Two investigations launched into Elizabeth school board
Published: Monday, June 13, 2011, 6:00 AM Updated: Monday, June 13, 2011, 1:15 PM
The Donald Stewart Center for Early Childhood Education School #51, where the Elizabeth Board of Education holds its meetings.ELIZABETH — The Elizabeth Board of Education has become the focus of two investigations in the wake of charges that jobs and promotions at one of the state's largest school systems were tied to political contributions.
Several former teachers say they have been contacted or interviewed by the Union County Prosecutor's Office, which would neither confirm nor deny it was investigating the school board.
Separately, Assembly Republicans have launched an investigation seeking extensive spending records from the Elizabeth board under the Open Public Records Act — including payments for food, drink, entertainment and travel; legal fees; purchase of cars or televisions; sports and athletic equipment; lobbying and public relations fees.
Meanwhile, the school board has retained former New Jersey Justice Gary Stein to look into the allegations, which were raised in a report in The Sunday Star-Ledger May 22 detailing the political power wielded by those who control the Elizabeth schools.
The story documented widespread nepotism and patronage, along with tens of thousands in political contributions collected from teachers, administrators and other employees, which were earmarked for school board candidates, as well as local and state elections.
At issue are allegations by teachers, administrators and other employees of the Elizabeth school board who claim they are constantly urged to buy campaign fundraiser tickets to support candidates tied to board members — under pressure by supervisors and board members. They say they were told that attending campaign events would help their careers.
Donald Goncalves, the assistant board secretary for the Elizabeth schools, said he was unaware of any inquiry by any law enforcement agency, nor did he have knowledge of the request for records from the Assembly.
The Republican Office of the Assembly, though, confirmed it has launched an inquiry into the board. In a letter to the Elizabeth schools system from the Assembly GOP’s counsel, Andrew Wynne sought a long list of bills, vouchers, reimbursements and payroll records and personnel actions for individual employees.
"The OPRA request was made in order to research the spending practices of the Elizabeth school district, which receives a significant amount of state funding in order to operate its system," said Rich Savner, a spokesman for the Republicans. "It is part of this office’s ongoing effort to track how tax dollars are spent. The purpose is to examine and root out areas of waste, fraud and abuse."
The Elizabeth schools have more than 23,000 students and a $402 million budget largely subsidized by the state, as well as more than $20 million in federal aid.
The investigation came to light after two former teachers who filed wrongful termination cases against the board said they have been contacted by the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.
"I don’t know the full extent of what they are investigating, but it’s obviously in connection with an investigation into the Elizabeth Board of Education," said their attorney, Phillip Linder of Edison.
Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow would not comment.
While nothing prohibits school board members from seeking support from employees of their district, the state’s School Ethics Commission forbids any school official from soliciting or accepting political contributions in return for jobs, influence or other official action.
Federal law also forbids any coercion in the raising of campaign money.
Most recently, three candidates tied to the board — including Assistant Schools Superintendent Jerome Dunn — raised more than $122,000 for a Democratic primary challenge in the 20th Legislative District that came up short this past week. Much of that money came from school board employees, records show.
Board President Marie Munn said Stein is being brought in to conduct an independent review and identify any practices related to fundraising activities. She pledged they would give him unfettered access.
"We are committed to ensuring that the work of Justice Stein results in an accurate assessment of where we are as a community and what improvements can be made to be one of the best school systems in the nation," said Munn in a statement.
It will not be an unfamiliar role for him. More than five years ago, Stein was retained by the trustees of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to investigate reports in The Star-Ledger that the school had awarded more than $700 million in contracts without competitive bidding — including some that went to politically connected firms. He concluded some contracts had been improperly awarded, but that there had been no evidence of any wrongdoing.
Before his work was completed, the university was criminally charged with Medicaid fraud and put under the control of a federal monitor.
Staff writer Jessica Calefati contributed to this report.
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