SOMSD Principal Punished For Insubordination: Report

MAPLEWOOD, NJ - Tuscan School Principal Malikah Majeed was punished for what Interim Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ficarra deemed insubordination, according to a report by the Village Green.

In the report, the Board of Education voted 7-2 to penalize Majeed by keeping her salary for next year at 2018-19 rates. This was done during Tuesday's meeting via approval of a resolution with the subject line “Withhold Salary Increment,” the report said.

According to the Village Green, Majeed had been notified that the Board would be discussing her suspension in closed session and she chose to have that discussion made public, according to district counsel Joanne Butler, despite the fact that she did not get to participate in the discussion.

In the Village Green report, Ficarra shared Majeed’s she refused to participate in a phone call in which principals were given new protocols for an emergency weather situation on Jan. 30.

That day featured a snow squall that saw a woman and a crossing guard struck by a car.

Majeed allegedly told Ficarra she had her own procedure for releasing students, among other things. Ficarra characterized Majeed’s approach as one of “rudeness” and “insubordination,” Village Green reported.

Ficarra said in the report that there is a “clear chain of command” in the NJ administrative code, in the law and in the Board of Education organizational chart.

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