Negron's Fate Subject of Special Meeting

The future of Superintendent of Schools Jose Negron's contract will be the subject of a special Board of Education meeting on June 29th.

At the meeting, board members will decide whether to offer Negron a new contract.  By law, the board must inform him one year before the end of his current contract whether it will renew him. 

Negron's fate has been the subject of public speculation over the past month, with parents and teachers questioning whether he's been good for the district. 

The board has also cume under criticism for the way the contract is being handled.  In a posting to a local message board, Carol Byrne, who chairs the negotiations committee, has denied that "secret meetings" have been held with Negron, instead calling them "negotiations."

The embattled superintendent raised the ire of some members of the public and certain board members this year when he presented the 2009-10 budget.  After the budget failed, the Borough Council found nearly $2 million in cuts, none of which called for additional layoffs or program reductions.  Before the vote Negron predicted both if the budget did not pass.  Since then, he and BOE President James Giannakis have been a frequent target of public criticism, as has Byrne.

The public hearing on June 29th is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the Roosevelt Administration Building. At the meeting only six members are expected to vote, with three members barred from doing so by conflicts of interest.  According to sources, Giannakis and Steve Bohn, another member, cannot vote because their wives work in the district.  Vice President Pio Pennisi cannot vote because he works as a superintendent in Dunellen.