Berkeley Super Pick Could Come at Next Meeting, Board Member Says

The Berkeley Township Board of Education may finally be ready to decide on a superintendent — at least for the near future  —  next week, nearly two years after district head Joseph H. Vicari stepped down when his contract was not renewed.

The decision could come at the Feb. 23 workshop meeting, when action may be taken, board Vice President John A. Bacchione said.

"It's possible," Bacchione said

Board members went into closed session on Feb. 10 after a stormy two-hour public hearing to discuss "personnel and negotiations," but took no action that night.

Chances are, interim Superintendent Arlene J. Lippincott thought she had a good shot at a permanent position when the board voted 7-0 at the Oct. 7 meeting to authorize board Attorney John C. Sahradnik to begin negotiations with her for a possible three-year contract.

The board also voted unanimously at the Oct. 7 meeting to advertise the vacant principal's position at the Bayville Elementary School. Lippincott has been filling that role, along with the interim superintendent's position.

But in December, Bacchione and board President James J. Byrnes invited Vicari, a long-time Republican Ocean County freeholder, to drop by the district offices. Vicari has said he thought it was a holiday invitation and had no idea it was a personnel committee meeting. Bacchione and Byrnes asked him to return as superintendent until a permanent replacement could be found. Vicari offered to work free of charge, with no benefits.

Since then, the board has gone back and forth on who should be at the helm of the four-school district. Board members voted  5 to 1 at the Feb. 3 meeting to keep a motion on the floor made by board member Steven Pellechia to bring Vicari back as interim superintendent.

But they voted again to table the motion, after it was determined that a conflict attorney was needed. Sahradnik  — who serves as county counsel to the Ocean County Board of Freeholders  — has recused himself from anything involving Vicari, a longtime freeholder. Board member Dawn Parks voted no on the first vote and board member Patrick Riley abstained. Both Parks and Riley abstained on the second vote.

Central Regional Superintendent Triantafillos "Tom" Parlapanides submitted an application for the superintendent position right after the board began its search, with an offer to work for a dollar a year for the Berkeley district, in addition to his Central Regional responsibilities. But he said earlier this week he had withdrawn his application. Parlapanides said he needed to devote his energy to one district since the passage of the Jan. 25 referendum.

"I've never seen his offer to work for the district for $1," Bacchione said.

Vicari and several board members have said the 2008 decision not to renew his contract was a political one, engineered by the Democrats in control of the board at the time and the local and county Democratic organizations. Vicari said the longest he would consider returning to the district would be one year.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Berkeley Township Elementary School on Emory Avenue.