Pleasantville, NEW JERSEY

Public corruption watch.

Dec 17 - James Pressley, the President of the Pleasantville Board of Education has resigned after pleading guilty to taking bribes in exchange for his vote on contracts awarded within the district. He'll be sentenced March 20.

Pressley was among 11 public officials and a private citizen arrested Sept. 6 and charged with accepting money in exchange for supporting contracts.

Pressley was the fourth Pleasantville board member to plead guilty. The former school board president Jayson Adams pleaded guilty Oct. 23 to taking $62,500 in bribes. Pressley is 23-years-old. Adams is 26.

TT - We've followed the unpleasant Pleasantville fiasco for a while.
Here and Here and Here and Here

Pleasantville now has a state-appointed monitor. In fact, there are five school districts in New Jersey with state-appointed fiscal monitors.

It would be a joke except that the district has 3725 students in six schools. The high school rates a 1 at Greatschools.net, the rest of the schools are only slightly better. The self-rule in Pleasantville is only slightly better than in Uganda.