District presents state-of-schools data and new literacy grants as administrators flag demographic shifts

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Galeski delivered the State of the Schools presentation, focusing on demographic trends, assessment changes and a set of new grants intended to strengthen literacy and intervention services.

Dr. Galeski said the district has seen a pronounced rise in economically disadvantaged students — from about 28% in 2022 to "nearly 50%" — and that the multilingual learner population had risen from roughly 5.6% to nearly 10%. She said student transiency (students in district less than one year) also rose and that these demographic shifts complicate year‑to‑year comparisons on state assessments. Galeski explained the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) and some graduation proficiency tests will move to adaptive formats next spring, and she urged reliance on in‑house assessments while the state transitions.

On grants, Galeski described three LEAR‑related awards: a five‑year literacy coach position (reported as $150,000 for five years), an "impact" grant to fund high‑school instructional materials and professional development, and a RISE (reading intervention) grant reported as $50,000 for grades 6–8. At the meeting the state monitor (Miss Blood) also congratulated the district and said the district had been awarded $1,200,000 in competitive grants. (Note: during the presentation Dr. Galeski used the phrase "In total, it was $12,000,000 in grants," while the state monitor later referenced $1,200,000 in competitive grants; the district did not provide a single reconciled total in the meeting.)

District plans included continued use of K–8 literacy resources, instructional rounds, expanded PLCs and grant-funded high‑impact tutoring and coaching. Administrators emphasized these are multi-year capacity investments and that some supports are grant‑funded pilot activities that will require board decisions for ongoing funding.