Lacey Schools Superintendent Placed on Administrative Leave

Lacey Schools Superintendent Sandra D. Brower has been placed on administrative leave with pay, Board of Education President Eric J. Schubiger said this afternoon.

Board of Education members voted unanimously to remove Brower at an emergency meeting called last night, he said.

"Due to a confidential personnel matter, I have no further comment at this time," Schubiger said. "The next few days there may be more details. That's all I can say right now because it's a personnel matter."

Board members also voted unanimously to appoint Assistant Superintendent Vanessa Clark as acting superintendent, effective immediately "until further notice,"  he said.

Brower was not present at last night's board meeting, Schubiger said.

Brower had previously served as assistant superintendent in the Wall Township school district before she began her stint in Lacey in November 2011.

"Wall Township afforded me a solid foundation in applying many high school reform initiatives," she said in an introduction letter to the Lacey community when she first began her job.

Brower worked with controversial former Wall Superintendent James Habel. Habel spent the last six months of his time in Wall out on medical leave. His Point Pleasant home was raided by members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office on Sept. 13, 2012, after he left Wall.

"I have had the privilege to serve Wall Township working alongside Dr. James Habel, Superintendent of Schools," she said before leaving the Wall district. "These past three years have been spent collaborating on how, together, we could improve our schools today and for the future."

Come back to Lacey Patch soon for more on this story.