At the June 10th Board Of Education (BOE) meeting, the board approved Alina Garrido as a district substitute teacher, as recommended by the Superintendent. During the first public comment section of that meeting, Jacob Magiera asked school superintendent Pedro Garrido if there was any relation. Mr. Garrido answered that she is his daughter. The superintendent further stated that substitute teachers are exempt from the district’s nepotism policy.
A review of both the Roselle Park School District (RPSD) policy and NJAC 6A:23A-6.2(b) confirms such is the case.
The New Jersey Administrative Code, which governs school district hiring practices by statute and regulation, under nepotism states “A school district or county vocational school district may exclude per diem substitutes and student employees from its board nepotism policy.”
A review of Roselle Park School District Policy 4112.8, under Nepotism, also includes – as the last section of the policy – that “Per diem substitutes and student employees are excluded from this nepotism policy.”
As a substitute, Ms. Garrido, if utilized, will be paid $95/day.
Although such an appointment makes some uneasy about the hiring of relatives, it is covered under the RPSD policy. It is not an automatic exemption as the NJAC regulation states that school districts may exclude such personnel. The decision to allow such a policy remains with individual school districts.