Toms River Superintendent Search Accusations Heat Up

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A week after a Toms River Regional Board of Education member accused a Toms River councilman of trying to pressure school board members on their votes on a new superintendent, the controversy continued to grow.

Board member Kathy Eagan on Wednesday night said it was Councilman Dan Rodrick who called her and asked her to tell another board member to change their vote, in response to a question from a former board member.

Rodrick called into the school board meeting and denied Eagan's allegations, which also had been a prime topic at Tuesday's chaotic Toms River Township Council meeting.

School board attorney Stephan Leone said board president Joseph Nardini has asked him to look into the allegations.

Responding to a question from Christopher Raimann, Eagan confirmed what had been a widespread rumor following her statements at the April 21 school board meeting.

"Are you willing to share with us who contacted you from the Toms River Township Council," Raimann asked.

"It was Dan Rodrick," said Eagan, who noted she was at the council meeting, where shouting matches erupted over the allegations of attempts by a councilman to politically influence the school board.

"Everyone on the (council) was asked if they had contacted me, and he was very good at deflecting the question by saying he knows me and we've been out to breakfast and dinner," Eagan said. She said they did know each other when Eagan was the president of the Toms River Education Association, because Rodrick was involved with teachers union activities in Monmouth County, where he teaches.

Rodrick called Eagan's statements "nothing more than a political stunt."

"A text message went out townshipwide this evening accusing me of meddling in your school board," Rodrick said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is the only person that is meddling as far as the superintendent is concerned and has violated ethics is Kathy Eagan."

Rodrick also accused Raimann of having political motivations, saying Raimann's name was on a political flyer distributed on behalf of Jason Crispin, who is challenging Rodrick for the Republican nomination in Toms River's Ward 2.

The controversy erupted publicly a week ago when Eagan alleged information from the executive sessions on the superintendent search had been repeated to Rodrick, whom she did not name at that time.

"I was told to tell someone on the committee that it would be to that person's benefit to change their vote," Eagan said. She said Rodrick knew the names of the two remaining candidates in the superintendent search and "knew exactly who the votes were and who voted for what."

Executive sessions are held to discuss matters that require confidentiality — contract negotiations, personnel matters, items involving specific students — and it is a violation of the code of ethics for New Jersey school board members to reveal information from executive sessions.

Eagan did not accuse any board member by name of violating the confidentiality of the executive sessions. Read more: Toms River School Board Member Accuses Councilman Of Interference

On Monday night, board member Ashley Palmiere sent an email signed by herself and Lisa Contessa to the township council (Patch was included on a blind copy) accusing Eagan of trying to pressure them about a superintendent candidate.

"Ms. Eagan tried on several occasions to influence and manipulate the appointment of a new Superintendent, despite her gross conflict with more than a dozen family members employed in-district," Palmiere wrote, and shared text messages dated March 23 from Eagan that urged the board to reconsider Michael Citta, the principal at Toms River High School South. Citta had been eliminated as a candidate by that date. Read more: Accusations Fly Over Toms River Superintendent Search

School board vice president Anna Polozzo said Palmiere's email revealed confidential information about the superintendent search, which she is leading.

"On the morning of 4/27/2021 I checked my email to find that I had been cc'd on an email sent from one of our elected board members to the Toms River Town Council and several reporters," Polozzo said. "That email and the confidential information it revealed was the topic of some articles on digital media and some very heated conversation at the Toms River Town Council Meeting yesterday."

Polozzo, who gave a timeline of the search process, said the number of candidates was reduced to two — one in-district, one out-of-district — in mid-March. She said meetings of the superintendent search committee before and after the April 21 meeting made it clear the "board members were not yet ready to appoint a Superintendent," and the meeting was adjourned.

"There was no straw poll taken during that (April 21) meeting," Polozzo said. "There was no vote of any kind. Seven elected members of the board were present. The conversation that happened in the room was the and remains confidential. The applicants' names also remain confidential."

Board members Jennifer Howe and Alex Mizenko expressed frustration over the controversy.

"We have been going through a lot in the public and it doesn't paint a pretty picture of us," Howe said. "Every decision we make should be about students and our teachers and our community, it should not be political. Our students are losing out on things because of our budget and there's so many ways for people to spend their time — call Trenton, writing letters, volunteer and see what our students need — not making a spectacle of what we do."

Mizenko called it "a circus."

"It's embarrassing," he said. "I came here to support our students and their achievements and not to play political games, and that's all it's become in the last week."

Rachel Remelgado of Toms River, and Melissa Morrison of Beachwood, both of whom have run for the school board in the last two years, voiced their criticisms as well.

"As a parent and community member I get enraged when I see how much time and energy and resources are being spent on issues that have nothing to do with the quality of education," Remelgado said. "There's so many hours in the day. Instead of being the mouthpiece of political parties or potential superintendent candidates, how about being the mouthpiece of our kids?"

"Those that are paying attention can see what is going on," she said. "Get the personal agendas and politics out of our classrooms. Put the damn kids first."

"Our children suffer because of personal agendas," Morrison said. "If any board member has an underlying personal political agenda and thinks they are part of the cool kid club, please do our children a favor and resign. The only cool kids in this district are the 15,000-plus children that our district serves and the faculty, staff and adminstrators that make up our district."

Raimann, too, said politics was at the root of what was happening, accusing Rodrick of providing support to the school board campaign of Contessa and Palmiere last year. The campaign finance reports show their campaign paid $3,850 to Cornerstone Communications, which is owned by Rodrick, for lawn signs. Contessa, Palmiere and their running mate, Ken Londregan, received more than $45,000 in donations for the school board campaign, including more than $16,000 from three political action committees that share the same Oak Street address in Toms River, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission filings.

"My concern is there has been some type of undue influence regarding trying to hire a superintendent," Raimann said. "Mr. Rodrick is tied to two of the existing board members and money was moved back and forth. I think it should be looked at."

Contessa, who joined the meeting remotely and said she was out of town, denied having political motivations.

"Ashley Palmiere and I never discussed anything confidential that couldn't have been brought to public light," Contessa said.

"We have however suffered significant pressure from many sides, many individuals in and out of the district, for their choice of a particular superintendent candidate," she said, "and our response has been consistent, to please trust that we will choose the best person for the job."

"We will stay above the fray going forward," Contessa said. "We are not responsible for the 'circus' that has ensued on social media, but we do think things needed to be cleared up and some transparency."

"As to us being accused of having a political agenda, we have nothing to gain," she said. "As Jen Howe says often, this is a volunteer position. I do now because I have the time to dedicate, because I do love this town. I love the district. I do love the children. That is the only reason we are both in this."

Palmiere, who also attended the meeting remotely — as did Michele Williams — did not address the controversy.

Polozzo said she hopes the board will focus on the job it's supposed to be doing, before the executive county superintendent is forced to step in.

"It is also my hope that we will do it without airing any more of our dirty laundry or dragging our valued employees through the mud," Polozzo said. "The current atmosphere is not ideal but we must recognize where we are and do the work required to get where we need to be. We owe that to our students, staff and community."

The board meeting can be viewed below in its entirety. The public meeting begins about the 1:30 mark. The council comment and public comment session of Tuesday's Township Council meeting can be watched in the video below the school board video.

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