A seventh grader took the podium first.

She arrived at Monday's Board of Education meeting with notes, research, and a purpose — an Eisenhower Middle School student who had come to make a case against the district's iReady program. Over several minutes, she methodically catalogued what she said were its failures, the adaptive learning platform the district uses in math and reading: wording so confusing that students guess at multiple-choice answers,[1] lessons that repeat content from years prior, a relentless volume of assigned work that she said produces stress without producing learning.

"If nobody's benefiting from it, why are we using it?" she asked the board, quoting a fellow student. "We should stop using iReady. There is no benefit, and we are just wasting money."

Board President Lou Cicerchia acknowledged her from the dais. "We had a brave seventh grader here," he said.

She was not alone.

What followed was one of the more organized displays of community advocacy in recent memory at a Wyckoff Board of Education meeting.[2] Six speakers in the evening's open public comment period — parents, an educator, and organizers of a formal petition called "Reclaiming the Classroom" — delivered coordinated testimony urging the district to limit or roll back iReady, restrict Chromebook use during non-instructional time, and adopt a formal district-wide policy on technology use.

The district appeared to anticipate the pressure. By 3:00 p.m. that day — hours before the meeting began — a screen-time survey had been sent to parents. The timing was not lost on speakers.

"We only just received the survey at 3:00," said Mia Joudeh, of Kaitlin Lane. "I did have a speech prepared, which I will continue with — but I do want to thank you for that first step."

The concerns centered less on technology in the abstract than on a specific cluster of complaints: that iReady lessons are repetitive and poorly worded; that one-on-one device use for young children lacks peer-reviewed research support; and that screen time accumulates throughout the school day — in classrooms, at the library, during indoor recess, and in music class — without clear district guidelines governing its use.

Abby Kalter, of Albemarle Street, spoke as the parent of a seven-year-old at Sicomac Elementary. At home, she said, her family has worked to maintain a low-tech environment for her son. She said she was "discouraged" to learn how deeply devices had been embedded in the school day. "Please review the evidence and make this right — with transparency, policy, and action," she said. "Set guidelines around Chromebook use. Roll back iReady, as it has zero peer-reviewed studies for the K-2 age group."

Eleni Siderias, of Woodside Road, identified herself as both a Wyckoff parent and a professional educator. She called the survey an "excellent first step" but urged the district to go further: to conduct focus groups, create anonymous feedback channels for teachers, and provide a grade-by-grade inventory of how many hours per day students spend on screens.[3] She also called for a public town hall before the start of the new school year. "Even assuming every single platform is pedagogically sound and the data privacy is perfect," she said, "how many hours a day or week are kids spending in front of screens, and what are they missing out on as a result?"

Laura Dechon, of Smith Place, whose twin sons are in second grade at Sicomac, spoke from the "Reclaiming the Classroom" petition and read from research she said supported the community's position. She cited Mayo Clinic findings linking more than two hours of daily screen time in elementary students to elevated rates of emotional and attention problems, and a 2025 meta-analysis connecting increased school-based screen time to anxiety and aggression.

Joudeh, an educator as well as a Wyckoff parent, drew a contrast between the district she enrolled her first child in eight years ago and the one her youngest — now a kindergartner — attends today. "Learning does not take place when a child is sitting behind a screen clicking just to be done," she said. "Learning happens when children engage with ideas, ask questions, work with others, and are guided by skilled teachers who know them." She asked the district to limit iReady's role as a targeted-instruction tool during the school day, to return middle schoolers to handwritten homework, and to schedule a direct meeting with Superintendent Dr. Postma.[4]

"Steps forward — that is the most important thing," she said.

Cicerchia acknowledged that technology and screen time had been the primary topic at the committee's most recent session, and said the parent survey sent that afternoon grew out of those discussions.[6] He urged the community to understand that the board does not select curriculum directly. "The board's role is not to pick curriculum — not to pick whether it's iReady or some other program — but to listen to the experts and gather information," he said. He described it as not an "us vs. them" issue and explained that the curriculum committee — where only three board members convene at a time — is where those questions get put directly to administrators.

Board Vice President Frank Barbagallo offered a counterpoint during new business.[5] "My son is at Eisenhower, and as a parent, I observe that he has a textbook in math, he has handwritten homework in math, and he is growing and learning," he said. "It is important to state the facts: there are textbooks involved and there is written homework involved."

The board's next meeting is scheduled for June 29th.