Hackensack Board of Education rehires administrative staff
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
BY MONSY ALVARADO
The Record
STAFF WRITER
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http://www.northjersey.com/news/101425329_Schools_chief_is_under_fire.html HACKENSACK — The Board of Education, in a revote, has appointed an assistant superintendent, a high school principal and assistant principal.
Trustees also voted Monday night to inform Superintendent of Schools Edward Kliszus that his employment will be discussed at the next board meeting.
Board member Clarissa Gilliam Gardner cited the revote and Kliszus' hiring practices as some of the reasons she asked for the motion on his status.
She also said she doesn't like the way Kliszus handled a personnel matter involving a high school teacher.
"I did it because I truly believe that the leadership is terribly ineffective and it needs to change," Gardner said.
Kliszus said Tuesday that Gardner began talking about his employment Monday night without notifying him, which is illegal. He said Gardner has taken exception to most of his recommendations for administrative hires.
"We have a very comprehensive process … for school leaders and principals, and those are the standards that are used," Kliszus said.
Kliszus said they also disagreed on who would be laid off when the district had to make staff cuts because of reductions in state aid. He said he considered seniority but that Gardner wanted him to take staff diversity into account.
"I will not hire based on ethnicity," he said. "I will always present the best candidates to the board."
On Monday, the board also reappointed Raymond Gonzalez as an assistant superintendent. James Montesano was named high school principal, and Patricia Aquino was appointed as an assistant principal at the high school.
Trustees Rhonda Williams Bembry and Gardner opposed the appointments of Montesano and Aquino. Bembry also opposed the hiring of Gonzalez.
Bembry said that among the reasons she voted against the appointment is that the candidates didn't answer questions well in an interview.
"Their answers lacked depth and substance," Bembry said.
A revote on Gonzalez, Montesano and Aquino was recommended by board attorney Richard Salkin after some trustees questioned whether the five votes they received at previous meetings were enough for the appointments to be valid.
The Hackensack Board of Education bylaws state that a majority vote of the full membership is required for the appointment of a superintendent, school business administrator and administrative principals.
The board has nine members, but since the Maywood representative gets to vote on the positions, the number of votes needed for the appointments to pass is six. Each received more than six votes on the revote.
Gonzalez, who has worked in Paterson as the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, will be paid $160,000 annually in Hackensack.
Montesano, who is the son of retired Superintendent of Schools Joseph Montesano, will receive $156,518 as principal.
Aquino, who has worked in the district since 2002, will receive $142,884.
The school board also hired Gordon Whiting, a former dean at the high school, as assistant principal for the in-school suspension and the alternative high school programs, and for student activities.
The post is a new position at the high school this year, bringing the number of assistant principals at the school to five. Whiting will receive $142,884 in the position.
Bembry opposed creating the new position, saying it will add to the district's already high administrator costs.
She said that instead, the district could have moved an assistant principal from another school, or redistribute the responsibilities of the assistant principals at the high school. She did, however, vote in favor of Whiting getting the job.
Mercedes Abreu-Haines will become the assistant principal at Jackson Avenue School, replacing Celso King, who was appointed last month as an assistant principal at the high school. Abreu-Haines, a bilingual teacher, will get paid $126,042.
E-mail: alvarado@northjersey.com