Board of Education Authorizes Settlement of Tenure Charges

Mr. Larry Markiewicz, shown here following
 a performance of the Rariitan Valley Symphonic
 Band,on April 10, 2011,  at the Bridgewater-
Raritan High School.

During the second open session of a special board meeting on the evening of September 17^th, Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education President Mr. Patrick Breslin was authorized to enter into an agreement with suspended High School music teacher Mr. Larry Markiewicz.

In June of this year, formal tenure charges were brought against Mr. Markiewicz by the now-retired Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Michael Schilder, for “conduct unbecoming of a teaching staff member.”  The Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education ratified those charges.

At the recent September 17^th special meeting, after the closed session was over, members of the BR-BOE reconvened in open session to hear board member Lynne Hurley read the following resolution:

“Resolved, that the Settlement, Resignation and Release between the

Board and Larry Markiewicz, regarding the matter of the Tenure
Charges Against Larry Markiewicz, Agency Docket No. 127-6/13, is
hereby approved, subject to acceptance of the revisions made by the
Board which Board Counsel is hereby authorized to present to Mr.
Markiewicz.

The Board President is authorized to execute the Settlement on behalf
of the Board, and Board Counsel is authorized to execute the Consent
Award, subject to acceptance of the said revisions by Mr. Markiewicz.
 
In the event that the said revisions are not accepted, then Board Counsel
and President are directed to proceed in accordance with the directives
of the Board as discussed in closed session.”

The motion carried unanimously, with two board members, Ms. Jackie Barlow and Dr. Arvind Mathur absent from the meeting.

Translation of legalese:  On Tuesday, the 17^th, this week,  after a closed session discussion, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education approved a revised settlement with respect to the original tenure charges brought against Mr. Markiewicz.  The BR-BOE further authorized its president to seal the deal with Mr. Markiewicz.  Additionally, the board’s attorney is to execute a consent award.  Should Mr. Markiewicz not accept the terms and conditions of this proposed settlement, including the revisions of Tuesday evening, it’s back to the drawing board. 

In a conversation with Board President Patrick Breslin on Friday, I asked him to elaborate on the nature and meaning of the term “Consent Award” that is included in the wording of Tuesday evening’s resolution, and that the board’s attorney is authorized to execute, as part of this proposed agreement with Mr. Markiewicz.

He answered, “I can’t comment any further than what is recorded” in the resolution. 

Since the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting specified that “it is expected that the details of the discussion may be made public as soon as the issues may be acted upon publicly,” I asked Mr. Breslin when the public would be made aware of the full nature of this agreement.  He responded that the community would know “as soon as there is a conclusion, the board will release what can be released.”

Additionally, no description of “Agency Docket No. 127-6/13” was provided.

In my previous post, I was dead wrong about my guess on the anticipated attendance for Tuesday night.  Only one person was present at the beginning of the meeting.  Not a soul was there later on when Mr. Breslin opened up the meeting for comment by the public.