Following the publication of our article about the Atlantic City Board of Education’s recent hiring of R. Mark Harris as “Substitute Administrator,” we received a phone call from a current member of the Atlantic City BOE.

The Board Member confessed that they didn’t know that they had just voted for the same Mark Harris who was the former Atlantic City Superintendent of Public Schools from 1992-1996.

if you missed yesterday’s coverage, here it is at your ready reference.

Read More: Atlantic City Brings Back Former Controversial Supt. Mark Harris

The current Board Member was completely honest about the situation. They felt as though they had been duped.

The Board Agenda for the April 12, 2022 regular meeting simply said:

Harris, Robert          Substitute Administrator

Here’s exactly as it appeared on the Atlantic City Board of Education agenda.

Harry Hurley photo.
Harry Hurley photo.
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To be fair, perhaps something has changed over the past 30 years and Harris now regularly goes by the name “Robert Harris” for some reason.

However, prior to this “conversion,” Harris used one of two names:

R. Mark Harris or Mark Harris.

This particular Board Member only figured out who they had voted for only after the vote was complete and heard others talking about it after the fact.

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The Board Member believes that current Superintendent La’Quetta Small listed the job candidate as “Harris, Robert” in a deceptive manner.

We have no way to prove this, but, it’s a fair question to ask. I covered Harris on a daily basis from 1992-1996. Unless prompted, if I saw the name Harris, Robert … it would not have caught my attention in the slightest least.

Did the Atlantic City Board of Education members know who they were voting for to be their Substitute Superintendent?

Some may have known, but, clearly some did not.

NOTE: The reason that Harris was hired is that in the absence of Small, there is currently no one in the Atlantic City Public Schools District, who is certified to serve as substitute superintendent.

Harris was quite controversial during his previous tenure, but, on paper, he is qualified to hold the substitute superintendent  position.

SOURCE: Atlantic City Board of Education.

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