MEET THE NEWBOSS
Trenton Board of Ed appoints interim superintendent as school start approaches
TRENTON >> When a lot of people wanted the homecoming queen, Trenton went outside the capital city to find its next schools chief.
Ronald Lee, the former superintendent of the Orange School District, got the nod over Trenton Central High School principal Hope Grant, who was the favored candidate of Mayor Reed Gusciora and the Trenton Education Association.
The school board voted to appoint Lee following a marathon executive session Monday night that lasted hours.
Lee, who served a combined nine years at the helm of the Orange School District, beat out finalists Grant and Elizabeth DeJesus, the district’s academic officer, school union officials said.
Lee was superintendent for seven years, then returned in 2017 in an interim capacity before leaving this June.
He replaces outgoing Trenton school chief Fred McDowell, whose last day is Aug. 31. Lee is expected to start Sept. 1, school union officials said.
His appointment must be approved by executive county superintendent Yasmin-Hernandez-Manno, the school district said.
“The Trenton Board of Education is eager to begin the transition process with Mr. Lee,” board president Addie Daniels-Lane said in a statement. “With the new school year for students just two short weeks away, we have work that still needs to be done, Mr. Lee is aware that he has to come ready.”
McDowell made $196,000 per year as the head of Trenton’s school district. It’s unclear how much Lee, who received a somewhat tepid reception from certain school leaders and residents, willmake as interim superintendent.
Darren“Freedom” Green, a community activist who ran for mayor, said he felt “deeply disappointed and betrayed” with the board’s pick. The board held multiple community forums to get feedback on Trenton’s preferred candidate.
“The Board of Education put out a petition to the community to participate to pick our next leader — keyword being ‘our,’” Green said. “You had the mayor, the union and the community communicating and aligning on one person. This board, again, went in direct opposition to that.”
Gusciora, who openly supported Grant for the position, said he respected the school board’s decision to bring in Lee.
“I expressed an opinion,” he said. “We have a history of bringing people from the outside. ... I have not heard anybody say that we’ re going to be hostile to the interim superintendent. That would be counter productive .”
The mayor felt a local had a better chance of succeeding in taking over for McDowell, who came to Trenton by way of Philadelphia but lasted only two years. McDowell was often challenged by the teachers union over his alleged lack of leadership, and in particular over a $24,000 merit pay payout his critics say he didn’t earn after not meeting outlined professional goals.
Someone like Grant could “go over to somebody’s house that they know and talk to parents and bemore familiar with the district,” Gusciora said. “I felt an interim leader with Hope’s caliber and knowledge would have been a benefit. But now that’s neither here nor there.”
Still, Gusciora said Lee has an “impressive resume.”
“He’s going to have to come up to speed,” the mayor said, with the opening of the new $155 million high school this fall. “While I would have preferred someone local, that’s also a positive not to have a connection to anyone in the school system.”
Themayor plans tomeet with the new-interim-leader in the coming weeks.
Lee has been described in the past by the Newark Star-Ledger as a “man from the boardroom, rather than the classroom,” alluding to his lack of experience as a teacher and principal.
That hasn’t stopped him from landing high-perched jobs in education.
Lee previously served as interim superintendent in Orange and chief financial officer and business administrator of Newark Public Schools, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Lee has been described as the “visionary and driving force behind the STEM Innovation Academy of the Oranges,” which celebrated its grand opening last year. While in Newark, he launched a nationally recognized program that served free breakfast to more than 40,000 students, the Star-Ledger reported.
Before that, Lee was a private auditor for KPMG Audit for almost eight years.
The school board preferred candidates with doctorate degrees, a school administrator certificate or a certificate of eligibility and at least 10 years of administrative experience.
Lee has a master’s degree in education from Saint Peter’s University and a bachelor’s fromthe Lubin School of Business at Pace University.
He had to undergo a background check, receive clearance fromthe stateDepartment of Education and provide proof he is healthy enough to fulfill the grueling obligations of taking over a struggling 22-school district with about 15,000 students.
The school district in its statement extended a “warm welcome” to Lee, but not everyone was as gracious.
Janice Williams, the TEA grievance chair, had previously warned board members that they’d have a “revolt” on their hands if they didn’t listen to the community’s beckoning for Grant.
Grant spent nearly two decades rising up the city school district’s ladder – including a stint as principal at Daylight/Twilight AlternativeHigh School – before taking over as TCHS principal in 2013.
She is the president of the Trenton Administrators and Supervisors Association and the wife of legendary Trenton hoops star and former NBA player Greg Grant.
Green believed the TCHS principal could have soothed the hurt feelings of teachers who believed they were “unwanted and unappreciated” under McDowell.
He said she would have harmonized the city at a critical time for students celebrating the opening of the new main campus.
“This guy, I’mnot knocking him, but he’s gotta now come in and be told all the vital information when we’re in themiddle of a crisis,” Green said. “He doesn’t know about the deeply rooted division that’s going to bring itself into that building.… You had a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to appoint someone who was from here, of here, to galvanize the entire city, And I just feel like we wasted that opportunity.”
Naomi Johnson-Lafleur of the TEA said she hadn’t “heard any bad things” about Lee.
It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the new schools chief, but the former TEA president and current member assured the teachers union will work with Lee.
“We really wanted someone from the district who knows the district, and we didn’t get that,” she said. “It would be nice if the board would start listening more to the community. ... Of course we will we have to get to know him. I haven’t heard any bad things about him, so that’s a plus. We’ll wait and see what happens.”
At-large councilman Jerell Blakeley, who serves as city council’s liaison to BOE, did not attend Monday’s board meeting but said he was aware the school board interviewed finalists and appointed an interim superintendent.
“I have heard rumblings about who they selected,” he said. “I don’t want to prejudge him because I don’t know him. I have no comment until they officially release the name and the rationale they used to select him.”
Johnson-Lafleur offered a measured response when asked whether the union felt it was problematic that Lee lacks teaching experience.
“He’s an interim superintendent. I cannot say what he’s going to do,” she said. “I look at the fact that he was a superintendent over a school district. He might not have the curriculum background, but I would think he would have enough knowledge and foresight to work with those who have that expertise to do what’s needed on the academic side. ... I just want us to keep our heads above water and stay afloat. We can’t allow this district to collapse. The association will work collaboratively with Lee to keep the district stable.”