ANOTHER GO
Embattled WW-P school board member seeks re-election amid censure baggage
WEST WINDSOR » Censured school board member Yu “Taylor” Zhong, who violated the Code of Ethics last year by sharing confidential student information, is running for re-election.
Zhong submitted a nominating petition with at least 10 signatories on board to run in the Nov. 5 West Windsor-Plainsboro school board election, the Middlesex County Clerk’s Office confirmed.
Seeking a third term in office, Zhong is facing competition from 2019 school board candidate Robin Zovich, who hopes to unseat the ethically challenged incumbent this fall.
Dr. Lamont Repollet, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education, on June 18 ordered Zhong to be “censured as a school official found to have violated the School Ethics Act” for disseminating highly sensitive student information to relatives on social media.
After Zhong shared the confidential message with his family, a member of his immediate family ultimately shared it with “countless others” and “the message eventually made its way to one of the students involved in the incident,” according to the findings of an administrative law judge.
The message did not identify the student by name but identified him by high school, grade level and gender. “The message also referenced details of the alleged incident and the length of the suspension imposed,” Administrative Law Judge Susan L. Olgiati stated in her findings.
The ethics violation occurred in February 2018 when Zhong, upon receiving confidential information from a WW-P district parent, forwarded the message to four members of his immediate family instead of relaying it to the superintendent of schools, case records show.
The School Ethics Commission adopted a resolution of censure June 25 formally admonishing Zhong for his unethical transgression, and the nine-member West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education later read this resolution at the July 30 board meeting, according to the district’s website.
The two-page resolution details how fellow WW-P school board member Anthony M. Fleres filed an ethics complaint March 1, 2018, alleging Zhong violated the confidentiality provision of the Code of Ethics for School Board Members.
On Feb. 8, 2018, Zhong shared content on social media that, in effect, publicly disclosed “confidential information about a student’s discipline and in sufficient detail to identify that student to the community,” Fleres said in his complaint. “Moreover, Mr. Zhong did not contact the superintendent or anyone else in the district administration to verify that the information he was providing was accurate and, as a result, compounded the problem by providing incorrect information.”
“A number of details in the post” were actually “incorrect,” Fleres said, adding Zhong’s position as a school board member led the public “to believe there is truth” to the content Zhong had shared, which included disciplinary, medical and educational information.
The School Ethics Commission said Fleres “did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that Respondent violated the inaccurate information provision” of the New Jersey School Ethics Act. The commission refers to Fleres as the Complainant and Zhong as the Respondent.
“Respondent violated the confidentiality provision” of the Code of Ethics “when he forwarded a message to members of his immediate family about an incident involving a student that resulted in discipline,” the commission said of Zhong.
Ethical backbone
School board members are legally required to abide by a comprehensive Code of Ethics, which includes the following vow: “I will hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools which, if disclosed, would needlessly injure individuals or the schools. In all other matters, I will provide accurate information and, in concert with my fellow board members, interpret to the staff the aspirations of the community for its school.”
Fleres became aware of Zhong’s unethical conduct approximately two weeks after Zhong shared the sensitive information on social media, according to the ethics complaint.
“On Feb. 20, 2018, a high school student approached the Student Assistance Counselor at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North to inform her of a concern,” Fleres said in his complaint, according to a redacted copy obtained by The Trentonian. “The student provided the school’s Student Assistance Counselor with a printout of a social media post from Yu Taylor Zhong, a WW-P Board of Education member.”
“In his position as a member of the Board of Education,” Fleres said of Zhong, “he has an ethical responsibility to report the concern to the district administration and not to share the information with either members of his family or with members of the public.”
Administrative Law Judge Olgiati wanted Zhong to be reprimanded for his lapse in judgment, but the School Ethics Commission recommended Commissioner of Education Repollet to impose a heavier penalty — public censure — “in order to impress upon Respondent the fundamental importance of safeguarding confidential information.”
As a popularly elected two-term school board member, Zhong was wellaware of his legal obligation to abide by the Code of Ethics. He first won election as a school board member for Plainsboro in November 2013 and won re-election in 2016.
Every board of education in New Jersey, including West Windsor-Plainsboro, is required to annually discuss the School Ethics Act and the Code of Ethics for School Board Members. Furthermore, individual school board members statewide are legally required to undergo regular accountability and ethics training.
Zhong “acknowledged that he made a mistake” by sharing confidential student information with his family, according to the ethics commission.
In the November school board election, Plainsboro voters will determine Zhong’s political fate as he faces a challenge from Robin Zovich, who formerly served as treasurer of the Wicoff Elementary Parent Teacher Association and Millstone River School PTA.
West Windsor voters will determine the political fates of incumbent school board members Louisa Ho and Carol Herts, who are both seeking re-election this fall. One challenger, Graelynn McKeown, is running alongside Ho as bracketed candidates under the slogan “For Our Community.”
Candidates needed to file nominating petitions before the July 29 deadline in order for their names to appear on the 2019 general election ballot.