Garfield NJ schools hire ex-trustee for technology specialist position

GARFIELD – Less than six months after he resigned from the Board of Education to spend time with family, a former trustee has been hired as an educational technology specialist in the school district. 

The Board of Education voted to hire Frank Barber to the post at an annual salary of $110,500. He will report to the technology department.

Barber resigned effective June 1. Under state law, school board members must be off the board for at least six months before they can work for the district they served. Barber’s new job starts Jan. 1.

The job description, which was revised earlier in the same meeting during which Barber was hired, says the post requires a master’s degree in education or a related field as well as advanced knowledge of website design and maintenance.

The role of the specialist is to “provide instruction, training and set up resources in order to facilitate the use of technology in the classroom and increase student use, knowledge and skill about various technology methodologies.”  

Duties include managing the hardware and software for administrators and faculty, developing websites and developing policies related to instructional technology, computer software and online services.

Barber garnered attention this year after a verbal altercation with a member of the public at a Garfield school board meeting that was so heated that police were summoned. Police records showed that officers arrived after the meeting to find Barber, fellow school board member Everett Garnto and a member of the public named Anthony Erekat outside, still agitated and spewing insults and expletives.

Police body camera footage obtained by NorthJersey.com captures the dispute, with Barber at one point apparently mocking Erekat about a hazing incident. In 1992, Erekat was a high school student when he said he was a victim of hazing at a summer camp for the Lodi football team.

When asked about the board’s decision to hire Barber, Superintendent Anna Sciacca said, “after conferring with the board's legal counsel, I have been advised to refrain from commenting since this is a matter of personnel.” Barber did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A public records request to the district for the official video recording of the meeting, which is typically posted on the district's website within days, was denied. Additional requests for security footage taken within the middle school was also denied. NorthJersey.com has since sued the district for the documents and won. The district has appealed the decision regarding the security footage.

Barber spent more than five years on the board and said at the time of his resignation that he was doing so to spend more time with his family and that it had been “an honor and a privilege to serve as a Garfield Board of Education member.” He also was a teacher in the Cliffside Park school district. 

Katie Sobko is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: sobko@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @katesobko

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