Vicari Says 1 Year is Longest He'd Serve Free of Charge as Berkeley Superintendent

Six months to a year.

That's the longest  former Berkeley schools superintendent Joseph H. Vicari said he would return as head of the four-school district if the Board of Education taps him to come back.

Vicari has offered to work free of charge, with no benefits, to help the district out until the school board settles on a permanent superintendent.

"I have no plans for going back for two years," Vicari said on Saturday. "It's not for the money. I like being retired. But if they need help, I'd be more than happy to do so. I'm not going to get into a major controversy."

The board held a special meeting on Feb. 10, primarily to hold a closed session to discuss "personnel and negotiations." But before they went into executive session, board President James J. Byrnes opened the meeting to the public. What followed was nearly two hours of sometimes rancorous discussion over whether Vicari should return or if the board should make acting Superintendent Arlene J. Lippincott the permanent superintendent. Lippincott has served in the position for a year and a half.

When board member Steven Pellechia told resident Cheryl Altieri not to "look a gift horse in the mouth," Altieri called Vicari a "jackass."

Board Vice President John Bacchione said on Saturday the board will discuss the superintendent appointment again at a Feb. 23 workshop meeting.

"I think it's time we made a decision," he said. "It's time to move on."

Several residents and board member Stephen Pellechia said at the Feb. 10 meeting  that a previous board's decision not to renew Vicari's contract in 2008 was illegal because it was done in closed session. Vicari left the district in 2009, when his contract expired. He had served six years as superintendent when his contract was not renewed.

"I've been fighting the battle to bring him back since,"  Pellechia said at the Feb. 10 meeting. "We are at the threshold. There's a difference between this (board's) majority and that majority. They didn't know what they were doing."

Vicari — who also is a longtime Republican Ocean County freeholder — was at the May 19,  2008 meeting when the previous board decided not to renew his contract in closed session. Vicari said on Saturday that then-board attorney Guy Ryan allowed the vote in closed session and allowed board member Thomas Guarascio to vote, even though he had a conflict of interest because his wife worked in the school district.

The state School Ethics Commission later ruled that Guarascio had violated the state School Ethics Law in several instances —including participating in the closed session — and recommended that he be censured, according to the decision.

Vicari also said the contract vote was politically motivated by the Democrats who had the school board majority at the time and the local and county Democratic organizations.

South Seaside Park resident James Fulcomer — who also is president of the Berkeley Township Republican Organization — asked the board at the Feb. 10 meeting if they had considered the possibility of Vicari suing over the April 2008 vote not to renew his contract.

But Vicari said on Saturday that wouldn't happen.

"I'm not suing," he said. "There's no legal action taking place."

The 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.

Board of Education members voted 7-0 at the Oct. 7 meeting to authorize Board Attorney John C. Sahradnik to begin negotiations with Lippincott  for a possible three-year contract as superintendent. Sahradnik later recused himself from the matter, since he serves as county counsel to the Ocean County Board of Freeholders.

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.

Bacchione said on Saturday the Berkeley Board of Education had been a "very cohesive" board up until about five or six meetings ago.

"You can see we are not all thinking along the same lines," he said. "It makes the people wonder what the heck is going on."