If anyone expected things to calm down on the Jersey City Board of Education, the Jan. 5 reorganization meeting would have been a sharp disappointment. When it was time for the already deeply-divided board members to choose leadership, they were split on the reappointment of Vidya Gangadin as president and newly-elected board member John Reichart as vice president.
The division may set the stage for a battle over the reappointment of Dr. Marcia Lyles as superintendent of schools, with pro-Lyles members holding a one-vote edge.
In December, the pro-Lyles members of the board managed to award her a new four-year contract without the board taking a vote. The award was based on a legal opinion that Lyles’ contract is automatically renewed unless the board votes otherwise.
Board member Gerald Lyons, however, argued that this was illegal, and is searching for a legal basis to have a vote.
Lyons, Lorenzo Richardson, Marilyn Roman, and Joel Torres are generally seen as members critical of Lyles and the least likely to reappoint her as superintendent. Micheline Amy, Jessica Daye, Vidya Gangadin, Reichart, and Ellen Simon are likely pro-Lyles.
“Sometimes we will agree, sometimes we will fiercely disagree, but we share the common goal of wanting the best schools and teachers for our students.” – Vidya Gangadin
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Lyons nominated Torres for president, while Simon nominated Gangadin. The resulting 5 to 4 vote in favor of Gangadin reflected the deep philosophical differences that divide the board. The group that supported Torres this year had voted for Gangadin in 2014.
Some members chose to abstain in the vote for Gangadin, and under Board of Education rules an abstention counts as a no vote.
Had Torres prevailed, as chairman, he could have called for a vote on Lyles’ contract.
Reichart, who was elected in November, was chosen vice president over Richardson.
The officers oversee the policy decisions over the next year, and the board president has significant sway in determining the agenda that includes the membership of various committees.
Gangadin tried to make peace after the divided votes, saying the board is made up of nine members, each of whom views things through a different lens.
“Sometimes we will agree, sometimes we will fiercely disagree, but we share the common goal of wanting the best schools and teachers for our students,” she said.
She said leadership is a challenge, and that she has learned a lot serving as the board president over the last year.
Gangadin can boast of several key accomplishments over the last year. But few of these were bigger than the work done to help the city regain control of the school district.
The state Department of Education took over control of most school operations in the mid-1980s, citing a number of serious problems. Last year, the state returned control of all but one of these operations to Jersey City.
Lyles and Gangadin have been credited with helping this come about.
Newly-elected members sworn in
The reorganization meeting certified the results of the November election in which Gangadin and Roman were reelected and Reichart was elected for his first term. All three took their oaths of office before an unusually small crowd.
“I will do as I have always done, and serve as an advocate for the students,” Roman said after her swearing in.
Gangadin said she was pleased and honored by the trust that the voting public placed in her, and would continued to work for the parents, the community, and the students.
Reichart said he has seen how hard the board members work and has observed the job the district’s teachers have done.
Apparently knowing how volatile the political situation is among the divided board, Lyles attempted to remain positive in her greeting of the new board members. She said the school year will offer two opportunities, first in September when the school year starts, and then midyear in January when people sometimes start to run out of energy.
“This is a wonderful tradition,” she said. “But it is not a New Year’s resolution. This is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to work together, to work for the benefit of the children in Jersey City.”
Other issues
Reappointing or replacing Lyles will be one of the big tasks on this year’s agenda. Since she’s credited with bringing the district back under local control, it will likely be hard for her critics to make the case she should be replaced.
But the district faces other critical choices.
One of the most significant issues will be the expected shortage of classroom space as projected by a study released last year. The district could be short as many as 7,000 classroom seats, although some board members believe that this could be reduced significantly by reallocating resources to less-crowded schools in the city.
This will lead to controversy, since the reallocation would force the school board to decide how to restructure the school district and which students to relocate.
Currently the school district is upgrading some of its classroom trailers, some of which have been deteriorating for years. A study last year showed that the district has already made progress in improving the conditions in a number of these.
Some schools are more popular than others, and some offer programs not available in other schools. This has led to protests from some parents, who do not want their children bussed to remote parts of the city but who still want programs available for their kids.
Over the last year, the board has come together over a number of key issues, including replacing the means of providing substitute teachers, providing a way for families to issue feedback on the meals program, and reconstruction of a number of facilities in various schools.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.