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Tangled Perth Amboy school ethics battle delayed again

The convoluted school ethics proceeding involving several Perth Amboy school officials has been delayed.

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Richardson Elementary School in Perth Amboy
 

PERTH AMBOY -- A drawn out school ethics proceeding, which originated several years ago when two former Perth Amboy school officials filed complaints against several current school board members, has once again been delayed.

Testimony was scheduled to be heard this week in the matter involving school board members Israel Verela, Kenneth Puccio and Samuel Lebreault. Puccio is currently a candidate in this year's city council race in November.

The proceeding, however, will now be delayed for at least two or three months.

The ethics charges were brought by former Herbert Richardson Elementary School Principal Alvaro Cores and the city's former superintendent of schools, Janine Caffery.

Caffery filed multiple complaints in April 2012 against Puccio, Varela and Lebreault alleging that the three unethically and unlawfully meddled in personnel matters, including the dismissal of Cores in 2012.

Another key component of the allegations is a matter in December 2011 in which a former secretary at the elementary school, Hector Muniz, sold an alcoholic drink known as "coquito" to another school employee. The situation led to venomous clashes between school officials.  

The following is a breakdown of the various complaints, which are collectively being heard by the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, and litigated by the state attorney general's office division of law.

  • In 2012, Cores filed a complaint that, among other things, alleges Varela encouraged Muniz to make false statements about both him and then-vice principal Karen Moffat. Cores, who was ultimately ousted from his position in 2012, alleges that another secretary at the school, Susan Nieves, had falsely implicated him in the alcohol incident and that Varela had gone to Muniz's apartment to get Muniz to go along with Nieves' story.
  • Caffrey had also filed a complaint against Varela alleging he violated the Richardson School's visitor policy by walking through the school "unescorted, without singing in or following appropriate security procedures," according to court documents. She further alleges that the two men allegedly tried to get the school district's teachers union to oust her from her position.
  • Puccio is named in one of the complaints and is accused of supporting statements made by a teacher at a public meeting in 2011 comparing Cores to the Cuban government in the 1950s and Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.
  • Lebreault is named in one of the complaints and is accused of attempting to intervene in the hiring process of two school district employees in an inappropriate manner, according to the attorney general's office division of law. Caffrey alleges in one of her complaints that Lebreault and Varela attempted to coheres her into hiring people that were less qualified for certain positions.

All of the complaints, which has been ongoing for years now, have been combined to be dealt with in one swooping proceeding. The delay this week is just one of a number of delays that has put this matter on hold.

The proceeding may pick up in the coming months, but an exact date is not known at this time, according to the attorney general's office.

Under state DOE guidelines, the repercussions in the matter could range from a letter of reprimand to a public censure to a suspension or to a removal clause barring them from future school district employment.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.


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