Copyright Joliet, IL Patch
The school board was forced to reinstate John Berenato, who was fired in November 2023. The ruling said the board ignored tenure laws. MANCHESTER, NJ — The Manchester Township Board of Education reinstated former superintendent John Berenato as a district employee on Wednesday night, following an order from the state Department of Education. The board then followed that action by placing Berenato on paid administrative leave through June 30, 2026. Berenato was fired in November 2023 by the school board after a tumultuous few weeks following the publication by Patch of a lawsuit filed against him by Whiting Elementary School Principal Evelyn Swift alleging age discrimination. In the days that followed, information showing Berenato had been convicted of drunk driving years earlier surfaced, along with information showing he had omitted that conviction from his employment application with Manchester. On Nov. 7, 2023 he was fired at a special meeting of the school board, with his termination effective immediately. The resolution firing Berenato identified him only by his employee number, and the reasons for the firing were not announced at the meeting. The failure to report the DWI conviction and related driver's license suspension were detailed as the reason in his termination letter, according to the order to reinstate Berenato issued Oct. 20 by Kevin Dehmer, the state commissioner of education. Berenato challenged the firing, and in August Judge Mary Ann Bogan in the state Office of Administrative Law ruled that the firing violated the provisions of the Tenure Employees Hearing Law. Under the law, a tenured employee must be given notice of a plan to remove them and an opportunity for a hearing. Superintendents do not get unlimited tenure in New Jersey, but tenure laws apply to them during the length of their employment contract, Bogan and Dehmer wrote. Berenato, who was hired in February 2022, was contracted to work for the district through June 30, 2026. Under tenure procedures, the school board had the options to continue Berenato's contract, to file tenure charges against him, or to pay him to do nothing for the remainder of his contract while assigning his superintendent duties to someone else, Dehmer wrote. "The option the Board chose – unilateral termination of petitioner’s contract – was not among the Board’s legal options," Dehmer wrote. The order to reinstate Berenato includes that he receive "all back pay, benefits, and emoluments." Berenato's salary for the 2024-25 school year was set to be $183,071, and it was set to be $187,648 for the 2025-26 school year. His salary for 2023-24 was $178,606, meaning the district owes him about $488,000 in back pay. Dehmer's order did not address Superintendent Diane Pedroza or make any ruling on her status. Berenato being placed on administrative leave through the end of June leaves her in charge of the district. "The school district cannot comment on legal and/or personnel matters," said Dina Silvestri, public information officer for the Manchester Township School District, in response to a Patch request for comment. Berenato filed a lawsuit in May 2024 alleging he was fired because he is gay. Since then, three former administrators hired by Berenato and let go after his departure have filed lawsuits. Capezzera. Bridget Antonucci, the district's former special services director, filed her lawsuit in September 2024, and Lori Burns, who directed the district's preschool program, filed in October 2024 alleging her contract was not renewed because of her support for inclusive policies. Morgan Capezzera, a former school psychologist in the district, filed suit earlier this year. Those three lawsuits also allege anti-LGBTQ bigotry in the district. Court records show Berenato's attorneys filed a motion on July 1 seeking to consolidate the four lawsuits into one case. Swift's lawsuit, meanwhile, was resolved through mediation and dismissed in November 2024.
