Trenton superintendent finalists speak candidly in public forum
TRENTON >> The capital city community got a first glance of the two candidates vying for the open Trenton superintendent position.
At a public forum Wednesday, Sergio Paez and Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard were each given a half hour to make a case why they would be the best candidate while the other candidate was sequestered. Both have been publicly documented to have baggage from their previous employers.
Sergio Paez, the first to speak, disclosed he was an Hispanic immigrant who moved to Florida with his family in the 1980s.
Harvard University-educated Paez boasts 21 years of educator experience as a second-grade bilingual teacher, assistant principal, director language development, assistant superintendent and superintendent. The last position caused an uproar at his previous job interview.
Paez was rejected by the Minneapolis Board of Education in January due to “widespread public distrust and concern over allegations of abuse” at his previous school district, according to a Star Tribune story.
Paez previously served as a rookie superintendent of Holyoke Public Schools in Massachusetts from 2013 to 2015. A couple days after contract negotiations began in Minneapolis, a Massachusetts advocacy group released a scathing report alleging that Holyoke staff “physically abused special education students” at a school during Paez’s reign, the report outlines.
Paez addressed the issue at the meeting. He said there were excessive restraints on students at one of the schools in the district because of outsourcing initially.
“We got our own people,” he explained. “We did the sensitivity training, de-escalation training, restraining training. We did everything we could, however, it wasn’t enough. In the spectrum of special education, in some cases all kids, it’s not enough.”
In another controversial matter, Paez disclosed the state took over Holyoke when he was superintendent. He said he challenged the state commissioner of education.
“That unfortunately cost me my job because we lost,” Paez said. “The performance of Holyoke was so chronic for so many years that despite of being successful in so many aspects, they took us over.”
If he could change anything, he said he would be “working with the state instead of against the state.”
If her allotted time, Vanden Wyngaard, an African-American, repeatedly addressed race.
As an administrator, she touted tackling “institutionalized race” and reducing the “overrepresentation of black and brown students” in special education and the discipline system.
Vanden Wyngaard, resigned from the City School District of Albany in New York in January. According to a Times Union article, a complaint surfaced over allegations that Vanden Wyngaard recommended a company where she used to be employed to the district. The district entered into the contract, the article states
Unlike Paez, Vanden Wyngaard did not address the controversy surrounding her departure from Albany.
For accomplishment, the former superintendent said Albany High School’s graduation increased in double-digit gains last year. She also challenged Trenton. “Do we have the will to change?” Vanden Wyngaard questioned. “Because if we don’t have the will to change then nothing will happen. It is not clear to me yet in these two days about the will (in Trenton) and I’m concerned about that.”
Vanden Wyngaard said she would be committed to “help with the will.”
“We don’t have an option,” she said. “This is the last civil rights issue and it is happening in Trenton and I want to be the leader that helps us move beyond.” Both candidates said they visioned themselves in Trenton in five years.