Brick School Board Refuses To Pay Legal Fees For Ex-Board Members

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township Board of Education has decided not to reimburse former members of the school board for legal fees they incurred in connection with the investigation of Superintendent Walter Uszenski.

At the May 31 school board meeting, the board voted to "deny submitted claims for cousel for former board members called to testify" in the case, which remains unresolved three years after Uszenski, his daughter, Jacqueline Halsey and interim special services director Andrew Morgan initially were arrested and accused of creating what the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said amounted to taxpayer-funded daycare for Halsey's son.

The arrests and subsequent indictments, specifically with regard to the district's hiring of Morgan, who had a 1990 conviction on cocaine distribution in his past, became a central point of conflict during the 2015 school board elections. Morgan was indicted on a charge of failing to disclose the arrest on his formal application for the interim special services director's job. Though the arrest was in his background checks, under a ruling by a judge that dated back more than 15 years, Morgan was grandfathered into a program that allowed people with certain offenses to be approved for working in schools.

Though the prosecutor's office does not release names of witnesses or those interviewed, it was not unexpected that the board members who served at the time of the alleged misconduct would have been interviewed and/or called to testify before the grand jury because of their role as board members.

Karyn Cusanelli, who was elected in 2013 and stepped down from the board when her term ended in 2016, has been pressing the board for several months for reimbursement of $500 in legal fees she incurred seeking an attorney's advice in the matter.

"This was a direct result of my voluntary service as a board member," Cusanelli said at the May 31 meeting, after the resolution to deny the payments to her and other board members was announced, adding the board's refusal was a deterrent to anyone who was considering serving on the school board.

Cusanelli repeatedly ask Board Attorney Ben Montenegro whether employeees who had been subpoenaed to testify had been compensated and Montenegro never answered directly, saying he could not remember whether employees sought or were provided legal advice by the district's firm before speaking with the prosecutor's office or testifying before the grand jury in the case.

"If they were subpoenaed they did not submit claims to the district," Montenegro said at one point. Cusanelli pointed out that his firm billed the district for legal representation at the grand jury proceedings. "I would consider that some legal guidance," she said.

"Your situation is different," Montenegro said.

Though Cusanelli has been the only former board member to speak out issue of reimbursement, Montenegro said that other former board members have sought reimbursement as well, including one claim that he described as "open-ended."

"It is the board's discretion as to whether to spend the money to pay these claims," he said.

Board President Stephanie Wohlrab said the board researched the issue and found that other boards had not compensated former board members for legal fees related to their service as board members. She specifically cited the Wall Township schools, where former Superintendent James Habel was charged and later convicted of official misconduct in connection with failing to accurately record vacation time during his tenure.

"I don't understand why a board member is being asked (to do this) at his or her expense," Cusanelli said. "You're there as a volunteer and it would be very unfortunate if you had to incur legal expenses."

"I would just request that this board think long and hard," Cusanelli said.

The motion to deny the legal expense reimbursements was put forward by board member Victoria Pakala, who along with Wohlrab and John Lamela won election in 2015 in part on a platform that villified the then-seated board over the hiring of Morgan. Pakala has made no secret of her contempt for Cusanelli and other members of the previous board, refusing to even acknowledge their service the district when they stepped down at the end of their terms. Cusanelli stepped down at the same time as George White, who was elected along with Pakala, Lamela and Wohlrab to fill an unexpired term, and Pakala spoke in glowing terms about White's single year of service. When Sharon Cantillo ended her service in 2017, following three terms on the board, Pakala again snubbed her, while the rest of the board thanked her for the time she gave the district, despite the differerences of opinion they had with her.

The board voted 6-0 to approve the resolution put forth Pakala. Lamela was absent from the meeting.

The initial indictments brought against Uszenski and his daughter and all but the charge against Morgan of lying on the school board application were dismissed last year by Superior Court Judge Pamela Roe, but the prosecutor's office obtained new indictments last June. A motion to dismiss those indictments is scheduled for a hearing in July, the prosecutor's office said.

Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff