Within hours of last week’s scheduled Stafford Township Board of Education special meeting and public hearing regarding a new contract for Superintendent George Chidiac, the New Jersey School Ethics Commission handed down a ruling that essentially forced its cancellation.

The ruling, delivered on Sept. 30 by School Ethics Commission Director Kathryn A. Whalen to Stafford board attorney Jonathan M. Busch, outlined multiple issues regarding the “Doctrine of Necessity” invoked during the Aug.