Another Pinelands Regional Administrator Under Fire After ‘Unacceptable’ Letter Surfaces

Dr. Cheryl Stevenson, who served as the district's acting superintendent. Photo By: Ryan Marchese.

By: Douglas D. Melegari

Staff Writer

Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey—



Another administrator in the Pinelands Regional School District has come under fire after authoring a letter to staff that asked them to "be prepared to work in an environment that includes dust, debris, noise, and unfamiliar odors” as construction takes place at Pinelands Regional High School.



The letter, which was authored by Dr. Cheryl Stevenson in early October, came at the same time parents had difficulty convincing the Pinelands Regional Board of Education that their children were being subjected to dust, debris, noise and foul odors inside the high school while roof work was taking place on its exterior.



Stevenson wrote the letter while she served as the district’s acting superintendent from Oct. 2 to 13, while Interim Superintendent Dr. Maryann Banks was away—an absence that has yet to be explained.



Stevenson, in her regular capacity, serves as the district’s director of curriculum and instruction.



"The recent closing of school has become an opportunity for us to reset our processes, and from this point forward we must work together throughout the construction project,” said Stevenson to staff. "I must remind you that this is only the beginning and you must be prepared to work in an environment that includes dust, debris, noise, and unfamiliar odors.”



Around the same time that Stevenson fired off the email, parents frantically tried to convince the school board to close the high school as the dust, debris, noise and foul odors were causing students and staff inside of the building to fall ill.



As the Pine Barrens Tribune previously reported, a number of students and staff inside the high school building developed unexplained respiratory issues and rashes.



Particularly bothersome to many of the high school’s occupants was the strength of the foul odor inside. A WCBS-TV (CBS 2) reporter was overcome by the odor after just spending 10 minutes inside the high school.



Stevenson insinuated to staff that the foul odor was no cause for alarm based on a remark made by one of the district’s environmental consultants.



"To quote one of the environmental consultants, ‘if it smells bad, is (sic) does not mean that it is bad for you.’”



Multiple messages that sought the name of the consultant who dismissed the potential toxicity of the odor were not returned.



"I would like to know who wrote this memo to the staff because clearly you were aware of the conditions in the school,” said Lee Morey, a father who has a son in the district, during a Nov. 6 school-board meeting. "It is just not acceptable. When were you going to notify parents that this was what our children were exposed to?”



At the time of the board meeting, Morey only had an excerpt of the letter and did not know that Stevenson wrote it. The full letter, with Stevenson’s signature, was leaked on the internet on Nov. 10.



Board President Susan Ernst only thanked Morey when he read the excerpt.



As the Pine Barrens Tribune reported last week, Epic Environmental president James Eberts told the district’s Business Administrator Stephen J. Brennan on Sept. 8 that required cleaning of the high school’s metal roof deck was discovered to be incomplete prior to the installation of a new roof on the high school.



The discovery came after debris falling in high-school classrooms was investigated on Sept. 8.



Eberts informed Brennan that some of the debris found on the uncleaned areas of the roof tested positive for asbestos.



While none of the debris that fell in the classrooms tested positive for asbestos, Eberts said there was the potential for roofing debris to continue to enter the school and recommended the district cease all rooftop activities due to the asbestos-containing debris on the exterior.



Additionally, Ahera, one of the district’s environmental consultants, told Brennan on Sept. 1 that ethylbenzene was detected inside the school at levels above residential and industrial standards.



Exposure to high levels of ethylbenzene in the air for short periods can cause eye and throat irritation. Vertigo and dizziness are also possible.



Trimethylbenzene was also detected above residential levels inside the building.



Trimethylbenzene can irritate the skin and eyes. Exposure to trimethylbenzene can also cause a person to feel dizzy, lightheaded and to pass out.



"The tests performed prior to Oct. 3 were done and did not indicate any cause for alarm,” said Stevenson to staff, who was also dismissive of parent, student and staff concerns and accounts that were posted on social media. "This is the second time in three weeks that information on social media has been inaccurate and has caused mass panic in this district.”



Ahera recommended the district relocate and restrict staff away from active construction areas when possible.



Also, according to the project’s bid specifications and contract, the rooftop construction was mandated to be completed by Aug. 18 (in some parts of the document it says Sept. 5), so as to not interfere with the start of school on Sept. 7.



"All roof work shall be conducted within the contract time limits, but in no case while students or faculty are in the building,” the document says.



Brennan signed the document. It was also approved by the school board.



Brennan, according to multiple eyewitnesses, was escorted out of the district’s administration building on Nov. 7 after more than 150 parents and the district’s teachers union called for his firing the night before. He was reinstated by the Pinelands Regional Board of Education on Nov. 15, just before press time, in a 6-4 vote (more details next week).



Three days after Stevenson wrote the letter to staff, a screw fell on the top of the student’s head. She attributed the incident to vibration from the construction work. This incident resulted in the indefinite closure of the high school.



Banks, when she returned to the district, said the heads of numerous screws throughout the high school were cut off when roofers removed a level of the roofing earlier in the summer. She said the screws were loosened as a result.



The disregard of the recommendations, disregard of the roofing contract and improper cleaning of the roof—along with Stevenson’s letter—has now resulted in calls for an investigation by an outside agency.



"Is there any outside agency that is investigating this scandal?” said parent James Ruland at the Nov. 6 school board meeting. "You state here that you had the welfare of the children in mind—yet somebody here made a decision and knew that those kids were in that school when they shouldn’t have been.”



Ruland asked Ernst to explain why an outside agency isn’t investigating the scandal. Ernst never offered an explanation.



"If you are not having an outside agency investigate what is going on here—why not?” he said. "What harm could be done if you did nothing wrong? I think there were a lot of things done wrong here.”



Ruland said he believes the board and administrators are covering up for a "criminal mistake.”



"There is a lot of money involved here (project is being funded through a voter-approved $53-million bond referendum) and our children’s health,” he said. "Every one of you that are involved should be investigated, and prosecuted if needed.”



James Smith, a district parent who does construction for a living, said the board was in "way over their heads” with the ongoing debacle.



"There is a lot of construction people in this room—I know some of them—and none of us would be on the job for more than a week if we behaved this way about a (multi)-million dollar project,” he said. "We would be gone. We are responsible to come to a place and know what we are looking at before we give a bid for it. If we don’t—we eat it and we are out of business.”



Kenneth Persichetti, the father of a district student, asked the board to provide the public with the square footage that was uncleaned and covered up with new roofing.



"The speculation from what I have seen on different things (social media) is 18,000 sq. feet,” he said. "That is ridiculous! Whoever allowed that to happen should be tarred and feathered—if that is the case.”



Prior to parents and community members speaking, Ernst said that no price could ever be put on the safety of students and staff and that the board had grave concerns about the unfolding situation.



"There is just no price,” she said.



Only one resident out of nearly 50 who attended the meeting came to the defense of the board.



"I know quite a few of the board members personally,” said resident Liz Moritz, who does not have any children in school. "I can honestly tell you that I do not believe any of them would dare to put our children at risk or their co-workers and staff people.”



Moritz, however, suggested that an investigation into what occurred needed to take place.



"As you go through the records, interim billing and who signed off on what inspections in order to get their payments—you are going to get the picture,” she said. "It is going to become clearer and clearer.”



Moritz said she watched video of the roofers removing debris from the high school roof.



As the Pine Barrens Tribune reported last week, the images posted online show debris from the high school’s asbestos contaminated roof being tossed carelessly into an open-top container truck. Related dust is seen flying through the air. Some pieces of the debris fell onto the ground.



Effective asbestos abatement involves carefully placing contaminated debris in sealed leak-tight containers and not tossing debris to prevent contaminated particles from spreading through the air.



"I too looked at the video and thought it can’t possibly be that bad,” she said. "But, it looks like you really do have a problem.



"You are going to have to do some soul-searching and you are going to have really look and see what facts pan out. You are going to have to be honest either way. Either the school people screwed up or the contractor screwed up.”



Moritz said the board put their faith and resident taxpayer dollars toward the project’s contractors and they need to be held accountable.



Patty Persichetti, after Moritz spoke, said that she doesn’t trust the board.



"Every time I come to these meetings, I feel sicker and sicker listening to this crap,” she said. "I want to know when that school is finally open—how the hell am I going to trust you that this place is safe? How am I going to send my child back to school?”



Thomas D. Williams, Jr., a school board member who represents Bass River Township and is the head of the board’s construction committee, responded to the call for an investigation after some attendees began shouting, "Hire an investigator!”



"There obviously needs to be something looked into,” Williams said. "(This is especially true) when you go back and look at the contract that was awarded for this construction and (see that) several areas of that contract—from all of the entities—was not followed. So, that is where the investigation needs to be so that we can get answers on all of the shortfalls so nothing like this can occur again to jeopardize anyone in our district.”



