Conflicted

The long-running contract dispute with its teachers’ union is expected to officially come to an end tonight. But in doing so, the Middlesex Board of Education will first publicly acknowledge that a majority of its members have a conflict of interest in the matter.

The meeting agenda for tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 17 lists passage of a resolution invoking the Doctrine of Necessity as the first order of business. By doing so, the conflicted board members are then able to participate in decision-making from which they would otherwise be recused.

New Jersey school boards invoke the doctrine when planning to discuss or vote on an issue in which a quorum and formal decision would not otherwise be possible due to its number of conflicted members.

The agenda, which is posted online, lists the five conflicted members and specifies why each of them would typically recuse themselves and not be able to deal with a Middlesex Education Association contract matter. 

Later in the meeting, after an executive session discussion of the MEA contract, the board is expected to vote on its ratification. The union’s prior contract with the district expired on June 30, 2024, leading to a prolonged period of MEA demonstrations and ill will with the board.

The following five board member conflicts are listed in the Doctrine of Necessity resolution:

• Amanda Bayachek’s father-in-law, Nicholas Bayachek is a board employee, assigned as a bus aide reporting to a member of the MEA.

• Patricia Reynolds’ sons, Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Reynolds, are board employees. Ryan is employed as a teacher’s assistant and coach and Kevin is employed as a basketball coach. The salaries for these positions are negotiated by the MEA and the board and are set forth in the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the MEA. Ryan Reynolds is a member of the MEA.

• Danielle Parenti’s husband, Daniel Parenti is a board employee, assigned to a facilities position. Mr. Parenti is a member of the MEA.

• Brenda Perry’s husband, James Perry is a board employee, assigned to a stipend coach position. The salary for this position is negotiated by the MEA and the board and is set forth in the collectively bargained agreement with the MEA.
  
• Shannon Quinn’s brother-in-law, Gary Brenner is a board employee, assigned to a teaching position and a coach, and is therefore, a member of the MEA.

The four remaining board members – Todd Nicolay, Sharon Schueler, Landette Jeffrey and Thomas Thornton – do not have conflicts of interest prohibiting their involvement in MEA contract issues.

In 2024, the board had a half-dozen members conflicted on MEA contract matters. At that time, Jeanette DeJesus was serving on the board. That six-member group comprised the five currently conflicted board members plus DeJesus.

In July 2024, Superintendent Dr. Roberta Freeman explained the situation in an email to Inside – Middlesex. DeJesus was considered conflicted because she belongs to a teachers’ union in another district and could not negotiate the MEA contract. She could, however, negotiate a Middlesex superintendent’s contract or with the Middlesex Administrators/Supervisors Association, according to Freeman.

DeJesus lost a bid to be re-elected last Novembr. She is again running for a board seat in 2025. Four of the currently conflicted board members – Reynolds, Parenti, Perry and Quinn – ran together as a team in 2021 when they all won election for the first time. 

New Jersey education attorney Jonathan Busch authored an essay on the doctrine in the September/October 2011 edition of School Leader, the New Jrsey School Boards Association’s quarterly magazine.

Busch’s firm, Metuchen-based The Busch Law Group, serves as legal counsel for the Middlesex Board of Education. Jonathan Busch is one of the firm’s senior partners.

“The doctrine of necessity is intended to be invoked on the rare occasion when a quorum of school board members are conflicted on a particular matter and as a result, the school board is unable to act,” Busch wrote. “In other words, the Doctrine of Necessity serves as one of the most ironic concepts in school law: it may only be invoked if too many members cannot vote, and as a result, all of them may.”

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