Westwood schools chief lashes out at ‘campaign of harassment’ – by her own school board

Months after the Westwood school district began searching for a new superintendent, it appears the district's current top administrator has no plans of leaving.

An attorney for Superintendent Jill Mortimer, in fact, appeared at a meeting last week to accuse the school board of a "campaign of harassment and unlawful discrimination" in an attempt to push her out.

That pressure campaign has stretched over the last two years and included an "involuntary medical leave," Mortimer's attorney, Armen McOmber, said in a statement during a tense special board meeting held on Tuesday. The superintendent was also required to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before she could resume work but was ultimately cleared to return, said McOmber, who called the board's treatment of his client "bizarre and outrageous."

Mortimer, superintendent of the K-12 district since 2022, announced her intention to retire last August but never filed an official letter of resignation. It wasn't immediately clear after Tuesday's meeting how long she will be staying on. On Friday, she referred questions from a reporter to McOmber. He declined to comment other than to note Mortimer has two years left on her contract.

Mortimer announced retirement in August

Tuesday's special meeting lasted just 13 minutes. Board President Jay Garcia read a statement saying it was called to “discuss, plan and align strategies after finding that Dr. Mortimer might not stay true to her Aug. 28th letter or words to this board that she will retire at the end of the school year."

Mortimer, 55, announced her intention to leave at the start of the current school year, after returning from a monthlong medical leave following back surgery. At the time, she said she had always planned to retire in her mid-50s.

“I vacillated most of the summer, but then I finally made up my mind,” she said in an interview with NorthJersey.com last September. “I am open to doing interim work in the future, but I want to travel first.”

Mortimer added in the September interview that she was hopeful the board could find a suitable replacement by July 1. She said she would consider staying longer if the search wasn't finished.

But her tone changed in January

But Garcia on Tuesday said Mortimer relayed a different message earlier this year. On Jan. 19, Mortimer texted him to say “if my resignation is on the agenda, it should not be. I have put it on there as a placeholder and moved it from month to month," Garcia said.

Garcia said he forwarded an email by Mortimer to the district's human resources department, which also said that the resignation was a placeholder and asked for it to be removed from the January meeting agenda.

Around the same time, Garcia said, he also received another text from Mortimer stating: “I had said I would consider staying if you can’t find someone. Hopefully seeing the candidates' resumes on Monday will give you some indication." Garcia added that Mortimer had also texted that one of the candidates to replace her as superintendent was a friend of hers, who she had told to apply. Mortimer suggested the board should hire him, Garcia said.

More: Westwood schools move to ban unauthorized recording of teachers, students

“Had any board, staff or administrator known that Dr. Mortimer was not retiring this year, this trustee team would have not spent tax dollars and collective personal hours interviewing candidates,” said Garcia. “This board would have never disrupted another superintendent’s career and altered the stability of another district by doing background checks and extending a contract offer.”

He said the “concrete and consistent message" from Mortimer was that she was retiring if the board found a replacement, said Garcia.

“If Dr. Mortimer truly felt she told me, any trustee or HR [human resources] that she was not retiring, why did she, the chief executive officer of this district, sit quietly by for two months as we interviewed for her position and then answer ‘no comment’ when asked about her retirement?” said Garcia.

Westwood superintendent details pressure campaign

McOmber, speaking at Tuesday's meeting, said his client had “never received a poor evaluation and until very recently, has never been reprimanded by this board” either in her role as superintendent or in her previous position as assistant superintendent.

Mortimer worked seven years in that role before taking over the top spot. She was hired as superintendent with a base salary of $242,500.

But that changed last fall with a campaign "by members of the former board of education which was designed to expedite the early departure of Dr. Mortimer,” her attorney said. He said previous board president Michael Pontillo, who stepped down this year, demanded a psychiatric examination of Mortimer due to her allegedly “erratic” behavior since returning from surgery.

McOmber said that Mortimer was put on an “involuntary medical leave” but was later cleared by the board’s chosen psychiatrist to return to work. He said Garcia, after taking over as board president, had also said “her return was in doubt” in February. It was only after an email from Mortimer’s then-legal counsel that she was permitted to return, McOmber said.

Frank Connelly, the principal of Westwood Regional High School, was named acting superintendent of the district in an abrupt change in early January with no explanation at the time for Mortimer's absence. She returned, also without a public explanation, in February.

BOE's 'grossly inappropriate' request

Two unnamed board members had also asked to see Mortimer’s doctor’s report, which was “grossly inappropriate,” McOmber added in his statement. He said it was suggested at another board meeting that the board should secure a second medical opinion from the board’s physician.

“The board – the previous board and this board – has behaved in a bizarre and outrageous fashion in the matter in which they treated this respected educator,” said McOmber.

Mortimer served as superintendent and principal in the Moonachie school district and superintendent in Hawthorne before coming to Westwood.

A threat of litigation

McOmber said he had served the board with a "litigation hold," a written notice advising that records must be preserved in case of a possible lawsuit." The superintendent had “claims against the board," he said. He added that Mortimer "had no intention of retiring given how she’s been treated by this board and the previous board.”

“She won’t be bullied or intimidated into leaving,” said McOmber.

Stephanie Noda is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: noda@northjersey.com

Twitter: @snoda11

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Westwood superintendent says she's been harassed by school board