{"id":7309,"date":"2016-01-07T21:07:51","date_gmt":"2016-01-08T02:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=7309"},"modified":"2016-01-07T21:21:26","modified_gmt":"2016-01-08T02:21:26","slug":"thursday-night-massacre-brick-boe-seeks-to-oust-professionals-superintendent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2016\/01\/thursday-night-massacre-brick-boe-seeks-to-oust-professionals-superintendent\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday Night Massacre: Brick BOE Seeks to Oust Professionals, Superintendent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Board<\/a>

Board of Education members debate at the Jan. 7, 2016 meeting. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

In what one Board of Education member described as a \u201cscorched Earth\u201d policy, four new board members got to work implementing changes to the district minutes after they were sworn into office Thursday night, voting in favor of cancelling numerous professional contracts and formally declaring their intent to search for a new superintendent.<\/p>\n

John Lamela, who was sworn into office alongside Stephanie Wohlrab, Victoria Pakala and George White, was elected board president \u2013 ousting Sharon Cantillo \u2013 and Wohlrab was elected vice president,\u00a0supplanting John Barton.<\/p>\n

The fireworks of the meeting began after a number of routine votes, when Pakala motioned to add six items to the meeting\u2019s agenda. The items, which were not provided to members of the public, were distributed to board members, at least two of whom said they were not privy to the information.<\/p>\n

\"Nicholas<\/a>

Nicholas Montenegro at the Jan. 7, 2016 Brick BOE meeting (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

The first item was to appoint Nicholas C. Montenegro to act as board attorney for 45 days, with charges not to exceed\u00a0$16,500.\u00a0Montenegro, who is aligned with the Democratic party, previously served as board attorney until Jack Sahradnik took his place in 2011.<\/p>\n

Sahradnik currently has a contract which runs through the current school year, and his status essentially remains in limbo. Lamela said during the 45 day period for which Montenegro has been appointed, the board will seek proposals for board counsel and ultimately award a contract. Lamela, in statements made during the meeting, indicated that both Sahradnik and Montenegro were acting as board attorneys.<\/p>\n

The motion to appoint Montenegro passed.<\/p>\n

Another motion by Pakala asked Montenegro\u2019s office to \u00a0\u201creview options to terminate\u201d suspended superintendent Walter Uszenski, who has been indicted on charges of theft and official misconduct for allegedly providing educational services to his grandchild for which the child was not qualified to receive.<\/p>\n

Uszenski has not been convicted of any crime, but has been suspended without pay since a grand jury handed up the indictment. If exonerated, or if the charges are dropped, Uszenski would potentially have to be restored as superintendent.<\/p>\n

Still, a third motion by Pakala formally tasked district Business Administrator James Edwards with advertising for the superintendent\u2019s position, including making a posting on the district\u2019s website and advertising the job in the district\u2019s official newspaper.<\/p>\n

Additional motions directed Montenegro to review all of Sahradnik\u2019s files on legal matters currently pending before the district and reporting back on the status of each item at the board\u2019s Feb. 4\u00a0meeting, which was added to the calendar with the support of the new board members.<\/p>\n

Additional motions provided 30 day termination notices to numerous district professionals, including labor counsel, bond counsel, special education counsel, auditor, architect, engineer, school physician and two insurance brokers, and to\u00a0seek proposals to fill all of the positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned with this scorched earth [policy], and what the ramifications to the district will be legally,\u201d said board member Karyn Cusanelli, who asked multiple times whether terminating existing contracts expose the taxpayers to\u00a0liability, and if projects underway with current professionals, such as architects, would be delayed.<\/p>\n

Montenegro, speaking from the audience, said all of the district\u2019s contracts, with the exception of Sahradnik\u2019s, including 30 day termination clauses.<\/p>\n

Lamela then said projects in progress would be continued by current contractors.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, that termination would not include any projects in progress,\u201d Lamela said.<\/p>\n

Cusanelli motioned that the terminations be held so they could be reviewed by Sahradnik and other board members, and\u00a0so financial disclosure forms could be obtained from new board members to ensure no conflicts of interest exist with eventual appointees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly wouldn\u2019t want to see us with boatloads of legal fees because we\u2019re not doing things properly,\u201d Cusanelli said.<\/p>\n

The motion to hold the items failed, and the termination notices were approved, with the exception of Sahradnik.<\/p>\n

Edwards said disclosure forms for new board members are due Feb. 1, which is before the new contracts would be awarded.<\/p>\n

Pakala also successfully motioned for the Jan. 28 board meeting to be rescheduled for Jan. 14, and a meeting to be added Feb. 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to get established next week, and we\u2019d like the February 4th meeting for receipt of additional agenda items,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lamela, through the meeting, spoke\u00a0apologetically for the lack of notice with regard to\u00a0the six additional agenda items, but said each represented the platform he and his running mates campaigned on.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur biggest focus should be rebuilding that slate and bringing\u00a0respectability and accountability back to this district,\u201d Lamela said toward the end of the meeting, stating further that his goal is to have the district characterized by \u201cpride, accountability, transparency and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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