6/22/12 Board Members Who Were Not Present at Latest Meeting in Reference to
matter concerning Dr. Janine Walker Caffrey. Perth Amboy Board of Education Invokes Doctrine of Necessity Again

By Joseph L. Kuchie—

PERTH AMBOY — For the third time this year, the Perth Amboy Board of Education invoked the doctrine of necessity during last Friday’s special meeting at Perth Amboy High School.

The doctrine of necessity is a resolution used to allow conflicted board members to vote on certain topics that they would otherwise not be allowed to discussed. In this case, the doctrine would be used to allow board members to vote on the future employment of Superintendent Janine Caffrey.

Four members of the board were missing from the meeting, including,Vice President Kenneth Puccio and board members Mark Carvajal, Kurt Rebovich, and Dianne Roman. Also missing were Superintendent Caffrey, Assistant Superintendent Vivian Rodriguez and Board Secretary Derek Jess. Rather than go into private session, President Samuel Lebreault read the resolution and the remaining board members unanimously passed it.

There were a good amount of parents and teachers in the audience for the meeting, but none of them decided to walk to the podium and address the six board members in attendance. It was one of the shorter meetings the board has held since the allegations against Dr. Caffrey began.

The first two attempts to invoke the doctrine of necessity did not result in any major decision or change. The first was approved and the board voted to place Caffrey on leave, but Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf reversed the decision. The second was also approved but a vote never took place and Caffrey remained Superintendent.

It is unclear what the future will hold for Caffrey and the rest of the Board following another attempt to invoke the doctrine. There will be another Board meeting later this week in which all board members are expected to attend.