With a school board election coming up this Tuesday, there was some drama over a drama teacher at last week’s Board of Education meeting. Also at the meeting, the board said goodbye to two of its members who are not running for reelection, and they said hello again to Interim Superintendent Peter Carter.
Following a failed search for a permanent superintendent earlier this year, the board signed Carter and three of his high-ranking associates to another one-year contract.
Carter’s team of Interim Assistant Superintendent Walter Rusak, Interim Business Administrator Robert Davis, and Acting Fiscal Specialist Michael Donow will stay another year. Davis’ salary was increased because the position of board secretary has been eliminated and its duties will be assumed by the business administrator.
The district received a $25,000 award from the Eli Manning/Samsung Corporation Foundation.
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The other board members approved the contracts, and did not agree with Sullivan.
“Even when they’re on vacation, they’re at work,” board member Ruth McAllister said at the meeting. “I don’t believe it is the same as a raise.”
Several members of the public praised the work that Carter and his team have done.
However, school board candidate John Forsman asked the board to withhold the contract approvals until after the election, but the board did not heed his request.
Board member Theresa Minutillo said in a later interview that the administrators had no paid days off in their original contract, but have earned these days through their dedication to the district in the past year. She also noted that any unused days will be returned to the district, even if the administrators leave the district early. No days will be paid for if not used, she said.
The board also rehired Interim High School Principal Albert Joy, whom several insiders at Hoboken High School have praised for calming rough waters since the turbulent resignation of former principal, Dr. Lorraine Cella.
Drama in the drama department
Several residents and a few former theater students spoke on the behalf of theater program guru Paula Ohaus, who was recently asked by the administration to take on a teaching schedule in addition to the responsibility of coordinating the district’s award-winning shows.
“Individuals are irreplaceable in the arts, not interchangeable,” Greg Ribot said at the meeting.
Initial word-of-mouth reports that Ohaus was being fired caused quite a commotion in the community, but these reports proved to be erroneous. Davis stated at the meeting that Ohaus “has not been terminated,” and added after the meeting that three individuals who were not teaching in classrooms – a drama teacher, an athletic trainer, and a gifted and talented program coordinator – were being paid out of the teacher budget line, which was an improper method that has been remedied slightly differently for each individual.
In one case, the athletic trainer’s salary was simply moved to the athletic budget line.
In Ohaus’ case, she was asked to return to the classroom since her contract is as a teacher, not a coordinator or program director.
The county administrators who set the position guidelines do not have a position that equates to a theater coordinator, one administrator said. So even though the gifted and talented program coordinator was simply moved to the coordinator budget line to eliminate the issue, the same remedy couldn’t be applied to Ohaus.
One source said that former district administrators had alerted Ohaus that she needed to move to the classroom two years ago when statewide school accountability regulations were handed down.
Administrators said that since Ohaus spends late nights at the high school working on the theater productions, she could be assigned to a light teaching schedule. Davis said the district will not make special arrangements when “teaching interferes with extracurricular activities.”
The board approved $10,000 in stipends for teachers and outside staff to help with the upcoming high school musical “Honk” at the meeting. Ohaus, who does not receive a stipend and instead gets a salary, will be heading the production, Carter said in an interview.
Goodbyes
Board members Carrie Gilliard and James Farina said goodbye to the remaining board members at their final meeting last week. Farina had served for 36 uninterrupted years (see story), while Gilliard put in nine years of service.
Both were given plaques by the administration and the remaining board members.
“It’s not an easy thing to do, to leave after all this time,” Farina said.
The Eli Manning fund
The district received a $25,000 award from the Eli Manning/Samsung Corporation Foundation at the meeting, but Carter said discussions were ongoing as to how the money will be used by the district. He said its usage would be technology-related and would most likely include Samsung products, for instance overhead projectors or televisions.
Football player Eli Manning lives in Hoboken with his wife.
Quieting the politics
Local political activist Lane Bajardi was almost escorted from the meeting after he came to the microphone to criticize a former campaign supporter of the board majority whom he accused of posting an offensive picture on her blog. The picture contained four of the “Real Results” Board of Education candidates in a punch bowl that also contained a floating piece of human excrement. “Real Results” is challenging the “Kids First” slate, which includes two current board incumbents.
Bajardi distributed copies of the graphic to the board.
He was quickly ruled “out of order” by board President Rose Markle, but he kept speaking. The board attorney then agreed that he was out of order, saying that the content of Bajardi’s remarks had no bearing on the board or the school district. He told Markle that she could call police to have Bajardi removed, but Bajardi yielded the floor.
Bajardi complained afterwards that political comments have been made during the public portion of the meeting on several recent occasions, including one instance in which a former member of “Kids First” complained about election flyers sent out by an opposing slate. Therefore, he said, he should not have been singled out.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.
Budget vote and school election Tuesday
Twelve candidates are running for four seats on the nine-member Board of Education on Tuesday, April 20, when the $57.8 million school budget will also be voted on by the public.
Three of the seats will be filled for the standard three-year term; the other seat will be filled for one year.
Three slates are facing off in this election, as is a former district employee who lost his job last year.
The “Kids First” team includes incumbents Rose Markle and Irene Sobolov, as well as Leon Gold and Jean Marie Mitchell. Mitchell is running for the one-year term.
The “Real Results” team includes Elizabeth Markevitch, Perry Lin, Kathleen Tucker, and John Forsman. Forsman is running for the one-year term.
The third team, named “Children Are Our Priority, Not Politics,” was headed by former school board president Frank Raia before he dropped out of the race due to a conflict. The “Children” team now includes Kyelia Colon, Patricia Waiters, and Ken Howitt. Howitt is running for the one-year term.
The only independent candidate in the race is John Madigan, a former printer technician at the district who lost his job due to layoffs last year. Madigan said his run was not related to his job loss.