OCEAN CITY – While thanking Interim Superintendent Dr. Thomas Baruffi for improving the relationship between the administration and teachers, support staff and parents, speakers at last week’s Ocean City Board of Education meeting decried the “toxic” work environment under the former administration.
The presidents of the Ocean City Education Foundation and the Ocean City Educational Supportive Staff Association spoke during public comment at the Dec. 15 meeting, as did a teacher and coach. They used their time to praise the new atmosphere in the district under Baruffi’s leadership, pointing out how it wasn’t that way under former Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathy Taylor, who retired from the district over the summer after leading it for 15 years.
Taylor took over for Dr. Donald Dearborn, who retired from the district after overseeing the building of the new high school.
“What had been missing was an honest and collaborative working relationship between district leadership and our administration and faculty,” said Paul Matusz, president of the Ocean City Education Association. “Dr. Baruffi has been active in creating such a relationship.”
Kathryn Sykes, president of the support staff union, said Baruffi “has transitioned our district to a positive climate based on trust and communication from the toxic environment we had been experiencing from district administration for a very long time.”
Mikenzie Helpenstine, a longtime teacher and coach who was Teacher of the Year at Ocean City Primary School last year, said the influence of Taylor found its way to the board of education and impacted parents and students who tried to make a difference on matters in school and with athletics.
Matusz said this year has been a time of transition not only from the remote and hybrid school during the pandemic, but also “to a new era of district leadership.
“We want to thank you for helping us navigate the challenges. At times they can feel endless. These challenges, both internal and external, have not weakened us. Instead, what has emerged form us working together … is the potential for our great district to become even greater,” he said.
The collaboration with Baruffi, he said, “has greatly improved communications, improved working conditions, allowed our schools to operate more efficiently and it has yielded results which have already had a positive impact on our school community.
“Together through this collaborative effort we can focus more effectively on what we have all been charged to do – to create a safe, accepting and dynamic learning environment for the children of this district,” he said.
“The 219 teachers that I represent feel that we are now today in a better position to accomplish all of these goals because of this change in leadership style,” Matusz said. He added that all three associations in the district – teachers, support staff and administrators – “stand in support” of Baruffi, Ocean City High School Principal Mark Napoleon and members of the Board of Education “for their commitment to improving our district and moving it in the right direction.”
Sykes said she is retiring in January after 25 years with the district under six principals and three superintendents, having organized 24 graduations and awards nights, countless other events and meetings, and being assistant cheerleading coach for 40 seasons.
Because of her retirement, she said, “I can be a little more direct in my statement.” Sykes no longer fears retaliation.
“It has been an interesting 25 years and I have seen and experienced a lot. I would like to specifically thank the Board of Education for hiring Dr. Baruffi as our interim superintendent,” she said.
“No longer are we afraid to walk the halls or speak without fear of retaliation from the district office. In fact, I have board policy 4381 – protection against retaliation – hanging in my office because I have always felt the need for this protection,” Sykes said.
“I am thankful I was able to survive … under these hostile working conditions of the last 15 years.”
She asked the board not to rush its search for a new superintendent.
“The Ocean City School District needs to heal. Ocean City High School is once again a great place to work and under the leadership of Dr. Baruffi we are heading in the right direction,” Sykes said.
Helphenstine thanked Baruffi “for coming into this district and bringing a new light, a new communication, and a new compassion to the teachers, the parents. He listens and he communicates. This wasn’t happening before.
“The toxic environment that used to happen in these board meetings was horrendous,” she said.
Helphenstine said she wanted to address the board as a parent first and then as a coach.
She said last fall a bunch of parents came to the school board to address issues including heavy book bags and students not having lockers. At the end of the meeting when it was time for board member comment, one said, “Stop your complaining. We’re doing what we can and that’s it,” she recalled.
“We were parents advocating for our children who were getting lost. We were parents looking to the board for some help. Again after that meeting, nobody contacted us. Nobody said anything. Nothing was done,” she said. She noted one administrator reached out, “but only one and it wasn’t her responsibility.”
Helphenstine’s other issue was about how Taylor influenced the hiring of coaches and opted for one with no experience over her for a junior varsity lacrosse position.
“The hiring process over the last 15 years was whatever the superintendent wanted it to be. She got to do what she wanted. She appointed her coaches and it didn’t matter,” she said.
In late 2019 the coaching position came up. She wanted it. She started the lacrosse program in Upper Township and Ocean City and has been the varsity lacrosse coach and freshman lacrosse coach. “I don’t have one bad evaluation,” she said. “Not one.”
Instead, Taylor recommended the coaching position go to someone without any experience instead of Helphenstine.
Parents, student athletes and others got up to speak at the meeting begging for the board to reject the recommendation and choose an assistant coach with experience. The motion to appoint the coach was tabled at the meeting but over the next month, she said, “nothing happened. No interviews. No discussions. No anything.”
Parents and student athletes returned for the next meeting. They “spoke and begged for an experienced coach, not someone that had never picked up a stick.” However, the board went with Taylor’s recommendation. “For what reason? Who told you to pass it? Who told you to stop asking questions?”
She said the decision put the student athletes at risk because they had an assistant coach who didn’t know the game. Beyond that, Helphenstine said, “I have watched job descriptions change out of the blue for coaching positions. I know that Dr. Baruffi won’t do that, Mr. (Geoff) Haines (athletic director) will not support that any longer. I am sure the interview process will happen better because the compassion Dr. Baruffi has been showing to the teachers, the athletes and the students in this district over the last few months is incredible.”
She closed with a criticism of how the board responded under the former superintendent.
“As parents and coaches who used to come in here to the board, the fact we could not get answers or even have you ask questions on our behalf, was despicable.”
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff