School board offers settlement Former principal would receive more than $58,000. Tuesday, November 13, 2007 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | Phillipsburg School Board members Monday night approved a financial settlement with former Andover-Morris School Principal Jeanette Gilliland. The former principal had argued she wasn't properly notified of her dismissal and filed a petition with the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law. Under the deal board members unanimously approved, Gilliland gets $58,430.63 and neither side admits liability or fault. The board met in closed session for more than an hour before approving the settlement. Board attorney Lester Taylor said the district "emphatically denied" the Gilliland situation was handled improperly. The settlement is in lieu of what could have been "protracted litigation," he said. "I thought it was a good recommendation by our attorney," board President Paul Rummerfield said of the decision to settle. He called it a business decision. On May 14, in a divided vote, the board went against Superintendent Gordon Pethick's recommendation to renew Gilliland's contract. She was principal of the third- to fifth-grade school for three years and earned a salary of $101,681. The public firing sparked emotions on both sides of the issue; some expressed sympathy for her and others complained about her treatment of parents and students. After she was ousted, Gilliland said she would fight the move. In July, board members met privately before publicly casting a divided vote on her contract. A motion to reinstate her contract for another year failed. In August, the district received notice she had taken her battle to the state. Marian Trapani, the former director of whole school reform and special projects, has temporarily been named principal of Andover-Morris in Gilliland's absence. Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.