The Montville Township Board of Education has withdrawn proposed Policy 7523 — a sweeping signage restriction that would have erased holidays, heritage, and observances from district communications. One district down. The work continues.
On the night of April 28, 2026, the Montville Township Board of Education advanced proposed Policy 7523 to a second reading on a 5–4 vote — despite no member of the public and no district administrator speaking in support. In ten days, the community responded.
A coalition of Montville residents including Montville Rising launched a petition asking the Board to withdraw the policy. 446 township residents added their names. The story made local press. Residents prepared to speak at the May 12 meeting. And the Board, having heard its community, withdrew the second reading before that meeting arrived.
That is the first concrete win of the campaign these demands describe. Read the full story at montville-rising.org.
The NJ4ED petition has three demands. The first has been met. The second and third are statewide — and the work to honor them has only just begun.
Signage policies of the kind Montville considered are circulating in school districts across the country. The Montville win is proof that residents who speak up can move a board — but it does not, on its own, settle the broader conversation. The remaining demands describe statewide work better led by organizations with statewide reach. Garden State Equality, and groups like it, can carry that conversation forward in ways an ad-hoc coalition cannot. We will be there to support them when they do.
Forty-four New Jersey residents added their names to this petition before there was anything concrete to point to — before the Montville Board had withdrawn anything, before the press had a story, before "we won round one" was something we could say. You signed because you believed the principle was worth signing for. You are the foundation of this coalition. Thank you for being first.
You did the work that gave this campaign its first victory. Every name on the Montville petition, every resident who spoke at the April 28 meeting, every neighbor who shared the link — you built the case the Board could not ignore. The lesson Montville offers the rest of New Jersey is yours.
Thank you for standing with this campaign and for the years of work you have done across New Jersey to make schools safer and more welcoming for LGBTQ+ students and families. Your advocacy made a difference here, and it makes a difference everywhere a community has to argue for the right to acknowledge who its neighbors are.
If a statewide petition takes shape on these questions, Garden State Equality is in the best position to lead it. We hope you will, and we will be there to support that work.
The NJ4ED petition has done what an ad-hoc coalition can do. The broader work — keeping policies of erasure out of New Jersey schools — is statewide and ongoing, and is best carried by organizations and residents already doing this work in their own districts.
Read your local Board of Education agendas. If a similar signage or messaging policy appears, tell us — and tell your neighbors.
Three minutes at a microphone, alongside neighbors, is what makes the difference. If a similar policy reaches your district, we will help you organize.
Most New Jersey residents do not know this conversation is happening in their state. Sharing what worked in Montville helps the next district that needs to push back.
Email montvillerising@gmail.com if a related policy appears in your district, or to coordinate with the coalition.