Suspended Asbury schools chief to get $169G
BOE settles part of lawsuit superintendent filed when he was removed in "03
BY NANCY SHIELDS COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU DECEMBER 24, 2008
ASBURY PARK The Board of Education has approved a payment of $169,500 to
suspended Schools Superintendent Antonio Lewis that represents the settlement
of just a
portion of a lawsuit Lewis filed against the board the first time he was
removed from his
post late in 2003.
State education officials reinstated Lewis in June 2004, and he oversaw the
district for two
more years before a subsequent school board, with different people in power,
again
suspended him in September 2006.
The board tried to buy Lewis out the second time he was removed for $600,000.
But state
education officials stopped the buyout, and the state Attorney General's Office
began an
investigation of Lewis' central office operations. No findings have been
released, and Lewis
has continued to be paid just under $188,000 a year.
His contract, which he received after being reinstated, expires in June 2009.
The board
this fall started a search for a new superintendent.
Board Attorney Alan Schnirman said Tuesday that part of Lewis' original lawsuit
against the
board is still in court, but the district settled certain portions early on.
"This was settled to protect the board's members and the board's interests
because
certain of the claims are not covered by board insurance," Schnirman said.
The settlement amount was $150,000, and the $169,500 total approved to be paid
last
week reflects interest that accumulated when the payment was not immediately
made,
school board members said last week.
It was not clear Tuesday why the payment was delayed, resulting in extra
thousands going
to Lewis. Schnirman said he was not sure why. A lawyer for an insurance carrier
is handling
the overall case, Schnirman said.
The only members still on the board from the first time Lewis was suspended are
Adrienne
Sanders, who was his supporter, and Robert DiSanto, who voted to suspend him
but later
attempted to work with Lewis when he was reinstated in 2004.
In Lewis' first suspension on Dec. 10, 2003, the board brought tenure charges
against
him, based in large part on a state education report critical of several areas
in which the
district was found to be still deficient.
But by early April of 2004, a state administrative law judge said the charges
that Lewis
was not improving the district appeared to constitute inefficiency, not
removal, and
required that Lewis be given at least 90 days to address those issues.
William Librera, the state education commissioner at that time, reinstated
Lewis in June
2004. During that time, Superior Court Judge Lawrence M. Lawson also ruled the
school
board, under its then-president, Remond Palmer, had shown a "blatant disregard"
for the
Open Public Meetings Act during the process of attempting to get Lewis out.
Once reinstated in 2004, Lewis and the board, under new president Di-Santo,
attempted
to work together, and Lewis got a new multiyear contract. Eventually, however,
the
working relationship broke down.
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:asburypark-dig...@yahoogroups.com
mailto:asburypark-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
asburypark-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
