The current situation at the Monroe Board of Education is starting to look like scenes from Game of Thrones.
A pitched battle for leadership in this K-12 Gloucester County district has led to a series of moves and counter moves that has sacked leadership throughout the realm. It has also led to four lawsuits against the board in real-world courts, the firing of the superintendent and the resignation of the board president.
The resignation and the firing all took place in one meeting in March.
The latest salvo was launched last month when a former acting principal of Williamstown High School sued the board in Superior Court of Gloucester County for passing her over for the permanent lead job at the township’s only high school and then transferred her to an elementary school. Caroline Yoder had also been suspended for a brief period last year for “insubordination,” according to the complaint. The court action also disputes the basis for the suspension.
She may have to get in line before her complaint is heard.
- Richard Perry, the former interim superintendent, sued in April after his firing.
- Jill DelConte, another former interim principal at the high school sued last year after she was passed over for the job and transferred to an elementary school
- Richard Ross, a former assistant superintendent who said things went south between him and the board after he blew the whistle on a mold problem at one of the township’s elementary school in 2017, also filed a lawsuit last year.
“It’s a mess,” said Fred Powell, who resigned as board president in March just before the board voted to terminate Perry. “In the time I was on the board, for two years, one thing I learned was no one ever told me the truth.”
Powell is a retired teacher who taught in the district for 36 years. He said he thought he could make a difference by joining the board but was mistaken.
Yoder sued last month seeking “back pay, front pay, and compensatory and punitive damages for emotional distress.” Her complaint said she has taught in the district for nearly 30 years.
Powell said the board had planned to leave her in an assistant principal position at the high school but said some board members thought she may have been undermining the new principal, Angelo DeStefano. DeStafano was chosen from outside of the district after a search by the board, including Powell, who approved.
But Powell said he thinks Yoder may have a case.
“I think she has a good chance of winning the lawsuit,” Powell said. “I would vote for her.”
Sanu Dev, an attorney for the board of education, said that she was “not authorized to make any comment.” A request for comment from Richard Pescatore, Yoder’s attorney, was not immediately returned.
Perry was also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit even though he is no longer employed by the district. The attorney for his lawsuit, who is not representing him in the Yoder complaint, did respond.
“This has the flavor of animosity or retaliation against Dr. Perry,” attorney Bradley Flynn said. “It shows a dislike or disdain for him.”
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Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
