Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • May 15, 2013 Franklin Lakes Principal’s withdrawal expands discord in district by Frank J. McMahon Christine Laquidara’s withdrawal from her recent appointment as principal of the Woodside Avenue School in Franklin Lakes has added to the dissension in the school district. Issues arose after a board of education meeting at which the superintendent resigned and the director of curriculum and two teachers were not granted tenure reappointments. Superintendent Frank Romano, whose own resignation will become effective at the end of his contract on June 30, 2014, gave the following explanation to the community for Laquidara’s withdrawal: “In light of these past weeks’ events in our district, Christine Laquidara has decided to withdraw her acceptance of the Woodside Avenue principal position. I am deeply saddened by this, but I do understand and respect her decision. Please rest assured that I remain committed to finding the right leader for Woodside Avenue School.” Laquidara submitted a letter of withdrawal to Romano the day after the last board meeting. “This has been a very difficult decision, but I feel it is the best for me professionally, for my family and the teachers and community of the Woodside Avenue School,” Laquidara told Romano. “When I accepted the position, I did so with the intent of making a long-term commitment to WAS and the Franklin Lakes School District. (But) based on the discussions and actions taken by the Franklin Lakes Board of Education recently, I am not confident the commitment or loyalty would be reciprocated. I cannot take that risk.” Laquidara is currently tenured in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District in southern New Jersey and lives in Pennsylvania. She explained that taking the position in Franklin Lakes would require her to sell her home and move her family. Her withdrawal leaves the district without a permanent WAS principal, and added to the dissention that followed the school board’s 5-4 vote not to reappoint Cheryl Best, the director of curriculum, and not to reappoint two teachers who were recommended for reappointment with tenure by their principals and the superintendent. Larry Loprete and Craig Urciuoli, two members of the board who voted not to reappoint Best and the two teachers, provided comments regarding Laquidara. “The board is disappointed with Ms. Laquidara’s decision to rescind her acceptance of the principal’s position at Woodside Avenue School,” Loprete said. “The superintendent will reinitiate the search process immediately and we are confident that we will secure an equally qualified candidate in advance of the next school year.” Urciuoli commented, “I was so sad to learn about Ms. Laquidara’s decision. It is an unfortunate circumstance to have all of this change happening at one time. I understand her reservations, but the board was enthusiastically committed to Ms. Laquidara, as evidenced by our unanimous vote to accept the superintendent’s recommendation to hire her.” The president of the WAS Parent Teacher Association, a long-term member of the school board, and a former president of the school board, all expressed concern about Laquidara’s withdrawal. “I feel that the exchange she witnessed at the recent school forum on April 24 between the public and the board of education trustees, and between the trustees and the superintendent, were a red flag that the issues facing our district were significant, said PTA President Rebecca Rund. She explained that the trustees raised issues at that meeting about Laquidara’s salary, concentrating too many resources in one position, professional development in the district, and concerns over test scores as their reasons not to support Best for tenured reappointment. Rund also said Laquidara saw how trustees were attacking professional development and how they were placing so much weight on test scores. “It was also apparent that trustees were not interested in listening to what the public had to say,” Rund stated, referring to the support of Best that was voiced at that meeting by teachers and the public. “I think this has created a lot of anxiety at Woodside among parents and teachers,” Rund continued. “Teachers don’t know who their boss will be, and that matters more now with the new teacher evaluation systems, and parents aren’t sure who will be running their school. “Laquidara is a tenured administrator in Hopewell Valley. Why would someone leave this type of professional security and uproot his/her family to come to a district with so much volatility and uncertainty?” Richard Koenigsberg, a school board trustee for 10 years, also expressed regret about Laquidara’s withdrawal. “It’s a loss for our district,” Koenigsberg said. “We will now be in a position of not being able to attract good, talented people because of the lack of leadership both on the board and in the district.” Koenigsberg said Laquidara’s withdrawal will delay the WAS recovery from the departure of its previous principal, Dominic Rotante, who resigned at the end of his leave of absence which expires at the end of this school year, but has sued the district in a effort to get his job back. Koenigsberg emphasized that Helen Attenello, who retired last year as principal of the High Mountain Road School and stayed in the district to serve as the temporary principal of WAS, has done “an amazing job of re-stabilizing the building and getting them on the right track.” He pointed out that the board is in the position of asking the superintendent to put a new person in place, but the superintendent will not be in the district for the long-term and will not be able to eventually recommend the new principal for tenure. Kathie Schwartz, the former board president was defeated for in last November’s election, said she believes Laquidara withdrew because of the lack of cooperation (continued on page 12)