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Chatham board honors outgoing superintendent as discipline incidents fall
Summary
At his final board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Michael Lasusa was praised by board members and the community as the district reported declines in confirmed HIB incidents, suspensions and cheating; the board approved routine personnel and donation items unanimously.
Dr. Michael Lasusa received extended thanks from board members, municipal officials and residents at his final School District of the Chathams Board of Education meeting, where administrators also presented the district’s annual discipline report showing overall declines in confirmed HIB (harassment, intimidation and bullying) incidents and suspensions.
Board president and trustees opened the meeting with tributes to Lasusa’s 24 years of service and listed initiatives attributed to his leadership, including curricular expansions, Holocaust and genocide studies, TEDx programming and facility improvements. "I feel like I'm leaving this place in a better condition than I found it," Lasusa said, thanking colleagues as he described a planned, purposeful handoff to Dr. Sortino.
Why it matters: The discipline report frames the district’s student‑safety priorities as leadership transitions take place. Trustees used the data to probe how the district balances disciplinary consequences with education and supports for students.
Connor Henderson, assistant principal at Chatham High School, told the board that tardiness remains the most common infraction and that the district saw reductions in suspensions and HIB incidents overall. "Student tardiness to school continues to be the most common infraction," Henderson said, and he flagged academic integrity—including unauthorized use of AI on assignments—as an area of focus after the high school recorded 21 cheating incidents this year. Henderson described classroom and administrative measures (Google revision history, Securly Classroom, cell‑phone wall holders and a renewed academic integrity policy) used to detect and deter misuse.
At the middle school, assistant principal Danielle DeGunas reported that while the number of HIB investigations stayed roughly steady, the percentage of confirmed HIB incidents declined. She said a small subset of students accounted for a disproportionate share of discipline incidents and that race or ethnicity was identified as a motivating factor in several confirmed HIB cases this year. The middle‑school team highlighted interventions including an expanded LYNX peer‑mentoring program, redesigned opening‑week activities and targeted counseling groups.
The board pressed staff on the line between HIB cases and ordinary code‑of‑conduct incidents; as one trustee noted, not every physical altercation meets the legal threshold for HIB. Henderson said the district used the principal's determination checklist when reports did not meet statutory HIB thresholds and that, where appropriate, matters were handled under the regular code of conduct.
Board actions and approvals: Trustees approved multiple routine personnel and finance items during the meeting. After a hiring process led by Dr. Rosenthal, the board welcomed Bridget Bastow and Catherine Steghe as supervisors of student support services. The board also accepted several community donations, including $15,000 from the Chatham Education Foundation for phase two of the Chatham Middle School media center and a $95,000 gift from the Hill Avenue PTO for playground equipment; those finance items were approved unanimously.
The meeting ended with further public tributes to Lasusa from municipal officials and residents, and the board announced a brief executive session with action to follow.
Next steps: The board will circulate draft calendars to parents for feedback and will proceed with the announced personnel and finance items as part of the usual post‑session process.
