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Schools
Fighting Parents With Taser, Handgun Lock Down Jersey City Schools: Police Fighting Parents With Taser, Handgun Lock Down Jersey City Schools: Police
Fighting Parents With Taser, Handgun Lock Down Jersey City Schools: Police A trio of fighting parents including one who deployed a Taser and another who had a handgun caused two Jersey City schools to go into lockdown early Monday, Feb. 13, authorities said. School No. 3 and Middle School No. 4 on Bright Street went into lockdown around 8:30 a.m., when one woman deployed the Taser, city spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace Scalcione said. The male parent, who showed a handgun, was gone upon police arrival but later arrested in Hoboken on charges of causing or risking widespread injury or damage; aggravated assault; unlawful weapon possession; possession of a weapon; …

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by Cecilia Levine
Schools
Ammonia Based Smelling Salts Sicken Students In Morris County: Officials Ammonia Based Smelling Salts Sicken Students In Morris County: Officials
Ammonia Based Smelling Salts Sicken Students In Morris County: Officials Ammonia-based smelling salts used by athletes and once used to treat fainting women had an adverse affect on students who brought the substance to a Morris County school, district officials said. A student brought the bottle of a type of "athletic smelling salt" to the Copeland Middle School on Tuesday, Feb. 7, and others who applied it were "adversely affected," Rockaway Superintendent Richard R. Corbett said in a letter to parents. The ammonia-based salts case an increase in heartbeat and alertness, however, have been a growing concern among athletes in recent years, according to a report…

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by Cecilia Levine
Schools
Woman Posing As High School Student Is Rutgers Graduate: Report Woman Posing As High School Student Is Rutgers Graduate: Report
Woman Posing As High School Student Is Rutgers Graduate: Report The woman who spent four days in classes at New Brunswick High School before officials apparently realized the truth is a 2019 graduate of Rutgers University, NJ Advance Media reports. Hyejeong Shin, 29, of New Brunswick was charged Tuesday, Jan. 24 with providing a false government document with the intent to verify one’s identity or age, according to New Brunswick police. She provided a false birth certificate, they said. A student named Hyejeong Shin attended Rutgers University-New Brunswick and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a minor in Chinese, the out…

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by Jon Craig
Schools
Woman, 29, Posing As Student Spent Four Days In Classes At NJ High School, Officials Say Woman, 29, Posing As Student Spent Four Days In Classes At NJ High School, Officials Say
Woman, 29, Posing As Student Spent Four Days In Classes At NJ High School, Officials Say A woman spent four days in classes at New Brunswick High School before officials apparently realized the truth, according to district officials. A video of the Tuesday, Jan. 24 New Brunswick Board of Education meeting was posted on Twitter by New Brunswick Today reporter Charlie Kratovil. "This is an unfortunate event," Superintendent Aubrey Johnson said in the video. "She was in a few classes." Hyejeong Shin, 29, of New Brunswick was charged on Jan. 24 with providing a false government document with the intent to verify one’s identity or age, according to New Brunswick police. She provide…

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by Jon Craig
Schools
Bayonne Teacher Groped Colleague: Police Bayonne Teacher Groped Colleague: Police
Bayonne Teacher Groped Colleague: Police A Bayonne High School faculty member and former varsity football coach was arrested on accusations he groped a 51-year-old colleague, authorities said. Ricardo Rodriguez became the center of an investigation when the female victim told police he went to hug after she unlocked a door for him, and he grabbed her chest and buttocks without consent around 8 a.m. at the high school on Jan. 9, Bayonne Police Capt. Eric Amato said. Rodriguez, a history teacher, was arrested at 9:4 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, and charged with criminal sexual contact, police said. He has purportedly been placed on admi…

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by Cecilia Levine
Schools
Rutgers Frat Pledge Suffers Broken Skull, Brain Injury In Hazing Incident: Lawsuit Rutgers Frat Pledge Suffers Broken Skull, Brain Injury In Hazing Incident: Lawsuit
Rutgers Frat Pledge Suffers Broken Skull, Brain Injury In Hazing Incident: Lawsuit A 19-year-old Theta Chi pledge at Rutgers University is suing the school, the fraternity, its grand chapter, and more than a dozen fraternity brothers after falling down a flight of stairs in an alleged drunken hazing incident, leaving him seriously injured. Armand Runte, of Somers Point, was forced to drink "life-threatening" amounts of booze before tumbling down a flight of stairs at the Mine Street frat house in New Brunswick during "Big Brother Night" last month, according to a newly-filed lawsuit detailed by NJ Advance Media. The incident allegedly wasn't reported until hours later,&nb…

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by Cecilia Levine
Schools
Thirty Professors Will Lose Their Jobs From NJ University Amid Cuts Thirty Professors Will Lose Their Jobs From NJ University Amid Cuts
Thirty Professors Will Lose Their Jobs From NJ University Amid Cuts New Jersey City University is laying off 30 tenured professors and 19 other faculty jobs as well as cutting 37 percent of its academic programs to help balance its budget, the university announced on Thursday, Dec. 15. The division of academic affairs will eliminate 48 undergraduate programs, 24 minors, 28 graduate programs, 10 certificate programs and one doctoral program, the outlet said. The programs impacted by these changes can be found by clicking here.  NJCU Board of Trustees Chairman Joseph Scott called Thursday's announcement “a difficult, but necessary next step.” “Our curre…

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by Jon Craig
Schools
Montclair Principal Removed Over Controversial Video Reinstated, Lawyer Says Montclair Principal Removed Over Controversial Video Reinstated, Lawyer Says
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, 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.…

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by Jon Craig & Cecilia Levine
Schools
Recent High School Graduate Julia McDaid Found Dead In Central Jersey Recent High School Graduate Julia McDaid Found Dead In Central Jersey
Recent High School Graduate Julia McDaid Found Dead In Central Jersey Recent Hightstown High School graduate Julia McDaid, 18, was found dead in East Windsor Monday morning, police said. McDaid’s body was found near Bear Brook off of Oak Creek Road around 9:10 a.m., East Windsor Police said in a press release. The incident remains under investigation by police and the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, however, no signs of foul play were initially suspected. McDaid played soccer for three years before graduating with the Class of 2022, her sports records show. Superintendent Mark Daniels stated in a message on the district’s website that McDaid had still ha…

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by Valerie Musson
Schools
Was This NJ County School Board Candidate's Halloween Costume About Pelosi? He Says No Was This NJ County School Board Candidate's Halloween Costume About Pelosi? He Says No
Was This NJ County School Board Candidate's Halloween Costume About Pelosi? He Says No A Hunterdon County school board candidate who is running unopposed appeared on Twitter donning a costume he wore to a Halloween event — a shirt that said, “where is Nancy?” accompanied by a skeleton and his wife in a zombie suit, NJ.com reports. “These people walk among us. Not good,” reads the caption to the Tweet, posted by an anonymous account. A friend just sent me this distressing image from Hunterdon County NJ. Says the guy in the “Where is Nancy” shirt is running for board of ed nearby. These people walk among us. Not good. pic.twitter.com/74P2A2YULJ — Um Reelly (@ReellyUm) Octob…

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by Valerie Musson
Schools
Mount Olive HS Math Teacher Found Guilty Of Stalking Student For 2 Years Learns His Fate Mount Olive HS Math Teacher Found Guilty Of Stalking Student For 2 Years Learns His Fate
Mount Olive HS Math Teacher Found Guilty Of Stalking Student For 2 Years Learns His Fate The 61-year-old Mount Olive High School math teacher who spent two years stalking a student has learned his fate, authorities announced. Tajinder Tung, of Stewartsville, has been sentenced to 60 days at the Morris County Correctional Facility as a condition of a 3-year probationary term and was ordered to forfeit his public employment, Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll said in a joint release with county officials. Tung stalked a student inside and outside school between 2017 and May 2019, DailyVoice.com reported. A Morris County grand jury added official misconduct charges against Tung in…

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by Valerie Musson
Schools
Jersey City School Security Guard Sexually Abused Two Children: Prosecutor Jersey City School Security Guard Sexually Abused Two Children: Prosecutor
Jersey City School Security Guard Sexually Abused Two Children: Prosecutor A Jersey City school security guard has been charged in the sexual abuse of two children, authorities said. The acts allegedly carried out by Freddy Salas, 60, of Bayonne, did not involve students, nor did they occur on school or district property, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Salas is employed as a security guard with the Jersey City Public Schools at School 5, Suarez said.  He was arrested near Merseles and Fourth Streets and is being held at the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending his first court appearance. Salas has been charged with Aggravated Sexual…

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by Cecilia Levine