Asbury Park School Board Member Attacks Gay Board President

June 17, 2004

Reinstated Superintendent Antonio Lewis was back at his first school meeting in six months last night after winning every decision by judges and the state education commissioner who agreed Lewis was wrongly removed by a former Board of Education majority last December.

Last night's work session was a time for Lewis, who said he's very happy to be back, to be welcomed by the board, teachers and parents. And he was. But the superintendent was not last night's excitement.

New board member Frank D'Alessandro began the public remarks period by commenting that the board had had reports of certain people, whom he did not name, subjecting other people, some of them teachers, to threats or intimidation at a recent meeting while the board had gone to a different room for a closed session.

D'Alessandro said the board places a high priority on students and staff feeling secure in their schools. He said the board will not allow people to disrupt the process for reasons known only to themselves.

James Maynard, husband of board member Susan Maynard, who continued the couple's nearly month-long crusade against Robert DiSanto, an openly gay board member and general manager of a gay night club in the city, being appointed board president in May by the county school superintendent when a divided nine-member board could not agree on whom to pick.

Maynard based his objection to DiSanto on the fact that DiSanto manages Club Paradise and said that he was not a good role model for the city children.

Susan Maynard did not raise an objection to DiSanto last year when she was in power as vice president and DiSanto had the same job but supported the attempts of Maynard and other board members to remove Lewis as superintendent.

Her husband last night read a letter that he said he is sending the state commissioner on the matter. He said that he was not successful in getting Monmouth County Superintendent Eugenia Lawson to change her decision.

Maynard, who is black, also asked in his letter to the state how Lawson had ignored five African-American board members in choosing DiSanto, who is white.

Then, referring once more to the gay night club, Maynard said, He's no role model for my child.

Board Attorney Lester Taylor broke in to tell Maynard the board would not condone comments of discrimination and racism, which prompted strong, sustained applause throughout the room of 150 teachers, parents and community members.

James Maynard tried to continue to talk of issues of moral turpitude, but loud groans drowned him out and he sat down.

Resident Donna Harrison praised the county superintendent's choice and said that DiSanto had proven himself to be professional, fair, a gentleman and a businessman despite cowardly attacks against him.

Harrison then asked how Maynard could ask what he should tell his children when the Maynards don't send their children to Asbury Park schools but to the Deal School.

Watch that! Watch that Susan Maynard yelled from the podium. Leave my children alone.

We will tell our children that we will not perpetrate hate, Harrison said. We will not perpetrate bias. . . . The job we have to do in this city is to get our children educated and graduated, not spewing hate and divisiveness.

What hate and divisiveness? James Maynard asked out loud. This is madness.

Susan Maynard got up from her seat at the board table and left the meeting.

There are certain elements in this town bent on preventing any coming together of white, black, gay, straight, resident Eva Sipos said. That really troubles me. That's the single thing, I think, preventing us from moving forward.