'Petty stuff:' Westwood school board swears in new majority, but bickering continues
WESTWOOD — With tensions still running high in the Westwood Regional School District, community members and the newly elected board president called on colleagues to put aside their disputes.
The Board of Education held its annual reorganization meeting Thursday night, when four newcomers — Washington Township residents Heather Perin, Loni Azzolina and Jorge Pertuz and Nicole Martin of Westwood — were sworn into office.
The four won seats during the November election. The change spelled the end for a parental-rights majority on the nine-member board and is expected to shift the dynamic in the K-12 district, serving Westwood and Washington Township. The election followed a year of heated board meetings at which hundreds of people debated sex education, parental notifications and Pride signs, among other topics.
Dueling candidates for board president
Jay Garcia was elected board president and Andrea Peck was voted vice president in a 6-3 vote, with Azzolina, Pertuz, Martin and Perin joining Garcia and Peck in approving the appointments. Douglas Cusato, Kristen Pedersen and Laura Cooper — part of the old board majority — cast the dissenting votes. Pedersen was also nominated for board president but lost in a 6-3 vote.
Before the leadership votes, Cooper asked the board to allow questioning of Garcia and Pederson about their time on committees last year, what opportunities to improve the district they “proactively bring to the table” and which initiatives were they most proud of.
“I think it’s perfectly fine for anybody to put their hat in the ring, but I had some questions about it,” Cooper said. “This is an open forum and it is public and it’s a very big role.”
Pertuz objected, saying that over the past year, the town had gotten to know both candidates and “that year provides more clarity than any discussion we are going to have.” Other board members said Garcia had sent an email to all sitting board members about his intentions before the meeting.
Legal check required
The board then went on a recess so district Business Administrator Keith Rosado could call the board attorney and ask what the protocol would be in this situation. Upon returning, Rosado said the attorney had advised that interviews for board president are usually done before the meeting and not explicitly required by board bylaws, although the board could vote to allow them if it desired.
“In my 16 years, it’s never been done, which was why I was confused and needed clarification,” Rosado said.
The majority of the board voted 6-3 not to go forward with the candidate questions.
Before the vote for Garcia, Pedersen made a statement about Garcia that “he has unfortunately a lot of people fooled but after getting to know you after the past year, you don’t have me fooled.” Her statement also said Garcia did not have “role model behavior” and “behavior that would not come from a true leader.” She also accused him of “spreading lies and fear across the community in order to win the election.”
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Frustration from the public
Community members congratulated the new board members during a public comment session but also expressed frustration with the infighting.
“This board just wasted 40 minutes of our time playing the same old games,” said Kelly Omelia. “The gig is up. I’m sorry, it’s over for you. The people have spoken.”
“It’s absolutely disturbing,” said John Birkner, a former three-term mayor in Westwood. “Our educators were slandered by members of this board, three of which still remain. I hope the three that still remain will take a look at the election results, because what you saw was a mandate that we won’t tolerate that behavior anymore.”
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Andrew Gerstmayr, a former school board member, added, “I applaud the new majority for not letting that side show continue, and that’s why that majority exists.”
“I hope we can move forward and get some things done next year,” Gerstmayr said. "I shouldn't say that — things did get done last year, but it took an awfully long road around to get there, and that was frustrating and made us a public spectacle in the entire county.”
'Nobody cares about petty stuff'
Later in the meeting, an argument began to erupt among Azzolina, Cusato and Pedersen. It came after Azzolina made a comment that “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” after Cusato implied that Azzolina had made a slight toward his wife on social media. When Garcia stopped Cusato from continuing, Pedersen argued that it was “selective enforcement."
“Everybody out there: Nobody cares who likes who, who slighted somebody," responded Garcia. "They want us to do what’s best for our children and students and staff. You’re absolutely right, Ms. Pedersen. Next time I will stop people and be consistent and I will be appropriate as I learn this role. But please, for everybody out there, nobody cares about petty stuff.”
Stephanie Noda is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: noda@northjersey.com
Twitter: @snoda11
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Westwood NJ schools swear in new board after parental-rights battle
