SOMS PRINCIPAL RESIGNS

http://villagegreennj.com/schools-kids/south-orange-middle-school-principal-uglialoro-resigns/

Wtf?!

Odd.

That's strange. I didn't even get an email.

Huh. That's interesting.

What does it mean that he isn't saying why he's leaving or where he's going? Could he have been asked to step down for some reason? I thought he was well-liked.

Wtf? Indeed.

Suppose we'll have to wait until SOMSD dusts off their typewriter and lets everyone know what's going on.

val said:
What does it mean that he isn't saying why he's leaving or where he's going? Could he have been asked to step down for some reason? I thought he was well-liked.

I know nothing about this situation, but perhaps he's going to a new job and the person currently in that role doesn't know he/she is being replaced.

Maybe he is following Osborne? Wasn't he the major IB guy? Maybe when they dropped the program he wanted to drop us? I really have no idea though. These are just some common employment patterns I have seen.

I'm not remotely "in the know" but I totally expected this.

Yeah, somehow I'm not really surprised

He had tenure, right?

gerardryan said:
He had tenure, right?

Yes

Either after his second or third year he would have been tenured. I don't know the exact rules for administrative contracts.

Dude.

More turnover at the top. He sure wasn't here long.

Timing is troubling. New schedules going into effect at the middle schools, new Super. wi they look to hire an interim Principal and wait till Ramos has been here to hire more permanently. Both MS principals were Osborne's guys and both left abruptly after short tenures

mrincredible said:
Either after his second or third year he would have been tenured. I don't know the exact rules for administrative contracts.
Dude.

Dude

There must have been something afoot as there was a letter of support for him read out at a BOE meeting by SOMS parents. It's too bad that he is leaving with such short notice.

dg64 said:
There must have been something afoot as there was a letter of support for him read out at a BOE meeting by SOMS parents. It's too bad that he is leaving with such short notice.

My thoughts as well.

According to Brian Osborne's twitter feed, Mr. U has been hired to be a middle school principal in Morristown.

ETA, I wish him well. He did his level best to help when my eldest was going through a very rough period, was kind and supportive, even on the bad days.

Patch coverage from Morristown:

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/morristown/categories/news/articles/frelinghuysen-middle-school-gets-new-principal

So he simply gave notice a day or so before his new job was announced to the public.

The fact that he would have had another job lined up before resigning isn't surprising to me in the least. The question remains: why leave in the first place? It's that backstory that has the rumor mill flying at the moment.

The question should be "why is this the business of anyone who has commented on it?" The last time I looked this is a free country without involuntary servitude. May he did not like the prospective new super in SOMA.

festus said:
The question should be "why is this the business of anyone who has commented on it?"

Because it may provide clues about the power structure (e.g., who currently has it, and what is their agenda) within our childrens' school system.

festus said:
The question should be "why is this the business of anyone who has commented on it?" The last time I looked this is a free country without involuntary servitude. May he did not like the prospective new super in SOMA.

Poor question. But I'll answer anyway. It's my business because I have an unknown commodity in a new/acting principal coming up in my child's school, and potential circumstances leading to the previous tenured principal's departure which may (or may not) be reflective of something I need to be concerned about, whether at the school level or the district level. That's why.

This is a concern to me as well. Both the HSA and the Board of Ed came out very strongly in support of Mr. U. during the period when there were issues. The HSA letter seems to imply that someone/a group of someones in the school--other than the board of ed or the parents--made it too difficult for him to stay. If any individual or group within the school(s) is involved in forcing out competent, committed leaders who are improving the educational experience for my kids, I want to know about it so I can take appropriate action.

I faded all of the dirt that some wanted to throw on Mr. U. because of the longstanding manipulation by some very nasty parents in South Mountain/South Orange.

I don't know what that means.

Coneheads said:
I faded all of the dirt that some wanted to throw on Mr. U. because of the longstanding manipulation by some very nasty parents in South Mountain/South Orange.

I'm afraid that if there were factions forcing him out, you will never know. If I were in his shoes, I would never say a word, because it could come back to bite him. I'd just run for the hills... which he may very well have done.

I don't know anything other than what's been very public—a lot of the staff seemed to be less than enamored with him. I can't imagine it was a very friendly work environment.