Principal Says Politics Cost him his Job

A former school principal released from his post said last night he was pressured to support the reelection campaign of incumbent board members, was asked for political reasons to cancel a fundraiser benefiting a cancer-stricken student and was ordered to recommend specific individuals for teaching jobs.

Gabriel Nazziola’s explosive allegations, if true, would constitute serious violations of the Belleville school district’s ethics policy and possibly of state law. Ralph Vellon, a challenger in this year’s board of education election, said he would file charges with state school and election officials based on Nazziola’s testimony.

But Richard Yanuzzi, who helped run the incumbents’ campaign, denied the allegations, calling Nazziola a “lousy principal” who concocted the accusations as cover for what Yanuzzi described as poor job performance.

Nazziola spoke before the board of education at a Donaldson hearing, a proceeding where district staff can appeal decisions affecting their employment. Nazziola chose to open the hearing to the public, although he had the option to keep the hearing closed.  

Nazziola, 50, was asking the board of education to override a recommendation by Superintendent of Schools Joseph Picardo that he not be reinstated to a second year as principal of School 5, where he served during the 2010-11 school year. Nazziola was the fourth principal in as many years to hold that post.

Picardo made his recommendation a few months ago.

School officials, citing personnel confidentiality laws, never said why Nazziola was not reinstated, although angry parents have been attending board of education meetings for the last few months to protest the decision, with some accusing the board of playing politics. A petition with 200 signatures asking that Nazziola be reinstated was presented to the board, Vellon said.  

In his testimony, Nazziola -- an alumnus of School 5 -- said serving as principal of the school was his “dream,” one he achieved after working as a music teacher in the district for decades. He also earned advanced degrees during that time and served as an interim principal of School 3 in 2008.

“The positive feedback I received from the staff, the parents and the students of School 3 during and after those four months as their principal was indeed gratifying and reinforced my desired goal,” Nazziola said.

In his testimony Nazziola said his tenure at School 5 began well. His first two evaluations -- prepared by Picardo, the superintendent -- were positive. In his first evaluation, in December 2010, Nazziola received the highest mark possible in 30 of 34 categories. In a second evaluation, in April 2010, Nazziola received highest marks in 29 of 34 categories. In neither evaluation did he receive an “unsatisfactory” mark, the lowest designation, Nazziola said.

But his third, “end of year” evaluation, Nazziola said, was far more critical. The evaluation was done May 11 -- nearly two weeks late, Nazziola contends -- and in it he received low marks in eight of 19  categories (the year-end evaluation utilizes a different format). In his remarks, Nazziola expressed surprise that his final evaluation could be so much worse than his second, which was prepared just a month before.

“My first impression was that either this evaluation was being done by a different superintendent, or it was  the evaluation of a different principal,” Nazziola said.

Nazziola, who cited various achievements during his tenure - including effectively addressing School 5’s high tardiness rate and improving school security -- then offered the “reasons why I think I was not renewed.”  

Nazziola described several instances where he said he was asked to perform tasks with a political slant, including:

• Shortly after becoming principal, in July 2010, Nazziola said he was told to “get control” of School 5 parents. The president of School 5’s PTA is Carmen Vellon, the wife of Ralph Vellon, who would later run against incumbents Joseph Longo and William Freda in the April 2011 school board election (Vellon lost). Nazziola said he was spoken to by the “chairman of the Belleville Athletic Council.” The chair is Richard Yanuzzi, who also helped run the campaign of Freda and Longo.
• In August 2010, while Nazziola served on an interviewing committee, he said he was approached by Yanuzzi and “a board member” and was told to recommend three people for teaching jobs. When Nazziola protested, saying there were other candidates who were more qualified, he claimed he was told the three candidates for the jobs were “our people.” (Reached after tonight’s hearing, Nazziola declined to identify the board member. )
• Throughout the year, Nazziola said Yanuzzi contacted him repeatedly at School 5 demanding that he attend fundraisers for events in which Yanuzzi was involved, including a campaign event for Freda and Longo. “I was able to make some but not all of them,” Nazziola said.    
• At a Halloween dance, Nazziola said the same board member who had asked him to recommend specific people to staff jobs approached him again, telling Nazziola to “distance” himself from a teacher whose father refused to make a donation “to a specific political party’s event.” Nazziola further claims that the board member told him that his predecessor at School 5 was “was not reappointed because she would not comply with these directives. The obvious implied threat here was, either you cooperate or you won’t be renewed as principal,” Nazziola said.
• In March 2011, the month before the board of education election, Carmen Vellon -- the wife of Ralph Vellon, a challenger in the board of education election -- sought permission from Picardo to organize a fundraiser for a student who had contracted cancer. Shortly afterwards, Nazziola said he was contacted by Yanuzzi, who told him he did not “want any fundraising event organized by Carmen Vellon to happen.” Although the fundraiser was held, Carmen Vellon was required to fill out a “facility use form,” a form which had never been required for prior PTA events and which did not even exist at the time Nazziola requested it, Nazziola claims. (A reporter for Patch, who covered the event, was initially prohibited from taking any pictures at all, and then allowed to take just a few shots. Patch staff covering other school events before and since that fundraiser had never been prohibited from taking pictures, except in the case of children whose parents did not want their children’s photos published.)  

Nazziola also described an incident which at least one person has publicly identified as proof that Nazziola is unfit to serve as principal. On April 15, Nazziola received a call from a parent who said she believed her son had brought a pellet gun to the school. Nazziola said he summoned the boy to his office, retrieved the gun -- which Nazziola said “looked more like a toy as it had a bright red plastic stopper in the barrel” -- then called the boy’s mother and asked her to return the gun to “where she got it.” The boy was allowed to go back to class but has since been suspended.

District policy states that Nazziola should have instead taken the gun and notified the superintendent and Belleville police immediately. Nazziola did contact Picardo and the BPD before the end of the day after researching district policy regarding such incidents online. Nazziola claims that at the time, district policies were not easily accessible via computer. Nazziola also said that the superintendent himself was not familiar with the particulars of the policy.

But “the entire incident was rectified before the end of the school day, and no other student was exposed to or saw the item,” Nazziola said. Nevertheless, two weeks later Nazziola said he received a letter from Picardo reprimanding him for “disregarding the policy.”

After Nazziola spoke, board president Peter Zangari asked for a motion to reinstate Nazziola, but none of the five board members present opted to do so. Reached after the hearing, Nazziola said he would wait until Monday to give the board the chance to reconsider.  If the board doesn’t, Nazziola said he would “pursue litigation.”

But Zangari, also reached after the meeting, said as far as the board is concerned, the matter is closed and Nazziola will not be reinstated. Nazziola has been offered the opportunity to return to a teaching position.

Zangari also said that the board’s decision was based on “facts. And I mean, what can be proven.”

“I take very close consideration on what the superintendent has provided us,” Zangari said. “These Donaldson hearings can get very emotional. People are fighting for their jobs.”

Zangari also said he was unaware of any political dealings involved with personnel decisions.

“I can say that I never spoke with an administrator or a principal when involved in a campaign,” Zangari said. “I have never asked an employee to make a contribution.”

Yanuzzi echoed the same points, but in much stronger, more combative terms.

“If one were to believe what Mr. Nazziola said on the record then you would have to conclude that he violated the ethics policy of the school board,” Yanuzzi said, adding that he “is not an elected official. I’m not a member of the board of education, I am not a member of the administration. I have no authority. So if he did hire someone because I said so he violated the law. He could absolutely lose his license if he did those things.”

Yanuzzi also said the only contact he’s had with Nazziola was at a lunch with his father, whom Yanuzzi knew from the time when they both served on the board of education together several years ago.

“I don’t tell people who to hire. This is a creation of Mr. Nazziola’s and Mr. Vellon’s for political reasons,” Yanuzzi said. “If [Nazziola] attended a political event he did so of his own volition,” Yanuzzi later added.

Yanuzzi also denied wielding influence over any elected official -- including the members of the board who he helped get into office a few months ago.

“Joe Longo is a strong individual, I couldn’t tell him what to do. If I wanted authority on the board I would run myself again, and I’d win.”

Yanuzzi, who has been active in local and regional politics for 25 years, has often drawn criticism for his tactics in political campaigns. He ascribes that criticism to a simple motive: jealousy.

“Why is that?” Yanuzzi said of being a “convenient whipping boy” for his political opponents. “Because I’m successful. Because I’ve helped raise thousands of dollars for the district. Because politically when I support someone they win.”