Upper Freehold board hears Miriam Peluso’s appeal
By: Purvi Desai
UPPER FREEHOLD Miriam Peluso was granted tenure as principal of the Upper Freehold Elementary and Middle School last week, despite not being recommended for the position by district Superintendent Robert Smith.
Ms. Peluso was accepted for tenure as principal during a May 10 closed session meeting held between the Board of Education and herself, she said, after she appealed to the board to reconsider her position. Ms. Peluso has been principal since 2004, but she has been untenured. Her tenure officially begins on Sept. 2 and her salary for this school year is $105,000.
"I did ask for a hearing before the board," she said in an e-mail Tuesday. "The board considered my appeal after that and took a vote which resulted in a recommendation to approve my reappointment as principal for the (2006-2007) school year."
Ms. Peluso already holds the position of principal, but without tenure, she said.
Dr. Smith said Monday that he could not divulge why he chose not to recommend Ms. Peluso to be tenured as principal, as personnel matters cannot be divulged with the public.
Despite the lack of a recommendation by the superintendent, the school board considered Ms. Peluso’s appeal, and voted 6-2 to grant tenure to her, said Viola Yosifan, district business administrator, on Tuesday. There was one abstention vote, she said.
Ms. Peluso said Monday that although she is happy she was tenured as principal, she is also disappointed at the same time, that Dr. Smith did not recommend her to the board.
"I felt that in the seven years that I was here I had proved myself to be an effective leader," she said. "I know that I had support from the staff and parents community members."
Dr. Smith explained the process of tenure, saying that people holding different positions earn tenure after a certain amount of time and that Ms. Peluso earned tenure as a vice principal after three years before being appointed to be principal.
Ms. Peluso said a principal can be tenured only after serving for two years, which she said she just completed.
"What the tenure means (is that someone) has a position and it’s secure," Dr. Smith said. "Once you have tenure, you’re in the position for as long as you choose to be in the position unless you do something (out of line)."
Dr. Smith said if personnel are nontenured, the superintendent makes a recommendation to the Board of Education whether to reappoint them.
"At that point, the board can either approve those recommendations or not approve them," he said. "If there’s somebody not appointed by the superintendent, and he or she is not also subsequently appointed by the board, the person can ask for reason."
That person can then ask to appear in front of the board for an appeal, he said.
Ms. Peluso said she did appear in front of the board in a closed session and they changed their minds.
"I happy that the board made the decision that they did," Ms. Peluso said. "I’m going to move forward with whatever our district’s goals are. I am going to continue in my leadership role and review of curriculum and instructional programs and important programs like character education."
There are two vice principals for the school, Lucas Coesfeld for the elementary school, and Mark Guterl for the middle school.