Ocean City school board deadlocks on veep at reorg

OCEAN CITY — With four new members on the Board of Education sworn in at the beginning of Wednesday’s meeting, the board saw a rare division over the appointment of a new president, and an even rarer deadlock on who should be vice president.

The meeting also heard appeals for acceptance of LGBTQ students in the school district. Much of the election centered on new state standards, including changes to the teaching of sex education and gender issues.

A majority of the board supported Chris Halliday for president, with nine votes out of the 12 members. Three of the new members, Catherine Panico, Elizabeth Nicoletti and Robin Shaffer, supported Shaffer for president at his first meeting as a board member.

The three had run as a ticket in November and were vocal critics of the new state standards. The other successful candidate, Kevin Barnes, voted for Halliday as president.

But there was no consensus reached on the board vice present, with six votes for Fran Newman, an Upper Township representative to the board, and six votes for Cecilia Gallelli-Keyes. There was no movement after three attempts, leading to one member jokingly comparing the votes to the effort to reach a majority for the speaker of the House in Washington, where Kevin McCarthy got no closer after repeated votes.

Without a decision, it will be up to the Cape May County superintendent of schools to appoint a vice president for the school board.

Both members of the public and some board members said that would be a bad option.

“This is your first meeting sitting as a board together. What is the tone you’re setting? That you’re unable to work together, and I know that’s not the case,” said Lisa Mansfield, a city resident.

The board considered going into a closed-door session to discuss the vice president’s position, but attorney Michael Stanton said that discussion would not fall under the exceptions to the Open Public Meetings Act, which requires most discussions to be held in public.

Instead, the board took a recess, but when members returned, there was no change in the vote. Two votes were held, each with the same 6-6 split result.

Some reiterated calls for acceptance within the district.

During the election campaign, and since the vote, students and parents have expressed concern over the position of students in the district who are gay, nonbinary or otherwise may be ostracized or bullied.

In the public comment portion of the meeting, Ocean City High School senior Keely Calloway reminded board members that they represent everyone in the district, not just those they agree with.

“Whether the board likes it or not, LGBTQ people do exist, they will always exist and they will always be here,” she said.

“There are many people in our community who share my concern regarding the newly elected board members and how they intend to represent the best interests of the students, teachers and the parents in a manner that is fair, equitable and inclusive of all,” said a parent at the meeting.

But other speakers said Panico, Nicoletti and Shaffer had taken extensive criticism for standing up for their beliefs.

David Hayes and Marie Hayes, his wife, said the district should be concerned with repairing academics damaged by remote learning.

“The election was only about the rights of parents to be involved in their minor children’s education, and nothing else,” Marie Hayes said. “The opponents of parents’ rights speaking tonight are the same people who turned the school board campaign into divisive, hateful and dishonest attacks on the candidates who ultimately won the election in a landslide.”

She suggested teachers should focus on the Constitution instead of personal pronouns.

Shaffer said he does not see people as being from Upper Township or Ocean City, or as people of color or representing various identities.

“I see human beings,” he said. “I see a bunch of people that care about the kids that go to school here in Ocean City. They want the best for them, and that’s what I’m here for.”

Gallelli-Keyes, whom Panico, Nicoletti and Shaffer had supported for the vice presidency, said the board has to be for all students in the district.

“Whatever they want to feel or look or smell or whatever the case is, we’re all human beings,” she said.

Disston Vanderslice and Jacqueline McAlister also supported Gallelli-Keyes, with Halliday, Barnes, Joseph Clark, William Holmes and Kristie Chisholm supporting Newman. Gallelli-Keyes and Newman each voted for themselves.

Former board President Patrick Kane was one of the incumbents who were not reelected in November. In his final meeting as a board member in December, he said he has confidence in the district.

“Our schools are fantastic and successful because of the people that make up the schools,” Kane said. He said the district will continue to thrive. “I am extremely excited to see where this district goes, and extremely excited for my children to be a part of it.”