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Hillside superintendent highlights literacy, tutoring and rebuts social-media criticisms
Summary
Superintendent Erskine Glover updated the Hillside Board of Education on district initiatives including book distributions, a mentor reading kickoff, expansion of high-impact tutoring and professional development — and disputed social-media claims while reporting 16 current teacher vacancies.
Superintendent Erskine Glover told the Hillside Board of Education on Nov. 20 that the district has launched a series of literacy and student-support initiatives and pushed back against recent social-media criticism about taxes and teacher certification.
Glover said Hillside Public Schools was accepted into the League of Innovative Schools and that elementary students recently received sets of five free books to build home libraries; he said the district plans to distribute 10 more books during the school year. He also described a volunteer-driven REAL Mentor Reading program slated to begin the next morning, involving about 116 mentors, mostly Hillside High students, reading in elementary classrooms.
The superintendent said the district is investing in professional development and new instructional programs, including partnerships that expose students to industry-driven science experiences. Glover emphasized the district's investments in retention and training, and said substitutes working in the district hold the state-sanctioned substitute certification.
Glover read a social-media post that alleged Hillside "will keep on adding on more taxes year after year" while children remain in classrooms without certified teachers. He challenged that claim with district data, saying "for Hillside, currently, we have 16 teaching vacancies across all of our schools," and described active recruitment and hiring efforts.
He also highlighted several targeted supports: high-impact tutoring (expanded this year to grades 3, 4, 7 and 8), targeted in-class tutoring for students identified for extra help, and program evaluations to decide whether some investments should be continued. He invited the public to a strategic-plan session on Dec. 17 and noted the high school National Honor Society ceremony scheduled for Dec. 17 at approximately 5:30 p.m.
The board heard the report, thanked presenters and then opened a brief public-comment period.
Ending: The board moved into committee reports and later voted to enter executive session to discuss personnel and legal matters.
