Save our Principals, Parents Urge

For the third consecutive month, parents and students attended last night’s Board of Education meeting to protest personnel changes affecting two grade schools.

Earlier this year the superintendent of schools, Joseph Picardo, declined to reinstate Gabe Nazziola as principal of School 5, a post Nazziola had held only since the start of the school year. Nazziola, a longtime teacher who will be free to return to the classroom, will be replaced by Nanette Rotonda, the principal of School 9. 

The shift in principals has angered parents at both schools. School 9 parents -- including a few who spoke through translators -- again asked that Rotonda be kept in place. School 5 parents, meanwhile, urged the board to keep Nazziola. School 9 parents also presented the board with a petition.

Many of the parents who spoke praised Rotonda’s leadership of School 9, located in the Valley and the district’s smallest grade school.

“I came from Newark. I didn’t even know the principal. Mrs. Rotonda goes into the classrooms, she knows all the children,” said Fatima Perez. “Mrs. Rotonda is a true asset to School 9.”

“Our kids like Mrs. Rotonda. That’s it,” another parent, Minako Pesantez, said simply.

Other parents against blasted the district for poor leadership, pointing out that School 5 has seen a succession of principals in recent years, each one serving just a year.

“Reaching this decision definitely did not require much thought or planning because this decision has been an ongoing issue for five years now,” said Erika Jacko, the School 9 HSA president.

Jacko said the district leadership has been lacking this year. Board members have not attended joint meetings of the schools’ parent-teacher organizations in several months, Jacko said, and Picardo -- who is also new to the superintendent’s post -- did not familiarize himself with the schools before making his recommendations.

“[O]ur superintendent has only set foot inside School 9 and School 5 at most a handful of times, and I’m exaggerating because it has been less than five times this year,” she said.

Board members were mostly silent in the face of the criticisms. Previously, board members cited rules prohibiting them from speaking on personnel matters, although board president Peter Zangari last night spoke generally about difficult choices that sometimes have to be made regarding staffing.   

“Sometimes we have to make a decision and they’re not easy,” Zangari said.

In other news:

• Richard Yanuzzi, chair of the Belleville Athletic Advisory Committee, made a few remarks about Books to Baskets, an after-school recreation program involving the district, the Belleville Public Library and the township recreation department. Yanuzzi said nearly 2,000 students took part in the program, which was inaugurated early this year.
• George Droste was named “vice-principal on special assignment” at Belleville High School, through June 30, 2012. Russell Pagano serves as acting principal.
• The board voted to accept the following providers of professional services: insurance, AGA & Associates; tax shelter annuity companies, ING, Valic, LPL Financial, New York LIfe D.C. Financial Group, and Lincoln Investment Planning Inc.; auditor, Samuel Klein; school physician, Michael Russonella; architects of record, Cozzarelli, Cirminiello LLC.
• An Essex County assessment of the Belleville school district found the district deficient in two of four categories, Picardo said. In each category, a ranking of at least 80 percent is considered acceptable, but in curriculum and instruction, the district scored just 50 percent, while in “governance,” the district was scored at 77 percent. Picardo said both deficient rankings could be blamed on curriculum guides that had not been updated in several years. He added, however, that district staff had updated 70 guides this year alone.    

The next meeting of the board will be July 18 at 7 pm at the library of Belleville High School, 100 Passaic Ave.  Please note that the meeting begins an hour earlier than usual on this date.