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Three Newark school board members have relatives who work for the school district, connections that could prevent them from weighing in on a proposed extension of Superintendent Roger León’s contract.
Board President Hasani Council and members Kanileah Anderson and Louis Maisonave Jr. have more than one family member working for the district, according to this year’s state personal and relative disclosure records.
Under the Newark Board of Education’s nepotism policy, members with a relative working in the district may not participate in matters concerning the superintendent’s contract, including evaluations and contract discussions. Those board members must also exclude themselves from closed session discussions about the matter.
The state’s School Ethics Commission has also issued decisions to school districts that limit a board member’s role in superintendent employment matters.
The district’s policy and state guidance could complicate a proposal to extend León’s contract to 2030.
Board members Anderson and Maisonave did not respond to Chalkbeat’s questions about the perceived conflicts of interest. Council, in an email Monday, said it was “insulting to suggest that board members are unaware of their responsibility to recuse themselves when personally impacted.”
“We are well-trained, fully informed, and take these responsibilities seriously,” Council added, while providing no comment on the proposal to extend Leòn’s contract.
Council’s father, Patrick Council, who is a Newark councilman, works as the district’s youth opportunity coordinator, and his sister is a per diem teacher, state disclosure forms records show.
Anderson’s sister is a school psychologist; her niece is an academic interventionist; and her cousins are district custodians, according to state records. Maisonave’s son is a substitute teacher at Elliot Street School, and his nephew is a per diem security guard at Roberto Clemente Elementary School, state records show.
The superintendent’s proposed contract extension, which is up for consideration at this month’s school board meeting, requires the approval of the majority of the board — or at least five members on the nine-member board –– to be accepted, according to school board voting requirements. If approved, it would put León at the helm of Newark Public Schools for 12 years, making him one of the longest-serving superintendents in the state.
León’s contract extensions have caused controversy in the past, with some in the community raising concerns about the board’s transparency. His contract was last extended in 2022 without public discussion.
State and local anti-nepotism rules provide specific procedures for when a relative is hired by the school district to ensure “what’s in the best public interest,” said Sandra Graise, an associate attorney at Florio Perrucci Steinhardt Cappelli & Tipton. Board members must recuse themselves rather than abstain from voting on employment matters related to the superintendent, Graise added.
She compared the superintendent to the chief executive officer of a company and added that any perceived influence from relatives could blur lines and create distrust between school boards and the public. Graise advises board members to complete conflict of interest questionnaires annually to maintain public trust.
“Any public servancy requires full transparency,” said Graise in a call with Chalkbeat on Monday. “What you want to avoid is this quid pro quo. Hire my relative, I’ll make sure I vote on your contract and you stay in the district.”
The state’s School Ethics Commission, which helps school board members and officials understand how ethics laws apply in practice, has issued several advisory opinions regarding possible nepotism.
In 2015 and again in 2017, the commission issued at least four advisory opinions in districts across the state that provided guidance to school board members whose relatives were hired by the school district and their roles concerning their families’ supervisors, including the superintendent.
In a 2015 advisory opinion, the commission reviewed an instance where seven out of nine school board members had relatives who had been hired by the school district or other districts. In that situation, the commission decided that conflicts of board members “based upon relatives being employed by the District also apply to any matter touching upon the relatives’ employment.”
León was appointed as Newark’s schools chief in 2018, becoming the first superintendent after the city regained control of its schools and the first Latino to lead the district. His current contract took effect on July 1, 2023, after public scrutiny over reports that his contract was automatically renewed the year before. It is set to end on June 30, 2028, according to a copy of his 2018 contract that allowed for an automatic, five-year renewal at the end of it.
Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.
