Sarah Bilotti was approved as the next superintendent for the district at the board meeting Monday, March 28 at Pascack Hills. Bilotti has been the Superintendent of Schools for the North Warren Regional School District for the last seven years. She will start on July 1, 2022.

“I [am] looking forward to working with all of you and the rest of the school community starting this summer and hopefully transitioning between now and then,” Bilotti said. 

According to an email from Board of Education President Joseph Blundo sent on Friday, March 25, Bilotti was chosen after a rigorous search process and input from the community. Included in this was an open-house forum where the public could comment on what they want in the next superintendent. 

The supervisor of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity committee and Mathematics department Dr. Mark Russo gave a presentation on an upcoming school climate survey. 

“[The district] will be implementing a school climate survey through a partnership with Rutgers University,” Russo said. “The New Jersey School Climate Improvement Survey is designed to help schools obtain multiple perspectives on aspects of school climate and will help us better understand strengths and needs in our schools.”

Russo said the survey is voluntary and anonymous; it will be available to students, parents and staff. Parents will receive a link to the questions prior to students taking the survey during their physical education class the week of April 12, and they have the opportunity to opt their kids out. Students will also be able to choose not to take it. 

“The school climate teams will be able to view aggregated responses on a password-protected online platform, but no one will have access to individual respondents’ answers,” Russo said. “I look forward to sharing the results of the school climate survey in the coming months. A big thrust of the equity and inclusivity work is based on the results we get from the school climate survey.”

According to Russo, the district has been focusing on the importance of representation. The students and faculty in the district have shared information about and celebrated things such as Black History Month and Women’s History Month to promote inclusivity. 

Faculty have also been invited to participate in optional professional development workshops on the importance of equity and inclusivity.

The Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Dr. Barry Bachenheimer also gave a presentation. Bachenheimer discussed the goals of the district. Included are subject proficiency and health and wellness for the students. 

Joe Orlak, Social Studies, Business, and Internship supervisor, presented the importance of civics and real-world learning to the district and how they have implemented it in the classroom.

“We’ve created an inventory of skills for career readiness for our special education students,” Orlak said. “We’re seeing success with real-world learning for special education students.”

Various improvements for district facilities were approved as well. Multiple Pascack Valley District facilities resignations were also approved including PV Student Publication adviser and English Teacher William Rawson, District Electrician Michael Cornella and Executive Secretary for Region II  Special Education Office Eileen Leino. 

The board also recognized students for different achievements at Monday’s meeting. They honored the 109 students who earned the Seal of Biliteracy, PH senior Daisa Jarvis who received the  “Girls and Women in Sports” award and the dance team for their accomplishments at the Dance Team Union National Championship.

“Anytime you have the word national before championship it’s much more special [referring to the dance team’s national championship win],” Blundo said.