Jersey City schools chief here to stay after N.J. decision

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
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on December 13, 2016 at 11:47 AM, updated December 13, 2016 at 2:15 PM

Jersey City Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles' contract renewed automatically when the school board did not act before a state-mandated deadline, the state's acting education commissioner has decided.

The decision by acting Education Commissioner Kimberly Harrington ends a nearly yearlong effort by a group of Lyles' critics to force the school board to vote on the contract renewal or to have Lyles fired. Harrington's Dec. 1 decision upholds an earlier ruling by an administrative law judge that favored Lyles.

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Judge rejects efforts to kill renewal of Jersey City school chief's contract

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
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on October 26, 2016 at 4:27 PM

A New Jersey administrative law judge last week dismissed two efforts that questioned the legality of last year's contract renewal for Jersey City Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles.

Judge Richard McGill's Oct. 19 preliminary decision is good news for Lyles, who appears likely now to remain the district's chief administrator until 2020. The state's education commissioner makes the final decision whether to follow McGill's recommendation.

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Judge's ruling hints at trouble for critics of Jersey City schools chief

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
March 09, 2016 at 6:39 PM

A Newark administrative law judge today declined to recommend that the state education commissioner step immediately into the fight over the disputed contract renewal for the Jersey City schools superintendent.

Judge Richard McGill's decision, handed down in an eight-page order, was limited in scope to a motion by school board member Lorenzo Richardson to get state Education Commissioner David Hespe to intervene in the squabble immediately. But McGill hinted that he doesn't think Richardson's underlying complaint, which McGill hasn't yet ruled on, has any merit.

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Force vote on Jersey City superintendent's contract, board member asks judge

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
March 08, 2016 at 1:22 PM

NEWARK — Jersey City's nine-member school board should be forced to convene for a special meeting before March 18 to vote on whether to renew the schools superintendent's contract, a school board member argued in front of a Newark administrative law judge this morning.

Lorenzo Richardson, who has criticized the school board's president for not allowing the board to vote at its two most recent meetings on whether to renew schools chief Marcia V. Lyles' contract, told the judge today that the board's inaction is an affront to democracy.

"You're taking away the right for board members to vote," Richardson said. "Where's the democracy in that? That is wrong."

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Critics of Jersey City schools chief try to force vote on her contract renewal

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
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on February 19, 2016 at 5:14 PM

JERSEY CITY — Critics of Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles attempted for what may have been the last time yesterday to force a vote on her contract renewal, an effort that failed and left Lyles opponents and supporters accusing the other of political gamesmanship.

Lyles' allies believe last night's board meeting was the final chance the superintendent's critics had to derail Lyles' attempts to continue as chief of the 28,000-student school district once her contract expires on June 30. Board attorneys say Lyles' four-year contract, first signed in 2012, automatically renewed in December.

But Lyles critics, among them board member Lorenzo Richardson, believes the contract did not automatically renew, and they allege board members who support Lyles have fought any attempts to have the board vote in public on whether to renew Lyles' contract.

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Jersey City superintendent's contract will be renewed, officials say

By Laura Herzog | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
December 21, 2015 at 10:46 AM

JERSEY CITY — Superintendent Marcia Lyles will receive a contract renewal in the new year, officials said.

Lyles, who was hired in 2012 with an annual salary of $230,000, leads a 29,000-student district, the second-largest school district in New Jersey.

According to Jersey City school board president Vidya Gangadin, at Thursday night's meeting, the board was prepared to vote on a motion on the superintendent's contract.

However, Gerald Lyons and Lorenzo Richardson, two of the school board members who were eligible to vote on the contract, were not able to be there, she said. Three board members have a conflict of interest, with family members working in the district, and could not vote, she said.

Under state law, the motion for non-renewal needs five votes to pass, so no vote was taken, she said; as a result, Lyles' contract will automatically renew after Dec. 31.

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