By charles w. kim
Staff Writer
A number of people attending Monday night’s South Brunswick Board of Education meeting left feeling relieved.
The board voted to appoint three full-time assistant principals and one part-time assistant principal during the meeting.
"The people were relieved," Assistant Schools Superintendent Willa Spicer said Tuesday.
The panel voted 9-0 to appoint Christine Chrabaszcz as the new assistant principal at the high school, and Sondra Hinson to the post at Crossroads South Middle School.
The board voted 6-3 to appoint Melissa Sadin as the full-time assistant principal at Brunswick Acres Elementary School.
Board President Harry Delgado, Dr. Paul Prodromo and Barry Nathanson voted against the appointment.
Sadin was initially to be appointed as a part-time assistant principal and a part-time basic skills teacher at the school.
The board also voted 5-4 to appoint Moses White as a part-time assistant principal and part-time basic skills teacher at Greenbrook Elementary School. White was to have been appointed to the post full time.
Board members Martin Abschutz, Bob Long, Anna Tupe and Dr. Dan Watts voted against the appointment.
According to the meeting agenda, White will earn $31,500 as an assistant principal. Chrabaszcz’s salary will be established at a later date, and Hinson will be paid $75,000 per year.
White’s pay as a basic skills teacher will be established at a later time.
Sadin, who was only to be appointed part time, had a listed salary of $32,780, but that will likely change because her position was made full time.
About 60 residents attended the meeting to speak out on the staffing issue and the elimination of busing for students along Georges Road.
Several of the comments during the public portion of the meeting focused on the staffing issue.
"How dare you," resident John Broxmeyer admonished the panel.
Broxmeyer said that he was upset that the board changed plans to hire up to eight assistant principals to better prepare for the changes coming this year.
"We supported the budget (and these positions). My trust level in the board is nonexistent," Broxmeyer said.
The positions were included in the school budget passed on April 16. Three of the former board members stepped down from the panel during that election, and two new members were voted in. Former member Dr. Matt Speesler returned to the board to fill the third seat.
The new board changed the staffing plan last month by changing some of the proposed full-time positions to part time.
That move angered several residents and some former members of the board.
Gail Barcelo, who served for more than two decades on the board, also spoke out against the changes at the meeting.
"What are the educational goals of what you are doing?" Barcelo asked.
"I am enraged that the Board of Education thinks it can remove positions at the last minute. These are positions that were outlined in the budget — a budget that was passed by the support of parents like myself," Monmouth Junction resident Debbie Paley said. "I attended many of the meetings and understood the budget. I supported it. I have also paid my third-quarter taxes that included our large increase. Now I find that my son, who is to enter kindergarten at Deans Brooks Crossing, will be in a building void of any assistant principal or teacher’s assistant. That is not what I voted for. Had I known that this was going to happen, I would not have supported the budget."