Open House Wednesday As Secaucus Schools Search For Superintendent

SECAUCUS, NJ — There will be an open house this Wednesday evening as Secaucus school district administrators inform the public on their process to search for a new schools superintendent, and the criteria the Board of Education is looking for.

Last September, Daniela Riser was named as acting Secaucus schools superintendent, which meant that Jennifer Montesano was no longer superintendent of Secaucus schools. Why she is no longer with the district remains unknown.

Two employees were placed on a temporary paid leave Wednesday night by the Secaucus Board of Education. They were not publicly named.

Montesanos' salary for the 2021-2022 school year is $177,064 and her contract runs through June 30, 2024. From the Sept. 8, 2021 article: An email Patch sent to Montesano seeking comment immediately bounced back Wednesday afternoon. Prior to this, her email account worked. So it appears her email account has been disabled by the school district.

Montesano created stir when she fired Berckes

Montesano came to the Secaucus school district in 2017; she was previously the superintendent of Haworth schools. She created a stir and a huge rift in town when, in 2018, she suspended Secaucus High School principal Robert Berckes and assistant principal Jefferey Case, for the way they handled a small amount of marijuana found on a student.

At the time, Montesano even asked the Hudson County Prosecutor's office to investigate the incident, which publicly said it "found no criminality."

Montesano then recommended to the Secaucus BOE that Berckes be brought up on a violation of tenure before the state Department of Education. Tenure charges are the most serious of charges that can be brought against a New Jersey public school employee, and they can result in one losing their job. At the time, a majority of the Board went along with her wish.

Berckes, in response, sued the Secaucus school district for $5 million for wrongful termination and for smearing his name. He has long maintained that Montesano's firing of him was political and because she disliked him.

Berckes reached a settlement with the Secaucus school district where he was paid his entire $124,000 yearly salary for the 2018/2019 school year, even though he did not work because Montesano and the BOE were pursuing tenure charges against him. He has since quit the district and moved out of town.

Montesano's battle against Berckes cost the district roughly $80,000 in attorney's fees, according to NJ.com, all paid for by the Secaucus school district (Secaucus taxpayers).