MANCHESTER – The Board of Education unanimously approved the termination of Superintendent John Berenato and the hiring of an interim superintendent at an emergency meeting on Election Night.
In recent weeks Berenato has become a controversial figure in the community following news of an assault charge he was accused of under a different name. Furthermore, a lawsuit was filed in State Superior Court, Ocean County last month that named him, the Board of Education and several school administrators. The suit was filed by an elementary school principal.
Whiting Elementary School Principal Evelyn Swift is suing Berenato and accused him of being the spearhead of a strategic and coordinated effort to bully, harass and intimidate her.
He has also been accused of trying to get Swift, who is Black, female and in her mid-50s, reassigned to another school that has a greater number of Hispanic students.
It is also alleged that Berenato made comments about the demographic changes in the township, and made comments about Swift’s race and age.
According to the lawsuit Berenato allegedly told Swift she would better serve a “different population” there than in the Whiting section of Manchester. Swift alleged he wanted her to “clean the place up” and said the school “needs an overhaul due to changes across town.”
School Districts enrollment records noted that in the fall of the 2021-22 school year, 75% of Whiting Elementary students were white and 16% were Hispanic and during that same year, 51% of township elementary students were white, while 29% were Hispanic.
Swift also claimed that her attendance was closely monitored by Berenato and that he recommended converting her office to a special-needs “reset room” for students. The lawsuit also alleges that the superintendent treated her differently and unfairly compared to other administrators.
A petition posted to Change.org called for the school board to suspend Berenato and launch an investigation into the lawsuit’s allegations. The petition has reached more than 1,000 signatures.
According to the Manchester Township School District website, prior to joining the School District as superintendent in February 2022, he served as supervisor of curriculum in Springfield Township, director of curriculum in Little Egg Harbor, director of math and science for Pinelands Regional schools, and assistant superintendent for Little Egg Harbor.
Berenato, who did not respond to a request for comment by The Manchester Times last week, has also been accused by Swift of making “racist” comments and comparing the number of books about African Americans in the schools to the number of books about animals during a discussion about diverse children’s books, according to Swift’s lawsuit.
Stress caused by the conditions listed in the lawsuit lead Swift to seek twice a month therapy and also caused increased insomnia and negatively impacted her blood pressure, according to the lawsuit. Swift is seeking compensation for damages, corrective action and other relief from the court.
The district appointed Diane Pedroza, the district’s director of curriculum, as interim superintendent.
There will be more on this story in the next edition of The Manchester Times.
