Boiling over

It’s no secret there’s been dissatisfaction with the Middlesex Borough school system going back a period of years. The boiling water is now overflowing the pot as some community members have publicly called out the Board of Education and its top administrator.

A petition asking signers to express “no confidence” in the board and School Superintendent Dr. Roberta Freeman was posted on the website change.org on Monday evening, Feb. 9 by Linda Rocchietti, a school district parent. By the following night, it had more than 160 signers with others being steadily added.

The pressure campaign for change may be taking an additional turn. The Borough Council was asked on Tuesday, Feb. 10 to consider putting a non-binding referendum before voters in next November’s general election. The public question would ask Middlesex voters if they do or don’t have confidence in the board and Freeman.

Vincent Pileggi, a 2025 Middlesex High School graduate who ran unsuccessfully for school board the prior year, pitched the proposal to the council. Mayor Jack Mikolajczyk said the governing body may discuss the matter at a future meeting.

The online petition is largely symbolic, but does not portray the district’s oversight in a positive light. “This petition will be sent to media outlets and the proper NJ state offices,” it concludes. “There needs to be an investigation involving the state. The hope is with enough signatures the members of this community committed to creating a real change will be able to make that happen.”

Early sections of the petition, lay out a series of troubling events that have riled district parents and the community. As of Tuesday night, there had been no formal public response by the board or Freeman. 

The petition’s publication comes about a week prior to what already figured to be contentious school board meetings. Parents concerned about the ongoing delay in placing Class 3 special police officers in local schools, were planning to attend upcoming board sessions. The board meets on consecutive nights next week, on Wednesday, Feb. 18 and Thursday, Feb. 19.

The board has announced an intent to engage in a strategic planning effort. Meanwhile, there may be another thorny matter facing the district. Hazelwood School’s popular former principal Rich Gianchiglia was recently reassigned to principal of the district’s pre-school program. Last year, Gianchiglia was pulled from Hazelwood and transferred to a new principal-on-assignment school safety position. Questions were raised at a meeting last month regarding the process used to make that series of moves.

The petition’s narrative is strongly critical of Freeman and recent years’ board members for their management of the district. Three new board members – Jeremiah Carnes, Martin Quinn and Justine Decker – were elected in last November’s general election.

“Each signature represents a vote of “Non Confidence” in the present leadership of the Middlesex Borough School District,” it reads, “specifically Superintendent Dr. Roberta Freeman and the Board Of Education members responsible for her hiring and enabling of the swift decline that immediately followed.”

“The district’s operating budget has increased dramatically while student performance numbers have dropped which is a lethal combination for property values,” the petition continues. “Far more important than the monetary implications is the toxic culture that is present in our schools, stories of the trauma inflicted upon staff and students are many.” 

“One of the recent and more shocking incidents involved a teacher denying a student’s requests to use the bathroom resulting in the student urinating on themselves,” the petition reads. “Another teacher with a long and well known history of abusing students is presently on leave for inappropriate conduct, their future in the district is unclear and parents have been given little to no information. It is the teacher’s second leave due to inappropriate contact within a month’s time. This is a matter that should have been elevated to a higher authority and it has not, the possibility of this teacher returning is a grave concern.”

“Shortly after Dr. Freeman assumed her position as superintendent the frequency of Board Of Education meetings was cut in half,” the petition reads. “As a result the voting process needed to implement changes has been turned into a long, drawn out process. It now takes far longer and makes it more difficult for parents and members of the community to do their due diligence on important issues affecting the district.”

The petition alleges that Freeman has delayed the Class 3 implementation. Class 3’s are retired police officers given special training to provide school security.

“Dr. Freeman is not a voting member of the Board Of Education,” the petition reads. “The real decision falls upon the Board Of Education who appear to be refusing to make that decision, but had no problem asking for the money to pay for the officers. How, or if, that money has been used is in question as well. By all appearances Dr. Freeman has hijacked the issue of the Class 3 officers and long standing members of the BOE don’t seem to possess the intestinal fortitude to correct it.”

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