UPDATE: County Superintendent: School Budget Will Not Be Approved Until Seitz Contract is Rescinded

Parsippany's school budget will not be approved until the Board of Education rescinds the contract of Superintendent of Schools LeRoy Seitz, according to a letter sent to the board Friday by Executive County Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Serafino.

Gov. Chris Christie's office issued a statement through press secretary Michael Drewniak on Friday. Christie had .

"The Parsippany School Board cannot be allowed to simply disregard the law,'' Drewniak stated in an e-mail. "In doing so, members of the board who oppose rescinding the contract are setting a poor example for students and adding unnecessarily to the burden of taxpayers in their municipality.''

 were released this week, with Parsippany expected to receive $2,324,336—an increase of $1,256,153 from this year's allotment of $1,068,183.

In a letter sent on Friday to Board Administrator Marlene Wendolowski, Serafino said she was writing to confirm a telephone conversation with Wendolowski on Thursday.

"I advised you that continued failure by the Parsippany Board of Education to comply with my earlier directives of November 15, November 22 and February 10 regarding the contract of Superintendent LeRoy Seitz would result in the disapproval by my office of any amount in the district's 2011-2012 budget," Serafino wrote.

Board member Robert Crawford, who , only to be blocked by Board President Anthony Mancuso, said the outcome was what he had predicted.

"The shoe that I feared would drop has dropped," he said. "Not only do we not get state aid, we don't even get a budget."

Board member Michael Strumolo, who opposes the contract, said a solution must be found quickly.

"The war must stop,'' he said. "I will not let this be be a burden that has to be paid on the backs of the taxpayers and the children of Parsippany.''

He suggested that Mancuso, Seitz, board attorney Mark Tabakian and board member Frank Calabria should sit down with the governor and his representatives and "find a way we can come out of this.''

At Thursday night's board meeting—when Crawford's fourth motion was defeated—Calabria had suggested convening a committee to reconsider all the issues as objectively as possible. "This issue has polarized the community,'' he said.

Board member Louis Valori, who had initially approved the contract but voted Thursday night to allow a motion to reconsider it, said he hoped the board would comply with Serafino.

"I just hope they do the right thing,'' he said.

Board members had questions Friday night about why Wendolowski failed to inform the board of her exchange with Serafino. At Thursday night's meeting, Crawford had asked acting board attorney Margaret Miller what might happen if the contract wasn't rescinded.

Miller, who was filling in for Tabakian, explained that the state didn't have the authority to withhold all of the state aid, only the portion of the Seitz contract that exceeded Christie's  $175,000 salary cap for administrators in districts the size of Parsippany. Setiz's five-year contract gives him 2-percent incremental raises until 2015, when he'll receive about $235,000.

"We had that whole discussion and didn't have that information,'' Crawford said. "Given what I know now, I believe last night was a charade. We need to find out if anyone was advised of that and when they were aware of it."

Valori said that if Wendolowski failed to tell the board, it would have been uncharacteristic of her. "I know Marlene and she's always been very professional," he said. "I don't see her as someone who would do anything improper."

Asked why she might have withheld information from the board, he said, "I'm not sure what her logic was or her thought process there."

Wendolowski could not be reached for comment Friday evening.

Crawford said that the board needs to find an attorney who has "the required experience'' to advise them.