See you in court

The decision whether to renew School Superintendent Dr. Roberta Freeman’s contract looms for the Middlesex Board of Education in 2027. A lawsuit filed this week asks that an automatic renewal clause be voided, thereby requiring the board to publicly vote if its members wish to bring her back.

The suit was filed in state Superior Court in New Brunswick by Clinton Avenue resident Vincent Pileggi on Wednesday, March 25. The plaintiff informed Freeman and board members of the litigation during the public comments portion of the board meeting held that evening. Once served with the suit, the district will have a period of time to respond in court.

Neither Freeman, board members, nor their attorney replied when told of the lawsuit. A 2025 Middlesex High School graduate, Pileggi staged an unsuccessful write-in campaign for a board seat in November 2024. 

The suit alleges that Section VIII of Freeman’s current contract, which is dated Dec. 1, 2022, violates a state law requiring a roll call majority board vote before any superintendent may be appointed or reappointed. If the suit is successful, it could carry consequences not only for Freeman’s agreement, but also for those held by other New Jersey superintendents. A copy of the litigation was obtained by Inside – Middlesex.

Freeman’s current contract expires on June 30, 2027. As Section VIII reads, Freeman’s contract would be automatically renewed for four years, until June 30, 2031, if the board took no action on the matter by Jan. 28, 2027. If that were to occur, the renewal would happen without public notice or a vote.

According to Section VIII, the Middlesex board must notify Freeman in writing prior to Jan. 28, 2027 if she will not be reappointed upon the expiration of her current contract.

The suit asks the court to declare Section VIII void.

“The practice of embedding automatic renewal clauses in superintendent contracts to avoid public accountability has drawn significant criticism across New Jersey,” Pileggi’s suit reads. “In Newark, the state’s largest school district, a nearly identical mechanism was used in 2022 to automatically renew Superintendent Roger Leon’s contract without a public vote.”

“That process drew condemnation from community members, legal experts, and elected officials who described it as a fundamental transparency failure,” the suit continues. “When the Newark board later attempted to extend Leon’s contract through a proper vote in 2025, it held a public hearing lasting nearly five hours. Legal experts and board members alike acknowledged that a superintendent’s contract extension is among the most consequential decisions a board can make and must be made through visible, accountable public process.”

“The automatic renewal mechanism in Middlesex Borough’s contract with Dr. Freeman repeats the same transparency failure,” the suit reads.

The suit explains why the matter was not brought before the state Commissioner of Education for potential administrative remedies. The alleged violations do not require fact-finding or an educational policy judgment, the suit claims. Also, any relief granted by the commissioner would ultimately require Superior Court enforcement and Section VIII has the potential to self-execute without “a prompt judicial resolution.”

The Middlesex Board of Education passed a resolution appointing Freeman superintendent on Nov. 15, 2022. That resolution stated that the term of employment was to last until June 30, 2027.

“The resolution made no reference, express or implied, to any employment term extending beyond June 30, 2027,” the suit reads. “The date June 30, 2031 does not appear anywhere in the meeting minutes, the agenda, or the public resolution placed before the board that evening.”

The suit makes other legal arguments against Section VIII in Freeman’s contract. Among them is that the absence of a recorded roll call board vote authorizing her continued employment, would constitute an unlawful expenditure of district funds.

“The board possesses no authority to expend public funds under an employment obligation that was never lawfully created,” the suit reads.

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