Quite disgusting. Hes pretty much abandoned Fort Lee. Hes getting paid 167k of our money and also probably accepting outside speaking fees. That would normally be ok if he did the speaking on his free time, but hes doing it during the time that hes supposed to be in Fort Lee. He needs to get fired quickly.

David Sarnoff ran on a platform of total transparency yet his comment "I cannot comment" is the same response he found unacceptable when he was running for the Board. Seems like he is just another blowhard.

Whoa, take it easy on our newest Board Member. At least wait until he does something wrong. As a former Board of Education Member and President, I know that he can not comment on personnel issues in public or risk being sued. Let the Board take care of this in private. If you then don't like the outcome you can then say what you wish. You can of course, voice your opinions whenever.

Tom my point is that he complained bitterly when others used to say they cannot comment . Also ask him how he feels about the three minute rule since according to my watch Nancy Stern spent 27 minutes asking questions .

Mr. Engravalle has missed over 50% of the work days since his return on Jan. 2. At this point, it is more than speculative that his absence is intentional and not medically related. He was well enough to attend his two day Techspo conference, but has not been back to work since. As someone who claimed to be the consummate professional, I find his behavior to be disappointing at the least.

34 year old's don't have enough experience in my opinion to warrant a $167K salary, and the whole smell of this only reinforces my belief.

I wish that some of this energy that is used to go after every superintendant would change direction and go after the quality of education...... as a community we have gone through 9 Superintendants in twelve or thirteen years. And have neglected the education goals that we could have attained if the focus was better.....
As far as the BOE, come on, I have stated before there can NEVER BE TRANSPARENCY, NEVER!! just forget it....How disappointed the public might be if they knew what the BOE has done and has not done, if it could be seen....

I recommend that someone contact a NJ based magazine to write a story on this. Only with proper media attention, will the issue(s) be uncovered, and the correct censures be put in place. Moving forward, there should be stipulations in the contract that money is forfeited due to breeches like this.

Mr. Engravalle has been a polarizing figure in Fort Lee, and he has not demonstrated the tact, communication skills, or diplomacy one expects in his position. He has certainly had a difficult year personally, and I believe a certain amount of slack is called for. On the other hand, he seems to react in a hostile, dismissive manner to critics. I believe those critics also lack tact and diplomacy, but he needs torsie above that rather than reduce himself to their level.

This man was hired to do a job, by not showing up and missing meetings he is not performing his duties. If this behavior was in any other business ,he would have been fired long ago. BOE tell him to do his job or get OUT. It amazes me the quality of the people the BOE has hired in the in the last few years to run the school system. They are all incompetent and it has all been down hill since Sugarmen left.
Our schools that once where the pride of Fort Lee are no longer at that lofty level.
The BOE and school district has become a running joke. We must get our house in order, the students and taxpayers of the town deserve much better than what we have now.

Must be nice to get paid and not show up.... While I feel bad for him that he lost his wife, but do you know how much other people in his district get for bereavement? 3 days. You have a job to do and you need to be here to do it. Parents are running these superintendents out because they aren't doing their jobs. Bandlow didn't get run out... he left because he wanted to make more money somewhere else. Calabro left because she plagiarized a speech. Before that I don't know. All I hear about is Sugarmen who was amazing according to everyone... so it is possible to have a good, long lasting superintendent.

It is avsad commentary on the Fort Lee Board of Education that they cannot hire a competent Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Principal or Assistant / Vice Principal. I would like to know how these people are elected and re-elected to the FLBOE (year after year)! While it is sad to know that his wife passed away; the rest of us in the real world get 3 - 5 days and then are back hard at it. He gets his time and then suddenly needs a medical leave (himself)? He needs to make a very public statement on his (health) situation and get back to business or leave.

I don't like Engravalle, but that's mainly because of that whole "replacing teachers for no given reason" shebang that happened a while back.

The Fort Lee BOE has been a clusterf*** for many years. Over 40,000 people in the borough, many well qualified and these are the few folks we have who vote on and decide who our Superintendent of Schools will be?

@Thomas Bennett-

Robert is correct. Sarnoff is coming off as hypocrital now that he's on the "other side". He ran on transparency and is looking real bad early in his term. He is a regular reader of this website, so you'd like to think he can respond here. If not, he's not any different than those before him.

The BOE should bring back the 4 teachers who were unjustly fired in their tenure year by this fraud.

Too busy for BOE and Child Safety Meetings, to return parent calls, but always time for the press:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/191239871_Fort_Lee_superintendent_defends_absences.html?page=all

I've only had experience with two Boards, this one and the last. After attending every meeting in 2013 except for the past one, this new Board, aside from personnel issues, is leaps and bounds more transparent than the last! And, I find it quite ridiculous that most of the people complaining about transparency, hide behind fictitious names while blogging / posting.

To address the comment by Fort Lee Truth, "Over 40,000 people in the borough, many well qualified and these are the few folks we have who vote on and decide who our Superintendent of Schools will be?", there were 4 seats (One being a one-year term) up this past November, only 5 people stepped forward to run, who is to blame for that? Step up, put yourself out there and walk in these people's shoes before you trash them about transparency and the tasks they have on their plate. And, I am not sure if you attend the Board meetings because I never met anyone named Fort Lee Truth but, show up, ask your questions and I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised at the responses you will get from several of the members of the Board.

Why does the article call him a young divocee and then talk about his wife dying?

I am hopeful that the new board can continue to move forward, while I understand they can't comment on personnel issues perhaps the rules regarding employment can be discussed? Who is signing off on his sick leave? How much does he get? do we have doctor notes for his back? A cousin passing for my company means I get 1 or 2 days of bereavement, nothing more.

Some free advice: the School Board has picked some pretty awful Superintendants lately so I offer free advice. Find someone with a Doctorite who may be young but has some form of military service backround. This person will understand committment to duty whether he is in the reserves or whatever. Someone with a good educational backround and is able to communicate on all levels. If you do that, you will have a keeper for many years. As a former Board Member and President, I will volunteer to serve on a committee to find a new Superintendant.

Ugh!

I cannot believe that I am reading these comments from adults! My friends warned me about the people in this town before I moved here because of this Patch thing, this is an embarrassment.
Are you all that bored with your lives that you attack one person and then each other like this? How will anything get done? I feel like I am back as a twelve year old witnessing arguments between my girlfriends.The scope of your worlds is limited.
Take a look back at the comments, maybe one or two of you spoke about what is best for the children, the rest of you just come across as opportunistic people/politicians/attention seekers who attack because you think you know better than anyone else. Really?
As far as ths Superintendant goes, maybe you should play nice with him and each other, and decided what you want for the children of Ft Lee. I am glad my kids aren't in these schools, because of the adults acting like this. I sure hope your teachers are better than the authors of these comments, your children might have a chance!

Received this email from Big Easy also commented on Parents Call for Disciplinary Action Against School Superintendent.

"Ok, why don't you dismount your broom and your pedestal. Commenting on these people and their ability to raise their children is completely inappropriate. If your kids aren't in the public school system, then it hardly seems to impact you and your family. Hence why you might not be able to relate to their disappointment, frustration and animosity. It's not your obligation as a citizen to play nice with a public official who neglects to discharge the duties of their office. Accountability and responsibility should be the cornerstone values of any public official and they appear to be lacking here. You can bring him cake and balloons if you like, but the rest of us are pretty annoyed."

To respond view the comment on Patch.

Dear Big Easy,
Thank you for proving my point.
What is the problem? Do you not like being attacked? Do you not like people saying horrible things to you? Do you not like people making presumptions about you? Dont you like the leaping beyond reason judgements I made?
Let's perpetuate the real psychological dysfunction displayed here......we are not speaking about education at all, this is simply your need to expell your misdirected anger on another person.
And I have no idea why I received the email but it was not posted on these comments? why did that happen?
Best Wishes ;-)

@Tracy

While it is a fact that the same folks complain for the sake of complaining, it can't be denied that the BOE has selected candidates based on connections and not merit. Is there anyone that can honestly say that Ms. Colabro was a qualified candidate? She was clearly in over her head.

@ Dawn,

There are good things and bad things about Fort Lee, just like any other town. Sure there are some folks who complain for the sake of complaining. There are those who have lived in town for years and don't like the downward direction it's headed.

I think you could have picked some other past articles to prove your point, not one where someone is making well into six figures and was last seen on the back of a milk carton.

FLT- I cannot agree with you about the BOE selecting based on ' connection, not merit' - the past few all have been qualified and Engravalle is the farthest thing from a politician, he will not and does not curry favor with opportunists and this town has never seen someone who will not bend to them. Sometimes I wish he would 'play the game', just to placate people. My overall thought about it is that people do not understand what a superintendant does/should do or can do, that position has not been able to be established by anyone in over a decade due to the constant complaining and criticism about whatever is trending ......
I also do not believe that people understand what the BOE function is and should be--its been six plus months since it functioned as a true board and without good leadership, it will not. Their primary function is to develop policy, not administer or manage the schools. I really want the newbies to take over and soon and/or get a better leader.
If you want to update and have the district progress, keep what you have and move on from the personal attacks and assumptions.

Engravalle was not married to the woman whom he claims died and made him feel sad which required that he take an extended leave of absence. Good example of personal integrity or just a con man planning an early buyout of his contract so he can move on elsewhere? Ask the Assistant Superintendent what time Mr. Engravalle shows up to work each day, when he does show up.

While I agree that Mr. Engravalle has referred to “her” as his wife, when in truth, she was his “ex-wife”, he may still have had strong feelings for her and wanted to be there to comfort her.
The BOE has to take some onus for what has occurred as they were too permissive with his absence. He should have been requested to take a LOA from work to be with her. However, knowing that he could not totally fulfill his responsibilities from a Philadelphia hospital, Mr. Engravalle had a professional responsibility to request a LOA.
For better or worse, Mr. Engravalle’s standing in the community has been compromised. It is virtually impossible to him to function as school superintendent under these conditions. It would be best if the BOE and he find a way to sever the relationship so we can move on to new leadership

None of you know what your talking about- mr engravalle was marred the first time, and that ended in divorce (as more than half all American marriages do!!) and some time AFTER that he met his wife Samantha. They found out she was sick and less than3 months later she was dead leaving him to care for her children. She was only 40 years old. You all should look in a mirror and re evaluate and learn how fact check before you talk ignorance on these toxic posts.