Priorities & Achievements

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Doreen's voting record demonstrates an unwavering commitment to creating a safe, supportive, and enriching educational environment. As Vice President of the RIH Board of Education, she is proud to share a list of significant accomplishments that have directly supported our students and strengthened our school district. These achievements highlight her dedication to student well-being, parental involvement, support for our teachers and administrators, and responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

Doreen has served 3 years on Athletics, Arts Extracurriculars and Communications, serving 2 terms as its Chair. She also served for three years on the Policy Committee and 1 year in the Negotiations Committee, where she played a key role in successfully negotiating the contract with the RIHEA in only a few months which was far outside previous negotiation norms.

She aims to continually raise the bar to improve academic performance and provide the necessary support and resources to enhance educational standards.

Achievement highlights include: 

✅ Empowered Parents and Protected Our Kids:

• Repealed Policy #5756 that would have allowed students to change their gender identity at school without parental notification.
• Stand Against Proposed Changes to Title IX: The changes would allow biological boys to play in girls sports with access to locker rooms and bathrooms.
• Supported improvements to special education and mental health services to ensure that every student receives the help they need to thrive.

✅ Commitment to Academic Excellence:

• Refocused our educational priorities on core Academics over Social Engineering and gender ideology reversing declining academic trends as reported in a new 2024 NJ Student Learning Assessment report.
• Addressing the growing population disparity between Indian Hills and Ramapo and supported infrastructure projects that enrich instructional delivery, athletics, arts, and school wellness programs.. 

✅ Ensured Student Safety and Well-Being:

• Voted for state-of-the-art security measures, including armed resource officers and ZeroEyes AI-enhanced video surveillance systems with special firearms detection, making our schools safer than ever.

✅  Strategic Leadership: Fought to bring stability to the district by hiring a highly qualified superintendent. It took three votes to simply hire the HR firm, and a series of challenges to ultimately hire a top-tier Superintendent and align our district's goals with community values, focusing on exceptional educational standards. The increase and improvements in test scores is just the beginning! 

✅ Fiscal Responsibilities:

• District operations continue in a pattern of excellent fiscal oversight. I've insured our 2024/25 and 2025/26 budget adheres to the 2% tax levy cap while fully funding all vital resources that support student instruction and special education services. Strategic decisions made by our Board have led to a significant increase in interest income and a decrease in tax levy rates since 2021 ensuring  long-term stability and security for our district.

✅ Meaningful Infrastructure Development:

• Advocated for infrastructure projects that enrich instructional delivery, athletics, arts, and school wellness programs, including but are not limited to the Thrive wellness rooms to support mental health, athletic locker and trainer rooms, a new Indian Hills concession multipurpose facility, HVAC system upgrades, roof repairs and prioritizing additional safety and security measures.

✅ Communication & Transparency: As Chair of Athletics, Arts, Extracurriculars & Communications committee and in response to community complaints, spearheaded the full redesign of our district website and launching RIH Highlights and Happenings community newsletter. Collectively improving communication and transparency for parents and community members. We also proudly approved new sports teams like RIH Dance Team and Mountain Biking Team. She also fought for and achieved hiring the districts first Communications Firm, followed by the hiring of an in-house communications specialist. 

Let's build on the strong foundation we've established, preparing our students for success and ensuring long-term district and fiscal stability while prioritizing the best interests of OUR children and respecting the strength of conservative family and community values! Vote Doreen Mariani!