RIDGEWOOD — A crowd of nearly 200 parents, administrators, teachers and former school board members rallied outside the Board of Education offices on Monday to sound their support for Daniel Fishbein, who announced plans to resign as superintendent of schools on Friday.
Fishbein's resignation came only days after the resignation of the district's business administrator, Antoinette Kelly.
The rally was planned to take place as the board held a public meeting via phone and livestream, with many attendees calling in from a shared phone at the steps of the district offices on Cottage Place while the meeting's audio was broadcast to the crowd outside.
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One reason for the rally was that Fishbein's departure has been mired in controversy, one that swirls around two of the board's newest members: Saurabh Dani and Hyunju Kwak.
Some administrators contend that a bellicose demeanor from Dani and Kwak are the reason for Kelly and Fishbein's departures. A "bullying" demeanor imbued by incessant questions from the two on myopic administrative details have forced both to give up the ghost, speakers from the rallying crowd believe.
"I believe they wanted to scrutinize every aspect of running the schools," said Muhammad Mahmoud, a former board member who lost election to Kwak earlier this year.
Michael Yannone, president of the Ridgewood teachers' union, described one of the Dani and Kwak relentlessly questioning Fishbein on a coming Infant Toddler Development Center, something that's already on-track to be built, he said.
"We're in the middle of a pandemic. It would be nice to get that taken care of," Yannone said. "But instead," he added with raised eyebrows, "It was the Infant Toddler Development Center."
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Others strayed from divisive finger pointing and simply urged Fishbein to stay the course and. Re-configuring schools for a "new normal" during the COVID-19 crisis, they argued, was no time for a sea change.
While new leadership may be just as effective as the outgoing administration, for Laurence Fine, a senior at Ridgewood High School, it is a matter of "uncertainty" in uncertain times.
Former BOE member Jim Morgan said an interim BA and superintendent hitting the ground running amid a reshaping of the educational experience and the precipice of teacher's contract negotiations is a "perfect storm," and suggested the top school administrators hold-off their departures until after those matters are seen through.
One of the more contentious suggestions came from resident Rurik Hallaby, who called for the newest members of the board to resign "en masse" so the district may hold a new election.
However, several speakers simply wished Fishbein well and expressed hope that the new board could work together. The word "civil" was on the tip of many speakers' tongues.
Conversely, resident Anne Loving said she finds the new members to be "patient and professional."
"Somehow, their persistence is perceived as rudeness or bullying," she explained. "They are doing what they were elected to do."
She said she believes Fishbein is resigning for "any of the myriad of reasons people resign," and considers blaming Dani and Kwak to be needlessly reductive.
"It just makes me sick," she added of the current acrimony pervading the district's change in leadership, which she said is long overdue after several terms with the same board.
Fishbein did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Nicholas Katzban is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: katzban@northjersey.com
Twitter: @nicholaskatzban
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