School board honors McCloskey

A Passaic County Unsung Heroes Award was presented to Michael McCloskey, a senior at West Milford High School, during the Board of Education meeting Jan. 30.

The awards recognize seniors at each high school in the county who make outstanding contributions to their schools or communities and often are overlooked by traditional recognition programs.

Interim Superintendent Lydia Furnari cited McCloskey’s tremendous academic and personal growth during his time as a student in the district, saying, “Michael is a student leader in every sense of the word.”

She also noted his leadership as captain of several varsity teams and his recent triumph as the winner of the Passaic County Bowling Championship. “He is described as a stand-out bowler and runner and excels in Special Olympics.”

McCloskey recently was accepted at Seton Hall and William Paterson universities during an on-site admission day.

Aidan Cimbrik of Troop 259 presented his proposal for an Eagle Scout project at Maple Road Elementary School.

He plans to build a podium for after-school activities there as well as a pathway with stepping stones from the media center to the main walkway. He would engrave quotes about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in the stones to spark students’ interest in those subjects.

Daniel Novak, the district’s director of education, reported that the high school computer science class won the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for expanding young women’s access to AP Computer Science.

West Milford High School was one of 225 high schools nationwide who received the award.

The board voted to table a proposal for the district to partner with New Jersey Community Development Corp. to implement the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services program so it can be discussed by a board committee.

The youth mental health support initiative is funded by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.

The board approved a proposal for the Northern Region Educational Services Commission of Wayne to provide an additional day for mental health counselor services, in an amount not to exceed $49,120. The amount will be partially funded through a grant.

Board members also voted to apply for a grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs for about $100,000 to install lighting at Dygos Field, which is owned by the district.

Book-vending machines

During the meeting, board members discussed the installation of book-vending machines in the elementary schools. The goal of the machines is to provide awards for the children and to promote reading.

The logistics of the machines are still being worked out, but the money has been allocated to purchase them.

The machines, known as Inchy the Bookworm Book Vending Machines, cost $5,300 to $6,300, according to the Global Vending Group, and can hold 200 to 300 books.

Board members noted that the machines are customizable, which would allow them to fit in with the recent rebranding of the district’s colors to black and gold.

Board member Kate Romeo asked how the vending machines would be stocked and whether leftover books from the former Westbrook Elementary School could be used. Westbrook was turned into Highlander Academy, an inclusive special-education program, starting last fall.

Board member Peter Lippe said the books would have to be of a certain size to fit in the vending machines and that books from Westbrook were boxed because the librarians and others said they weren’t enticing to students.

Lippe stated the district has not found any takers for the books from Westbrook.

Romeo asked if there was an opportunity for the community or local businesses to sponsor the vending machines, and board members agreed to research this and other questions.

Also during the meeting, board member William Cytowicz expressed his opposition to legislation proposed by Gov. Phil Murphy that would lower the voting age to 16 in school board elections. The proposed law follows Murphy signing a bill that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in state primaries if they turn 18 by the time of the general election.

Cytowicz described the proposed bill as ridiculous and said, joking, “I did not garner their vote (the students) with that statement, but I stand by it.”

The governor credited the proposal to Anjali Krishnamurti and Yenjay Hu, who co-founded VOTE16NJ. Hu is a senior at Westfield High School, and Krishnamurti recently graduated from Somerville High School.