Public commenters press board on DEI, transgender guidance and parental rights; superintendent stresses individual handling and nurse communication

Two public commenters at the Aug. 28 Woodbridge Township Board of Education meeting urged the board to reconsider district approaches to diversity, equity and inclusion roles and to prioritize parental rights in instruction and student care. Paul Lund Hopelon raised concerns about a renamed DEI role and warned the district risked losing federal funds; Gerald Maglio of the Dolores Turco Foundation urged the board to heed recent Supreme Court rulings he said protect parental rights.

Hopelon said the district had renamed its DEI position "director of student access and engagement" while keeping the job description unchanged and that an OPRA request showed no meaningful change. He said that approach "puts $13,000,000 in federal funding at risk" and called the approach "willful defiance and reckless budgeting."

Gerald Maglio said recent Supreme Court decisions affect parental rights and urged the board to allow parents to opt out of instruction or content that conflicts with their religious beliefs. "Families, not bureaucrats, raise their children according to their sincerely held religious beliefs," Maglio said.

Superintendent Doctor Massimino responded to questions about DEI funding and student medical issues. When asked whether DEI was still being funded, a speaker in the meeting replied "No." Massimino described the district's process for students on medication: "If they're going through something that requires them being on medicine, that is gonna be a conversation that the parent has with the school nurse." He also addressed concerns about medical treatments in schools: "We don't give out puberty blockers. We don't perform surgeries."

No board action, vote or policy change on DEI or transgender guidance was taken at the meeting. The remarks came during public comment; board members did not propose motions or direct staff to change policy during the session.

The meeting record shows references to an OPRA request, a district policy number (referred to by commenters as "57 56") and "regulation 1,100 d," which were invoked during public comment but were not explained in detail by board staff during the meeting.