By KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
WOODBRIDGE — Woodbridge High School has a new vice principal.
The Woodbridge Board of Education (BOE) approved the appointment of Christopher Chiera as vice principal at a board meeting on July 20.
Chiera replaces Abdulsaleem Hasan, who served three years as vice principal at Woodbridge High. Hasan left for a principal position at East Orange Campus High School. The board accepted Hasan’s resignation at a meeting on June 15.
“I am excited to be given the opportunity of becoming the new vice principal at Woodbridge High School,” said Chiera, who will join Principal Glenn Lottmann and Vice Principal Matthew Connelly. “It has been a goal and a dream of mine to be an administrator. I am thankful to [Principal] Lottmann, [Schools Superintendent Robert] Zega, central administration and the Woodbridge Board of Education for trusting me with this opportunity.”
Chiera previously served as a special education teacher in math and business at Colonia High School (CHS) for 13 years.
He also was the head boys’ basketball coach for the past 10 years at CHS. During his tenure, his teams won four Greater Middlesex Conference division championships, two state sectional group championships and one Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title.
“I also was an assistant football coach [at CHS] for five years, baseball for four years, and cross-country for three years,” he said.
Chiera, who began his new position on July 21, said he looks forward to working with the staff and students at Woodbridge High and continuing the proud tradition that has been established at the school.
“It has been a smooth transition, and the Barron family has been nothing but friendly in accepting me into their family,” he said.
In other school news, the BOE approved the previously submitted separation agreement between the board and Dara Kurlander, accepted Kurlander’s resignation effective Dec. 31, 2016, and directed the administration to take all necessary and appropriate steps to implement the actions required by the separation agreement.
Kurlander had been serving as supervisor of Intervention and Referral Services, ESL and bilingual programs.
In August 2012, Kurlander was allegedly one of five district employees who were accused in a report by the state Department of Education’s Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance (OFAC) of interfering with the NJ ASK tests at Ross Street School No. 11 and Avenel Street School No. 4 and 5.
The BOE conducted its own investigation and determined in August 2013 that all allegations concerning Kurlander, who was the former principal at Avenel Street School, were inconclusive and had appointed her to the supervisory role in August 2013.
When asked if the separation agreement between the BOE and Kurlander had any relation to what transpired in 2012 and 2013, Board Attorney Jonathan Busch said the separation agreement was a personnel matter and the board is prohibited from commenting on the details of the agreement.