Board under siege

Citizens rail against superintendent and BOE president; delay purpose of meeting Sparta — More slings and arrows and a few daggers were hurled at the board of education Monday at a special meeting called specifically to take action on the non-tenured teachers who will keep or lose their jobs in the wake of sweeping budget cuts. But the board didn’t get to that until around 11:30 p.m. because public participation lasted three-and-a-half hours — for the second meeting in a row. While some residents vented frustration and disappointment over budget decisions, others directed anger and accusations at Superintendent Dr. Thomas Morton and Board President Jennifer Dericks. The board planned to begin with a brief public participation session, as required by the Open Public Meetings Act, then proceed to closed session for approximately 30 minutes to discuss the staffing decisions, reconvene in public to take action on these matters, and then adjourn. It was supposed to be a short meeting. But some audience members had other plans. E-mail rallies dissenters Meeting attendance got a boost from an e-mail forwarded around town by former board member Paul Johnson urging citizens to speak out against Morton’s contract renewal and his salary. Several heeded the call, lining up at the podium multiple times to say test scores are too low while Morton’s salary is too high, the district’s Web site is ineffective, more administrators should be fired to retain more teachers, and demanding further rationale for closing Mohawk Avenue School. James Kaufmann railed about high taxes, said Dericks doesn’t have his trust, called for the retirement of Morton, and the immediate resignation of Dericks and Business Administrator Dr. Warren Ceurvels. For the third meeting in a row, Kaufmann was seen in the front row mouthing obscenities at Morton throughout the evening. This week he directed some at Dericks. Gerard Cella spent most of the meeting on his feet returning to the podium multiple times to repeat the Web site must be revamped, Morton’s salary must be cut, and district performance must be brought to the level of the Chatham school district; his voice reverberating so loudly through the microphone that snare drums on the other side of the room vibrated. Tammy Mongon complained about the lengthy public session, saying, “It’s the same recycled people up here over and over again saying the same things.” She wondered why some complain they never get answers when the board had answered their questions more than once. She said, “Some of you don’t listen and some of you just don’t get it.” Johnson’s e-mail said he expected the special meeting was for the board to vote on Morton’s contract which must be done prior to June 30. Back to business In fact, the meeting was held to rehire some of the 79 non-tenured staff the board had to release on May 10, since it was not clear budget talks with the council would conclude before the teachers’ contract deadline for notification of nonrenewal on May 15. Dericks said last month the board hoped to rehire many of the 79 once exact budget numbers were known. After public participation, the board went to closed session around 10:50 p.m., returned to public session around 11:30 p.m., and voted to rehire 39 non-tenured teachers. This number represents 19 from the high school, 12 from the middle school, seven from Alpine, and two from Mohawk Avenue School. In addition, a few non-tenured staff members were retained to fill maternity leave positions. No non-tenured teachers were retained from Helen Morgan School, which was another complaint from a few audience members who said they feared Helen Morgan did not have equal representation in district staffing meetings after Principal Dr. Larisse Goeke resigned this spring. Goeke, who left in May to take a position as a superintendent in another district, was involved in the majority of staffing meetings with other building principals, according to Dericks. After she left, Helen Morgan’s acting principal, David Melucci was present for the remaining meetings. Mohawk Avenue principal Michael Gregory said staffing discussions began months ago at the beginning of the budget process. He said even before Governor Christie’s speech announcing the massive state aid cuts, the district knew they had to cut $1 million, so staffing considerations have been on the table for some time. Gregory said Goeke was involved right up until her departure at the end of May. More vitriol Johnson also accused the board of improperly handling the renewal of Morton’s contract, allowing it to roll over last year without a formal board vote of the full board. Former board member Karen Scott joined him at the podium to stress she believes the action warrants ethics charges against Dericks. Dericks claims all board procedures pursuant to Morton’s contract have been in accordance with statute 18 A:17-20.1 of the New Jersey Administrative Code, and the official board vote on the completed contract will take place at the June 28 regular meeting. Re-hired non-tenured staff Johnessa Antonelli Shanna Behrje Andrea Birch Lawrence Brady Susan Breznak Sandra Chiappini Elise Cisco Donna Collinson Christine Collister Douglass Crouse Lynn D’Amelio Jamie Fusco Christy Gordon Monica Henize Eva Marie Hiller Shannon Hobby-Psensky Christopher Iadarola Robert Jones Amy Kirk Katherine Korkidis Douglas Krauland Jennifer Kucher Andrew Lopez Laura Lopez Terry McMahon Jennifer Melick Dana Miller Christina Morrow Wendy Nieradka Robert O’Grady Damian Petino Marissa Radjewski Karin Rennie Christopher Schul Stephanie Simiele Jane Stahlmann Tara Vatalaro Matthew Voswinkel Serge Wessels Jaime Westerfield Kristen Wollenberg Leonard Zeng