Feud with school board may cost N.J. superintendent her job

By Tom Haydon/The Star-Ledger

PERTH AMBOY — Less than a year into her term as Perth Amboy’s school superintendent, Janine Caffrey may soon be looking for a new job.
The school board plans to vote next week on whether to fire the reform-minded leader — who says she isn’t going down without a fight and has the backing of the city’s mayor.

Feuds among superintendents and school boards are not unheard of in New Jersey’s bare-knuckled business of public education, but against the backdrop of a state investigation, the Perth Amboy situation is no ordinary controversy.

While the school board has accused Caffrey of running rough-shod over them, more shocking revelations have surfaced involving possible attempted fraud by school board president Samuel Lebreault. The state Attorney General’s Office is investigating allegations that Lebreault improperly filed an application for the federally subsidized school lunch program, an application that has mysteriously gone missing.

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