Verona Schools Hires Former Montclair Principal

A former Montclair principal who resigned after an incident involving a student who brought a BB gun to school has accepted a position with Verona Public Schools.

The Verona Board of Education approved the hiring of Charles "Charlie" Miller Tuesday night to be the district’s new Director of Instructional Studies. Miller will replace Elizabeth Jewett, who has accepted a position as Superintendent of Watchung Hills Regional Schools, as reported in Watchung-Green Brook Patch.

Miller was removed from Glenfield in late April while the district conducted an investigation of the incident. The district announced his resignation a few days later.

As Director of Instructional Studies for Verona, Miller will be charged with among other things helping to finalize and implement a new five-year strategic plan. 

"I was a principal for the last five years. I look at this as a step in the right direction," Miller told the Verona Board of Education Tuesday.

"I am always looking to learn and grow so I can’t wait to get started," he said.

Miller, a native of Burlington County, started out as a mathematics teacher at Bordentown Regional High School where he coached soccer as well as winter and spring track. He obtained a master’s in educational leadership from Rider University and taught for two more years before accepting a job in North Jersey as an assistant principal prior to becoming principal of Glenfield Middle School in Montclair.

Montclair Schools Superintendent Penny MacCormack said at a special meeting in May called to address Miller's resignation that he “made some significant errors" in response to finding a student with an imitation firearm on April 24. The “omissions” in Miller’s report of the incident “did not help me feel I could trust the leadership in the school any further,” MacCormack said at the time.

Parents in the district who supported the principal created a petition to have him reinstated. They obtained more than 480 supporters, but the effort was unsuccessful.

Verona Schools Superintendent Steven Forte was not immediately available for comment.

Miller is married and has four children.