Somerset County Schools Superintendent Drama: Facts & Fallacies

1. The Somerset Education Association (SEA) has no knowledge about personnel matters concerning the Superintendent and the Board of Education, because those matters are subject to confidentiality and held in a closed session. Ms. Randi Merritt, President of the Somerset Education Association (SEA) has no clue about the reasons for dispute or issues between the Superintendent and the BOE. The employment of the Superintendent does not fall under the purview of the SEA, nor does the Board Chair have an obligation to report to the SEA regarding the personnel matters of their only employee.

2. The article and news report is false, because the SEA and the public have no idea of the grievances, arbitrations, and lawsuits that are currently pending against the Superintendent by parents, school employees, custodians, and others since the Superintendent took office on July 1, 2024. These proceedings are confidential by law, because it involves personal matters of students, teachers, and staff.

3. The public needs to understand that there are state and federal laws that define how such things are handled. This includes individual and confidential contractual obligations, which regulate rights and responsibilities of the Superintendent, teachers, custodians and everyone else working in the public sector. Sadly, the public doesn’t know specifics and many posts by the mainstream media and individuals who try to be influencers use hearsay, assumptions, and false political narratives to create chaos in the public, while failing to present supporting facts or evidence.

4. Under the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution 5th and 14th Amendment (as it applies to the States), public school officials cannot be terminated in a day. The termination process for government employees (which includes the Superintendent, teachers, supervisors, and custodians) is a process which can last for many months.

5. The gossip about the budget or reasons for termination is FALSE. The School Board and the Superintendent have not completed or approved the budget, and we saw numerous activists barging into the Somerset County closed and open session meetings in an attempt to score activism points rather than explain to parents that the school board is not firing teachers. Information about terminating teachers is false.

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