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Wayne district reports fewer bullying complaints, presents 2025 NJSLA results and new test format
Summary
The superintendent presented required HIB and safety data covering Jan'June 2025, reporting 30 confirmed HIB findings out of 96 investigations and a near 49% drop in bullying complaints over two years; assistant superintendent Dr. Laura Kazmark highlighted gains in NJSLA proficiency for several grades and warned the state's scoring changes and a shift to an adaptive test complicate year-to-year comparisons.
The superintendent presented the district's twice-yearly safety and Harassment/Intimidation/Bullying (HIB) report for the Jan. 1'June 30, 2025 reporting period during the Oct. 9 Board of Education meeting, noting both areas of concern and improvement.
The report listed 13 incidents of violence, 4 incidents of vandalism, zero weapons offenses, 10 incidents of substance abuse and 172 general-code-of-conduct removals during the reporting period. The district said it investigated 96 alleged HIB incidents and confirmed 30. Remedial and corrective measures described included individual counseling, student and parent conferences, schedule changes, stay-away agreements, adult monitoring and other supports. The superintendent said the district's preliminary rubric submission averaged 75.9 out of a possible 78 points and that the district has reduced the number of bullying complaints by nearly 49% over the past two years.
"Our schools continue to maintain excellent records of investigation, documenting and reporting and handling all incidents in a timely manner," the superintendent said, summarizing district practices and interventions.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Laura Kazmark reviewed statewide New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) results from May 2025 and highlighted areas of growth: language-arts proficiency increases in grades 4 through 8, notable gains in grade 5 math (including growth into the "exceeding expectations" category), and gains in science at the tested grades (5, 8 and 11). Kazmark cautioned that the state sometimes recalibrates scoring, which can affect year-to-year comparisons, and that changes in cohort composition (for example, more middle-school students taking Algebra I) can shift high-school course cohorts.
Dr. Kazmark also announced the New Jersey Department of Education is rolling out a new adaptive version of the NJSLA. A state field test is scheduled between late October and early November; districts will receive information and dates and the test will be adaptive for grades 4 through 11 and for certain 12th graders who previously took algebra or geometry courses.
The assistant superintendent outlined district interventions tied to assessment results: adoption of an updated K'12 math curriculum, supplemental middle-school science lessons aligned to standards, common high-school science assessments, and the use of i-Ready literacy tasks in elementary grades to strengthen foundational skills and writing instruction.
Board members credited teachers and recovery funding (COVID-relief funds used for tutoring and after-school programming) for part of the academic recovery seen in the data, especially in middle-school algebra.
