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Montclair Principal Removed Over Controversial Video Reinstated, Lawyer Says

A state arbitrator has ruled that a Montclair middle school principal fired over a Zoom video he played for teachers can return to his job, his lawyer tells various news outlets.

Joseph Putrino

Joseph Putrino

Photo Credit: Joseph Putrino Jr. LinkedIn photo

Joseph Putrino, the former Renaissance at Rand principal, was put on administrative leave in 2020 when he apparently played a YouTube skit of a comedian yelling about remote learning. Montclair Superintendent Jonathan Ponds called the video "completely inappropriate and unacceptable."

According to Montclair Local, another similar case was handled differently and so Putrino's was found "unjust," his lawyer Robert M. Schwartz said citing an Oct. 18 arbitration decision.

Putrino, who has been working in the Montclair School District since 2000, was reinstated by an arbitrator appointed by the New Jersey Education Department, and the reinstatement is expected to happen "anytime," Schwartz tells NJ Advance Media.

Schwartz did not answer Daily Voice's phone call placed Wednesday, Nov. 16.

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