An employee of the Freehold Regional High School District has spoken out about what she called a “climate of fear and intimidation in this district that is stopping people from speaking their minds.”
Theresa Morales has been a math teacher in the district for 36 years and a math supervisor for 32 of those years. She was in Freehold High School for 19 years, Freehold Township High School for 14 years and is now in her third year in Manalapan High School.
She addressed the FRHSD Board of Education, central office administrators and members of the public during the board’s Sept. 22 meeting at the district’s headquarters in Englishtown.
Her comments about the way some district employees are allegedly treated gave public voice to what many people have said privately for years: that FRHSD employees who do not follow instructions from central office administrators about what to do in a variety of situations are threatened with reprisals related to their employment.
Morales said she made her comments as a private individual.
By way of alleging what goes on in the district, she said, “A few years ago, while still at Freehold Township High School, the decision was made to do away with the physical education supervisors. That group asked its members to attend the board meeting, not to speak, but to show support by their presence.
“Hours before the meeting, word leaked out that any supervisor attending that meeting would be transferred. That threat, whether real or imagined, worked because the only supervisors present that evening were the six phys ed supervisors losing their jobs, the president, vice president, secretary and the treasurer of the supervisory group, and me.
“Within a month, my transfer was put on the table with the other two officers who were math supervisors. One of them planned on working one more year, but she subsequently put in her retirement papers. My transfer was then taken off the table to be put back on the following year,” Morales said.
She said that when she was transferred to Manalapan High School several years ago, she was given the responsibilities of the FRHSD’s Science and Engineering program “with no written job description, nor having the expectations or requirements of the program explained to me.”
“That first year in Manalapan High School, various underhanded tactics were tried on me: the threat of a letter in my file, the threat of withholding my increment, and the threat of putting me between two schools. None of this worked. Why? Because there was no basis,” Morales said.
Morales said she came forward at the Sept. 22 meeting because, “It was important for me to say what I needed to say. It saddens me to see the direction in which this district is going. There is a climate of hostility. This district’s retaliatory nature is preventing people from being vocal. I am not afraid of retaliation. I can’t let it stop me. The one thing I have on my side is truth. I am not afraid.”
Morales encouraged other individuals to come forward if they believe they have been wronged by district officials.
“I want to show people that you don’t have to be afraid. When you have the truth on your side, just stand up and tell it,” she said.
Elena Andreacci, the president of FRHSD Supervisors Association, said, “The comments Theresa Morales made on Sept. 22 were her own personal feelings and not that of the FRHSD Supervisors Association. As an association, we deal with our professional and personnel issues internally and do not discuss them with the public or the press. The concerns we bring to central administration are handled cordially, professionally and with mutual respect.”
Ilse Whisner, the district’s public information officer, said this was the first time the board has ever heard these accusations.
“Administration was taken aback because never has she [Morales] come forward and expressed any concerns,” Whisner said.
Morales has a different view and said she has always been vocal when she believes she has been wronged.
“I have a lot of pride and integrity, and as these things happened to me, I was very vocal,” she said.
Morales said all she wants to do is empower people to stand strong, stand up, and tell the truth.