For more than three months, Middle School Principal Pat Impreveduto has been absent from his job in Secaucus due to injuries he sustained in a fall on school property – but those injuries have not kept him from fulfilling his duties as deputy mayor an hour away in Holmdel, where Impreveduto lives.
Impreveduto’s accident happened the second week of the school year.
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Accident days after school began
Public schools throughout Secaucus opened on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Less than a week later, on Monday, Sept. 14, Impreveduto fell in the Middle School building.
Because his accident happened at work, Impreveduto initially went out on worker’s compensation. School Administrator Ed Walkiewicz said, “Mr. Impreveduto was released back to work on Nov. 17, 2009, by the worker’s compensation doctor.”
Since then, Walkiewicz added, Impreveduto has been out on paid sick leave. (He had 310 days of sick leave as of July 1, according to the administrator.)
Impreveduto’s annual salary as principal is reported to be about $180,000.
Since his accident, the only Holmdel Committee meeting Impreveduto missed, according to the town clerk, was one held on Nov. 5. He even attended a Sept. 17 township meeting just three days after his fall.
When asked whether the deputy mayor had been seen at these meetings using a cane, a walker, or any other walking aid, one committee member who asked to remain anonymous said, “I can’t say that he has.” Nor has Impreveduto been seen walking with a limp, according to the committee member.
This same committee member was completely unaware of Impreveduto’s accident in Secaucus.
Absence creates void at Middle School
Walkiewicz said he could not comment about when Impreveduto might return to work.
When phoned for comment at his Holmdel home, Impreveduto returned a phone call Tuesday night after office hours and left a message. He could not be reached again by press time.
A source said that Impreveduto has not given the school district an indication as to when he might be able to return to work.
But his absence has left a leadership void at the Middle School that Schools Superintendent Cynthia Randina has had to fill. She has had to find an interim leader to run the Middle School day to day, and she may soon have to select an acting principal.
“Rob Daniello, our director of humanities, is filling in during Mr. Impreveduto’s absence,” Randina said last week. “If needed, we would appoint an acting principal in January. At this time, Mr. Daniello is my designee.”
She did not say whether Daniello, who has his principal’s certification, might become the acting principal.
Incident happened during transition
Impreveduto has reportedly been frustrated with the district. This year, he was expected to step into a new role as principal of the Middle School after having served for several years as the head of the High School.
His reassignment to the Middle School was part of a larger restructuring plan Randina put into effect over the summer.
Deidre Ertle, the former Clarendon School principal, took over as head of the high school this year. Former Middle School head Pasquale Cocucci became the principal at Clarendon, an elementary school. Huber Street School Principal Fred Ponti kept his position there.
When the change was first announced, Randina, who was hired last year, emphasized that these changes were not made to pass judgment on any of the principals, but rather to reinvigorate the learning environment.
Impreveduto had been Middle School principal years ago before moving up to the high school. Ertle has previous experience as a college and career guidance counselor.
“I think this is a great opportunity for everybody to look at things with in a different way,” Randina said at the time. “When you move principals around in a school district, they go into a situation with new eyes and a new attitude. So it’s like you’re giving everybody a fresh start.”
But Impreveduto was reportedly not happy about moving to the Middle School.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.