The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-08-30
ONLY INCOMPETENT,
Here Is the Full Record of
Would-Be School Prin-
cipa1 Demarest.
A DEAD FAILURE IN NYACK.
Morally All Right. but He Has No
Disciplinary or Execu-
tive Ability.
BOUNCED FROM WESTFIELD. TOO.
A DEAD FAILURE IN NYACK.
BOUNCED FROM WESTFIELD, TOO.

In the opinion of the Board of Educa-
tion of Nyack, the Board of Education in
this city made serious blunder in select
ing John A. Demarest to fill the position
of principal of School No. %. The pro-
ceedings of the Board when Mr.. Dema-
rest was appointed were described in THE
JERSEY CITY NEWS yesterday and re-
fleets credit only on President Voorhees,
and Director Garrison, who simply
begged the members to defer final action
in the matter for one week President
Voorhees, at the meeting read a number
of extracts of letters from the individual
members of the Nyack Board of Educa-
tion which agreed that Mr.. Demarest
was incapable of the proper management
OF so large school as No. %.
For reasons only known TO the majority
of the members they refused to defer
making the appointment until the ante
cedents of Mr.. Demarest could be investi-
gated, to say the least a very peculiar
proceeding in so serious a matter,
especially as there did not appear to be
the slightest ground for haste in filing
the position. Director Reid, however,
refused to hear of investigation and
through his efforts the position once SO
we'll filed by the last ID. v. Kirby was
given to Mr.. Demarest.
Inasmuch as a majority of the Board
of Education declined to have any in
vestigation made, THE JERSEY CITY NEWS
concluded TO make one and if possible
learn why Reid tried to rush the ap-
pointment without one. A careful re-
porter was therefore sent to Nyack to
collect all the facts in the case.
LACKS EXECUTIVE ABILITY.
In his office over the Rockland county
National Bank at Nyack, School Trustee
e. H. Cole was found. He is well post
ed and intelligent gentleman, and ex-
pressed pleasure in learning that Mr..
Demarest had received position. Con-
corning the trouble that gentleman had
while teaching at Nyack, Mr.. Coles re-
luctantly said:-
"Our only objection, or rather the
principal one, to Mr.. Denarest was that
he showed a total last of executive abil-
ity He was not disciplinarian, and the
discipline in the school was very bad"
How about his moral character?" Mr.
Cole was asked.
.sIt is excellent and has not blemish
on it that | know of. That is what the
members of the Board said when they
gave him certificate after his dismissal.
We endorsed him as d moral and capable
teacher, but we could not and did not en-
dorse him as a disciplinarian. He was
RI4uCl pd1 vi fOuI SCuOOl UuItGt YEARS. anu
lhe lack of executive power was OBJ
served soon after he took charge of the
twenty-one teachers and $50 pupils. Mr..
Demarest would never assume any re-
sponsibility and we seldom could get
necessary information from him. If we
asked his opinion on matter
he would avoid responsibility
by giving two opinions, leaving
it to the Board which one to act on. I
can hardly explain to you the many small
matters OF discipline disregarded by him
and noticed by myself and others, but
when you put them all together as / did
a great lack of executive ability is at once
too apparent. Frequently | asked the
larger boys-those IN his department
how they liked Mr.. Demarest as a teacher
and the answer was I think he is a good
teacher, but he lets the boys do as they
want to- Why one of the teachers said
to me in reply to like question i like
Mr.. Demarest very much, for he permits
me to do as ! like"
HOW HE WAS DISMISSED.
"How did Mr.. DemareSt'S dismissal
come about. Mr.. Cole?"
at was in this way:-When the Board
of Trustees met last May to consider
whether we should make any changes in
the corps of teachers we went through
the list of twenty-one and made one
change. Then we came to the consider
alton of Mr.. Demarest. We decided to
takea secret ballot to learn If change
was necessary in the position OF principal
and we took the ballot before the ques-
tion had been discussed at all In fact
the matter was rather surprise, but the
result indicated that t he other five mem
bers had made the same observations I
made, for it was the unanimous opinion
that a change should be made
After this secret expression OF
opinion we discussed the question and
dad fr1 friu Mr. Damn raQt
opportunity possible TO procure another
position. We informed him OF the unani-
nous desire of the Board, and asked him
to resign to save US from the pain OF dis
missing him. This he declined to do,
but went direct to the local papers with
his story and endeavored to work up SYM
pathy enough to induce us to change our
determination.
In this he was unsuccessful, for the
Board has the welfare of the school at
heart. 1t is good school and we take
much pride in it. When we appointed
his successor we got him from Ellenville.
He was stranger and politics never en-
tered into the matter at all. Our Board
is a non partisan one, containing three
Republicans and three Democrats"
TRUSTEE CHRISTIE SPEAKS.
School Trustee ]. ii. Christie, a wealthy
carriage manufacturer, was next seen.
He corroborated what Mr.. Cole had said,
Demarest lacked the executive ability
necessary to have proper discipline in a
big school.
"That is all there was in his dismissal"
added Mr.. Christie; ''the Board observed
the lack of discipline and believed it
could improve on Mr.. DeInarest. don't
want to injure him and am glad to hear
he has a new situation, but do say, and
Ill stand by it, don't think he is up to
the mark. Morally, he is a good man.
He is married and has three or four chill
dren, / believe"
KICKED UP A ROW.
School Trustee Theis was found at his
big shoe factory. He was not in a good
humor and refused to say anything for
publication. When he was told that Mr.,
Demarest had been appointed to school
in this city where he would control
twenty-five teachers and 200 pupils, and
that it was but fair that the parents of
these children should know what sort of
q teacher Delnarest was, he finally re-
peated what Messrs. Cole and Christie
had said and added
HE kicked up a row when asked
unanimously for his resignation, and
went to the Rockland County Journal
and told his troubles. He buttonholed
ali his friends, and he had many, for he
had pleasant way with him, and sought
every influence possible to be reinstated.
He succeeded In working up the town to
such a pitch of excitement that it
demoralized the people and particularly
the school. OF course We would not take