New Jersey Herald
MONTAGUE Residents have a First Amendment right to speak on school issues at board meetings and shouldn t fear being sued for doing so, said Board of Education President Barbara Holstein.
To prevent what some have perceived as a chilling effect on public participation, the board voted 5-1 to end its practice of opening the public comment portion of meetings with a warning that those airing grievances could face lawsuits for libel or defamation. There have been other issues with why people coming to the microphone felt they could not do so at times, but nothing like this is read in other districts, Holstein said. Everyone has a First Amendment right to come to that microphone and speak about any agenda item or item of concern pertaining to their school district. Your First Amendment right is exactly that.
New Jersey Herald
MONTAGUE The Board of Education has appointed Krista Mikulski to fill the seat left vacant by Jennifer VanNess s sudden resignation two weeks ago.
Mikulski will have up to 30 days to complete the criminal background check required of all new school board members in New Jersey, at which point she ll be sworn in to serve the remainder of VanNess s term, which expires in April 2022.
VanNess stepped down in protest April 26 after the seven-member board voted to place Superintendent Timothy Capone on paid leave and withdraw its litigation against High Point Regional High School, with which Montague had tried to end its send-receive relationship that has often been testy at best. The relationship, dating back to 2013, appeared to worsen under Capone.
New Jersey Herald
MONTAGUE Superintendent Timothy Capone s use of the school s Honeywell phone alert system and social media pages to criticize board members and even district parents is a conversation that will be continued in executive session with lawyers present, said Board of Education President Barbara Holstein.
Holstein said this after the board hosted a presentation on school board ethics by New Jersey School Boards Association representative Kathy Helewa.
Capone, however, has since taken to social media where he again criticized the board member who first proposed that policy. His Facebook post on Tuesday stated that the board member as well as a district parent critical of some of his actions had been non-renewed from their teaching positions in other districts.