Public, school board supports DiBenedetto

VERNON — The search for a new superintendent for Vernon Township may have ground to a standstill, but many members of the public and a few board members said they would like Interim Superintendent Art DiBenedetto to serve in that capacity.

Parent and former board member Brad Sparta stood up at the last board meeting to say how amazed he was that in three weeks or so, one person had made it possible to have a quiet calm meeting with a group of special education parents who had been so loudly active at board meetings for the past year or so.

“What Mr. DiBenedetto has done has been remarkable,” he said.

Parent Steve Dunlop stood up to voice a similar sentiment.

“I don't know what we've spent on a new candidate, but we couldn't find a better one, or one that could fit in as well as Mr. DiBenedetto,” he said.

The problem for DiBenedetto, however, is his pension. Currently, as an interim superintendent, he can work for 2 consecutive years while still collecting his pension. If he exceeds that, he loses his right to collect his pension.

Meanwhile, the Board of Education was still debating their next step in the search. The previous search ended with two candidates, neither of whom were approved, leaving the school board back at square one. With two board members missing from the work session, members opted to put off any futher discussions until every member was available. Board member John McGowan agreed, but wanted to bring a new idea to the board — keeping DiBenedetto on board while they campaign for pension reform on the state level. Meanwhile, school board member Lori LePera commented that she would like to start the entire search process over again.

McGowan also said that one of his issues with the previous search was a lack of a vetting process. This would be resolved by hiring DiBenedetto though.

“We have had the good fortune of watching a demo lesson by our interim superintendent for the last seven weeks and that really goes well beyond the vetting process,” McGowan said. “He's done a remarkable job here.”