Dear Highland Park Board of Education,

Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-5(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.

I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.

I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.

I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.

Records requested:

Policy and procedure records

Any and all written policies, procedures, rubrics, scoring criteria, guidelines, or staff guidance documents governing admission to the Irving Primary School Pre-K (preschool) program, including any documents identifying or defining all priority categories, tiebreakers, or weighting factors used to determine admission, currently in effect or in effect during the SY25-26 or SY26-27 admissions cycles.

Any and all written policies, procedures, or guidelines governing the Irving Pre-K waitlist, including how waitlist position is determined, how openings are filled from the waitlist, and how waitlisted families are or are not notified of status.
The Pre-K application form(s) used during the SY25-26 and SY26-27 admissions cycles.

Aggregate admissions data

Any existing reports, spreadsheets, summaries, dashboards, presentations, or other records that contain aggregate (non-identifying) counts of Pre-K applicants for the SY25-26 and SY26-27 admissions cycles, including but not limited to: total number of applications received; number of applications broken out by applicant age (3-year-old vs. 4-year-old); number of applicants meeting Priority 1 (free/reduced lunch); number of applicants meeting Priority 2 (sibling at Irving); number of applicants meeting neither Priority 1 nor Priority 2; number of applicants admitted, broken out by age and priority status; and number of applicants waitlisted, broken out by age and priority status.
If no aggregate report responsive to item 4 exists, then the underlying admissions log, tracking spreadsheet, decision log, application roster, or equivalent record(s) used by staff to manage the SY25-26 and SY26-27 Pre-K admissions cycles, with all personally identifying information about applicants and families redacted (see note below).
Any records reflecting the total number of Pre-K seats available, seats filled by current three-year-olds advancing, seats reserved for students with special needs, and seats available to outside applicants for SY25-26 and SY26-27.

Communications

Any and all emails sent or received by the following individuals, regarding the subjects of "preschool admission(s)," "Pre-K admission(s)," "preschool lottery," "Pre-K lottery," "preschool priority/priorities," "Pre-K priority/priorities," "preschool waitlist," "Pre-K waitlist," "Irving preschool registration," or "Irving Pre-K registration," between January 1, 2026 and the date of this request:

Dr. Kristina Susca, Superintendent
Michele Rodrigues, Director of Curriculum & Instruction
Megan McNally, Principal, Irving Primary School
Christine Gappa, Pre-K- PIRS, Irving Primary School
Anna Vargas, Pre-K- PIC, Irving Primary School

Any and all emails sent or received by the same five individuals listed in item 8, regarding the same subjects listed in item 8, between January 1, 2025 and June 30, 2025 (covering the SY25-26 admissions cycle).

Notice and limitations
I am NOT seeking any personally identifiable information about any applicant, student, family, or household. I will accept all records in redacted form sufficient to remove names, addresses, dates of birth, contact information, household financial details, and any other information identifying any specific child or family. To the extent any record contains both responsive aggregate or policy information and personally identifying information, I request the record be produced with the personally identifying information redacted, with each redaction accompanied by the specific lawful basis as required by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).
I am willing to accept records in any of the following: aggregate counts, de-identified summaries, or redacted underlying documents. I understand under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g) the District is not required to create new records; this request is for existing records that contain or can be redacted to reveal the requested information.

My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.

Thank You.

Dear Denise DeRosa,

Thank you for your response. I acknowledge and accept the extension to Friday, May 22, 2026 as the date by which the responsive records will be made available.
I look forward to receiving the records by that date.

Yours sincerely,

Anonymous

Dear Ms. DeRosa,

Thank you for the May 22, 2026 partial response and for the documents provided. I acknowledge and accept the further extension to Friday, June 5, 2026 for the communications portion of the request (items 8 and 9).
I would also appreciate clarification on three items where the May 22 production appears incomplete.

First, regarding items 1 and 2: the single document provided in response to items 1 through 3 (the 2023-2024 Preschool Education Aid Award Proposal) does not contain a written admissions rubric, scoring criteria, tiebreaker rules, or weighting factors as item 1 requested, and does not contain any waitlist policy describing how waitlist position is determined, how openings are filled, or how waitlisted families are notified, as item 2 requested. The lottery roster documents produced in response to items 4 through 6 indicate that a lottery process is in operation, which implies the existence of related procedural guidance. Could you confirm whether additional responsive records to items 1 and 2 will be produced, or whether it is the District's position that the PEA Application is the sole record responsive to those items?

Second, regarding item 7: Board of Education agendas, minutes, presentations, resolutions, and packet materials from January 1, 2025 to the date of the request addressing Pre-K admissions policy, lottery, priority categories, enrollment capacity, or the waitlist do not appear to be addressed in your May 22 correspondence. Could you confirm whether responsive records to item 7 will be produced by June 5, 2026, or indicate the status of that portion of the request?
Sincerely

Yours sincerely,

Anonymous

Dear Denise DeRosa,

No You are correct, there was no request 7 for the board materials actually submitted. It was something that was planned but was not originally included as those are fairly well available through the board website.

I apologize for the inconvenience

Yours sincerely,

Anonymous

Dear Denise DeRosa,
Thank you for your June 5, 2026 letter and for the enclosed records. I
acknowledge the District's response and do not contest the closure of
this records request.

For the record, I understand the District's position to be that — apart
from the "Registration Details for Pre-School – English and Spanish
25_26" and "26_27" documents, and slide 30 of the February 6, 2023
"Mid-Year Updates" presentation — there are no other records responsive
to items 1 and 2. In other words, the District maintains no separate
written admissions rubric, scoring criteria, tiebreaker rules, weighting
factors, or written waitlist policy governing the Irving Pre-K program.
Please let me know if that understanding is mistaken.

Nothing in this acknowledgment is intended to waive any rights regarding
the redactions applied to the produced records. With that noted, I
consider this request closed.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Anonymous