The Game of Superintendent Musical Chairs Is Over, for Now

Interim Berkeley Township Schools Superintendent Arlene J. Lippincott has been at the helm of the four-school district since former Superintendent Joseph H. Vicari cleaned out his desk in June 2009. That's a heck of a long interim.

But Lippincott will be cleaning out her own desk at the end of March, to prepare for Vicari's return on April 1. And it's difficult to figure out exactly what has been going on with this superintendents' version of musical chairs over the past year and a half.

Most people with an interest in the topic cry politics is behind all of this. They are right.

It was politics in May 2008 that led to Vicari's ouster in the first place, when a previous school board declined to renew his contract. And it seems to be politics that led to his eventual return to the district for a one-year stint.And what happens to Arleen Lippincott, when she's out of the superintendent seat come April 1?

Board vice-president John Bacchione — who is running on the Republican ticket for a seat on the Township Council this fall — said this week that Lippincott will always have a job with the Berkeley district, because she has tenure.

"She'll always have a job as principal," Bacchione said. "She'll always be a principal. We are looking at other opportunities for her, with her approval. She will beprincipal again. There may be some other duties she's going to participate in."

Lippincott seemed to be on her way to becoming a permanent superintendent when the board voted unanimously at the Oct. 7 meeting to authorize board attorney John C. Sahradnik to begin negotiations with her for a three-year contract.

Board members also voted unanimously at the same 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 longtime Ocean County Republican freeholder — to drop by the district's administrative offices. Vicari has said he thought it was a holiday invitation.

But it wasn't just a Christmas cookie exchange.  It was actually a board 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.

And the quest to bring Joe Vicari back, even for a short time, was on.

In the end, the at the Feb. 23 meeting to appoint Vicari to a one-year term. Board member Dawn Parks cast the lone dissenting vote. Chances are, board member Patrick Riley would have voted no, too. But the board meeting had been changed from its usual Tuesday meeting day to Wednesday, because of the holiday. Riley had a previous commitment that day and could not attend.

Although he offered to work for free, state law requires that a certified school administrator must be paid a salary. So Vicari will return for $18,500 for a year, with no benefits. The former superintendent will be given 43 days off without pay during the coming year, which includes vacation, sick and personal days, Byrnes said after the vote.

"We got Mr. Vicari back in," a beaming Steven Pellechia said after the meeting.  Pellechia, a board member, had lobbied to bring Vicari back almost since his departure in 2009.

"Two years ago he was illegally kicked out of being superintendent, and we have been fighting ever since to bring him back," Pellechia said. "And we're going to save about $150,000 in salaries."

Byrnes said after the meeting that Lippincott had done a "great job" as interim superintendent, but he said he was reluctant to enter into a three-year contract with Lippincott as superintendent when the board wanted to consolidate and share services with the Central Regional school district.

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. He has called the current board's decision to bring him back for a year a .

"I made it very clear," Vicari told Berkeley Patch. "I'm going back to clear my reputation, set the record straight and make a contribution to education. I just want to serve Berkeley Township. My passion in life has always been education."

And the search for a permanent superintendent hasn't ended. Vicari has said he will and no longer in the job he once held for six years. So whoever is on the board after the April elections will have to start the process all over again.

Lippincott has sat stoically up on the dais at recent board meetings. One can only imagine what the last few months have been like for her, while the public and board members discussed who should have her job right in front of her. She has repeatedly politely declined to comment on the matter.