OPINION: Gloucester Township Board of Education Did the Right Thing

Back in November, Mr. Richard Dantinne was hired by our Gloucester Township Board of Education (GTBOE) to fill our school district’s vacated Human Resources Supervisor position.

Mr. Dantinne resigned from a similar position in Evesham, and was set to begin this new job with the Gloucester Township School District on February 1.

But on January 12, the crap hit the fan in Evesham. The Evesham mayor and some rogue Evesham school board members held a stunning press conference where they accused Mr. Dantinne of committing sexual harassment.

Subsequently, Mr. Dantinne, along with the Evesham school superintendent, and ‘non-rogue’ Evesham school board members refuted the accusation and stated that any such incidents were investigated and cleared; that this accusation violated confidentiality; and this accusation is just some sort of political retribution as part of a political feud in Evesham.

Mr. Dantinne then sued his accusers. (See the story here. https://sicklervillesun.com/gl... )

And so it goes. Another ugly, embarrassing, New Jersey-style political mess.

Who knows what really happened?

Well, sitting here in my kitchen in Gloucester Township, I have the answer to what really happened in Evesham. That answer is: We don’t know. We don’t care. We have enough of our own political messes, thank you.

And now, thanks to the turmoil in Evesham, we have this new mess to deal with: What should be done about this employment agreement between Mr. Dantinne and the GTBOE?

Last week during its monthly school board meeting, the GTBOE was forced to address this issue. The GTBOE voted to rescind its employment offer to Mr. Dantinne.

In voting to rescind, the GTBOE is to be commended for stepping up to do the right thing and make this difficult decision.

This decision was complicated by questions of possible breaches of confidentiality, of possible contractual breaches; and questions of proper due process.

But the overriding priority of the GTBOE and of school district Superintendent John Bilodeau must only ever be to do what is best for our schools.

Mr. Bilodeau and the GTBOE are the gatekeepers of our schools. So, while the mess in Evesham sorts itself out, the GTBOE appropriately ignored the complicating tangential factors, and did what it had to do in the best interests of Gloucester Township schools. Kudos to them.

Very likely, though, this personnel issue will not just disappear. The legal system and Evesham politics have not been played out.

But I have hope. From Gloucester Township’s perspective, I hope for these two outcomes when this situation eventually plays out.

Hope #1: I hope that Mr. Dantinne, and his attorney Matthew S. Wolf, Esq, do not decide to open a legal action against the GTBOE. I hope that Mr. Dantinne, and his attorney Matthew S. Wolf, Esq, realize that if a wrong was done, then it was done in Evesham. The GTBOE, all things considered, had no choice but to do what it did.

Hope #2: By being forced to deal with this issue, I hope that this newly reorganized GTBOE opens its eyes and recognizes how difficult it is to conduct business in a large New Jersey school district. I hope the GTBOE realizes that, with all the inherent challenges, there is no room for anything other than complete focus on the school district’s priorities.

There is no room for distractions. There is no room for hiring or promoting someone politically connected, rather than the most qualified. There is no room for awarding contracts to political donors, instead of using a robust contract bidding and selection process. There is no room for conflicts of interest of any kind.

I hope that the GTBOE realizes that if it feels any political pressure from other self-interested parties, it will feel support twenty-fold greater from the public by publicly eschewing those self-interested parties.

Conversely, I hope that the GTBOE realizes that if it succumbs to self-interested political pressure, any perceived benefit from such self-interested corruption will be overwhelmed twenty-fold by the wrath of the public for the betrayal.

Please keep doing the right thing, GTBOE. We will all continue to follow this story.