Smoke, But no Fire Alarms

Last night’s meeting of the Belleville Board of Education might have been the most eventful of the year so far.

Dozens of students were honored for academic and extracurricular achievement, teachers were recognized for outstanding work and the district wished a fond farewell to retiring staff members.

Then the meeting briefly adjourned after a teachers lounge filled with smoke. When fire officials declared the building safe and the session reconvened about half an hour later, several parents spoke on behalf of a school principal who was not reinstated to a second year on the job. Another parent, meanwhile, demanded to know why an attempted child abduction a few weeks ago had not been widely publicized. *

As well, a member of the board asked why alarms at the high school failed to go off when the smoke began filling the halls adjoining Belleville High School’s Connie Francis Theater, where last night’s meeting was held to accommodate the larger-than-normal crowd.

Four Belleville police officers were at the high school last night for crowd-control purposes. Parents and other supporters were expected to rally on behalf of Gabriel Nazziola, who has served as the principal of School 5 since September but was not reinstated for a second year. Nazziola, who previously worked as a teacher in the district, is the fourth principal at the school in five years.

Parents did not rally but several did speak about Nazziola during the public-comments portion, which was held much later than normal last night.

That was partly because the first half of the meeting was spent highlighting the accomplishments of students, faculty and staff. The board recognized the winners of the Essex County Bar Association Essay Contest, the My Essex County Poster Contest, and the teachers honored under the Governor’s Teacher Recognition Program (a list that included Nazziola, a longtime grade-school music teacher), among other honorees.

Following the awards ceremony and a recess, Board of Education President Peter Zangari instructed everyone in the auditorium to leave the building because smoke was coming from a room within the high school. The smoke, which never set off the alarm system last night, was apparently detected by board members.

Belleville firefighters arrived and immediately began ventilating the building. No smoke was visible from the lawn outside the student entrance to the high school but there was an acrid smell of burning plastic in the air.  

Battalion Chief Joseph Troise confirmed that a call was received by the fire department at 9:23 pm. When firefighters arrived, they went to the smoke-filled teachers lounge, where a coffee pot or urn had been left on, causing the smoke, Troise said. There was no fire, he also said.

He added that it was difficult to air the building out at first because the high school’s windows only open half-way. People were allowed back into the building at 10 pm, however, and the board meeting resumed.

During board comments, board vice-president Patricia Inaugurato demanded to know why alarms never went off in the building.

“What happened to the alarms? I’m very concerned about this,” Inaugurato said.

“The smoke was very thick and the alarm should have sounded,” board member John Rivera said.

Responding to a question from board member Judy Piscatowksi, business administrator Edward Appleton said the alarms are tested quarterly. He also said he would immediately investigate what happened.

The meeting was opened up to public comment after 10 pm. Several parents had wished to speak but left because of the late hour, said Carmen Vellon, the president of School 5’s PTA who is helping lead a drive to keep Nazziola in his current post as principal of the school. About 25 people -- parents alone or with their children, along with others -- stood when the audience was asked who among them was there to support Nazziola.

Vellon praised Nazziola and also said that the constant change in School 5 administration will negatively impact students.

“Our students need continuity in leadership,” Vellon said. “Morale has improved dramatically since he came here in September 2010.”

Vellon also insisted that the board address parents’ request for Nazziola to stay, adding that a petition that already has “192 signatures” is now being circulated. Zangari, the board president, did say the board and Superintendent Joseph Picardo will review a written request submitted last night to keep Nazziola in his current post.

Other speakers also urged the board to keep Nazziola -- one woman, Sol Calvacca, in especially heartfelt terms.

“Please give him another chance. Please, please,  I beg you to leave the principal with us,” she said.

Other speakers repeated oft-heard charges that the board’s personnel decisions were made for political reasons or to make room for hires based on nepotism. One woman asked the board whether a relative of the current School 9 principal, Nanette Rotonda, will now be offered a principal’s job. Rotonda, whose husband Joseph is Belleville’s chief of police, has been named the new School 5 principal. Rotonda’s replacement at School 9 has not yet been named.

The woman’s comments were gaveled down by Zangari, who said that the statements were embarrassing and unfair to the Rotonda relative, an employee of the district.  

Reacting to prior instances where the board’s ethics have been called into question, board member Joseph Longo explained at length the process followed when hiring staff at the administrative level. Jobs are posted, an interview committee consisting of staff, PTA and HSA parents and a board member is formed, and all candidates are asked the same interview questions from a pre-set list. The committee then rates the candidate and makes a recommendation to the superintendent, who in turn makes a final recommendation to the board, Longo said.

Another speaker, GeorgeAnn Polite, defended the board, noting that the rationale behind personnel decisions cannot be discussed publicly by school administration because of confidentiality rules. Polite did suggest, however, that replacing Nazziola was justified because of an incident last month where a student brought a pellet gun to School 5. The gun was taken from the student but police were not notified of the incident for several hours.

“I would question whether he is capable. I would request the immediate removal of that principal,” Polite said. “We’re dealing with weapons in the schools here.”

In an unrelated matter, a man closed last night’s comments with questions about an incident a few weeks ago where, he said, a student was nearly abducted by a motorist as the student was walking to school. The speaker, whose name could not immediately be obtained, identified himself as a coach and father concerned not just for the safety of his children but all of Belleville’s youth.

The man chided the board for failing to notify the community about someone possibly preying on local children, saying the school district and police should have worked “in conjunction.”

“There should have been an email blast. What would you have done if it were your child?” he asked the board. “This is ridiculous, that this was not addressed. They should have made parents aware of it.”   

Board members immediately agreed to look into the matter. At the request of Picardo, the superintendent, the speaker was also invited to take part in discussions about how best to address the incident.

*(Amended at 5:15 pm) There was an incident where an adult offered a child a ride but police determined it was not an attempted abduction:  http://patch.com/A-hG2T.