Interim Assistant Superintendent Appointed Through June

An interim assistant superintendent was appointed for the remainder of the school year Monday night, as a a walk-in resolution approved by the Board of Education took some by surprise.

The BOE voted to appoint Sharon Amato to the role of Interim Assistant Superintendent through June 30, paying her a non-pensionable stipend of $10,000 spread over the remaining three months of the school year.

Formerly the Fort Lee District Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction for ESL, Bilingual and World Languages, Dr. Amato's appointment goes into effect April 2.

According to the resolution, the board will present a contract for Amato “at a future board meeting pending appropriate notification of a hearing and contract approval by the Executive County Superintendent of Schools.”

However the question was raised that if Interim Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle never resigned the position of assistant superintendent, how could the board appoint anyone else to the position?

“The bottom line is that anything we do has to go through the Executive County Superintendent,” explained board attorney Matthew Giacobbe, saying that not only did the stipend have to be approved, but also the appointment itself.

Giacobbe said the Executive County Superintendent reviewed and approved Engravalle’s contract to serve as Interim Superintendent last year so there shouldn’t be any confusion regarding the appointment.

“The Executive County Superintendent is fully aware that Mr. Engravalle is serving as the Interim Superintendent while holding the position of assistant superintendent because that was disclosed in the signed resolutions,” Giacobbe said.

He added that the county is “fully aware” of Engravalle’s “contractual right to that position” for the rest of the year.

“And knowing that, the Executive County Superintendent will have to make the determination of whether or not the stipend to Ms. Amato is appropriate under the circumstances,” Giacobbe said. “Two people are not holding the same position because the board passed a resolution for the Interim Superintendent to act as the chief school administrator in the absence of a superintendent."