingly, that is exactly how it is playing out at this point. We have seen firsthand how the application of the policy has led to the prohibiting of some lawn signs but not others.”

Garcia told us, “As a proud American, I would support a policy that states flag poles that fly the American flag will be designated for American flags and the state flag of New Jersey only. That would show proper distinction and respect for those flags.”

He added, “However, current- ly, the Display of Flag policy 8830.01 reads, ʻThe only flags that are permitted to be raised on or over district school and administrative buildings shall be the United States flag and the flag of the State of New Jersey.ʼAs written, that could be interpreted as restricting even a hand-sized Pride flag elsewhere,” said Garcia.

Garcia noted, “Words written in policy dictate the policy and should be precise to the intent of the policy, so I recommended the policy go back to the committee for review and revision.”

Fox emailed Rota in late May when the Pride sign was removed from the middle school grounds. She said Rota told her then that the boardʼs new flag policy considered a sign that depicted a flag “in the same category as a flag.”

Fox, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, was upset and frustrated by Rotaʼs move, which followed passage of a school board policy that limited outside flags by district schools to the U.S. flag and state flag.

Fox — who has now been interviewed on network television news over recent developments — told Pascack Press that having small, campaign-sized signs in front of the high and middle schools on various concerns and events, is a normal occurrence.

She said that many teachers inside the high school are displaying rainbow stickers and small Pride flags, which makes her feel safe and accepted in their classrooms.

She said she hoped Rota would see the alternate sign she presented on June 6 to be “a compromise” as it did not depict the rainbow flag, but simply said “Pride” between the names of Westwood and Washington

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Charged with mischief in Pride flag yank; police say alcohol a factor

On Wednesday, June 7 at approximately 3:40 a.m., Officer J. Schwarz saw an individual removing a Pride flag affixed to the borough announcement board just off of Kinderkamack Road. Investigation found that the resident, 31, was under the influence of alcohol and that the criminal mischief was without aim to intimidate members of the protected class. Defendant was charged with criminal mischief and is pending a first appearance in Emerson Municipal Court. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

He said he and many constituents had three issues: the first being that no right hand turns are allowed. He said not allowing righthand turns “just increased our carbon monoxide eight times” noting that permitting right turns on red lights was originally allowed to help save fuel, aid traffic flow and reduce pollutants from idling engines.

He said the “second problem” was three lanes going east to west and north to south. He said heading east on Washington Avenue after passing the intersection, two lanes suddenly merge into one lane, creating a situation for potential accidents.

He suggested the design was faulty and noted, probably a high school student “could give us a better plan at that intersection” than having cars cut one another off when merging.

Councilwoman Stacey Feeney said she had “received several phone calls” from motorists noting “a lot of racing going on” at that light heading east on Washington Avenue. She suggested the second lane heading east should be changed to a rightturn only lane. Sears agreed.

His third concern was the intersectionʼs turn radius. He said box trucks and cars heading west on Washington Avenue and making a left to Pascack Road often need to stop because traffic heading north on Pascack block their turning lane.

“Something has to be done,” Sears said, noting local emergency responders were concerned about the traffic problems he had mentioned.

On the night of Monday, June 5, Mayor Peter Calamari took to Facebook to respond to “the most common inquiries by residents.” Among these were over the intersection.

He said, “If you havenʼt had a chance to drive through the intersection of Pascack Road and Washington Ave, I invite you to do so. We successfully worked with the county to get this long-awaited project completed. The changes made, have also revised outdated driving rules and brought about many improvements in moving traffic through the intersection.”

Calamari said, “In time Iʼm confident traffic studies will show this state-of-the-art design was a much-needed upgrade to our community. Drone footage was taken on May 23 by Boswell Engineering to document the new configuration.”

He also said Coach USA Route #47 is no longer re-routed, the commuter parking lot is set to go out to bid shortly, and the new DPW building could go out to bid this summer.

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