Pagano Named Acting BHS Principal

During a brief but contentious meeting early Friday morning, May 6, the Belleville Board of Education officially accepted the retirement of Belleville High School’s principal and appointed an acting principal in his place.

Joseph Petrillo, who had been employed by the school system for nearly four decades and had been a principal for 20 years, abruptly announced his retirement last Wednesday, school officials said. School officials, citing confidentiality rules regarding personnel matters, declined to say more about the circumstances of Petrillo’s departure, fuelling speculation among some members of the public that he had been forced out. Petrillo ended his decades-long career with just six weeks left in the current school year. A few years ago, Petrillo was transferred from the high school to School 8, but was subsequently reassigned to the high school.

Last week, however, Petrillo was quoted saying he was leaving for health reasons and denied rumors he had been asked or forced to leave.  

At last week’s meeting, which lasted just a few minutes, vice principal Russell Pagano was named acting principal. The athletic director, Thomas D’Elia, will be the acting vice-prinicipal, board president Peter Zangari later added in an interview following the meeting. Neither D’Elia nor Pagano will get any extra pay, Zangari also said.

“Mr. Pagano will handle the juniors and seniors, and Mr. D”Elia will handle the freshman and sophomore classes,” Zangari said.

During the public comments portion of last week’s meeting, Ralph Vellon, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the board during the April 27 BOE election, questioned the timing of Petrillo’s departure, which happened just one week after the election. Throughout his campaign, Vellon said that the board of education has a history of making politically motivated personnel changes, a charge he repeated in his remarks last week.

“Could this be another political move to create new vacancies to punish BOE employees for their lack of support or reward BOE employees [for] their support during the recent BOE campaign?” Vellon asked the board, as Zangari drummed his hand on the board table to simulate a gavel.

Vellon also asked who met with Petrillo leading up to his retirement announcement and also alluded to Petrillo’s previous transfers, which have “left many wondering what the BOE was doing....his departure [now] ….leaves many of us wondering what really happened.”

“There’s no way this guy readily retired like they’re saying,” said Carolynn Mincin, a resident who also attended the meeting last week. Mincin, who described Petrillo as a principal “who truly cares for our students,” had more harsh words for the board, airing a common complaint that board members are generally unresponsive to the public.

“They’re like roaches. When you ask them questions, they scatter,” she said immediately after the meeting.    

Vellon and others also questioned the timing of the meeting, which was called with two days’ notice and was held at 7:45 am, when many members of the public have work or family obligations.  

Asked to comment on Vellon’s and Mincin’s remarks, Zangari again said he was legally constrained from answering questions regarding Petrillo’s departure. State law generally prevents board members from discussing personnel matters in detail.

Zangari did discuss the timing of the meeting, an emergency session that was publicized at least 48 hours in advance, as is required under the state’s sunshine law. The meeting was held early Friday morning because each school building must have an officially designated principal at all times, he said. The rules allow some flexibility if a principal is on a long-term leave, Zangari said, but if the principal leaves the district altogether, a replacement must be found immediately.

“This was business that had to be conducted ASAP,” said Zangari. “Everybody was told the course of action that was going to be taken and 7:45 am was the earliest we could get a quorum together … we had some board members going away this weekend...I’ll stand by me reasons for holding that meeting at 7:45.”

The search for a permanent principal will also likely begin immediately, Zangari said.

‘It’s the administration’s and the board’s hope to have someone in that position as soon as possible,” Zangari said. “It’s a 12-month position and there’s a lot of work to be done over the summer.”