Schools

School Board Hopeful Offers Suggestion for Making PHS Path Safer

Anthony DeInitinis says shared services could deal with the problem quickly and ensure residents' safety.

Parsippany Board of Education candidate Anthony DeIntinis has an idea regarding the path that leads from Parsippany High School's Jagged Rock to its football field.

At last Thursday's school board meeting, resident Robert Crawford said the path was unsafe, due to the presence of rocks and potholes. 

Crawford complained that the potentially unsafe conditions make it difficult for people, especially elderly and disabled persons, to travel across it. And he said the conditions have been ignored by school administration for more than a year.

Find out what's happening in Parsippanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At present, Superintendent of Schools LeRoy Seitz said the gate offering access to the path path would be locked and closed to the public from 6 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday and all day Sunday.

That gate, however, is broken.

Find out what's happening in Parsippanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

DeIntinis suggested that the problem could be solved easily with some help from Mayor James Barberio's administration.

The candidate said he and school board member Michael Strumolo paid a visit to the path and did not like what they saw.

"I looked up the street and saw what deplorable condition it was in and I wondered, since the path was condemned by [Board President Frank Calabria] and Dr. Seitz, and [PHS Principal] Dr. Natalie Betz was aware of it, how come nothing has been done in over a year," he said.

He noted that township street crews are busy with projects and decided that they could help with a solution to the problem.

"I am sure there is extra tar left over at the end of the day," DeIntinis said. "Why can't the mayor direct the roads department to utilize the extra blacktop to patch and/or repair this path temporarily until final plans can be made? This would alleviate any further injuries and possible lawsuits."

DeIntinis and ticketmate James Carifi are pushing the issue of increasing shared services between the school district and the town in their campaign for the Nov. 6 election.

"Mr. Carifi and I feel that shared services would be beneficial to all taxpayers," he said.

DeIntinis said he has a call in to the mayor to discuss the matter but has not yet received a response.

Patch made an attempt to reach Mayor Barberio as well.

While the candidate said that he and his ticketmate are interested in talking with the mayor about the possibility of increasing shared services with the township, in terms of the path, he said it's time to take action.

"Talk is cheap," DeIntinis said. "It's been a year.

"Why hasn't anything been done yet?" 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here