After weeks of confusion and uncertainty in the aftermath of last month’s Board of Education meeting, the board officially instated Dejon Morris and Younass Barkouch as president and vice president, respectively.
At the February 29 meeting, five members of the board held a vote to remove former President Natalia Ioffe and former Vice President Noemi Velazquez from their positions after expressing doubts about fulfilling the duties of their positions. At that meeting, Ioffe, Velazquez, four trustees, and nearly all of the present administration left the building before the vote could be cast.
In moving to discuss lingering concerns in closed session last night, Barkouch said he didn’t want to “continue this reputation of dysfunction that has occurred as a result of last meeting.”
Barkouch had prepared a six-page document laying out the case for removing Velazquez and Ioffe from their positions. It included some of the incidents mentioned at last month’s meeting, in addition to actions taken in the ensuing weeks.
First was a vote to remove Velazquez, for her failure to “correct her actions” as vice president.
Then he moved on to Ioffe. Responding to her request for specifics, he read directly from his document.
“I hope you understand the gravity of these violations,” he said to Ioffe.
Among the allegations, Barkouch alleged that at the January 11 reorganization meeting was improperly called and votes were cast with paper ballots instead of the stipulated roll call, concerns that were made apparent at that meeting and “disregarded.”
He further complained that the February 29 meeting was improperly recessed and deserted by Ioffe and Velazquez, violating district policy.
Since last month’s meeting, Barkouch said that Ioffe had unilaterally canceled this week’s scheduled caucus meeting and all committee meetings scheduled for last week without the consent of the board. He also claimed that Ioffe failed to share the preliminary budget with the public and members of the board in a timely manner.
Said Barkouch, “The proposed budget requires the critical analysis of every board member of the board during its preparation. That was not the case in the preparation.”
Said Velazquez, “I don’t think that Trustee Barkouch could find any concrete evidence of anything that I have failed to do.”
Ioffe opted to not present a defense, instead preserving that for a planned appeal of the vote.
After his election as president, Morris made a pledge of unity, saying, “We intend on working with the entire board throughout this process,” which Superintendent Dr. Norma Fernandez echoed in her own statement.
Last night’s meeting was also a final opportunity for the public to be heard on the preliminary budget for school year 2024-25 that had to be approved to be sent to the county superintendent by March 20.
As presented by acting Business Administrator Dr. Dennis Frohnapfel, the proposed budget is $1,035,721,424, with revenue into the district down almost $20 million.
Frohnapfel said that the budget “fully funds the instructional program” and accounts for increased salaries per new collective bargaining agreements with the various unions that negotiate with the district, with no cuts to personnel or programs.
One area of growth that is expected to continue to rise in the coming years is transfer to charter schools, which accounts for 20.25% of the proposed budget. As Ioffe noted, this section “is almost as large as the entire instructional budget for the year, which is interesting.”
According to Frohnapfel, Jersey City is the second largest city in New Jersey, but “because of the number of students that attend charter schools, we are now the third largest [school] district.”
The board unanimously approved the preliminary budget. However, Barkouch said that he does not agree with the lack of transparency in which the budget was created and hopes to offer additional public hearings before the final adoption.