Hillsdale School District board elects leadership and approves routine appointments at Jan. 5 organization meeting

The Hillsdale School District Board of Education met for its organization meeting on Jan. 5, 2026, at the Anthony S. De Norchia Administration Building. Sacha Pouliot, the board secretary, called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and administered the Oath of Office to newly elected trustees Sal Sileo and Kathleen Puerta.

Trustee Justin Saxon nominated Trustee Kevin Donatello for board president; Trustee Sal Sileo seconded the nomination. With no other nominations, the board elected Kevin Donatello by consensus. Donatello then presided and the board elected Trustee Justin Saxon as vice president by consensus vote.

The board adopted the New Jersey School Boards Association Code of Ethics and approved a series of routine professional and administrative appointments. The board appointed Fogarty, Hara, LaPira & Cherry, LLC as board attorneys and Rogut McCarthy LLC as bond counsel. Phoenix Advisors, LLC was named continuing disclosure agent and municipal advisor; Nisivoccia, LLP was appointed school auditor; and Allen Barnett, AIA of DiCara | Rubino Architects was appointed school architect. All appointments were approved by unanimous consensus votes.

The board also approved district vendors and operational appointments: Nelson-Patterson Insurance Agency was designated agent of record for district insurance and IMAC Insurance Agency was named broker of record for dental benefits. Dr. Mark Mandel was appointed school physician at a rate of $6,000 for the appointment term, and Ms. Kelly Ippolito was appointed treasurer of school moneys at a rate of $4,000. T&M Associates was approved as AHERA consultant at $2,650 per inspection. The board approved Pascack Construction Management and Consulting as a construction management liaison and renewed membership in the Northeast Bergen County School Board Insurance Group for July 1, 2025–June 30, 2028.

Financial and administrative housekeeping items included designation of Valley Bank and the State of New Jersey Cash Management Fund as depositories, approval of signature requirements for district accounts, authorization for the school business official to participate in the New Jersey Asset & Rebate Management Program (NJ/ARM) with U.S. Bank as custodian, and authorization to procure goods and services through listed cooperative purchasing agreements. The board adopted the 2026–2027 meeting schedule, approved existing district policies and the curriculum aligned to New Jersey Student Learning Standards, and established student activity funds for the district’s three schools.

The board accepted the resignation of Nancy Ryoo, computer teacher at Meadowbrook School, effective Dec. 19, 2025. The meeting concluded with formal approval of the minutes and publication of the 2026–2027 meeting calendar. All recorded motions during the organization meeting passed by consensus voice votes of the five members present (Donatello, Sileo, Kenduck, Puerta and Saxon).

Next steps: the board calendar notes that action may be taken at all listed meetings and that executive sessions may be convened as necessary.