July 18, 2026
RIH Drops Storage-Pocket Plan as New State Cell Phone Mandate Takes Effect
Students will keep their phones on them but must power them off and stow them away all day, with no carve-out for lunch or passing periods, under a strict mandate the state's education department spelled out in a July 9 FAQ. The superintendent says it forced the district to abandon a softer draft policy.
Ramapo Indian Hills students will have to power off and stow their cell phones from the opening bell through dismissal starting this fall, keeping the devices on them rather than in a classroom holder. A July 9 FAQ from the New Jersey Department of Education spells out that the ban covers lunch, study hall and passing periods, with individual exceptions only for documented needs like a medical condition; the superintendent says that closes the door on an earlier RIH plan that would have allowed phones outside of class time. A formal district policy is due before the board in August, along with a late-August community webinar on how it will work. Wyckoff's K-8 district has its own long-standing phone policy, separate from RIH's.
July 15, 2026
What the iReady Lawsuit Could Decide
Curriculum Associates, the company behind the iReady platform used in Wyckoff's K-8 schools, is fighting a federal class action alleging it collects and shares student data without adequate consent. A judge paused the case on July 15 while he decides whether to dismiss it — here's what's actually being argued, based on a federal court docket we checked directly this week.
The claims are wiretap, privacy, and consumer-protection violations, not FERPA or COPPA, which don't allow private lawsuits. Curriculum Associates' motion to dismiss is still pending, and the court has just paused the rest of the case until it rules.
July 11, 2026
A Wyckoff Mom Asked If Her Daughter's Opinions Were Allowed to Be Collected. No Law Clearly Says.
After Mia Joudeh told the K-8 Board her fifth-grader was asked to weigh in on presidential age limits and driving laws inside an iReady lesson, we mapped the federal and New Jersey privacy laws that could apply — and found none of them settles the question.
The piece walks through six federal and New Jersey laws — FERPA, PPRA, COPPA, the state's general Online Privacy Act, its K-12 ed-tech vendor law, and a narrow website-disclosure statute — plus what the K-8 and Ramapo Indian Hills districts' own policies say. Nearly all are enforced only by a government agency; one, New Jersey's ed-tech vendor law, is the sole exception with a private right to sue, though only for a quantifiable monetary loss. Several of the six leave the central question genuinely open rather than answered. A companion piece, "What the iReady Lawsuit Could Decide," covers the pending lawsuit testing that question directly.
July 8, 2026
New Principal Named, Longtime Teacher Retires as Wyckoff BOE Election Filing Begins
The Wyckoff Board of Education named a new Coolidge principal and marked a longtime math teacher's retirement at its June 29 meeting, as filing opened for three seats in the Nov. 3 school election, with nominating petitions due July 27.
Three Wyckoff Board of Education seats — two three-year terms and one one-year term — are on the Nov. 3 ballot, with nominating petitions due July 27. The board's June 29 meeting also included the appointment of a new Coolidge Elementary principal, the retirement of a longtime Eisenhower math teacher, a security camera contract for three schools, and stable district enrollment.
June 30, 2026
Two-Thirds of Wyckoff Parents Say School Screen Time Is Too High
A district technology survey found most responding parents want less classroom screen time, as speakers raised new concerns about the data the iReady platform collects from students.
A Wyckoff School District technology survey found that two-thirds of 475 responding parents believe school-day screen time is too high, the Board of Education's Curriculum and Instruction committee reported June 29. The district said it is reviewing where iReady can be streamlined. Public speakers welcomed the survey but pressed the board for an actionable plan and raised new concerns that iReady was asking students opinion questions about laws and public policy without clear parental consent.
June 29, 2026
Wyckoff Educators Vote No Confidence in Superintendent Postma
The Wyckoff Education Association told the Board of Education that a majority of voting members had declared no confidence in Dr. Kerry Postma; the superintendent disputed the scale of the dissent and defended her record.
The Wyckoff Education Association announced at the June 29 Board of Education meeting that its members had voted no confidence in Superintendent Dr. Kerry Postma, citing years of concerns about workplace climate, staffing decisions, and fear of retaliation. Union president Sheila McLean said the vote drew 81 percent participation with about 70 percent of those voting in support. Postma disputed the scale of the result, describing it as 50 to 55 people out of an association of roughly 250, and defended her staffing decisions and record.
June 16, 2026
Ramapo Indian Hills' Draft AI Rules Would Allow ChatGPT in Every Class — With Citations Required
Policy 2365 cleared its first reading Monday. If the board adopts it at a second vote, students at both regional high schools could use generative AI on assignments — provided they disclose how they used it and remember the tools 'may produce inaccurate, incomplete, or biased information.'
The Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District board took a procedural first step Monday night toward formal rules for student and staff use of generative AI tools like ChatGPT. If adopted at a future meeting, Policy 2365 would allow AI use in every classroom but require students to cite that use on assignments. Cheating would be handled under a separate academic-integrity policy the district is updating at the same time. The board also approved a new in-house specialist role to coach teachers on AI use — that job description, unlike the policy itself, passed outright.
June 8, 2026
Student Leads Parents in Push to Limit iReady; District Launches Screen-Time Survey
A student-led critique and coordinated parent testimony arrived on the same night the district launched a community survey on screen time — and families are calling for more.
Organized parent testimony and a seventh grader's public critique of iReady at Monday's Board of Education meeting prompted a district screen-time survey and calls for a town hall, with families demanding iReady limits, Chromebook policies, and a meeting with the superintendent.
June 5, 2026
Wyckoff Parents Launch Petition Urging School Board to Weigh in on iReady Screen Time
A community group is asking the district to publish usage limits, share outcome data, and reaffirm the primacy of teacher-led instruction.
A parent-led petition is asking Wyckoff's Board of Education to publish screen time limits, share outcome data, and reaffirm teacher-led instruction as central to learning. The effort, called Wyckoff Balance, raises concerns about transparency around iReady — the adaptive learning platform used throughout the district — without calling for its elimination.