“The superintendent is the sole EMPLOYEE of the Board of Education … I feel all three Boards of Education are totally forgetting who is really in charge when it comes to overseeing the superintendent’s position.”
Those words came from Sue Thomas, a Highlands resident. A smart lady. A woman who has made an investment in the town she obviously loves.
I couldn’t agree with her more.
The superintendent is the sole EMPLOYEE of the Board of Education. Well, she said SOLE employee, and I don’t really agree with that. Aren’t all the teachers, administrators, employees in the schools the employees of their Boards of Education? I realize most answer to the Superintendent, but ultimately, isn’t it the board office that signs their checks?
But I agree with everything else Sue Thomas has said….”She answers to them in her oversight of the operations of all three schools. “
…The Board of Education should not feel that they answer to the superintendent.
… They must be held accountable to the citizens of the communities from which they were elected!
Sue then used a lot of other adjectives and phrases to talk about the impact the superintendent has had on the boards…..”overpower, over assert, personal benefits, loss of staff, required to be faithful to the voters, faithful to the students educationally and financially….
Then the all important one… “I would expect any employee to RECUSE oneself when advising …when personal property taxes are involved.”
And that, Sue Thomas, is where the three boards of education have failed most miserably. And, as I have pointed out, so also have the borough councils of both towns.
Frightening as that is, even more worrisome to me than all of this, is the number of phone calls and messages I have been receiving in recent weeks. Communications from people I do not know, some of whom don’t even like my VeniVidiScripto. But they read it, they tell me, “because that’s the only place we can get any news on what’s going on with the regionalization thing.”
Some of these calls and messages are telling me some terrible things about the Superintendent. She screams and yells, a few said. She doesn’t even know the kids, others have said. She doesn’t listen to anybody’s ideas. She’s just after power. She loves to show who’s boss. She belittles teachers, she corrects people in public. You don’t know her but she’s mean. Plain mean.
The readers and callers are right. I don’t know the Superintendent. I’ve met her a couple of times, I have seen her at meetings, I’ve e-mailed her. In all instances, she has been courteous, polite, and always quickly answered my e-mails fully and completely.
But I’m not involved in the school at all. In recent years, I’ve only been at Henry Hudson for meetings. Even more rarely, have I been in either of the elementary schools, though I’m not sure Dr. Beams is at the Highlands elementary as much as she is in Atlantic Highlands.
So, before I take on the boards of education and ask them their opinion of their own duties, if they have ever questioned whether the superintendent is in conflict and if they have, shouldn’t they tell the public, I want to ask you, the public a question. I’d like to see your response before I pursue whether any of the other stories I’m hearing on a regular basis are true.
Write e-mail, let me know on Facebook, write a letter to me to my home in Atlantic Highlands, or e-mail me at murieljs1@aol.com. and answer my question:
If you know the superintendent of schools for the Tri-District, or if you have had any affiliation with her in the schools, would you please describe her work ethic or actions in one adjective?
Some of the stories I have heard are so frightening I do see the need to investigate further. Board members know about that, they just don’t do anything.
So I am offering the opportunity for anyone, everyone, to tell me everything I have heard is simply not true. I ask for an adjective, however, feel free to go into detail. I can assure you of anonymity if that’s your wish. My reputation for that is decades long.
With your responses, I might have some new and more probing questions to ask the members of the boards of education. With the hope they will answer.
“I would expect the elected members of these Boards to take these factors into serious consideration when evaluating and rehiring any employee.” That quote is another from Sue Thomas, not I.
Professional