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Peter Iapelli, who was appointed to the post earlier this month, "deserves this chance," Oradell School Board President Dorothy Watson-Nichols said, adding that the panel "conducted its due diligence" in hiring him.
Iapelli made headlines when he was accused of cursing out and putting his hands on a 16-year-old coach in front of 75 or so people at a peewee flag football game in Westwood in September 2017.
Iapelli, who’d been the business administrator in the Closter school district since 2007, used profanity in front of minors as young as six years old and displayed “a serious lapse in judgment," the New Jersey Department of Education's State Board of Examiners said in suspending his teaching license for three years in 2019.
Iappelli had gotten into a disagreement with Assistant Pee Wee Jets Coach Phillip Bicocchi, who was filling in for the head coach on Yom Kippur at a game for 6- to 8-year-olds at Westwood Middle School's Ketler Field.
Iapelli apparently was “upset and agitated” that his son had been removed from the quarterback position, according to a police report and comments from witnesses who spoke with Daily Voice at the time.
Then things got physical, they said.
The teen -- whose father is Westwood Councilman Rob Bicocchi -- was taken to nearby Pascack Valley Medical Center after complaining of neck pain. He was released a short time later, according to police.
Philip Bicocchi told police he “had trouble breathing and was afraid that he was going to hurt me very badly.”
Iapelli, meanwhile, was charged with simple assault and disorderly conduct, they said.
The North Jersey NFL Flag Football League also banned Iappelli and his family from its games for life.
He also ended up losing his job.
SEE: Closter School Official Charged With Assaulting Westwood Councilman's Son
The simple assault charge was later dismissed and the disorderly persons count downgraded. Iapelli also apologized profusely in person and via letter to the league commissioner and others.
Iappelli had previously made local headlines when he was charged in 2013 with DWI in Norwood following an incident at the Rockleigh Country Club.
SEE: Closter schools business administrator charged with DWI
The Oradell BOE approved Iapelli’s hiring as business administrator and board secretary by a 6-2 vote in a public session on June 14. His $140,000 contract runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.
Iapelli wasn’t referred to by name during the vote -- but, rather, as “F1.” It comes at approximately the 1:09:35 mark in this video:
Some local parents expressed concern over the hiring, as did the elder Bicocchi.
Watson-Nichols, the Oradell Board of Education president, responded by saying that the board “takes all personnel appointments seriously and conducted its due diligence with respect to the hiring of Mr. Iappelli.
“We understand that any criminal charges were dismissed and the arrest record removed,” Watson-Nichols said on Monday, June 26.
Iapelli “was cleared for employment by the New Jersey State Department of Education's Office of Student Protection,” the school board president noted. “We also confirmed that he has a current certification from the State of New Jersey to be a school business administrator.
“Based on our initial interactions with Mr. Iapelli, along with reference checks conducted, we believe Mr. Iappelli deserves this chance and we expect he will be successful in his new role,” she added.
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