Joy Myke
By Dan Murphy
The Lakeland School District has resolved a lawsuit filed by a former Assistant Superintendent for Business alleging wrongful termination. Joy Myke, was hired in 2021,but fired in 2022. Myke alleged in her suit that her termination was due to “nepotism.”
The Lakeland School Board was split, but approved, by a 5-4 vote, to rescind the termination of Myke and agreed that she was on a leave of absence without pay for a part of 2023. No other terms of the settlement were released.
Myke has an impressive professional career before coming to Lakeland that included working for IBM and in the Tarrytown School District, BOCES, and Chappaqua school district. Her lawsuit claimed that Superintendent Karen Gagliardi fired many top administrators and replaced them with “personal friends of Gagliardi and the Board of Education trustees.”
According to court documents, ” After Respondent Gagliardi took over as District Superintendent, she quickly began a process of forcing out all previous executive level cabinet members and replacing them with friends and former colleagues
“On or about October 25, 2021, Dr. Steven Rappelyea, the Assistant Superintendent for Pupil Personnel Services resigned after pressure from the BOE….Upon information and belief of Petitioner, Dr. Rappelyea’s replacement is Dr. Joe Spatola, a friend and former colleague of Respondent Gagliardi for more than nine years.”
“On or about December 31, 2021, Tammy Cosgrove, the Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, retired. Ms. Cosgrove’s placement is Dr. Joe Mosey, a friend and former colleague of Respondent Gagliardi.
“On or about October 25, 2022, District Treasurer Jose Guevarra resigned. Pamela DellaDonna was hired as the new District Treasurer, who, upon information and belief of Petitioner, is a close personal friend of Diane Kness, the BOE Vice-President. Notably, Ms. DellaDonna has no prior school district treasurer experience and was hired in lieu of a candidate with over ten years of school district financial experience.
Lakeland Rise commented on the strange settlement agreement. “The Board of Education recently rescinded its termination of former business administrator Joy Myke in settlement of her wrongful termination lawsuit, which raised disturbing allegations of mismanagement and nepotism in the district’s central office. As the article points out, nearly 18 months after Ms. Myke’s departure, the district still does not have a permanent business administrator, and we wonder whether the district’s ability to hire qualified professionals for leadership positions has been impaired by the BOE’s actions. Management and oversight of the district’s finances are critical, especially as the district seeks voter approval of a $190+ million budget. Residents and taxpayers deserve an explanation.”
Myke now works in the New Rochelle School District as School Business Administrator.
