Paul Harren will leave the district Sept. 30.
By: Cynthia Koons
WASHINGTON School Superintendent Paul Harren submitted his resignation to the Board of Education July 3, citing board decisions and ethics in a letter that has both school and municipal officials asking questions. His resignation becomes effective Sept. 30.
He said in the letter that "emotionalism" and "self-interest" guided some of the board’s decisions and that "some of this has come dangerously close to a violation of board ethics."
With a school budget that was defeated twice in two years, Mr. Harren has been working to balance a $50 million high school construction project and growing K-8 district soon to be a kindergarten to high school district.
In the staffing plan, the board was supposed to hire an assistant superintendent and instead hired a high school principal, which board member Joe Armenti believes is one of the reasons for Mr. Harren’s disgruntled departure. Mr. Harren could not be reached for comment.
"This Board of Education has continued to refuse the necessary staff support to the superintendent that I need to carry out the new growing K-8 district," Mr. Harren wrote in his letter.
Last year, when the budget was being trimmed after its defeat in the public vote, the Township Committee recommended eliminating the assistant superintendent’s position, which would have cost the district $100,000 a year.
Some township officials, like former Mayor Dave Fried, who has worked with Mr. Harren for more than two years, said he was surprised by the contents of the letter more than by his resignation.
"I don’t think he did anything malicious," Mr. Fried said. "(But) I think his letter was in poor taste. This is just a deeper indication of Mr. Harren’s lack of ability to be able to communicate with the community."
"The reality is, Mr. Harren has not articulated his position well to the public on the school’s behalf," he said. "He’s lost two elections in a row, and he has allowed Mark Tobias to scare people into believing that these tax increases are not going to end. Sometimes when people don’t have facts, they’re willing to believe what’s fiction."
Mr. Tobias endorsed a slate of candidates in this year’s election, under the name Citizens for Affordable Education, whose intention was to defeat the school budget. Mr. Armenti was the only candidate on Mr. Tobias’ slate that earned a seat on the board. Mr. Tobias is running as an independent candidate for Township Committee this year.
Another community group called Citizens for the Advancement of Responsible Education (CARE) endorsed incumbent candidates Flo Gange and Faith Silvestrov. CARE did not support the reelection of former board member Richard Kasper, who lost his seat to Mr. Armenti.
Ms. Gange said she could not comment on any of the contents of Mr. Harren’s letter saying it is a personnel matter.
"(Mr. Harren) came in at a difficult time for the school district and at the time, five years ago, he was able to stabilize our school district," she said.
He was hired in 1999, at that time he was serving as an assistant superintendent in the Howell School District.
Ms. Gange said the school board will hold an public meeting on July 23 to interview superintendent search firms.