Fall will bring new faces to Shore Regional H.S.
School board approves
two teacher contracts,
three supervisors
By Sherry conohan
Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH — Three new supervisors were hired, and two new contracts with teachers were approved by the Shore Regional Board of Education June 27.
Tracy Handerhan was hired for the newly created post of director of curriculum and instruction at $81,000 a year. She comes from the Manchester school district where she was K-12 supervisor of science and mathematics.
Rosemary McNamara, who had been supervisor of special education in the Asbury Park school district, was hired for the revised position of director of student personnel services at a salary of $85,786 a year.
The director of student personnel services position, which formerly oversaw only guidance, was revamped to combine the responsibilities of both guidance and the supervisor of special education post, which was abolished. Meredith Pennotti, the former director of student personnel services, gave notice in May of her nonacceptance of the position for the 2002-2003 school year.
Stephen Nicol, who had been assistant principal at the Sparta Middle School, was hired as a vice principal at a salary of $75,000. He replaces Triantafillos Parlapanides, who left Shore Regional High School to become principal of Central Regional Middle School.
Nicol will work a 12-month schedule while Parlapanides worked a 10-month schedule.
All the new hires were effective as of July 1.
Board member Russell T. Olivadotti was critical at the workshop meeting two nights earlier of the lack of a salary range having been established for the new jobs before the search began for personnel to fill them. He said he hoped the district wasn’t just paying what other districts do.
"I’m not pleased with the amount of dollars some people get," he said. "I’m very upset."
Paul Rolleri of Oceanport, vice president of the board who was chairing the workshop meeting, said he thought "a fair salary" was being paid for the new and revamped positions.
The board also approved a series of one-year contracts with the Shore Regional Education Association for 2002-2003, and a three-year contract with the association for the years 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. Schnappauf and Linda Conway, president of the teachers union, said the terms of the contracts were the same except for salary. The one-year contract covering the upcoming school year provides for a 4.75 percent pay raise, while the three-year contract provides for increases of 4.75 percent in the first year, 4.85 in the second year and 4.95 in the third year.
The board also approved a settlement agreement between the board and William Koller, a tenured employee. No details about the settlement agreement were released.
Conway said after the regular meeting that the teachers were satisfied with the terms of the new contracts. She said there were give-backs on the part of the teachers with regard to their health insurance in return for the salary increases. She said the school district will still pay for their health insurance premiums, but there were changes in the deductibles and thresholds.
Conway said the union was not at all happy with the way the personnel issues were resolved.
"We lost some very good people," she said, and questioned the "educational wisdom" of eliminating so many supervisory posts. She noted that Lilley has taken a position with the Freehold Regional High School District.
"It really says a lot that so many of the people he let go were grabbed up real quickly," she said. "So, obviously, other districts felt they were valuable to have."
"We haven’t met any of these people," she added of the new administrators. "Some of the people hired [in general] were alternate route people or fresh out of college."
In another personnel move, the board appointed Kevin Pryor to teach a summer band workshop for the week of Aug. 26-30. Schnappauf’s attempt to reduce the job of Pryor, the high school’s sole music teacher, to a three-fifths position earlier this year stirred a storm of controversy. After a public hearing at which nearly 100 students, parents and alumni spoke out against any reduction in his hours and other changes planned by the superintendent, the board decided to keep Pryor on full time, at least for the upcoming year. For the Summer Band Workshop, which Pryor holds every year, he will be paid at the rate of $15 per hour for a maximum of 22 hours, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and will have the help of a staff assistant, with a total cost for the week not to exceed $720.
Pryor also will teach two sessions for new band members Aug. 20 and 22 at no cost to the board.
Olivadotti said the high school needs to have a few of Pryor’s students play for the school play.
During the controversy over Pryor’s standing, it was pointed out that no students play in the orchestra for the school musical put on every year — only professional musicians.
"If he has a few students, by golly, we should use them," Olivadotti said. "I didn’t like sitting there [on the stage of the auditorium during the public hearing] and taking that criticism. I don’t care if we only have five, but have some, so that we aren’t embarrassed in public."