Montclair Residents Blast ‘Racial Inequities’ At BOE Meeting

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Board of Education chose to shut down their meeting last week after a group of attendees disrupted the event with calls for racial justice.

At the meeting on Feb. 19 – which included presentations on the public school district’s ongoing achievement gap between black and white students – members of the National Independent Black Parents' Association (NIBPA) spoke out during public comment, TAP Into Montclair reported.

At one point, the presence of a police officer, who was invited to the meeting by board members, caused a commotion when a NIBPA member was at the podium, TAP Into reported.

Other attendees at the meeting offered criticism about alleged racial inequities in the district, including students of color facing harsher discipline than their white peers, issues with early dyslexia screening and a proposed $600,000 cut from Equity Curriculum instruction in Montclair’s public schools.

Eventually, board members ended the meeting early when they were unable to regain control of the room, TAP Into reported.

Watch a video of the Feb. 19 meeting.

Some of the attendees at the meeting also took the opportunity to praise programs such as the Restorative Justice Initiative Program at Glenfield and Edgemont schools, an alternative method of discipline that stresses conflict resolution over punishment. Read the full article.

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