The Enlarged City School District of Middletown has a new Board of Education president amid ongoing questions about Superintendent Amy Creeden’s employment status and a series of recent closed-door meetings.

District officials announced Denise Romero’s appointment as board president on Nov. 5, noting she is the first Hispanic woman to hold the position in district history. Romero previously served as vice president and replaces Edwin Estrada, who was listed as president in official district notices as recently as Oct. 21.

Public notices show multiple special and regular meetings in October and November that included executive sessions to discuss “the employment of a specific district employee.” The district has not said whether those discussions were connected to Creeden, who has been on leave since last month.

Creeden has been absent from the district since the start of the school year in what the district described as a leave of absence. News 12 later learned that the administrator's leave follows a grievance filed with the New York State Education Department by a district employee, alleging retaliation and a hostile work environment. The complaint, first reported by News 12, remains under state review.

According to the New York State Education Department and state education law, school board members are elected by district voters, but officer positions such as president and vice president are chosen internally by the sitting board members. When a vacancy occurs mid-term, the board may elect a new officer from among its members without a public vote. The next opportunity for residents to elect or re-elect board members will be during the annual school board election in May 2026.

News 12 has reached out to the district and Board President Denise Romero for clarification on the reason for the leadership change and on the superintendent’s current status but did not immediately receive a response.