MILLSTONE — Most of the school board was not consulted before the district sent a certified letter telling a resident to “cease and desist” sending emails to staff members.

Vice President David DePinho, who chaired the board’s June 28 meeting in the absence of President Tom Foley, told Ramon Recalde that he had no knowledge of plans to send the letter. The other board members present also said they were not informed. Board members Amy Jacobsen and Kevin McGovern were absent.

According to the letter signed by Business Administrator Bernard Biesaida and postmarked June 11, the district wanted Recalde to stop sending mass emails to school employees. Employees received mass emails from Recalde on May 18 and June 3.

After receiving the letter on June 16, Recalde attended a Township Committee meeting where he said he did not do anything wrong by appealing to teachers via email to give up the 6 percent pay increase they recently negotiated with the school district in order to save jobs. He said he did not send an email to any teacher who asked not to receive messages from him.

Recalde had been trying to research the chain of command in sending the letter. He accepted an apology from Superintendent of Schools Mary Anne Donahue, who said on June 17 that the letter was inadvertently sent to Recalde in an unfortunate chain of events.

During the board’s June 28 meeting, Biesaida told Recalde that “board leadership” made the decision to send the letter.

With DePinho’s statement that he had no prior knowledge of the letter, Recalde has alleged that Foley made the decision to have the letter written and sent.

Foley said at the June 14 meeting that Recalde had the right to take action if he believed his rights had been violated. At that time, Foley also told Recalde that no action is taken without counsel by the board.

Recalde said he would not sue the district. He said it was silly for Foley to suggest a lawsuit, which would cause the district to spend money on a legal battle. Recalde has attended most board meetings for the past three years, but said he would no longer do so as a result of this incident.

DePinho said Recalde “fought the good fight and had his heart in the right place.”

Resident Phil Cooney said he couldn’t believe the board would waste money going after Recalde, when Recalde has been so passionate about education.

“I don’t get it,” Cooney said. “It’s an utter, despicable waste of time.”

Recently retired schoolteacher Irene Pearson objected to Recalde’s emails. Pearson, who taught in the district for 42 years and was part of the teachers’ union negotiating team for the new contract, found the emails “very distressing.” She said that Recalde’s use of fonts and colors made her feel he was screaming at her.

Township Committeeman Fiore Masci said that the district’s letter to Recalde was read into the record at the last committee meeting. Masci said he is concerned about any resident’s perceived idea of censorship in trying to communicate with the school district. He said he couldn’t imagine someone deciding to block a resident from sending emails to the governing body.

“If this is in your policy regulations, please review it and do so in a public manner,” Masci said as advice to the Board of Education.

Masci also noted that he hasn’t heard about participating on the review committee for an interim superintendent since Foley first asked him some time ago. Donahue, who announced her retirement in March, will leave the district Aug. 31.