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Teacher alleges superintendent circulated a "false and defamatory" letter and asks board for retraction
Summary
At the June 10 board meeting, teacher Charlene Garrino told the Hardyston Township Board of Education she had been named repeatedly in a district letter she called "false and defamatory," asked for a written retraction and apology, and described possible retaliatory treatment tied to a denied transfer. The board went into executive session for personnel.
Charlene Garrino, a 28‑year teacher in the Hardyston Township School District, told the board during public comment that a letter circulated by the superintendent improperly named her multiple times and associated her with negative commentary about her principal. "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, and asked the superintendent to "immediately retract my name from any such document statements and issue a verbal and written apology to acknowledge the harm caused."
Garrino said she had requested a midyear move to the middle school but was denied that reassignment, and she described the timing as potentially retaliatory. She said the superintendent promised to clear her name but that she had not received the promised letter; instead, the union had received correspondence. Garrino said the episode has harmed her reputation among colleagues and left her anxious about reporting concerns in the future. "This is not okay," she told the board.
Her statement followed earlier public comments about changes in legal counsel: Jennifer Rosen, president of the Hardyston Township Education Association, asked the board why it was considering a change in legal counsel at this time. Another resident, Jeff Altieri, asked the board to explain the rationale for soliciting new attorneys, saying a prior public question went unanswered.
The chair moved the meeting into executive session for student hearings and personnel matters shortly after public comment and estimated at least 45 minutes in closed session for a superintendent evaluation and personnel deliberations. The board announced there would be no further public votes after the executive session that night. The transcript shows no public response on the record to Garrino's request for a retraction before the board recessed to closed session.
Next procedural steps recorded in the meeting included the board entering executive session for personnel and student hearings; the superintendent evaluation was cited as ongoing and expected to be completed in closed session. The board did not record any immediate remedy, apology, or public statement responding to Garrino's request in the public portion of the meeting.
