Parlapanides Says No to Adding Berkeley Super Duties to His Title

It's been almost two years since some Central Regional Board of Education members suggested to Superintendent Triantafillos "Tom" Parlapanides that he offer to work for a dollar a year as superintendent of the Berkeley Township school district.

But things have changed since then. Parlapanides officially agreed to withdraw the offer at the last board meeting.

"The board asked me to withdraw," Parlapanides said Tuesday afternoon. "It was so long ago, I forgot about it."

Parlapanides and Central Regional school district Business Administrator Kevin O'Shea are in the midst of a variety of projects, including the construction of a cell tower on Central Regional High School property, going out to bid for roof repairs, new windows, installation of city water on the high school property, a proposed wellness center and getting the 2011-12 budget put together.

"We have a lot of positive things going on with Central Regional," Parlapanides said.

Some members of the public brought up the subject of Parlapanides taking over as Berkeley superintendent at a stormy Feb. 10 Berkeley Board of Education meeting held to discuss the superintendent position.

At issue is whether the board should accept former superintendent and longtime Republican Ocean County Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari's offer to work for free until a permanent superintendent is selected, or finalize a contract with interim Superintendent Arlene J. Lippincott, who has served in that position for the last year and a half.

Board members voted  5 to 1 at the Feb. 3 meeting to bring Vicari back as interim superintendent. They later backtracked at the the same meeting and tabled the vote, until a conflict attorney was brought in. 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.

The Berkeley board has taken more than a year and a half to decide who should be appointed superintendent of the four-district school, ever since a previous board refused to renew Vicari's contract in 2008. Vicari, who had served six years as superintendent, left the district in June 2009, when his contract ran out. He and several other board members contend the decision not to renew his contract — which was done in closed session — was illegally and politically motivated by Democrats then in control of the board, and the local and county Democratic organizations.

The board appointed Lippincott as interim superintendent after Vicari's departure, a position she still holds. Berkeley school board members  voted unanimously at the Oct. 7, 2010 meeting to authorize Board Attorney John C. Sahradnik to begin negotiations with Lippincott  for a possible three-year contract as superintendent.

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 in for that slot, along with the interim superintendent's position.

But things changed again in early December, when board member invited Vicari over to the district to talk. Vicari has said he thought he was invited to a holiday gathering and didn't even realize it was a board personnel committee meeting until he arrived. Vicari offered to work free of charge for between six to twelve months as acting superintendent until the board settles on a permanent choice.

The Berkeley school board has scheduled another meeting on the topic on Feb. 23 at the Berkeley Township Elementary School.