It has been a busy week around town. Here is what you need to know, from a plan to soften the sting of the school tax hike to a joint Montclair-West Orange drug bust and a Bastille Day weekend that is moving to a new venue for the first time.
Montclair Plans to Spread the School Tax Hike Over Four Payments
Remember the $12.6 million one-time school tax levy voters narrowly approved in the March 10 special election? The township has moved to borrow $6.3 million short-term so that bill does not land on homeowners all at once.
Township Manager Stephen D. Marks told the town council on June 9 that collecting the full $12.6 million over just two tax quarters would cause an extreme spike, followed by an equally jarring drop in the first two quarters of 2027. The council’s finance committee wanted the payments spread across four quarters instead, to soften the impact on taxpayers. The township will pay about $198,800 in interest on the short-term borrowing, and the measure still requires approval from the county tax board.
This is not just talk. On June 22, S&P Global rated the actual tax anticipation notes ‘SP-1+’ and separately reaffirmed Montclair’s general obligation bond rating at ‘AAA,’ the highest possible, with a stable outlook, citing the town’s affluent tax base and conservative budgeting practices. The school district’s own bond rating tells a different story: S&P downgraded it to BBB+ from A- in October 2025, pointing to what it called optimistic budget assumptions and weak expense controls under prior management, a rating the agency affirmed again in April.
For background on how the district got here, including the $19.6 million deficit that forced the March referendum, see the Pod’s op-ed on the decision ahead for Montclair’s schools and our reporting on the district’s budget reality check.
New Jersey’s New E-Bike Law Takes Effect July 19
If you or your kids ride an e-bike around town, the clock is running out on a six-month grace period. Starting July 19, New Jersey will treat most e-bikes far more like motor vehicles than bicycles, a shift the Pod broke down in detail in our guide to the new N.J. e-bike law.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed the law, S4834/A6235, on January 19, scrapping the old three-class e-bike system. Low-speed electric bikes, the pedal-assist-only kind that cut off at 20 mph, need registration and a license but not insurance. Anything with a throttle, or pedal-assist up to 28 mph, now falls into a “motorized bicycle” category that requires liability insurance on top of registration and a license, with minimums of $35,000 bodily injury per person, $70,000 per accident and $25,000 in property damage, the same floor New Jersey sets for auto insurance under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-3, according to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. Riders under 15 cannot legally operate an e-bike at all.
There is a catch worth telling readers: the MVC has acknowledged its registration system is not fully built yet, even as the compliance deadline arrives. Riders 17 and older can use a standard N.J. driver’s license to satisfy the licensing requirement; those 15 and 16 need a separate motorized bicycle license, which requires a knowledge test, a vision test and a road test.
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer hosted a virtual briefing with the MVC ahead of the deadline to walk families through the new rules, a sign of how much confusion remains among riders statewide.
Two Arrested in Montclair-West Orange Drug Bust
A month-long joint investigation between the Essex County Sheriff’s Office and Montclair police ended July 1 with two arrests and a seizure that included 612 suspected ecstasy pills, cocaine, crack cocaine, marijuana and a loaded, stolen .40-caliber handgun, according to Montclair Patch.
The investigation began June 8, when Montclair police tipped off the sheriff’s office narcotics bureau about a suspected drug operation in town. Detectives identified Jason Granderson, 49, as a suspect and surveilled a property in the 10-block of Mission Street, which authorities believe served as a stash house, then tracked his movements between that address and his home in West Orange, per Patch. Granderson was arrested at his West Orange home and faces 16 charges, including narcotics distribution within 1,000 feet of school property.
Quadee Lapread, 45, was arrested at the Montclair location and charged with narcotics distribution, distribution within 500 feet of public property and distribution within 1,000 feet of school property, Essex County Sheriff Amir D. Jones said, according to Daily Voice.
Former Renaissance Principal Maria Francisco Named to New District Role
Superintendent Ruth B. Turner has appointed Maria Francisco, the longtime principal of Renaissance at Rand Middle School, to a newly created, districtwide position: Principal on Special Assignment for School Climate and Culture, for the 2026-27 school year, a move the Pod covered in Maria Francisco’s new role in Montclair schools. The school board approved the move June 17.
The appointment comes as Renaissance at Rand stops operating as a middle school; the district is converting the building into a pre-K facility. Francisco, who immigrated to the United States from Portugal at age 11 and attended inner-city schools, has spent more than 20 years in education, including as a teacher, a district climate and culture leader, a vice principal and, since 2021, principal of Renaissance. Her first priority in the new role will be the district’s middle school reinvestment efforts, since that tier is absorbing the most disruption from Renaissance’s closure, though her broader mandate covers climate and culture work across all Montclair schools.
The move follows deep staffing cuts across the district, including the elimination of eight restorative justice teacher positions, as the district works through the deficit that swelled to nearly $20 million.
L’Alliance New York Brings a Two-Day Bastille Day Weekend to Montclair
Bastille Day weekend returns to the area July 10 and 11, with one significant change: the signature Garden Party is moving to Kip’s Castle Park in Verona, its first venue change since the Montclair-area celebration began in 2008. The event had previously been held at Van Vleck House & Gardens in Montclair.
Friday’s Garden Party, from 6 to 10 p.m. at Kip’s Castle in Verona, includes a cocktail reception, a French country buffet from chef Daniel Boulud’s catering arm, Cuisine Boulud, and desserts from Montclair pastry chef Janelle Manning. Guests can enter a raffle for two Air France round-trip tickets to Paris. Tickets are available through L’Alliance New York.
Saturday brings the celebration back into Montclair itself with the second annual Montclair French Shopping Day, running 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at participating businesses throughout town in partnership with the Montclair Center Business Improvement District. The weekend wraps with a 5:30 p.m. screening of “Leave One Day” (“Partir un jour”), Amelie Bonnin’s 2025 French comedy-drama that opened last year’s Cannes Film Festival, at The Clairidge, presented in partnership with Montclair Film.
