'We're Looking Stupid:' How 70 Days Have Turned Brick's School Board Upside Down

(Interim Superintendent Richard Caldes answers a question at a Brick Township Board of Education meeting May 28.)

Richard Caldes, Brick Township’s interim superintendent, must feel like he’s walking in a minefield.

He has a very angry group of bus drivers who are facing the potential of up to 24 of them losing their jobs in the coming months as he tries to look at the district’s transportation plan to see if those cuts are actually necessary. He has to sort out those issues without the assistance of two seasoned department managers, whose contracts were not renewed by the Board of Education last week.

And he has to wonder what will be next from that Board of Education, which has developed a visible divide and distrust that is leading to vocal, public disagreements at meetings.

Caldes is not commenting publicly on the matter, saying only that he is working on a reorganization plan.

Residents, however, have been far from shy about their views, particularly of the board in the wake of another failure to fill the board vacancy created when John Talty resigned in April in the wake of having open-heart surgery.

“We’re looking like stupid people,” said Joe Coutant, Arizona Drive. ”We’re educated people and we’re looking stupid.”

“It’s either a power struggle or it’s political,” said Vic Fanelli, a frequent critic of the board.

There are many who believe it is both.

Going back 70 days ago, when Talty stepped down, the public disagreements that arose at Brick Township Board of Education meetings were minor. The board itself -- outwardly, at least -- was on the same page. A vote to hire an outside law firm to handle contract negotiations with the Transport Workers Union -- which represents the district’s bus drivers, cafeteria workers, mechanics, and others -- was unanimous and included supportive respectful comments about Talty.

But everything changed with the arrest of Superintendent Walter Uszenski on May 7, followed a week later by the announcement of a plan to lay off bus drivers. Uszenski’s arrest on fraud charges in a scheme where he is alleged to have arranged for what amounted to full-time taxpayer-funded day care for his grandson, continues to loom over the district.

The board’s split was noticeable at the May 28 meeting, when the a tie vote resulted in the rejection of Board President Sharon Cantillo’s request to return Talty to his seat. And it was even more apparent at the June 8 special meeting, where the board interviewed nine candidates, including Talty, for the seat.

When it came time for that vote, whatever professed respect for Talty that had existed apparently evaporated, as board members John Barton, Frank Pannucci Jr. and Michael Conti voted in one bloc to twice reject him, with Cantillo, Karyn Cusanelli and Susan Suter voted in favor of Talty’s return. When Barton, Pannucci and Conti put forward Barbara Calderone, the members voted in the same blocs, tying again.

When Cantillo presented the issue again last week, at the request of the county superintendent, the votes were the same -- but the split was laid bare during a sometimes heated discussion over filling the seat.

The result was the same -- and on Monday, an advertisement appeared in the Asbury Park Press and on the school district’s website, inviting interested candidates to apply for the vacant seat.

The split has drawn the ire of residents.

“We’re looking like stupid people,” Joe Coutant, Arizona Drive said to the board last week. ”We’re educated people and we’re looking stupid.”

“It’s either a power struggle or it’s political,” said Vic Fanelli, a frequent critic of the board.

There are many who believe it is both.

Pannucci and Conti are both running for seats on the Township Council in November. Barton has openly criticized Cantillo on a number of issues, particularly in the wake of Talty’s resignation from the board and subsequent attempt to regain his seat.

Cantillo, as board president, has taken a great deal of heat over a number of subjects, and has detractors who blame her for the board’s decision to hire Uszenski in the first place.

While Cusanelli generally votes similarly to Cantillo, she does not hesitate to ask questions when she has concerns.

Suter’s votes reflect her personal view on the matter at hand.

Cantillo said she brought the issue filling the board vacancy before the board again at the request of interim Executive County Superintendent Todd C. Flora. “He would like us to do this ourselves,” she said, noting the board meeting was on the very last day of the 65 days the board had to act to fill the vacancy.

She and Cusanelli made it clear they believed Talty -- who received master board member status at the same May 28 meeting as his bid to return to the board was initially rejected -- should be returned to his seat, a sentiment expressed by many of the residents who spoke.

“He gave unselfishly of himself,” said George Scott, another resident who frequently attends school board and Township Council meetings. “Not putting him on and not voting or this tonight will make some of the board members look ridiculous.”

When Talty was rejected and Pannucci nominated George White, the frustration -- and disagreements -- rose to the surface.

“I don’t understand how someone who has never graced us at a board meeting, how this name is coming out of nowhere,” Cantillo said, adding that she had been urged during the week to vote for White. “I have nothing against him, but this name is coming out of nowhere.

“I don’t know why we’re looking at strangers, at someone who has never attended board meeting,” she said.

Fanelli -- who has gone toe-to-toe with Cantillo on several occasions -- put it more bluntly.

“I don’t want someone (on the board) who is very experienced in education,” he said. “I want someone running this school district as a business, not somebody’s friend, not a political hack.

“This is not a place where you check off a resume,” Fanelli said. “I don’t agree with everything everyone up there does, but this is not a political appointment, this is not a political arena.”

The “political hack” comment set off Calderone, who got up to the microphone and angrily defended her interest in the board seat, pointing out that while Barton, Pannucci and Conti are Republicans, ”I’m a Democrat, so put it all to rest please.

“I don’t understand how people can get up here and criticize people who who want to be part of the process,” she said.

“I want to tell you I can do this job. It’s not because of politics, it’s because of my kids and your kids and your jobs,” Calderone said, pointing toward some of the bus drivers who were in the audience.

“I back all of the people in this town,” she said. “I don’t back people who hire a superintendent who stole money from this district and a person who went into IEP meetings and compromised children and their educational lives.”

It was that comment that underscores the real issue: Uszenski, and the distrust that has enveloped the board in the days since his arrest.

That distrust may well be part of the reason Pannucci and Conti also voted -- as did Suter -- not to renew the contracts of assistant transportation manager Tracey Nardiello and district services manager Lynelle Batzel, while Barton abstained from voting on it. The two, who are nonaffiliated employees (meaning they are not covered by union contracts) were up for renewal, with raises for both. But in the wake of the furor over the plan to lay off bus drivers and commentary at board meetings that the issues of late student pickups, missing buses were management issues, members of the public complained about the renewals for the two and the raises.

Caldes urged the board to renew their contracts, pointing out that their contracts included a clause that they could be let go with 30 days’ notice, because he needed time to get to the bottom of the issues in the transportation department before changes were made.

That distrust also may be why the vote on the contract of business administrator James Edwards was tabled.

Either way, the distrust has made a difficult situation even more challenging for Caldes, who must not only see to it that summer transportation is in place for those students who need it, but must continue to tackle the transportation plan for the fall, with what many hope is the outcome of not laying off 24 drivers.

And the board will be left waiting to see who Flora chooses to fill the vacated seat.

“I’m kind of disappointed you didn’t vote for Talty,” said Greg Cohen, speaking as a resident and not for the TWU, whom he represents. “I’ve always found hime to be a fair man. I hate to see our board and our town embarassed yet again.”

Note: An earlier version of this article said John Barton voted not to renew the contracts of Tracey Nardiello and Lynelle Batzel. It has been updated to reflect that he abstained from voting on the Human Resources item that included them.