Post by admin on Sept 9, 2008 8:24:01 GMT -5
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ENGLISHTOWN — Freehold Regional High School District Superintendent H. James Wasser said Monday night he and Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista would stop using doctoral titles and relinquish the $2,500 annual pay raise based on degrees the state has deemed null and void.
Wasser did not apologize to the more than 120 present at the meeting and stated that he and Evangelista will give up the raise, despite their legal right to it.
Many of the attendees called for Wasser to apologize — and resign — in a raucous meeting Monday night.
Board President Patricia Horvath said that she believed Wasser had no intention of deceiving the board in obtaining his degree from an unaccredited university at district expense.
Board member Bunny Hammer, who represents Freehold borough, said that the district spent $23,000 in July on special legal counsel on the issue of its administrators' degrees.
Board members promised to change the district's policy on degrees earned by personnel and increase oversight on contracts for high-level employees.
Board Attorney Stephen J. Edelstein presented the board with policy changes to aid in preventing district employees from gaining monetary benefits for unrecognized degrees.
Residents who spoke in the public comment ses-sion were split between those in support of Wasser and those who called for further action to be taken.
Ira Levin of Marlboro called on Wasser to pay back the money the district spent on legal fees to resolve this issue and questioned whether Board Attorney Lawrence A. Schwartz is working for Wasser or for the board.
Wasser wronged the district and cost it money for legal counsel, yet did not say "I'm sorry, I made a mistake," immediately after the news broke, Levin said.
Steve Johnson, another resident, argued that Wasser deceived the district.
"Mr. Wasser knew what he was doing; he's not a stupid man," Johnson said.
Former board member Michael A. Wright defended Wasser.
Wright said that the media tried and convicted Wasser unfairly and that the administrators are guided by morality that would not allow them to "stoop to deception and fraud."
Herb Massa, a Howell resident, also defended Wasser. He called for a "vote of confidence" in Wasser.
Board members requested this extra meeting so they could address the legal issues surrounding Wasser and one former and one current assistant superintendent who obtained degrees the state ruled null and void last week.
During the Aug. 25 meeting, board members appeared frustrated by their attorney's advice to remain silent because Wasser had not been given legally required notice. Following an investigation into the validity of the administrators' degrees, the director of the state Commission on Higher Education, Jane Oates, released letters that she had sent to Wasser, Evangelista and retired assistant superintendent Frank J. Tanzini ordering them to stop using doctoral titles.
Oates gave them a month to comply with the order or face stiff fines for continuing to use the titles Dr. or Ed.D.
Freehold regional administrators had not replied to the letters as of Tuesday, a commission spokesman said.
Oates could not be reached for comment.
The Asbury Park Press reported on July 17 that the Freehold Regional district paid tuition and gave raises to Wasser, Evangelista and Tanzini based on doctoral degrees from an unrecognized institution, Breyer State University.
Tuitions totaling $8,700 were paid in full by the district in 2004. Wasser received a salary increase in 2006, and Evangelista and Tanzini received raises in 2007. Tanzini retired Jan. 1 after receiving his raise in November.
Breyer State has since been kicked out of Alabama, where officials called the school "an apparent diploma mill," and chased out of Idaho and the African nation of Liberia before settling in Los Angeles, where state laws regulating post-secondary education had expired, leaving California wide open for diploma mill activity.
Since news stories on the matter were published, state lawmakers, including Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, have promised to stop the practice of using diploma mills to gain public funds and have called for administrators to pay back the district funds they received rewarding their now-voided degrees.
"School officials should be forced to pay back every nickel that they received based on these phony degrees," Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, R-Monmouth, said last week in a prepared statement. "School officials who exploited this loophole set a terrible example for the children who look up to them."
According to Schwartz, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's office is investigating the district. Assistant Prosecutor Peter Warshaw has declined to comment.
Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said the department will draft policy to prevent administrators from reaping these benefits and suggested that districts follow the lead of the department in the meantime.
The state School Boards Association also has been working to fill loopholes in policies and contracts, which can require districts to make payments for unaccredited degrees, according to an Aug. 4 NJSBA newsletter.
NJSBA also is drafting model superintendent contracts, which will require superintendents to submit a school's credentials for reimbursement and advanced salary grades, according to the newsletter.
Wasser's contract read, in 2004, when the tuition payments were made, "The Board shall reimburse the Superintendent the full cost of registration fees, tuition expenses, and text books for graduate school coursework at an institution of the Superintendent's choosing."
Staff writer Alan Guenther contributed to this report. Joshua Riley: (732) 308-7751 or jriley@app.com
ENGLISHTOWN — Freehold Regional High School District Superintendent H. James Wasser said Monday night he and Assistant Superintendent Donna Evangelista would stop using doctoral titles and relinquish the $2,500 annual pay raise based on degrees the state has deemed null and void.
Wasser did not apologize to the more than 120 present at the meeting and stated that he and Evangelista will give up the raise, despite their legal right to it.
Many of the attendees called for Wasser to apologize — and resign — in a raucous meeting Monday night.
Board President Patricia Horvath said that she believed Wasser had no intention of deceiving the board in obtaining his degree from an unaccredited university at district expense.
Board member Bunny Hammer, who represents Freehold borough, said that the district spent $23,000 in July on special legal counsel on the issue of its administrators' degrees.
Board members promised to change the district's policy on degrees earned by personnel and increase oversight on contracts for high-level employees.
Board Attorney Stephen J. Edelstein presented the board with policy changes to aid in preventing district employees from gaining monetary benefits for unrecognized degrees.
Residents who spoke in the public comment ses-sion were split between those in support of Wasser and those who called for further action to be taken.
Ira Levin of Marlboro called on Wasser to pay back the money the district spent on legal fees to resolve this issue and questioned whether Board Attorney Lawrence A. Schwartz is working for Wasser or for the board.
Wasser wronged the district and cost it money for legal counsel, yet did not say "I'm sorry, I made a mistake," immediately after the news broke, Levin said.
Steve Johnson, another resident, argued that Wasser deceived the district.
"Mr. Wasser knew what he was doing; he's not a stupid man," Johnson said.
Former board member Michael A. Wright defended Wasser.
Wright said that the media tried and convicted Wasser unfairly and that the administrators are guided by morality that would not allow them to "stoop to deception and fraud."
Herb Massa, a Howell resident, also defended Wasser. He called for a "vote of confidence" in Wasser.
Board members requested this extra meeting so they could address the legal issues surrounding Wasser and one former and one current assistant superintendent who obtained degrees the state ruled null and void last week.
During the Aug. 25 meeting, board members appeared frustrated by their attorney's advice to remain silent because Wasser had not been given legally required notice. Following an investigation into the validity of the administrators' degrees, the director of the state Commission on Higher Education, Jane Oates, released letters that she had sent to Wasser, Evangelista and retired assistant superintendent Frank J. Tanzini ordering them to stop using doctoral titles.
Oates gave them a month to comply with the order or face stiff fines for continuing to use the titles Dr. or Ed.D.
Freehold regional administrators had not replied to the letters as of Tuesday, a commission spokesman said.
Oates could not be reached for comment.
The Asbury Park Press reported on July 17 that the Freehold Regional district paid tuition and gave raises to Wasser, Evangelista and Tanzini based on doctoral degrees from an unrecognized institution, Breyer State University.
Tuitions totaling $8,700 were paid in full by the district in 2004. Wasser received a salary increase in 2006, and Evangelista and Tanzini received raises in 2007. Tanzini retired Jan. 1 after receiving his raise in November.
Breyer State has since been kicked out of Alabama, where officials called the school "an apparent diploma mill," and chased out of Idaho and the African nation of Liberia before settling in Los Angeles, where state laws regulating post-secondary education had expired, leaving California wide open for diploma mill activity.
Since news stories on the matter were published, state lawmakers, including Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, have promised to stop the practice of using diploma mills to gain public funds and have called for administrators to pay back the district funds they received rewarding their now-voided degrees.
"School officials should be forced to pay back every nickel that they received based on these phony degrees," Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, R-Monmouth, said last week in a prepared statement. "School officials who exploited this loophole set a terrible example for the children who look up to them."
According to Schwartz, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's office is investigating the district. Assistant Prosecutor Peter Warshaw has declined to comment.
Education Commissioner Lucille Davy said the department will draft policy to prevent administrators from reaping these benefits and suggested that districts follow the lead of the department in the meantime.
The state School Boards Association also has been working to fill loopholes in policies and contracts, which can require districts to make payments for unaccredited degrees, according to an Aug. 4 NJSBA newsletter.
NJSBA also is drafting model superintendent contracts, which will require superintendents to submit a school's credentials for reimbursement and advanced salary grades, according to the newsletter.
Wasser's contract read, in 2004, when the tuition payments were made, "The Board shall reimburse the Superintendent the full cost of registration fees, tuition expenses, and text books for graduate school coursework at an institution of the Superintendent's choosing."
Staff writer Alan Guenther contributed to this report. Joshua Riley: (732) 308-7751 or jriley@app.com