Upcoming Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education Election

Judy Sullivan and Kim Ansh are highly regarded for their transparency, integrity, and compassion. They are known for their meticulous work on the board and have earned a reputation for the high quality of their work and their respectful relationships with constituents. They, along with their fellow board majority, are praised for their dedication to the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District and the FLOW community, especially in complex policy negotiations, legal and financial issues, educational matters, and community relations. They are known to be model citizens who are fully engaged in civic activities and committed to giving back to the community. They are admired for their ethical behavior, professionalism, and genuine concern for the students.

After a multi-year effort to shift the district’s focus from the liberal woke ideologies of Trenton, Washington, and our teachers’ unions, and from a misguided and inexperienced board and administration that was out of touch with what parents and the community wanted, the Board of Education’s leadership changed in January 2023.

At this time, Judy Sullivan and Kim Ansh took the reins of leadership. Here is a list of what was accomplished during 2023 under their leadership:

• They ensured committee assignments represented a board leadership that is more aligned with the FLOW community and the clear mandate handed down in the 2022 election, despite refusals by minority board members to cooperate, resulting in an unfair distribution of work.

• They ensured policies were put in place to meet the community's desire for more transparency, community involvement, and comfort. This included holding two meetings a month in more intimate settings, restoring all public comments that were removed by John Carolan and Vivian King, and allowing flexibility with more options for teleconferencing into public board meetings and committees.

• They ensured the non-renewal of the district's previous board attorney, which allowed for refreshing new legal perspectives that better moved the district forward in the complex and ever-changing environment for education in NJ. This recognized the community’s desire for legal representation that would uphold the community’s values in areas such as special education, parental rights, and conservative local oversight of schools. They successfully oversaw the hiring of two of the best law firms in the state.

• They ensured a temporary pause of the district's Energy Savings Investment Plan to ensure the plans pushed through by a previous lame-duck board were appropriate and aligned with the goals of the newly elected board members, given the lack of transparency and too many unanswered questions from the previous year.

• They ensured the superintendent's handling of Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying cases was refocused to better adhere to newly introduced state laws, working closely with the district's new legal counsel to ensure the community's conservative values were considered, as well as the desire to rein in Trenton's overreach with inconsistent liberal ideologies.

• They ensured the approval of a budget that kept increases to a reasonable level—significantly lower than the out-of-control increases of the previous board—despite efforts by some to ignore the need for fiscal conservatism.

• They successfully oversaw the negotiation of a new contract with the district's teachers’ union, despite a lack of support from the full board, which resulted in an unfair distribution of the Board's workload.

• They ensured that, where possible, only staff who demonstrated an understanding of the district's social media policies and who were most likely to respect the community's values were retained.

• They oversaw the completion of the Superintendent’s Strategic Planning Process and pushed for balancing his plan with the community's values, particularly in prioritizing goals and initiatives that put teaching and learning at the top, over more ideological goals related to culture, reimagining time, and what should be more “parent-centric” goals regarding student health and wellness.

• They ensured that the mental health of students remained a paramount priority, demonstrated by the funding of $3.6 million for student special education, student well-being, and mental health, with 17 vendors approved in just one meeting to provide these services.

After Judy Sullivan’s retirement in 2023, Kim Ansh and Marianna Emmolo took over, and under their strong leadership, the following was accomplished in 2024:

• They ran a successful recruitment process for a new permanent Superintendent, which led to the hiring of Mrs. Shauna DeMarco, a highly accomplished and sought-after educator who worked her way up from teacher to superintendent in several districts, most recently in Tenafly, where she oversaw remarkable growth in student achievement. Ramapo Indian Hills is extremely fortunate to have her.

• They oversaw the successful onboarding of a highly accomplished curriculum director, Dr. Melissa Quackenbush, who joined the district from Paramus, where her hard work led to significant achievements. In a short time, Dr. Quackenbush achieved a comprehensive restructuring of supervisory roles, paving the way for a complete overhaul of the district’s curriculum to raise student achievement and address the district’s poor test scores, as evidenced by the recent NJGPA results and low graduation readiness levels. This was something Dr. Quackenbush’s predecessors, Dr. Dionisio and Ms. Fisher, were unable to properly address, ultimately contributing to their departures from the district (if the rumors are true - a blessing in the end).

• Both Mrs. DeMarco and Dr. Quackenbush understand the FLOW community’s conservative values and will uphold and support those values in the development of curriculum and a school community that thrives on a renewed dedication to parental rights, transparency in educational
practices, and respect for the community’s rich family values. Additionally, they understand the community’s desire for a strong collaborative working relationship between schools and local government leaders to help rein in Trenton's and Washington’s overreach of inconsistent liberal ideologies and in financial decision making to maintain reasonable impact on property taxes.

• They achieved a balanced budget. With an increased focus on fiscal responsibility and the guidance of an amazing and highly experienced interim business administrator, Ms. Dora Zeno, the district has achieved a balanced budget for the first time in four or five years, navigating significant inflationary pressures without overburdening taxpayers. This was not achieved under Ms. Zeno’s predecessors, Dr. Dionisio and Mr. Thomas Lambe, whose inability to prioritize budget management contributed to their departures from the district (again if the rumors are true - another blessing).

• They achieved a new platform for complete transparent communication with the hiring of a highly accomplished public relations and communications firm to highlight positive developments, district branding, and foster a renewed sense of school pride and community engagement. This platform showcased IHHS’s recent 60th anniversary and will finally address the district’s declining enrollment and disparity between Ramapo and Indian Hills. A weekly online newsletter is now being produced, and the district finally has its own social media page on Facebook! This was something attempted by the current Board majority in previous years, but was not supported by individuals like Dr. Dionisio, Mr. Lambe, Tom Bogdansky, Helen Koulikourdis, Brian DeLaite, and Aaron Lorenz. An amazing accomplishment with great things to come as a result.

• Implemented much-needed infrastructure and safety upgrades: Significant facility improvements, including updated security and intercom systems for both schools, the introduction of armed security and AI gun detection software, renovated athletic trainer rooms, renovated Thrive classrooms to support mental health, HVAC systems, and the Indian Hills concession/sports facility, making it equivalent to Ramapo HS. Many of these initiatives did not affect the operating budget as they were fully funded by the district’s healthy capital reserves.

The chaos has ended, and there have been remarkable successes. These accomplishments show that our multi-year effort, starting in 2020 and 2021, to elect the right candidates who truly understand the community's values, has led to great change.

Thank you, Judy Sullivan, Kim Ansh, Marianna Emmolo, Doreen Mariani, Audrey Souders, and Melissa Kiel.

There is a lot at stake. This campaign is about continuing the journey towards a stronger, more transparent, and education-focused RIH School District that partners with parents and our local town leaders.

Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff voters need to support leadership that values integrity, fiscal prudence, and the educational well-being of every student. Board Members who support “Academics, Not Activism.” Board Members who support “Academic Excellence Leadership.” Board Members who support “Leadership with Integrity.” There are only three candidates who have proven to be true patriots, their patriotism shining through on their campaign signs and materials—patriotism that will lead our school districts with the values our community holds high.

Franklin Lakes: Caryn Nash is an active attendee at the Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education meetings for the last 2 years and has brought her empathetic style to the important discussions taking place at the board table.

Oakland: Joe Valenti is a longtime resident of the FLOW community, 26 years in Oakland. He is has a BS in accounting and a law degree in taxation. He is a true patriot as a 20 plus year member of the federal law enforcement community. He brings his business background and understanding of how our government works to ensure local control of our schools in collaboration with those leaders who share our conservative values.

Wyckoff: Marianna Emmolo is a 15 year resident of Wyckoff and has shown during her tenure on the Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education that she will fight against ideologically focused/ curriculum that is based on ones beliefs rather than facts and will advocate for curriculum and supporting resources that are fair and balanced. Her focus has been on quality, fact-based academia that promotes respect, compassion, equality and preserves the individual freedoms and rights of all students and their parents to ensure our community as a whole will thrive.

Caryn, Joe and Marianna understand the FLOW community's desire for our schools to be a place for learning basic academic subjects not learning the ideologies and social constructs of the state or their teachers. It is the parents place to choose the path their child should take. Caryn, Joe and Marianna are the only candidates in this cycle who have the support of our FLOW local community leaders that will ensure our community values are considered and respect in all decisions the Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education make in their role running our schools.

November 5th - Vote for Caryn Nash, Joe Valenti, and Marianna Emmolo.