Schools

School Board Will Not Renew Teacher's Contract

Administrators cite persistent flaws in teaching, despite students and parents who spoke of Dan Thomas with praise at rare public hearing.

In a rare public Donaldson hearing, the Board of Education of the School District of the Chathams decided Monday not to recommend that Superintendent Dr. Michael LaSusa reverse a decision not to renew Daniel Thomas' teaching contract for a fourth year.

Thomas and Peter Lazzaro, a consultant for the New Jersey Educators Association (NJEA), pleaded with the board to "listen with an open mind ... and act in sound conscience" when considering a decision which, in Lazzaro's words, was "effectuated without merit and worse yet as a loss to the children, who ultimately you are in charge of."

Lazzaro spoke of Thomas' devotion to the school and students. "He loves this community and the students that it serves, and he wants to be a part of it. Bottom line, he cares," Lazzaro said."

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Thomas, who taught business courses, spoke in his own defense and began by thanking the nearly 20 students and parents who came to show their support for him.

"I made a conscious decision in coming into Chatham to change careers, go to night school and become a teacher," he said. "I know what it feels like to be a sensitive kid. So what I try to do with my kids is to care for them, show that I'm a real person and treat them as they should be treated. I think they like that."

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Past and current students spoke of their classes with Thomas, of how his was one of the only classes they took in school where they knew they would use, or had already used, the lessons he taught them. One read a letter from a classmate who could not attend the meeting. Their statements painted a story of a class that seemed mundane at the outset, but quickly captured the students' imaginations and attentions.

One student said even when he was absent from school due to illness, "I still strived to get my Financial Literacy work done."

Statements by LaSusa, Chatham High School Principal Darren Groh and Social Studies Supervisor Steve Maher painted a different picture, corroborated by one former student, a member of the class of 2011, who spoke in the public comments.

LaSusa read from observation reports saying Thomas' 'lack of definitive goals [in class] made lessons less cohesive." Citing numbers from an online survey Thomas gave to his students, he said three percent of students said the learning goals were "never" clear, and another 16 percent said they were "sometimes" clear. When asked if they liked coming to class, 7.5 percent said never, 30.7 percent said sometimes. "Thirty-eight percent of students saying they enjoy coming to class not at all or only sometimes," LaSusa said.

LaSusa said Thomas had been brought back the last two years because the district recognized potential in him. Now after three years in the classroom, "At this point when I look for truly, truly exceptional teachers," he said, and with that in mind "I stand by the decision not to renew" Thomas again.

Groh said Thomas showed an "extreme lack of sensitivity" and made what he, Thomas, called "jokes" with students which they in turn reported as inappropriate comments.

Groh and LaSusa declined to comment on the decision not to renew Thomas' contract prior to the meeting.

Maher, who conducted the in-class observations of Thomas, said after three years and with Thomas on the verge of tenure, "what is most important in this crucial moment" is a demonstration of growth by the teacher, something Thomas had not demonstrated since the same "foundational issues" he had in observations in his first year were still present in the third year.

Board President Thomas K. Belding and Board Members Richard Connors and John Nonnenmacher asked questions of LaSusa and Maher, but none of Thomas, Lazzaro or any members of the public.

Nonnenmacher asked if Thomas "was given adequate notice" of the red flags, and asked of "these recommendations, were they highlighted for Mr. Thomas."

When Belding asked the board if there was a motion to overrule the superintendent's decision not to renew Thomas's contract, the seven remaining board members were silent.

Kim Cronin was absent from the meeting.

When the meeting adjourned, students could be heard wondering where the Bible was for people to swear to tell the truth before giving their statements.

Of the administration's criticisms of Thomas, student Sonia Boyer said, "I feel like you could say that about every teacher. He's one of the best teachers the school has."

Students and parents said they thought it was unfair that the board ended the hearing with these criticisms of Thomas without giving him the chance for a rebuttal.

"It's such an injustice," Michaela Cappucci said.

Donaldson hearings are usually conducted in closed session. The “Donaldson Hearing” is a right that was established by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Donaldson v. North Wildwood Bd. of Ed., 65 N.J. 236 (1974).


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