Evan Vitale Consulting: Paterson school district gives retired school official $150 per hour …

Monday, October 19, 2015

Paterson school district gives retired school official $150 per hour … – NorthJersey.com

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October 19, 2015, 11:55 AM Last updated: Monday, October 19, 2015, 12:23 PM

Paterson Press

Paterson Board of Education headquarters

PATERSON – The school district has given a $150-per-hour consulting contract to a long-time administrator who retired last year and is collecting a $132,000 annual pension, according to public records.

The administrator, Brenda Patterson, partnered with consultant Marbella Barrera to apply for the district’s “Accountability Initiatives” contract, a job that includes developing an evaluation system for the school district’s senior staff members, officials said.

The two women, who worked together on the district’s teacher evaluation system while Patterson was an administrator and Barrera a consultant, were awarded a $94,000-per-year, three-year contract, according to public records.

Patterson, who had a 41-year career, and Barrera submitted the only application in response to the district’s advertisement for the position, according to records.

“As consultants to the district, they bring a wealth of educational expertise,” said Paterson Public Schools spokeswoman Terry Corallo. “Ms. Patterson last served as the district’s chief accountability officer where she led the transformation of the district’s teacher and principal evaluation system. “

The contract documents also indicate that Patterson and Barrera will be working on the district’s efforts to regain local control of city schools through the process known QSAC, or Quality Single Accountability Continuum.

School board president Jonathan Hodges said he was not familiar with the Patterson contract. Hodges said he believes the district must have sought out Patterson because of her experience in the city schools. “I assume they believe this will bring some value to the district,” Hodges said.

The president of the city teachers’ union said he thinks the district ought to rehire all the teachers laid off earlier this spring before it gives out any $150-per-hour contracts.

“It’s a fantastic set of circumstances,” said the union president, John McEntee Jr. “We didn’t realize they had this kind of money on the side.”

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