South Brunswick BOE President Faces Community Pressure To Resign

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — High drama ensued at Thursday’s Board of Education (BOE) meeting with residents calling on the Board president to resign.

BOE President Joyce Mehta's conduct came under scrutiny after it was revealed she used the services of the board attorney but refused to divulge details to board members*.

The matter came to light during the Board retreat on March 3, when it was revealed that Mehta spoke to the Board attorney in January about a letter written to her by the school superintendent. The attorney then billed the school district. Attorney services are used only for Board matters.

Breach Of Board Confidentiality

During the March 3 meeting, it was suggested that Mehta tried to remove a member of the school start time committee in an effort to install her own advocate.

In January, Superintendent Scott Feder sent a letter to Mehta addressing her attempts and said it weakened the Board’s bargaining power with the teacher’s union. He said “time” was the most valuable asset in a negotiation, and a later school start time would result in lower instructional time, affecting a teacher's salary. Students too would lose 1,260,000 minutes of instruction.

In the letter, which was read out publicly, Feder said he did not want to file an ethics violation charge but asked Mehta to look at how her actions were “perceived.”

“I want to clarify that the warning and guidance I had provided you on this matter was about maintaining the integrity of negotiations and nothing to do with personalities,” Feder said in his letter.

“At the risk of sounding repetitious, I again share that I see one of my responsibilities is providing support and guidance to members.”

Feder further said he was unsure on how to “assist” Mehta if she was “going to willfully ignore guidance that is there to protect both you and the Board as a whole.”

The Superintendent went on to ask Mehta to recuse herself if she cannot protect the confidentiality and interest of the Board.

The public was made aware of the matter after the video of the March 3 meeting was shared widely in community groups.

According to estimates, around $2,500 of taxpayer money was spent by Mehta on lawyer consultation. The final figure has not been confirmed yet.

To watch the March 3 Board retreat, click here.

Community Calls On Mehta To Resign

Ahead of Thursday’s BOE meeting, Mehta posted an apology on Facebook. At the start of the meeting, she read the same note.

Mehta apologized for not being transparent with Board members but denied that her actions were inappropriate.

“I apologize without reservation for not being completely transparent when I was questioned at the last meeting on the subject of my consultations with the Board attorney. However, I do not and will not apologize for consulting with the Board Attorney when I needed legal guidance in response to a suggestion that my conduct as Board President was legally inappropriate,” Mehta said.

“While the time spent by the attorney undoubtedly cost the Board money in legal fees, money spent on ensuring compliance with the law is money well spent.”

Visibly upset community members called on Mehta to resign from her position during the public portion of the meeting.

“You are a trained attorney. You know full well how this works. And everything you said tonight lacks complete credibility,” said resident Eric Schlesinger. “I hope you take that to heart and I hope you consider whether or not you should continue moving forward in serving this Board.”

Another resident asked Mehta to resign because she could not be trusted.

“You are not trustworthy. Because of this I personally feel you should resign. Please don’t make the taxpayers of this community wait until election day. Your seat is up in 2022,” resident Vanessa Dunbar said.

Midway through the meeting, during Feder’s presentation, Mehta left the room and was absent for the rest of the evening.

The Board of Education has now called for a special meeting on Tuesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. For details on how to join, click here.

(Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Mehta used attorney services for personal use. Mehta was allowed to use the services of the attorney, but she failed to answer board members.)

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