Senior contracts handled behind closed doors as a board seat turns over

What happened

The 2026-27 contracts of both assistant superintendents and the business administrator were reviewed in closed session on May 12, 2026, and no public vote or outcome appears in the minutes; all three were on one-year contracts due to expire on June 30, 2026. The board also held a second, separate closed session on June 16, 2026 specifically to discuss the superintendent's evaluation, again with no public action afterwards. Separately, a member who sat through the June 16 meeting appears in no roll call after it; on July 21 the board interviewed six candidates for the vacancy and appointed Alphonso Harrell by eight votes to none to serve until the 2027 reorganisation. The minutes never say whose seat was vacant or why.

Why it matters to families

These are the four people who run the district, and the public record shows their contracts being discussed but never decided in the open. The unexplained board vacancy matters for the same reason: a seat changed hands with no stated reason in the minutes at all.

The evidence

The May 12, 2026 minutes list the closed-session discussion item '2026-2027 Contract Review - Assistant Superintendents and School Business Administrator' with no subsequent public action. The June 16, 2026 minutes record a resolution that the board 'shall meet in executive session on June 16, 2026 immediately, for the purpose of discussing the Superintendent's evaluation', again with no public outcome. The July 21, 2026 minutes record the interviews of six named candidates and the appointment of Alphonso Harrell by eight votes to none 'to Fill The Egg Harbor Township Board of Education Vacancy Until the Annual Reorganization Meeting in 2027'; the minutes do not identify the vacated seat. The 2026-27 budget filing shows all three senior administrators on contracts ending 30 June 2026.

The source