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Parents and former staff criticize choice‑school moves; commenters allege personnel misconduct
Summary
Three public commenters urged the board to protect school culture amid reassignments, announced legal action seeking withheld community‑school funds, and alleged past personnel misconduct and procedural irregularities related to reductions in force.
Speakers during public comment on April 15 urged the Paterson Board of Education to consider school culture in reassignments, described alleged personnel‑process irregularities, and announced litigation seeking withheld community‑school funds.
Rosie, a public commenter, opened with community announcements and said the district has "joined a national lawsuit to restore the full service community school funds that are being withheld by the federal government." She asked the board and the community to support advocacy to bring funds back to Paterson and noted a June 4 '50 Book Club' celebration and a June 13 public jazz fundraiser.
Alexander Cardillo, introduced by meeting staff, urged the board to consider the culture and climate of choice schools when reassigning students. He recounted positive experiences under certain principals and criticized what he described as a pattern of behavior at another school, saying in part, "I was smeared and slandered for providing a culture and climate that kids gravitated to." Cardillo asked the board to ensure receiving schools maintain high standards of culture and discipline.
Joanne (Dr.) Cardillo addressed 'rightsizing' for budget purposes and pressed for clarity about the difference between personnel actions taken for cause or performance and actions taken for budgetary reasons. She urged separate public lists and documentation in HR and board minutes and referenced statutory rights to a Donaldson hearing for certain non‑tenured staff, asserting a prior RIF in 2019 was "weaponized" and calling for transparency.
The board did not take any immediate action on the claims during public comment. The superintendent and HR were cited as the points of follow‑up; HR is preparing a personnel committee presentation for next month that the superintendent said will summarize related data.
Attribution and verification: The allegations about personnel process and misconduct came from public commenters and were not disputed or verified on the record during the meeting; the board did not announce formal investigations at the April 15 session.
Ending: The board scheduled follow‑up through the personnel committee and the superintendent said staff would continue to review and report back.
