ANALYSIS: What's Next For Brick Schools After Superintendent's Arrest?

It has been a difficult few weeks for the Brick Township Board of Education and its president, Sharon Cantillo.

First, board member John Talty stepped down from his position after undergoing open heart surgery in March. Then the board had to contend with hiring a new football coach at Brick High School, an always-touchy proposition with the legacy of longtime coach Warren Wolf looming over the process.

Now, Cantillo and the rest of the board are faced with the prospect of what to do about Superintendent Walter Uszenski, in the wake of his arrest Thursday on misconduct and theft by deception charges.

Uszenski is in the third year of a four-year contract that pays him a base salary of $175,000. His attorney, Joseph Benedict of the firm Benedict and Altman of New Brunswick, told the Asbury Park Press he expects Uszenski will be at work on Monday.

The possibility exists, however, that the school board could suspend Uszenski pending the outcome of the charges against him.

The board would need to hold an emergency public meeting to take any action, because while the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act would allow them to discuss specifics in private, any vote they take would have to be done in open session.

Whether a meeting has been scheduled was not immediately known Friday morning, and neither Cantillo nor board attorney Jack Sahradnik responded to messages seeking comment Thursday.

If the board does suspend Uszenski, the question then becomes one of who will become interim superintendent.

The district does not have any assistant superintendents at this time. Under Uszenski there are a handful of administrators: Academic officer Dr. Lorraine Morgan -- whose husband, Andrew Morgan, was arrested Thursday along with Uszenski; James Edwards, the district’s business administrator; and Dr. Richard Caldes, who was the Brick Memorial principal who is now an administrator in the district.

Cantillo has had to navigate her share of conflict at meetings in the last few months.

First, there has been a continual conflict between Uszenski and board member Susan Suter, who has intensely questioned Uszenski over a number of issues, hiring practices in particular. Suter was openly opposed to the promotions just before Christmas of two district employees to subject supervisory positions in math and English -- help Uszenski insisted he needed because the district was facing the challenges of a Quality Single Accountability Continuum review by the state Department of Education at the same time it was working on bringing curricula up to speed.

Cantillo also has had to deal with criticisms from newly elected board member John Barton, who unseated longtime member Larry Reid in November and took his seat at the dais in January. Barton complained openly at the last meeting about a lack of committee assignments, a situation Cantillo told him was about to be rectified as Talty’s resignation necessitated some changes.

And there is the looming issue of board members Frank Pannucci Jr. and Michael Conti, who are announced candidates for the Township Council race, which could result in more turnover.

Cantillo has been a calm but strong presence during public sessions of the school board despite everything. She will have her hands even more full keeping things calm in the weeks ahead.

(Sharon Cantillo is sworn in to her seat on the Brick Township Board of Education in January by Business Administrator James Edwards, after she was re-elected in November. Credit: Karen Wall)