Vicari says he didn't ask for old job back

Longtime Ocean County Freeholder and former Berkeley schools superintendent Joseph H. Vicari said he never asked school board members if he could return to his old job.

"They asked me," he said Tuesday.

Vicari said he was asked by Board of Education Vice President John A. Bacchione and Board President James J. James Byrnes to drop by the district's administration building on Dec. 9.

"They called me to come in," Vicari said. "They just wanted to talk. I had no idea is was a (board) personnel committee meeting."

The two board members asked Vicari to think about returning as superintendent until the current school year ends in June 2011. Vicari said he decided to offer his services for free until the current school year ends in June 2011.

"I just thought I could make a valuable contribution to Berkeley Township," he said. "I would probably be the only superintendent in New Jersey that offered to come back free of charge. "

Board of Education members voted 7-0 at the Oct. 7 meeting to authorize Board Attorney John C. Sahradnik to begin negotiations with Interim Superintendent Arlene J. 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.

A previous school board decided not to renew Vicari's contract back in 2008. He left the district in June 2009, when his contract expired.

Bacchione said recently that the previous Board of Education may have acted unethically at the board's April reorganization meeting back in 2008, when Vicari's contract was not renewed. Vicari agreed with that assessment Tuesday.

"It was strictly political," he said. "They had more Democrats there than the entire year. Al Santoro (former county Democratic chairman Alphonse L. Santoro) was there to lead the county Democratic organization to take over the Board of Education.

Vicari, a Republican who is serving his 10th term on the Ocean County Board of Freeholders, said he thought his offer to return as superintendent free of charge was "a nice gesture."

"I don't need a contract," he said. "I'm fully certified. I have forty years in education. I was looking for an opportunity to serve Berkeley Township."

Board member Patrick Riley, also a personnel committee member, has called Vicari's presence at last week's personnel committee meeting "the biggest joke in all of New Jersey."

Both Riley and board member Dawn Parks have questioned why the board would interview for the principal position at the Bayville school while Lippincott has been working without a contract since July 2009.

Lippincott is currently being paid $120,000 a year as interim superintendent and $100 per day as acting principal at the Bayville Elementary School.

The board also voted unanimously at the Oct. 7 meeting to "explore possible administrative reorganization" of the district.