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November 3rd Board of Education Rematch

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With national politics taking center stage, it would be easy to overlook an important school board election on the November 3 ballot. Two slates, Education Matters and Change for Children, faced off in 2019.  They will vie for three three-year term board seats. There are no independent candidates running this year.

Education Matters Candidate Gina Verdibello

Change For Children, which in 2019 received the backing of the Lefrak organization and managed to win two of five board seats is fielding three candidates: Asheenia Johnson, a former aide to Ward F Councilman Jermaine Robinson and to Assemblywoman Angela McKnight; Sonia Cintron, who ran as an independent in last year’s race; and newcomer Karen Poliski. Education Matters — which has been endorsed by the Jersey City Education Association and by numerous local pols — is running current board members President Lorenzo Richardson, Vice President Gina Verdibello and Lekendrick Shaw.

The 2019 election was according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) the most expensive in state history. Lefrak-led PAC Fairer NJ spent over $530 thousand in support of Change for Children. New Jersey Education Association PAC Garden State Forward spent a relatively paltry $48,000.

When asked by the Jersey City Times whether they were backed again by Lefrak, Change for Children responded:

“We have contributors from throughout the city including developers, business owners, parents, and working families who believe in the vision of the Change for Children progressive platform and that the current board lacks the leadership, commitment, and know-how to make the changes needed. Unlike our opponents on the Education Matters ticket, we are completely open and transparent on our contributions and expenditures. Jersey City residents deserve that. Jersey City residents just received a mailer promoting the Education Matters slate paid for by a dark money PAC whose contributors are hidden and expenditures are disguised to cover up the hundreds of thousands of dollars they are spending to elect this slate. We call on the Education Matters candidates to come clean and disavow these dark money groups who are trying to influence this election.”

Apparently referring to twice-indicted former Board of Education President Sudhan Thomas, who ran and lost on the Education Matters ticket in 2019, the statement goes on:

“This is the same group that tried to elect the corrupt leadership of the Board of Education last year that was arrested for trading cash for contracts and stealing taxpayer money for his personal use. Because of this dark money PAC, Jersey City residents have no way of knowing if any of those who got those corrupt contracts contributed to the PAC.”

However, in an initial filing with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, Change For Children has disclosed that former Fulop Chief of Staff Muhammed Akil was authorized to “sign checks or otherwise make transactions” on the Change for Children bank account. While he no longer has such authority, he is still involved in the campaign. In 2018, Akil was caught on a profanity-ridden recording allegedly trying to rig a bid for a city contract. He was subsequently hired by Assemblywoman Angela McKnight.

Education Matters Candidate Lorenzo Richardson

The BOE has been beset by challenges. First, a 2018 change in the formula by which the state helps fund school districts hit Jersey City particularly hard. Jersey City was permitted under companion legislation to impose a 1% payroll tax to help fill the funding gap and did so in November of 2018. However, the payroll tax turned out to be only a partial solution. This year, facing a $120 million shortfall, the BOE adopted a $736 million budget. To do so, it hiked the school tax levy by 39% raising it from $136 million to $189 million. This had the effect of raising  the average homeowner’s tax bill over $550. St. Peter’s University professor and education advocate Brigid D’Souza, who had called the underfunding “unconscionable,” termed the ultimate budget “a welcome local step to address years of chronic underfunding.”

The budget remains a cause for concern however.  Because of Covid-19, collections from the payroll tax are down by 20%, putting receipt by the school district of the full $86 million it has expected in some doubt. One board member has said that property taxes will have to rise by another $50 million for each of the next four years.

Teaching during a pandemic has presented yet another challenge. On March 16, schools closed and learning shifted to the internet. Initially, Superintendent Franklin Walker planned to re-open schools in September, but pushback from the New Jersey Education Association and a spike in coronavirus cases where schools had reopened, caused him to postpone reopening until November at the earliest.

The Change For Children slate has staked out positions on a number of issues. Pointing to Thomas’ indictment and “ethics violations” by current board President Richardson, they propose a tightening of ethics rules including potential removal “from leadership posts, fines, and possible expulsion from the Board…a ban on contributions to Board candidates for at

Education Matters candidate LeKendrick Shaw

least two years from those with contracts with the Board and a mandate that members step down from leadership positions until serious and credible ethics violations have been cleared.” They propose a ” requirement that most (if not all) professional contracts must go out to public bid.”

As to finances, Change for Children argues that Education Matters has prioritized the interests of “administrators and union bosses” and promises a “budget plan [that] pegs all spending to  long-term strategic plans and gets rid of the waste, corruption, administrative costs, hidden tax hikes, and gimmicky budget tricks currently plaguing the School Board budget.” On school reopening, Change for Children takes the position that “schools should not reopen for in-person instruction until we have the ability to reliably, quickly, and affordably test our student, teacher, and employee populations.” The slate calls for “proper HVAC ventilation systems to prevent COVID-19 transmission, advanced cleaning protocols for the cleaning and disinfection of all school facilities, and stocking adequate PPE for teachers and children.”

Education Matters’ platform is succinct:  “Safe buildings to welcome back students when the time is right, supporting the mental health of students and families, bridging the digital divide to ensure that all students have what they need to be successful, and implementing community feedback in improving communication between all stakeholders in the Jersey City Public Schools.” It also touts its endorsements from the Jersey City Education Association, Freeholders Bill O’Dea and Joel Torres, and Councilman Daniel Rivera.

A request by Jersey City Times for more detailed policy proposals from Education Matters has gone unanswered.

Header photo:  Change for Children Candidates Asheenia Johnson, Sonia Cintron and Karen Poliski.

 

School Board Chair Seeks Reelection on November 5 Despite Financial Mismanagement Allegations

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With the next Jersey City Board of Education (JCBOE) election just days away, voters could reelect current Board Chair Sudhan Thomas despite a looming lawsuit against him alleging financial impropriety during his stint as interim head of the city’s job training program. Not only could Thomas win a second school board term, he would be allowed to serve the term since neither the allegations nor the pending lawsuit would legally bar him from doing so.

Thomas is currently completing his first term on the school board. First elected in 2016, he became board chair 15 months later. He is now running for reelection as part of the “Education Matters” slate, which has been endorsed by the local teachers’ union, with fellow candidates Gerald Lyons, Gina Verdibello, Lekendrick Shaw, and Darwin Ona. On Nov. 5, voters will be asked to select three candidates to serve three-year terms and two candidates to serve one-year terms. Thomas is among the candidates seeking a full three-year term on the board.

The winning candidates in the upcoming race will join the nine-member JCBOE during a particularly tumultuous period for Jersey City’s schools. With a budget of $660 million for the 2019-2020 school year, the 30,000-student school district had to take extraordinary steps to avoid a $40 million deficit for the year. In the coming years the board hopes to bring in at least $27 million from the city’s new payroll tax (dedicated expressly to funding the schools). But more dollars will be needed to fully fund the district at a time when state aid has been cut significantly. And over the next 18 months the school board will also be tasked with conducting a national search for a new schools superintendent.

Given this context and the allegations against him, some voters and rival JCBOE candidates have questioned Thomas’ fitness for the board.

THE ALLEGATIONS IN DETAIL

According to Nuria Sierra, former accountant at the Jersey City Employment and Training Program (JCETP), Thomas allegedly intercepted a $77,000 Community Development Block Grant check issued to it to reimburse the program for expenses it had previously incurred. (Thomas had been appointed to the board of the program by Mayor Fulop in April 2018 and became its president three months later.) According to court documents, Sierra said Thomas used the grant check to open five bank accounts at Bayonne Community Bank. Throughout the spring, Thomas allegedly cashed three checks — in the amounts of $7,500, $4,500, and $4,500 — drawn against these accounts. Allegedly Thomas never submitted documentation or receipts to the JCETP proving that these funds were used for their intended purpose.

In addition to these withdrawals, which total $16,500, Thomas allegedly withdrew $3,000 from a JCETP account at Provident Bank again without providing any documentation to Sierra or the program’s Chief Financial Officer Angel Santa regarding how this cash was used.

Sierra said she suspected in May (of this year) that these funds may have been misused when she began to receive cancelled checks and noticed that JCETP bills were going unpaid. According to the lawsuit, at Thomas’s direction, “JCETP stopped payroll and other necessary payments to certain employees and/or former employees. Checks were made out to each employee due money, but…Thomas compelled Santa to void the checks.”

According to her complaint, Thomas refused to authorize payments for health insurance premiums, which she said led to the suspension of health care coverage for JCETP employees. Sierra alleges that chemotherapy treatment for one JCETP worker was denied due to this suspension of health insurance.

Believing the program’s failure to maintain health insurance for its employees to be a violation of New Jersey law, Sierra complained to CFO Santa in May. In July she blew the whistle on Thomas’ alleged conduct to several state and city officials; she was terminated only days later on July 11. In August Sierra filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging wrongful termination against Thomas, Santa, and the JCETP Board.

Thomas, whose stint as interim director was due to end in September, instead resigned in August. He did not return phone calls seeking comment.

IMPACT OF LAWSUIT ON NOV. 5 ELECTION

Despite recent updates in the case, including one first broken by Hudson County View that JCETP Chair Stacey Flanagan has stated in court filings that the FBI is investigating the city’s employment program, the allegations may have little impact on Thomas’ reelection bid.

Asheenia Johnson, a candidate running for a three-year term on the “Change for Children” slate, has been the most vocal in raising concerns about Thomas.

“Mr. Thomas is asking the voters of Jersey City to give him another opportunity to serve on the board,” said Johnson. “The facts are, Mr. Thomas circumvented policy and has no respect for organizational protocol and does as he pleases. Why would we as a community want to place him at the helm of a nearly $700 million budget when it is evident he has no respect for the residents he serves? If we want integrity and transparency, he is clearly not the choice for our school system.”

Despite these concerns, as of October, the JCBOE legal counsel wasn’t even aware of the allegations.

“I have no knowledge of the lawsuit you are referring to,” said JCBOE Corporate Counsel Michael Gross. “However, if it is a lawsuit outside the JCBOE, it has nothing to do with me.”

Gross added that under New Jersey law, anyone elected to a municipal school board must take an oath to uphold the state’s code of ethics. “Let’s be clear,” Gross said. “Sudhan Thomas has not violated the code of ethics and is in good standing. If there were to be any reported violations, they will be dealt with accordingly.”

When pressed as to what financial improprieties might run afoul of the code of ethics, Gross quipped: “What kind of financial improprieties? Like if he robbed a bank? Mr. Thomas robbing a bank is not a violation of the code of ethics as enforced by the State of New Jersey.”

True, any alleged misconduct committed outside of the JCBOE is not a violation of the code of ethics for members of a school board.

The Education Matters team appears unbothered by the allegations.

“Last time I checked we still live in a country where innocence is a preclusion, so we based our endorsements on those who we found to hold the same pro-public principles that we hold near and dear to our hearts,” said Education Matters Campaign Director Mike Greco, who also sits on the executive board of the Jersey City Education Association. “Our endorsed candidates are focused on the issues of continuing the progress they started. We followed NJEA PAC guidelines in screening and selecting our candidates as we always do.”

The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) is the state’s largest teachers’ union, with affiliated chapters throughout the state, including the Jersey City Education Association. NJEA represents 200,000 teachers and certified staff statewide. The organization’s political action committee, NJEA PAC, endorses candidates running for state office while its affiliates get involved in municipal races.

Thomas’ slate mates have been mum on the allegations, preferring to refer questions related to the Sierra lawsuit to Thomas or Greco.

No matter the outcome on Nov. 5, Sierra’s lawsuit will continue, according to her attorney William Matsikoudis. “This case is in the initial stages,” he said. “The Jersey City Employment Training Program and Angel Santa have filed answers [to the complaint]. We expect Sudan Thomas to do so soon.”

As first reported by the New Jersey Globe, JCETP Chief Financial Officer Angel Santa recently answered Sierra’s lawsuit and confirmed several of her key allegations.

The attorney for Thomas, Chris Adams, did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.