Public Calls For Suspension, Investigation Of Bridgewater-Raritan Superintendent

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Community members called for an investigation and suspension of Superintendent Robert Beers after emails were shared online showing him using profanity toward school board members.

The Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education held a special meeting on Monday night for personnel matters. The meeting was not recorded.

At the start of the meeting, Board President Michael Pepe announced that instead of the public being allotted five minutes to speak, it was cut down to one minute to speak.

"Given that this is a special meeting, given the hour, given that there is a regular meeting tomorrow evening at which the public portion will start, I believe, at 7 o'clock. I'm going to reduce the time today, and possibly, depending on how it's going, put a cap of 30 minutes on the total public comment," said Pepe.

The public hearing centered on concerns of Beers' professional conduct.

Specifically, documents recently posted online that appeared to show Beers using district email accounts to make profanity about Board of Education members.

Among the communications included, Beers called a board member a "f***ing moron" and told another, Jeremy Li, to "go f*** yourself."

However, the public comment portion was quickly shut down about five minutes later after one parent, Shannon Woodruff, refused to yield the microphone when her one-minute time was up to share a safety concern.

"In March of this year, another parent aggressively punched my vehicle in the Crim Primary parking lot, right where my three-year-old son was sitting in the car. This was a traumatic safety violation on school grounds," said Woodruff.

She claimed that after trying numerous times to speak with Beers, he eventually responded by shouting at her and accusing her of harassing his staff.

Pepe ended up calling a 10-minute recess with Board members exiting the room into the hallway to wait.

When the Board returned, Pepe asked the public to abide by the one-minute rule.

"Otherwise, we're not going to be able to continue to take public comment, and I will have to entertain a motion to go to move on," said Pepe.

Chris Gabbett, a parent and former zoning board member, criticized the Board for stopping the meeting.

"During my time on the zoning board, I can't fathom any board member storming out because somebody brought up a safety concern, and I can't fathom cutting short speaking time when you have a packed room like this," said Gabbett.

Another parent of a high schooler also shared her concerns about the handling of a safety concern where, on Sept. 25, "another student threatened to shoot and kill my son."

Beers noted that"no student brought a gun to school."

The public hearing continued with numerous parents and students addressing Beers' unprofessional conduct.

"Public email records show an administrator using profanity in communications with other faculty members. I think as a student, this raises a legitimate concern about professionalism and the standards we uphold in our schools. You guys expect students to communicate respectfully, and then you guys hold them accountable when they fall short. And I think administrators should meet the same expectations," said a high school student.

"School leaders should model respectful contact. And accountability should apply consistently, regardless of position. I know that... there have been specific meetings about students. I think that the same fairness should be applied to everyone when everyone breaks the rules," continued the student.

Resident JP Levin called on the Board of Ed to suspend or place Beers on an administrative leave until a "thorough investigation, a private, independent investigation" is completed into his conduct.

Raritan resident Jeff McNally said Beers use of profanity towards board members concerned him "because this type of behavior will bleed down through the ranks and cause problems throughout the schools."

"If leadership models this kind of disrespect, that sets a tone for everyone else. I think this needs to be addressed and taken care of immediately by our board. Our kids and our community deserve leadership that shows respect," said McNally.

During the meeting, it was pointed out by resident Bill Hugelmeyer that there was no apology issued regarding the emails.

"I just want to say I haven't heard anybody give an apology for what happened. You can't deny the emails. There hasn't been any apology or any effort whatsoever to appear to really address this situation," said Hugelmeyer.

Another resident, who did not disclose their name, shared concerns about not having repercussions for actions.

"When an authority figure can act like that, treating citizens with crude contempt without fear of investigation, suspension, or removal, it signals that the guardrails have failed, and it also sends a chilling message that this individual is above the law, and you have no repercussions for your actions," said the resident.

Following emotional public testimony, the board moved into a closed session to discuss personnel matters. No action was taken on Monday.

The Board of Ed will hold its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Harmon V. Wade Administration Building, 836 Newmans Lane, Bridgewater.

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