Teacher tells Hardyston board she was falsely named in superintendent's letter and asks for retraction

During the public-comment portion of the June 10 meeting, teacher Charlene Garrino told the Hardyston Township Board of Education that a letter circulated by the superintendent had falsely associated her with negative commentary about a principal and repeated her name multiple times.

Garrino described the inclusion of her name six times in the document as "false and defamatory," said the statements have harmed her reputation among colleagues and community members, and asked the superintendent to retract her name and issue both a verbal and written apology. She explained she had requested a move to the middle school but was denied the position because she did not apply mid-year; she said that denial, in context with the letter, could be perceived as retaliatory and raised ethical and legal concerns.

Quote: "I am writing to formally express my deep concern and dismay regarding a false and defamatory statement made in a letter you sent to the Board of Education," Garrino said. "Your repeated use of my name in this context, without my knowledge or consent, [is] defamation of character."

Garrino said she had requested clarification from the superintendent in previous conversations and that a promised letter to "clear my name" had not been received. She asked the board for an immediate retraction and apology. The board moved into executive session for personnel and student hearings shortly after public comment; no public response or retraction was recorded in the public portion of the meeting.

The accusation was explicit and specific to district personnel processes; the transcript provides Garrino's claims but records no public rebuttal or corrective statement from the superintendent in the meeting's public session. The matter was handled as a personnel issue in executive session, where deliberations are not part of the public record.