FLIPPIN’ THE BIRD
Trenton school board member allegedly gives crowd the finger at meeting
TRENTON » City school board member Jane Rosenbaum was ejected out of Monday’s public meeting like an athlete for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
The crowd began applauding as Rosenbaum, who has served on the board since 2011, was escorted out by board attorney James Rolle Jr., according to video obtained by The Trentonian.
Right before Rosenbaum hits the exit, she looks back at the crowd and makes a gesture with her hand.
Those in attendance at the meeting said it was clear that Rosenbaum gave the public the middle finger while the school board member claims she was gesturing for her belongings.
“I did not flip off the audience and I did not say anything,” Rosenbaum said Wednesday regarding the video. “There isn’t because there can’t be because I didn’t do that. I got up because I was angry and I didn’t grab my bag. I pointed to that and somebody came after me with my bag.” The incident was set off when a parent was addressing the school board. Members of the audience are heard in the video yelling, “Wake up Jane” and “Is she asleep again?”
Members of the Trenton teachers union allege Rosenbaum mouthed, “Shut the f*ck up” after the comments were made. In the video, the audience can be heard gasping at something, though the reason for the gasp is not captured on the recording.
“In the case of Jane Rosenbaum, a board member who sleeps at most meetings, there seems to be an increasing level of frustration that manifests itself with hostility towards the public,” Trenton Education Association (TEA) President Naomi JohnsonLafleur said Wednesday. “Mouthing “shut the f*ck up and giving the public the finger is unacceptable and unethical. Jane Rosenbaum’s conduct is a violation of the public’s trust and she should not be able to do further harm to this district.”
The union boss said many TEA members have sent emails to Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson, who appoints all the school board members, and to the New Jersey School Boards Association asking that Rosenbaum be removed immediately from the Trenton Board of Education.
“We expect Mayor Jackson to take immediate action,” JohnsonLafleur said. “This is another example of why we have asked Mayor Jackson not to reappoint any of his sitting board members whose terms will expire on May 15th. As usual, we’ve received no response.”
In an email Wednesday, city spokesman Michael Walker said the mayor is aware of the allegations against Rosenbaum.
“He has spoken to Trenton Board of Education President Gene Bouie, who is conducting an investigation,” Walker said. “The mayor awaits completion of that process.”
Bouie, who was present at the meeting, said Wednesday in a phone interview he “really didn’t see anything.”
“We are investigating it,” Bouie said, noting he didn’t hear any profanity. “We are investigating it.”
The Trentonian provided the school board president a copy of the video as well as Rosenbaum.
Rosenbaum was told she could call back if she wanted to provide additional comments after viewing it, but she never did. In the phone interview on Wednesday, Rosenbaum admitted she was heated.
“They talked about me sleeping and snoring and I lost it,” Rosenbaum said, adding she has been harassed the past two years. “I was angry and I left. I left and I left without my stuff. I’m a righty and I think I raised my left arm to motion to people to bring me my stuff and (Business Administrator) Jayne Howard followed me with my bag and my jacket. I don’t know how it appears in that
(video). You can interpret anything anyway you want.”
The school board member left for a period of time before returning to the meeting, she said.
Rosenbaum was previously targeted in 2016 for sleeping at a board meeting by the teachers unions, which was reported by The Trentonian.
Janice Williams, who is TEA’s grievance chair, called Monday’s antics by Rosenbaum “beyond egregious and conspicuously bad.”
“It is regretful because we had young children and young adults in attendance at the meeting,” Williams said. “Many parents of Daylight/Twilight program attending the meeting for the first time were making comments as to why this Board member was sleeping. Her unethical behavior should result in immediate removal. The Association will be filing ethic charges for conduct unbecoming against Board Member Jane Rosenbaum.”
Williams also feels Rosenbaum should be censored by her board colleagues and should be asked to step down by Jackson, who reappointed her.
“TEA has spoken to Mayor Jackson over the year’s regarding Jane Rosenbaum and her sleeping at board meetings,” Williams said. “We do not know if he has ever addressed this issue with her.”
Tensions have reached a boiling point over the past two board meetings. At a meeting on April 23, teachers union members held a funeral procession and gave a “no confidence” vote for Superintendent Fred McDowell, board President Bouie and assistant Superintendent Lissa Johnson.
The union has taken issue with the superintendent eliminating in-district pre-school and preschool disabled programs next year and ending the Twilight portion of the Daylight/Twilight alternative high school for adult students. McDowell is also killing career-track offerings, such as cosmetology, culinary arts, and TV production for Daylight/Twilight students, TEA’s leadership highlighted.
On Monday, union members dressed like Napoleon Bonaparte to represent the superintendent’s actions.
“I’m not sure what the agenda is but there’s an agenda and it’s devolved upon everybody who sits on the board,” Rosenbaum said. “I don’t know what it is but it’s not my job to figure out their motives. People come in with a coffin, dressed in black to bury three people of whom I was not one by the way ... I’ve been targeted because they see me as easy to target. I don’t think it’s personal. There’s no reason for it to be personal. They don’t know me from a hill of beans.”
TEA’s leader said many of Mayor Jackson appointments and re-appointments of the school board over the past four years during his tenure have been “huge disappointments.” Jackson is not seeking a second term and the election to replace him is on Tuesday.
“Some board members have been disconnected from the community, and others like the sitting president lack knowledge to make major decisions that impact education,” Johnson-Lafleur said. “Past board members like Jason Redd and D.A. Graham sought power and used their seats on the board as resume builders, stepping stones, or to carry out hidden agendas while conducting failed superintendent searches and doing major damage. This city, Trenton’s newly elected mayor and the district should not be shackled by an Eric Jackson school board.”