Ethics charges against Marlboro Superintendent dismissed
MARLBORO - A state judge has dismissed a claim that Schools Superintendent Eric Hibbs violated state ethics rules when he recommended that a superintendent from another district be hired to mentor a newly hired Marlboro school employee.
Administrative Law Judge Jacob Gertsman, acting on a 2019 New Jersey School Ethics Commission complaint, ruled on August 2 that Hibbs did not violate the state ethics code.
“I conclude that Hibbs did not act in his official capacity as Superintendent in a matter in which he had a personal involvement that might have been reasonably expected to impair his objectivity,” the judge’s ruling stated, in part. “And/or one in which he had a personal involvement that created a benefit to another.”
The case dates back to 2018 when, according to the complaint, Hibbs recommended that former Hazlet Superintendent Bernard Bragen be hired to mentor Dana Blair, Marlboro’s new director of special services at the time.
More:Ethics complaint filed against Marlboro superintendent
When Gertsman first heard the case in June 2021, he dismissed several claims, but ruled that a charge related to alleged conflict of interest required further review and evidence.
Following a hearing on that claim, the latest ruling occurred.
The case now goes back to the Schools Ethics Commission, which could reinstate any of the claims, although that is considered unlikely.
“It will go back to the commission for review,” said David Rubin, Hibbs’ attorney. “But their ability to overturn the judge’s credibility determinations will be very limited.”
Hibbs said the latest dismissal ruling clears his name.
"After four years of dealing with these malicious allegations against me, I'm grateful the court was able to get to the truth of the matter and find this complaint to be completely meritless,” Hibbs said via email. “These proceedings have been a needless and expensive distraction for our district, and the Marlboro school community has the original complainant to thank for it."
Former Marlboro Board of Education Member Craig Marshall, who filed the original ethics charge, said he did not expect the commission to change the ruling, but stands by his complaint.
“What might be going on here is that they may be using a certain definition of ethics, that Hibbs didn’t personally gain from his actions,” said Marshall, who served one term on the board from 2015 to 2018. “I believe my claims are valid and justified because what he did was wrong. It may not have met some legal definition of a conflict, but I stand by the fact that everything I accused him of doing he did.”
The original claim arose due to Hibbs’ financial ties to Hazlet Schools, which had hired Hibbs’ consulting firm, AME Education Consultants, prior to the hiring recommendation, the judge ruled.
In a written reply to the judge, Hibbs claimed that the ethics commission brief “either takes out of context, or at times, completely misstates the record being cited,” later adding that it “relies on hearsay or other objectional testimony to which I raised objections that (the judge) sustained.”
Marlboro Board President Randy Heller supported the judge's ruling.
“Since 2019 when the charges were filed, the character assassination attempts online against Dr. Hibbs have been truly upsetting and appalling,” he said in a statement. “He has had to endure many years of having this scurrilous complaint hanging over his head. Thankfully, the judge properly recognized the allegations were baseless and riddled with misinformation, which is why he was fully exonerated.”
Former Marlboro Board President Robyn Wolfe, who was on the board when the complaint was filed, echoed that view: “I believed that was going to happen, I believed it was an erroneous charge. He didn’t do anything wrong. This could have destroyed his career.”
Hibbs is in the second year of a five-year contract with Marlboro Schools that will pay him more than $1 million during its duration and includes an average $16,000 raise per year over his previous agreement.
Hibbs’ prior contract, signed in 2017, was a five-year deal that was due to end in 2022. It began with a $191,000 salary that increased by 2% each year. The new deal will begin with a $207,000 base salary and increase 2% each year of its duration.
Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience who covers education and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of three books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter at @joestrupp
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Marlboro NJ schools superintendent ethics violations claim dropped
