Schilder to Assume School Post in Frenchtown, NJ

Dr. Schilder, 4th person from the right, on July 23, 2013.

Dr. J. Michael Schilder who retired August 1, 2013, as Superintendent for the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District will take on a new position as Interim Superintendent for the Frenchtown School District on a per diem pay basis, according to a report which appeared yesterday in the Hunterdon Democrat.  His daily rate of pay has not yet been disclosed, but is reported to be below cap.

Tenure Charges Hang over Music Teacher

Mr. Larry Markiewicz leads the Somerset Valley
Orchestra on the lawn of the Somerset County
Courthouse on an early summer evening, on
June 17, 2011.  (Credit/Bergeron Image)

It’s called “conduct unbecoming ". . . and, if a tenured faculty member of a school district within New Jersey is charged with that accusation; if a board of education certifies such accusations; and, if that and/or other charges are determined to be true under the education statutes of the State of New Jersey (Title 18A – Education), it can mean the end of a teaching career for that person.

The denouement of that situation, it appears, is precisely where the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education, its Superintendent, Dr. J. Michael Schilder, and a district music teacher now find themselves. 

Dr. Schilder, who goes off-payroll effective August 1, 2013 due to his imminent retirement, has charged Mr. Larry Markiewicz, a music teacher in this school district with “conduct unbecoming a teaching staff member, insubordination and/or other just cause warranting dismissal and reduction in salary.”

In a closed session on Tuesday, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education certified the charges contained in that document by a full vote of the board in favor of certification, with one board member abstaining.