MANCHESTER – It was two years ago during a special evening meeting of the Board of Education on Election Day that Superintendent John Berenato was removed from his position.
Last week, the Board reinstated him during their regular meeting. Board members immediately voted to place him on paid administrative leave through June 30, 2026. Berenato, was originally promoted to superintendent in February 2022 was contracted to work for the district through June 30, 2026.
During that crowded November 7, 2023 meeting, a large audience made up of staff and parents cheered when the announcement came of his dismissal following a lengthy closed session meeting of the Board. A citizen’s petition calling for Berenato’s dismissal came weeks before the vote.
Diane Pedroza was named as interim superintendent during the 2023 special board meeting. She served as interim superintendent for the rest of that school year and became full superintendent last year. The recent Board action does not address Pedroza or make any ruling on her status though it is likely that with Berenato placed on administrative leave through the end of his contract, Pedroza will remain the leader of the district.
The petition and subsequent firing came after a lawsuit was filed against him by Whiting Elementary School Principal Evelyn Swift alleging age discrimination. Her lawsuit was later resolved through mediation and dismissed in November 2024.
Berenato’s termination was made effective immediately and the resolution firing him only identified him by his employee number. The reasons for the firing were not announced during that 2023 meeting.
Information was revealed later that he had been convicted of drunk driving years earlier along with information showing he had omitted that conviction from his employment application with the school district.
The Board’s recent reinstatement of Berenato as a district employee came after an order from the State Department of Education.
The failure to reveal that DWI conviction and related driver’s license suspension were noted as the reason in his termination letter, according to the order to reinstate Berenato issued on October 20 by State Commissioner of Education Kevin Dehmer.
Berenato filed a lawsuit in May 2024 alleging he was fired because he was gay. Three former administrators who he hired have left the district after his departure and they have filed lawsuits. Bridget Antonucci, the district’s former special services director, filed her lawsuit in September 2024, alleging she was harassed prior to her contract not being renewed.
The district’s preschool program director, Lori Burns also filed a lawsuit in October 2024 alleging working conditions were hostile and that she could not remain with the district.
Former school psychologist Morgan Capezzera filed her lawsuit this year alleging that she too was harassed and targeted for supporting diversity. Those three lawsuits also accuse the district of anti-LGBTQ bigotry.
Berenato’s lawyers filed a motion on July 1 seeking to consolidate the four lawsuits into one case. That motion was denied and the cases remain separate.
Judge Mary Ann Bogan in the State Office of Administrative Law ruled in August that Berenato’s termination violated the provisions of the Tenure Employees Hearing Law.
Under the law, a tenured employee must be given notice of a plan to remove them and an opportunity for a hearing. Superintendents however do not get unlimited tenure in the state, but tenure laws apply to them during the length of their employment contract, according to Bogan and Dehmer.
According to Dehmer, the School Board had the options under tenure procedures, to continue Berenato’s contract, to file tenure charges against him, or to pay him to do nothing for the remainder of his contract while assigning his superintendent duties to be performed by someone else.
Dehmer wrote, “the option the Board chose – unilateral termination of petitioner’s contract – was not among the Board’s legal options.”
Berenato will receive approximately $488,000 in back pay. His reinstatement includes that he will also receive benefits, and emoluments. His salary for the 2024-25 school year was set to be $183,071, and it was calculated to be $187,648 for the 2025-2026 school year. His salary for 2023-24 was $178,606.
The Manchester Times sought further details. School District Public Information Officer Dina Silvestri responded to inquiries, stating “the school district cannot comment on legal and/or personnel matters.”
