DUI Lawyers in Monroe, NJ

MONROE – The Board of Education has given no reason why Superintendent of Schools Chari Chanley has been placed on paid administrative leave.

The 6-3 vote to suspend the superintendent came after a closed session in a marathon meeting that ended early May 6.

Before the closed session, Board President Katie Fabiano said it was to "discuss the superintendent's evaluation."

After the closed session, board member Gail DiPane made the motion to place Chanley on immediate paid administrative leave "because of what we heard tonight."

The vote was 6-3 to suspend Chanley, with Gazela Bohra, Amanda Peck and Peter Tufano voting no. Board Vice President Carmen Alvarez, members DiPane, Fabiano, Peter Piro, Usha Sharma and Charles Zeichner voted yes. Board member Kate Rattner was absent.

Chanley's time as superintendent has been fraught with controversy as she faced criticism and ethics complaints.

One incident led to an ethics sanction from the State Department of Education, while another involved a viral confrontation with a parent who accused her of bullying.

The latest controversy seemingly involved an effort to oust Woodland Elementary School Principal Orsolina Cetta at the March 17 school board meeting. Cetta has been principal since August 2022.

At the March meeting, five board members abstained whether to renew Cetta's contract.

Prior to the vote on Chanley's suspension, Bohra said the community had gone through a "month of anguish."

"My faith in community is renewed today," Bohra said, "Thank you everyone for coming out. Thank you for the hundreds of emails we've received. I'm hoping that this board is going to do the right thing for the students, the staff and the Monroe community today."

At the same meeting, Cetta's contract was renewed by an 8-1 vote. After a change.org petition received more than 500 signatures, parents, staffers, students, and residents came out to voice support Cetta at the meeting.

"I wanted to say how embarrassed I am that, after all the love, inspiration − I can't believe how much the community and your school, your staff loves you," Tufano told Cetta before the vote. "I'm embarrassed, because after all that hard work, all that love and admiration, that you have to sit there with anxiety and tears in your eyes and with counsel and worry about your position in this town. It's embarrassing, and I hope that no matter what the vote is today, that you never change the person that you are, because the world needs people like you."

The district serves 6,965 students, according to the latest Board of Education numbers.

The school district has been roiled for years by opposition to Chanley

In 2022, Chanley was awarded a three-year contract as superintendent after serving nearly a year as an acting superintendent. Chanley has been with the district for nearly 22 years.

Chanley is the district's seventh superintendent in a dozen years. She held the post of principal of the district's middle school since 2008 before becoming acting superintendent.

email:cmakin@gannettnj.com

Cheryl Makin is an award-winning feature, news and education reporter forMyCentralJersey.com, part of the USA Today Network. Contact: Cmakin@gannettnj.com or@CherylMakin. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

New President, New Kickstart for Growth Monroe Township, NJ—The CNJRCC announces a new president to its board and fresh plans to enhance benefits for increased membership. Milton J. Paris, long-time member of the chamber and 50 years in sales consulting with his own business, Getting Ahead In Business, has taken the reins of the steadily growing chamber to inject innovative ideas for further growth. In addition to its monthly business luncheons, Milton and the board are working with different community venues to offer educational, social, and fundraising activities to attract new business members, expand networking opportunities, and stimulate local consumerism. Currently, the CNJRCC services communities such as Monroe, Jamesburg, Spotswood, and Helmetta but endeavors to expand its reach to a broader area of Middlesex County.

Milton Paris comments, “This can only promote more opportunities for our members to get their businesses in front of as many potential clients as possible. As we grow in this way it is my belief that we will be able to expand our service to a broader area of New Jersey with ever- growing economic needs. My business motto has always been ‘Nothing is Impossible’ and that goes for our chamber!”

Any industry, large or small is welcome to become a part of the CNJRCC. For more information about membership or to subscribe for events news go to: Benefits – Central New Jersey Regional Chamber of Commerce (cnjrchamber.org)

Signup for Updates – Central New Jersey Regional Chamber of Commerce (cnjrchamber.org) Milton J. Paris, President and Founder of Getting Ahead In Business has been helping businesses grow for over 40 years. As a sales training guru and motivational speaker Milton’s motto is, “Nothing is impossible working with Milton Paris.” In addition to helping owners increase their sales, Milton hosts a weekly business talk radio show at WCTC 1450 AM every Sunday from 11 am- 12 noon.

NJ second-grader goes viral for runway strut

A 7-year-old Montclair girl is turning heads across the globe — including Naomi Campbell’s. Montana Monroe Jenkins went viral on Instagram for her fierce runway walk, catching the attention of the supermodel herself with over 12 million views. FOX 5's Teresa Priolo has the story.

The Brief

NEW JERSEY - Montana Monroe Jenkins, a second grader from Montclair, is gaining national attention after a modeling video of her racked up nearly 12 million views on Instagram — including a shoutout from supermodel Naomi Campbell.

What we know:

Montana Monroe Jenkins, a 7-year-old from Montclair, New Jersey, is capturing the internet’s heart and gaining recognition from some of fashion’s biggest names. A video of her walking the runway has garnered nearly 12 million views on Instagram, with Naomi Campbell herself giving the young model a public stamp of approval.

Montana, the youngest of five siblings, is now preparing for her next big appearance at Brooklyn Fashion Week on April 12 at Kings Plaza.

The backstory:

Montana’s mom, Prudence, says the signs were there early. It all started with a pair of Disney heels and a lot of hallway fashion shows at home.

"I couldn’t get her into bed," Prudence said. "Constant changing clothes. Constant stage and forts. Always keeping shoes on. A dress. Extra passion for it."

Montana began watching modeling videos online and eventually asked her mom if she could try it herself. Her first audition took place at Kings Plaza in Brooklyn. Montana says she was nervous at first but overcame her fear by taking deep breaths.

What they're saying:

"I treat [the hallway] like that. I feel like I’m having a show," said Montana, describing how she first started practicing her walk. "It made me so famous and good, and I was doing what I needed to do and handle my business."

Montana still sees herself first and foremost as a second-grader — but one with big dreams.

"I want all the kids to know what my mom tells me. She tells me, be confident. Love yourself. Take care of yourself, and it will all be [okay]," she said.

Her mom also emphasized how important representation is in their household and what it means to see a legend like Naomi Campbell acknowledge her daughter.

"Representation matters in our home and I think what Naomi represents... Montana is still in awe with all of this," Prudence said.

What's next:

Montana will hit the runway again on April 12 for Brooklyn Fashion Week at Kings Plaza — and her fanbase continues to grow.

New JerseyHeartwarming News

Joe Eurell knew the Monroe wrestling team had talent, but he also had to be honest. So sometime around mid-December or early January, the Falcons head coach didn’t sugarcoat anything to his wrestlers.

“They asked me, they were like, ‘Do you still think we can win sections?,’” Eurell recalled.

His answer?

“I told them straight-up no,” Eurell said. “Absolutely not. ... I’m just like you guys aren’t getting it, nothing’s clicking with you. … They were doing everything right, it was just they weren’t putting everything together. The way they were working in the room, it was what they normally always do. They were always a group of hard-working kids. It wasn’t anything that they were doing wrong, they just weren’t clicking and I could see that.”

He had a message for them.

“We can’t want it more than you,” he said. “We were just saying, if you guys still want it, go ahead and take it. Like late January or early February, it’s yours. If you want it, it’s right there. … That pretty much just became our mantra, if you want it – go get it.”

Now, teams can take it one of two ways – whimper, wilt and deflate the rest of the way. Or, get going.

They went. The end result: Monroe captured the Central Group 5 title as underdogs for the first sectional crown in program history and advanced nine wrestlers to the region tournament.

Eurell is the Home News Tribune’s Greater Middlesex Conference Coach of the Year for leading the way. Usually, that honor doesn’t come from a team that finished 18-15 but they kept improving despite some losses against difficult opponents.

So, how did the team turn it around?

“We started to take our foot off the gas a little bit,” said Eurell, who wrestled at Jackson Memorial for Scott Goodale and competed at Wagner College. “This year was really a special year because it was wrestler-led. This was my eighth year as a head coach and I would say that this year the guys handled it to themselves. They really did. I attribute all to the way that they conducted themselves. The way that they didn’t get stuck in the mud. They just realized that we can figure this out. There’s going to be tough times but it’s all about how you respond to it and that’s what they did.”

Take the Shumsky twins, Josh and Matt, who each volunteered to drop a weight class for the sectional run. They moved back up for the individual postseason but their going at 144 and 150 helped the Falcons with matchups in the sectionals.

That’s senior leadership.

The postseason run was magical for Monroe fans, which ended in a 36-33 loss to Bridgewater-Raritan in the Group 5 semifinals. Consider this, one publication’s four writers all predicted a Hillsborough/Old Bridge sectional final.

In the semifinals, Monroe edged Hillsborough 34-32 and then topped Old Bridge 34-31 in the championship.

The Falcons found a way.

Against Old Bridge, Luke Pawliczak scored a key pin at 165 in a tossup match when he was losing. Pawliczak actually started the season at 144 but moved up when he had trouble making weight. At 132, Jafar Rizvi avenged a major decision loss in the regular season to win 15-13.

Nick Cavallo (120) and Anthony Marcos (285) also won. Kylega Capodanno (106) took the final bout, 13-5, to clinch the victory, which was no sure thing on paper. He beat his opponent 7-4 earlier in the season.

Even the wrestlers who lost saved bonus points in James Verderami (113), Joel Cholula (126), Arjun Biju (157), Yidan Wong (175) and Hayden Cannon (215). Add it all up, and those four or five points were key. Anthony Caponegro (138) fell against the Knights, but he was a GMCT champ and state qualifier.

It’s called team wrestling.

Eurell, a special education teacher at Monroe, carried a different perspective than years past, in which he conveyed to the team. He said he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and went through treatments last offseason, something that he didn’t reveal publicly until the region tournament in early March.

He noted the first practice he ever missed was after he got diagnosed before the region tournament in 2024. He decided to tell the team after losing hair and gaining weight.

“I said this is what’s going on,” Eurell recalled. “I went over the whole perspective thing. You could choose to feel sorry for yourself or you can say this is nothing that I can’t overcome. I still went to all the offseason tournaments and everything like that, our team camp. Had practices over the summer, all that stuff.”

Eurell is now cancer-free but that perspective remained.

“To me, I was much more laidback this year,” he said. “And I think I was so much more laidback because I was like, at the end of the day, you’re still going to go home and see your family. You’re still going to go home and hug your wife, hug your kids. The kids are still going to go home, hug their parents.

“The grand scheme of things, wrestling is very important, it’s not necessarily about winning but it’s about what the sport teaches you and if I wasn’t a wrestler there’s no way in hell I would have had the same mentality heading into the chemotherapy that I had. It just teaches you how to just be tough. Like Dan Gable says, once you wrestle, everything else in life is easy and that’s the truth.

“The hard times only makes you stronger. It’s a very important life lesson and the sooner that you learn that, the easier It’s going to be for you to overcome obstacles, for sure.”

When it came to the mat this season, it was the wresters’ turn to learn that.

“We wanted the kids to figure it out for themselves,” Eurell said. “We wanted the kids to want to fight for it and I think that’s possibly what did it. I’m sure there’s hundreds of other things that contributed to us wrestling so well at the end of the season but the fact of the matter is the kids wanted it for themselves and fought for each other.”

And that’s what made it such a special year.