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Heads up! Our parent watchdogs have scanned the upcoming agenda for Tenafly Public School District. We found 12 items that need your immediate attention before the vote.
| HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 8) |
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District Approves On-Site ‘Behavioral Health Care Services’
Under Item 14.6, the board is approving ‘West Bergen Mental Health’ as a vendor for ‘Behavioral Health Care Services.’ This creates a pathway for school-based mental health interventions that may occur without direct parental involvement or explicit consent, putting the school between you and your child.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND ANSWERS: Contact the Superintendent (see district website for contact): ‘Regarding the West Bergen Mental Health vendor in Item 14.6, what specific services will be offered on school grounds, and what is the exact procedure for obtaining active, written parental consent before a student receives any service?’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Bypassing Parents
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| HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 8) |
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New Contract for ‘Substance Abuse Intervention’ in Schools
Item 14.8 approves a contract with ‘Care Plus Bergen Inc.’ for a ‘substance abuse intervention, prevention and treatment referral program.’ This brings another outside agency into schools to manage sensitive student issues, raising serious questions about parental notification and consent.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND ANSWERS: Contact the Superintendent (see district website for contact): ‘Regarding the Care Plus Bergen contract in Item 14.8, what is the district’s policy on notifying parents before their child is questioned or assessed by this third-party vendor?’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Undisclosed Cost
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| HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 8) |
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District Spends $50K on Student Data-Mining Platform
The bills list under Item 14.1 includes a $50,125.50 payment to ‘Advanced Assessment System, Inc. (LinkIt)’. LinkIt is a data dashboard platform that collects and analyzes vast amounts of student data, creating detailed digital profiles that can be used for social-emotional tracking and surveillance.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: Email the Board (see district website for contacts): ‘Regarding the $50,125.50 payment to LinkIt in Item 14.1, what specific student data points are being collected, who owns the data, and how can parents opt their children out of this data-mining?’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: $50,125.50
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| HIGH CONCERN (LEVEL 8) |
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Vague Title — Manual Review Required for Nursing Plan
Item 12.3 approves the ‘2026-2027 District Nursing Plan,’ but the plan itself is not attached to the agenda. These documents can contain policies on providing health services, including mental health or contraceptives, without parental consent.
Recommended Action Plan
INVESTIGATE: Open the file for Item 12.3 in the Official Agenda (linked above) to confirm whether it contains sensitive policy changes regarding student health services and parental notification.
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Parental Consent Loophole
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| NEEDS REVIEW (LEVEL 7) |
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Board Limits Public Comment to 30 Minutes Total
Item 9.1 establishes a total time limit of 30 minutes for all public comments, regardless of how many parents wish to speak. This rule can be used to shut down discussion on controversial topics once the clock runs out, effectively silencing parental concerns.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND YOUR RIGHT TO BE HEARD: Email the Board of Education (see district website for contacts): ‘Item 9.1’s 30-minute aggregate time limit on public comment is an unacceptable restriction on parental speech. We demand this arbitrary total time limit be removed to ensure all parents can address their elected representatives.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Silencing Parent Voices
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| NEEDS REVIEW (LEVEL 7) |
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New ‘Student Assistance Coordinator’ Role Opens Door for School-Based Therapy
The board is approving a job description for a ‘Student Assistance Coordinator’ (Item 10.12) to provide ‘social-emotional,’ ‘mental health,’ and ‘behavioral’ counseling and assessments. This role creates an in-school therapist position, which can lead to students receiving mental health services without full parental knowledge and consent.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: Contact the Superintendent (see district website for contact): ‘Regarding the Student Assistance Coordinator job description in Item 10.12, what is the district’s specific policy for obtaining active, written parental consent before any non-academic or mental health counseling or assessment is performed on a student?’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Your Child’s Privacy
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| NEEDS REVIEW (LEVEL 7) |
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District Spends $23K on Biased News Source for Classrooms
Item 14.1 includes a payment of $23,702 to Newsela, Inc. Newsela provides news articles for students that are often criticized for a strong progressive bias, effectively replacing objective current events instruction with one-sided political narratives.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND TRANSPARENCY: Email the Board (see district website for contacts): ‘Regarding the Newsela contract in Item 14.1, what is the district’s process for ensuring viewpoint diversity and objectivity in the articles presented to students as fact?’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: $23,702.00
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| NEEDS REVIEW (LEVEL 6) |
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District Buys ‘Social-Emotional’ Journals for 4th Graders
Item 14.1 shows a $1,197.80 payment to ‘Growing The Goodness, Inc.’ for ‘A Simple Seed Journal’ for fourth graders. This is a form of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) that encourages young children to journal about their feelings, a practice that can be used to gather sensitive data on students and families.
Recommended Action Plan
DEMAND REVIEW: Contact the Superintendent (see district website for contact): ‘I demand the right to review the “A Simple Seed Journal” from Item 14.1 before it is used in any classroom. What is the educational purpose of this journal and how will student privacy be protected?’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: $1,197.80
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| MONITOR (LEVEL 5) |
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District Pays $14,940 for Politicized Educational Videos
Item 14.1 includes a $14,940 payment to BrainPOP. While marketed as an academic tool, BrainPOP has increasingly incorporated politically-charged topics and Social Emotional Learning concepts into its videos for children.
Recommended Action Plan
OPT-OUT ALERT: Email the Superintendent (see district website for contact): ‘Regarding the BrainPOP contract in Item 14.1, I request the ability to review all assigned videos and opt my child out of any content that is not strictly academic.’
💰 Taxpayer Impact: $14,940.00
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| ALERT (LEVEL 4) |
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Vague Title — Manual Review Required
Item 11.2 is the first reading to abolish Policy P2263, ‘Student Use of Privately Owned Technology.’ The attached document could not be reviewed, so it is unclear what this change means for students and parental oversight.
Recommended Action Plan
INVESTIGATE: Open the file ‘P2363 Abolished.doc’ attached to Item 11.2 in the Official Agenda (linked above) to confirm whether this policy change is beneficial or harmful to students.
💰 Taxpayer Impact: Undisclosed Policy Change
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✅ Wins to Defend
Good moves worth showing up to support so they stick.
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| Major Win (LEVEL 8) |
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WIN: District Strengthens Ban on Student Cell Phones During School Day
The Board is giving a second reading to Policy 5516 and Regulation 5516, which prohibit students in all grades from using internet-enabled devices during the school day. This is a significant step toward removing distractions and returning the focus to academics in the classroom.
How to Lock It In
SECURE THE WIN: Show up or email the Board (see district website for contacts) to thank them for passing Item 11.3. Publicly supporting this policy makes it harder to weaken or reverse later and provides a model for other districts.
✅ Why It Matters: Focus on Academics
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| Major Win (LEVEL 7) |
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WIN: District Cancels Contract with Substance Abuse Intervention Provider
In Item 14.9, the Board is rescinding a previously approved contract with New Bridge Medical Center for ‘comprehensive substance abuse intervention’ services. Removing these third-party programs from schools is a major win for protecting student privacy and parental oversight.
How to Lock It In
AMPLIFY THE WIN: Email the Board (see district website for contacts) to thank them for rescinding the New Bridge contract in Item 14.9. Ask them to apply the same principle of parental primacy to the other third-party behavioral health vendors on this same agenda.
✅ Why It Matters: Protecting Student Privacy
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