Business Admin For Bernards Township Schools To Retire

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — School Business Administrator/Board Secretary Roderic McLaughlin will be retiring at the end of the year.

The Bernards Township Board of Education accepted his retirement at the Nov. 14 meeting. McLaughlin's retirement will take effect on Dec. 31, 2022.

As of 2021, McLaughlin was earning a salary of $220,096, according to data from the New Jersey Department of Education. He had served in his position with Bernards Township for more than 10 years.

Prior to the Board accepting McLaughlin's retirement, one parent Frank Klausz questioned and insinuated that McLaughlin was responsible for the lack of supplies in the schools such as tissues or Lysol wipes.

Klausz noted that his daughter over dinner mentioned one of her teachers was holding a raffle.

"She said anyone who brought in a box of facial tissues would get a raffle ticket because her room didn't have any. And when they sent kids down to the nurse's office, the nurse's office didn't have any facial tissues either. And I found that concerning because I would like the teachers to be teaching not solving the problems of facial tissues in the school," said Klausz.

Additionally, he noted that the William Annin Middle School PTO asked for Lysol wipes donations.

"Who's not doing their job?" said Klausz. "Maybe someone forgot to pay the supplier for these products. ... We can blame Roderic McLaughlin because he is leaving anyway."

Klausz then proceeded to pull out $150 worth of tissue boxes and stacked them on the stage.

McLaughlin was not present at the meeting.

When asked about this, Superintendent Dr. Nick Markarian said, "I know that it is not unusual for parents to make small donations to classrooms - such as hand sanitizer or tissues, although commonly the district provides tissues as well."

School spending and budget was a hotly discussed topic leading up to the school election following the district's budget approval in April.

A replacement for McLaughlin has not been announced yet.

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