This is a statement from the Perth Amboy Federation of Teachers:

Dr. David Roman – Vote of No Confidence

• The superintendent of Perth Amboy Public Schools has created an atmosphere of disrespect and fear that makes it difficult for the district to retain staff. When staff members resign, the current staff is then expected to pick up the slack created by the shortage. This impacts all component groups.
• The superintendent refuses to accept responsibility for the staff shortages and continues to blame it on the national shortage. Evidence contradicts this assertion.
• The superintendent transfers teachers to positions they feel unqualified to teach and uses the threat of transfer to make people afraid to speak out about working conditions. Even after most of the teachers transferred into these positions either resigned or retired, the superintendent continues with the practice. This practice continues to make staff shortages worse.
• Staff shortages have had a negative impact on student learning and interferes with our students’ rights to an appropriate education. Special Education students are not getting the services they are entitled to, and many Special Education teachers are covering other classes and not servicing their own students. Students are also not getting full ESL services because ESL teachers are covering classes.
• The superintendent is disinterested in the well-being of staff or students and never asks staff for input in the district decision-making process. His top-down approach makes staff members responsible for the outcomes of his poor decisions regarding student discipline, scheduling, programs, curricular material, etc.
• We have been telling the superintendent that unchecked student behavior is making our schools unsafe since last year. Staff shortages and a lack of following the Student Code of Conduct has made Shull School particularly dangerous for students and staff. On February 2, 2023, we sent a letter from Frances Cafferty, former teacher at Shull School, to the full Board. The four-page letter detailed the dangerous conditions and lack of student consequences at Shull. At the February 9th Board meeting, we again spoke publicly about the conditions at Shull and about the prevalence of knives in the school. The superintendent followed up with one of his propaganda videos that portrayed Shull School as if there were no real concerns. At a meeting with the superintendent on February 10th, we were told that we were the problem in the district. We then felt the need to tell him he ruined the district, and he ended the meeting. He threatened to have us escorted from the building. On February 10th, we sent an email to the full Board again detailing the conditions at Shull. On February 22nd, an 11-year-old Shull School student was stabbed by another 11-year-old Shull student.
• The superintendent’s investment in pretending that things are wonderful interferes with any effort to improve conditions in the district. It is reckless and dangerous. We see this as a dereliction of duty and are calling for a vote of no confidence in Dr. David Roman.
• At a meeting on March 13th, we called for a motion to move on the vote of no confidence and received one. We called for a second to move on the vote of no confidence and received one. The room was unanimous in approving the call for a vote.
• You may use this google form to register your vote. You can vote yes for the vote of no confidence; you can vote no to show you are against the vote of no confidence, or you can abstain. Your response will remain anonymous.