[32] Local media linked the four sudden resignations to the Board's "disputed" search for a permanent superintendent to succeed Lauren Schoen (who had transferred to a position in Mahwah the prior year), which, in May 2014, culminated in district curriculum director Beverly MacKay being chosen for the role; The Record, as evidence, highlighted how the Board was set to interview the final four superintendent candidates (including MacKay) the same week that the latter three resignations were announced.
[43] Sadie Quinlan and Teresa Kilday's Oakland seats were also up for re-election, but they decided not to run and no candidates filed to replace them — therefore the positions were to be filled by whichever individuals received the most write-in votes.
[45] In January 2018, 20-year-old Seton Hall University student Thomas Rukaj was appointed to represent Franklin Lakes on the Board for the remaining one year of what had been member Lisa Sciancalapore's term until she resigned.
At the time, Board President John Kinney said the search for their successors would start "immediately," while member Filomena LaForgia, retrospectively, attributed the chaotic transition to the district, "grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 8, 2021, the Board hired a firm (Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates) to help find a permanent successor to former superintendent Beverly MacKay, who had retired in August 2020.
[59] On August 9, 2021, the Board (aided by Hazard & Young) approved the hiring of Rui Dionisio to, starting that November, officially take over as the next full-time Ramapo Indian Hills superintendent.
At the time, the Board touted that Dionisio had, in Verona, previously led "mental health and suicide prevention [initiatives], resulting in financial support and public adoption of an innovative, therapeutic mental health program," while also pointing to his having overseen capital investment and energy improvement projects totaling $50 million; Filomena Laforgia, president of the Ramapo Indian Hills Board at the time, said that "Dr. Dionisio fits the bill," as a "strong, dynamic, and thoughtful leader," who was capable of leading the district "through some critical changes.
[61] Leading up to election day, LaForgia was, "...the most vocal of the anti-mask-mandate candidates, at first refusing to wear a mask at meetings and receiving a no-confidence vote from the faculty in response," while Ansh campaigned on, "...medical freedom, transparency, parental rights and...[banning] Critical Race Theory...from school curriculum";[62] meanwhile, fake brochures decorated with, "...symbols for LGBT...Rights [and] a Black Lives Matter clenched fist," were circulated (and thereafter condemned by both targeted candidates), which claimed Lorenz wanted to, "...[make] America 'less white,' '[abolish] the police,' and...'reprogram our youth to accept and promote racial and gender diversity,'" and stated that Koulikourdis advocated for, "...mandated vaccines for all students and faculty; implementing diversity, equity and inclusion curriculum; and promoting an 'LGBTQ atmosphere'".
Franklin Lakes Borough Council candidate Joel Ansh, one of the individuals sued, used the lawsuit in his campaign, creating a website and distributing materials that, "accus[ed] the Yudins of attempting to suppress their First Amendment rights to free speech".
[65] In 2022, president John Carolan and member Robert Fortunato decided not to run for re-election to additional terms representing Wyckoff on the regional board of education.
Following the 2022 election, a parents' rights bloc of Board members, made up of Judith Sullivan, Marianna Emmolo, Tom Bogdansky, Doreen Mariani, and Kim Ansh and focused in part on "...handling the implementation of [the] state’s mandates regarding health/physical education and diversity, equity, and inclusion,"[75] held a five-seat majority on the nine-seat body.
[76] In November 2022, Brian DeLaite (who was recently defeated in a race for a different seat on the body) was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Board following James Setteducato's resignation in September.
[78][79] In February 2023, after the Board ended the relationship with its longtime attorney (Fogarty and Hara), Adam Weiss of Busch Law Group was hired to represent the district.
[80] In July 2023, Kim Ansh, Judith Sullivan, Marianna Emmolo, and Doreen Mariani rejected three mental health programs recommendations, which would have renewed a contract for school-based counseling and made new agreements to train and certify school district personnel as well as establish online access to treatment providers for students and staff.
[83] In September 2023, board member Aaron Lorenz introduced a motion (which later failed) to remove Judith Sullivan, who had confirmed she was not running for re-election in November, as president of the body.
Board President Judith Sullivan attempted to convene a special session immediately in August, but a majority of members failed to attend leading to three options being presented at the next regular meeting: appointing an acting superintendent from within Ramapo Indian Hills, hiring an interim superintendent from outside the district for a limited term, or contracting a search firm to immediately begin seeking Dionisio's long-term successor.
"[88] In a series of votes over the next several board meetings, Bogdansky would join "minority" members Lorenz, Yudin King, Brian DeLaite, and Helen Koulikourdis to form a coalition that defeated the options to appoint an acting superintendent or initiate an immediate search.
At a September 11 meeting, this coalition voted again to table these options, with Bogdansky consistently citing advice from local administrators that the "deeply divided board" should hire an interim and wait for dynamics to "calm down" before searching for a permanent replacement.
Later in the meeting, Bogdansky introduced a motion to issue a request for proposals due by December 31 — meaning that the newly sworn-in 2024 Board would choose a firm and the superintendent instead of splitting the process between current and future members — which passed with eight votes.
Though local Jewish leaders and police officials confirmed that, "the incident was reported properly to law enforcement," and school district officials wrote to parents that they, "unequivocally condemn acts of hatred of all types," some residents, "...criticized the seven-day delay in the school's announcement and said, as parent Jeffrey Greene put it, [the district] 'has simply tried to sweep the incident under the rug'".
[98] In March 2024, the Board's parents' rights bloc (President Kim Ansh, Vice President Marianna Emmolo, Tom Bogdansky, Melissa Kiel, Doreen Mariani, and Audrey Souders) passed a measure to rescind the district's policy regarding transgender students, which previously allowed students who changed their gender status with the school to decide whether or not their parents should be informed of the change.
Board President Kim Ansh stated that a parent's trust in educators is a "sacred bond" and, "When you are now in a situation where the school may be lying to you about your child, that trust is broken," whereas member Brian DeLaite countered that abolishing the transgender policy was meant to, "appease a certain constituency in our community at the expense of those that need the most protection," as, "If you have a great relationship with your children, they're going to share with you [while] The children who need to be protected the most are the ones who are at risk in their own homes."
A separate 7-0-2 vote (board members Audrey Souders and Melissa Kiel abstained) resulted in the sudden, unexplained termination of interim superintendent James Baker's contact, which was set to expire in July.
[113] Incumbent Marianna Emmolo, meanwhile, campaigned on boosting graduation readiness and implementing a block schedule while arguing that Kinney lacked a "meaningful strategic plan" during his leadership and that, under his watch, the district's academic performance declined; she also articulated the need to rebalance the distribution of students between Ramapo Indian Hills' two high schools and touted efforts to enhance parent-district communication.
After the election, the Record concluded that "the board [is] split philosophically 5-3 with minority faction Kinney, Koulikourdis and Brian DeLaite," while, "Trustee Tom Bogdansky has proved to be a swing vote, sometimes siding with one group or the other.