The Hudson County Schools of Technology (HCST) faced scrutiny at yesterday’s board meeting over two employees receiving non-renewal notices, one of which who spoke on her own behalf.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
” … I just want to say this: That if the employee has a concern over the attempt to be renewed, they can appear before the board for what’s called a Donaldson Appearance, not a Donaldson Hearing, a Donaldson Appearance,” explained Board Counsel Jonathan Busch.
“During a Donaldson Appearance, they provide reasons … why the board made the wrong decision. I just want to make sure, that out of the most respect we can possible give to the staff member, that they are aware of their opportunity to provide that.”
His remarks came during public comment in the early going of a roughly eight-minute speech from Kirk Stadnika, the husband of Hudson County Prep bilingual school psychologist Marisol Lopez.
Stadnika, who is an attorney but is not representing his wife in the matter, said that then-Acting Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joe Sirangelo sent her a non-renewal notice on April 7th, before they both attended a meeting with him on April 10th.
With a union representative present, Sirangelo allegedly indicated that he wanted to mediate the matter and and resolve it with a corrective action plan.
While another meeting with other school officials was tentatively set for last week, Sirangelo cancelled the meeting before resigning on Monday (Dr. Dr. Timothy Frederiks was named the new acting superintendent by the board at an emergency meeting on Tuesday).
” … And then Marisol gets another non-renewal letter from you [Frederiks] yesterday [Wednesday], I mean I just find this whole process totally bizarre. To string Marisol along like that for an entire month,” Stadnika stated.
Lopez also addressed the volunteer governing body, stating that she had worked for the district for about five years and was only roughly two months away from receiving tenure.
“I am very taken aback, Mr. Timothy Frederiks, with all due respect, for having made the decision not to renew my contract when you were appointed, I believe it was Tuesday or Wednesday, 12 or 1 o’clock in the afternoon, and then you make this decision that every single thing I did in the past five years did not matter,” she exclaimed.
Lopez continued that she escorted a student having a medical episode to an ambulance, sought extensive medical treatment for a schizophrenic student who is now going to college, and gave her school badge to a student who did not have money to buy lunch for three weeks.
She other pointed out that she was the only bilingual school psychologist in the district.
Other public speakers voiced their support for Joseph Guerrero, an instructor of advertising and commercial art, who also received a non-renewal notice in light of the program being expected to be cut next year.
“I would like to talk about one of my classes I take at High Tech High School, advertising and commercial art, which is taught by who I think is the best teacher I’ve ever had, Mr. Joseph Guerrero,” said Leo Barsky.
” … From my first meeting with Mr. Guerrero, I realized this is the class I wanted to be in … Mr. Guerrero, he had something that I could see really inspires his students. Right when I went in sophomore year, he would inspire us to build thing and go beyond the bounds of what we are initially taught to do in education. He inspired me to create my own business.”
Kimberly Madalena, a Kearny educator who was named the Hudson County teacher of the year in 2021-2022, was another person who asked the district to reconsider, noting that her son benefitted from Guerrero’s tutelage.
“This is not a student who always felt confident using his voice, in fact, he struggled to find it for much of his academic journey, but that changed when he stepped into Mr. Guerrero’s classroom,” she stated.
“It was there he not only discussed his passion for marketing and advertising and business, but also the confidence to lead, to advocate, and to believe in his own potential. I’m here to talk about a teacher, a mentor, a leader: A man who has changed the trajectory of my son’s life and many others. Mr. Guerrero is without a doubt one the best teachers my son has ever had.”
The board took no formal action on either matter since they were not on the agenda.
The 90-minute meeting, quite long by HCST standards, occurred mostly in closed session, with the board adjourning for about 15 minutes early on, before returning to closed session within about five minutes of public session.
There, Trustee Hector Zulueta noted that the executive session minutes for January 18th, 2024, which were up for a vote (and also the subject of litigation), incorrectly listed then Superintendent of Schools Amy Lin-Rodriguez as being present.
After concerns being raised about the accuracy of the minutes, the board returned to closed session for approximately 40 minutes.
The board then returned, held public portion, and voted on the consent agenda, which included an amended version of the aforementioned minutes.
The entire agenda, including naming McNair Academic High School Principal Tom Macagnano to be their new superintendent, passed 7-1, with Zulueta voting no, citing he was doing so out of protest due to the personnel issues.
