By Geena Molinaro, Special Writer
MONTGOMERY — Village Elementary School special education teacher Anne Palmisano has yet to be reinstated by the Board of Education, despite multiple parents’ requests that she be allowed to return to her classroom.
Ms. Palmisano was taken out of her classroom on the morning of May 29 after an incident occurring on May 27 that involved one of her student’s using the bathroom with the door ajar, said parent Patricia Leedy.
A teacher’s aide was also removed from the classroom but later returned, she said.
Ms. Leedy, whose son was the student using the bathroom, said she had emailed all of the parents in the class after she learned of the incident. No one told her they had any issues with the door being ajar while her son used the classroom’s bathroom, she said.
At a Board of Education meeting on June 17, four parents, including Ms. Leedy, spoke about the damaging effects Ms. Palmisano’s absence has had on their children.
Dr. Antoine Yver said his son, who had finally started speaking, had stopped all verbal communication since Ms. Palmisano left.
On July 10, Dr. Yver said his son was still displaying regressive behavior from the classroom’s disruption at the end of the year.
Other parents who spoke at the meeting also reported regressive behaviors to the board.
The parents asked the board for more information about why Ms. Palmisano was removed from the classroom and how the case was being handled. They also asked for an outside investigation to be conducted to make sure the case was properly handled.
The four parents who spoke at the meeting said Ms. Palmisano had helped their children progress significantly and praised her skills as a teacher.
The Board of Education has no record of another teacher replacing Ms. Palmisano during her absence, which lasted from May 29 through the end of the school year, June 20.
Business Administrator and Board Secretary Thomas Venanzi said this was an "oversight" and "Human Resources is working to put it on the next agenda retroactively."
According to New Jersey law, to suspend a teacher, the superintendent needs approval from the president of the board and must report the suspension to the rest of the board.
For the teacher to be reinstated or removed the board must go through a recorded role call majority vote, the law says.
Board President Arun Rimal could not be contacted for comment.
The board renewed Ms. Palmisano’s contract for the 2014-2015 school year at their May 13 meeting and approved a salary of $61,040 for the year.
Ms. Palmisano was given the position of teacher for the mild, cognitively impaired/self contained class at Village Elementary School.
On Wednesday, Superintendent Nancy Gartenberg said, "The district is still determining Ms. Palmisano’s status for September."
The investigation into Ms. Palmisano has been completed, she said, but its results are not public at this time.
The district posted a job opening on its website on July 2 for the same title Ms. Palmisano has at the same school where Ms. Palmisano teaches. The position is for a "special education teacher — mild, cognitively impaired/self contained classroom" at Village Elementary School, with a start date of Sept. 1, according to the posting.
Superintendent Gartenberg said she had not seen the posting and the district has many different teachers.
Previously, Ms. Palmisano had requested a leave of absence under the Family and Medical Leave Act from March 26 to April 4 and gave an anticipated return date of April 7.
The board approved her leave at their March 25 meeting and granted her an unpaid leave with benefits. Board Policy 3431.1 says the FMLA is an unpaid leave.
Ms. Palmisano was referred to a lawyer through the New Jersey Education Association, said Montgomery Education Association President Deborah O’Reilly.
Ms. Palmisano was a non-tenured teacher but was on track to receive it in September 2015, said Ms. O’Reilly.
Ms. Palmisano worked in the district in a leave replacement position for two years and was given a tenure track position the next year, she said.
"She was "grandfathered" into the three-year tenure law before it was changed to four years," said Ms. O’Reilly.
Ms. O’Reilly said Ms. Palmisano had four years of "outstanding" classroom observations and annual reviews.
Ms. O’Reilly declined to comment on the incident involving Ms. Palmisano and would not provide information about what happened directly leading up to Ms. Palmisano’s removal.
"It was a truly deplorable situation for those students and their parents the way things were handled," she said. "However, we are looking forward to a more collaborative relationship with central office administration."
Ms. Leedy said Ms. Palmisano had not returned to teach in the extended school year program and the parents have not received information about who will teach their children in the fall.
