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Parents, staff and a former custodian press Bayonne Board on half days, school leadership and a firing
Summary
During public comment at the June 30 Bayonne Board meeting, multiple residents urged the board to reduce end-of-year half days citing absenteeism and safety concerns, a parent pressed for a permanent principal at Horace Mann, and a former custodian asked the board to review his termination.
Several community members used the board's public-comment period on June 30 to press the Bayonne Board of Education on the school calendar, leadership at Horace Mann Community School, and an employment dispute.
Laura Wilds urged the board to exercise its statutory role under the New Jersey Administrative Code (citing N.J. Admin. Code 18A:36‑2) to determine school open dates and urged the district to reduce what she said were 27 half days to the roughly 12 half days Bayonne used in 2019. She told trustees the district has high absenteeism near the end of the year, which she said was "roughly around 12% the second to the last week and up to 20% on average" in the last week, and warned that frequent half days reduce instructional continuity.
Kristin DeMarco said Horace Mann Community School has had three principals in four years and that the repeated use of interim principals has created confusion for parents and PTA activities; she asked for greater transparency about when a permanent principal will be placed. Nora Shahid, a Bayonne resident and mother, described how end-of-year half days forced her to shift to night shifts at her hospital job, producing severe sleep loss and a near-miss vehicle incident; she framed the schedule pattern as a safety and childcare issue for working families.
Jose Santiago, who said he is a former district custodian, told trustees he was fired after what he described as a misunderstanding and asked the board to review his case and reinstate him. Santiago said Robinson staff supported him and that he received a letter inviting him to contest the termination.
On routine business, the board approved the minutes and moved to accept the superintendent's report items A1–A13 and B1–B52 with B48 tabled. Multiple trustees recorded specific no votes or abstentions on individual B-line items: Trustee Burke said she abstained from B12 and B29; Trustee Gedeski‑Rodriguez said no on B8 and B12 and said B46 "needs a larger discussion" in the future; another trustee recorded a no on B18 and one abstention was recorded on B18; President Desmond abstained from B46 (line 56). The Board Secretary's report (C1–C15) was approved with abstentions noted for C9 and C11.
Trustees did not take immediate public action on the personnel concerns raised in comment. The meeting concluded after President Desmond announced her resignation.
