Sixteen teachers have temporarily or permanently lost their licenses since May 1 for bad behavior. And lawmakers want to make sure that they don't teach again – or not until their suspensions expire (see the list of teachers and their school districts below).
Lawmakers want the Office of Attorney General to launch a probe after the revelation that a teacher was hired again after getting sanctioned for bad behavior. They're especially upset about the development since Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation just last year that was intended to prevent such mistakes from ever happening.
The teacher was arrested once, fired twice from teaching positions and was allegedly caught with pornography on his school computer. But he still found work this past school year in another town, an NJ Advance Media investigation found. Read more: Fired NJ Teacher Faced Porn Allegations, Got Hired Again: Report
And there are many teachers who have been sanctioned recently, lawmakers say, who could easily slip through the cracks if their backgrounds aren't thoroughly reviewed.
Indeed, since that revelation at the beginning of May, many of the 16 teachers who were punished ran into the same issues that were cited by lawmakers when they called on the Office of Attorney General to launch a new probe.
Sen. Joe Pennacchio, R-Morris, even sent a letter to State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal calling for an investigation, noting that the New Jersey teacher was fired from a number of schools because of allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior with children, but still got hired for a new job.
Pennacchio noted that the state passed a law requiring New Jersey school districts, charter schools, nonpublic schools, and contracted service providers to review employment history of prospective employees who will have regular contact with students and to ascertain allegations of child abuse or sexual misconduct.
"Our hope was that this law would stop the dangerous hiring practice known as 'passing the trash,' and ensure that chronically-abusive teachers would no longer be able to move from school to school unchecked," he said.
Efforts to obtain comment from the OAG were not immediately successful.
Here are the 16 teachers who have been sanctioned since May 1, according to the state Department of Education:
Christopher Shenise of Vernon allegedly told a student he would pay them for "sexual videos," Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes announced. Shenise, 32, of Vernon, was charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, fourth-degree abuse, cruelty, and neglect, and third-degree official misconduct. Shenise, a teacher at West Milford High School, allegedly asked a 17-year-old student if he could pay them in exchange for sexual videos in November 2018, Valdes said. His license was revoked.
Michelina Aichele of Hillsborough, a Montgomery teacher who pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and sexual conduct with a minor, has lost her teaching license, the State Board of Examiners ruled. Aichele lost her license to teach English effective May 17, following an April 10 guilty plea. She was previously employed at Montgomery Township High School. Aichele was first arrested in Oct. 2018, when she was accused of sending nude photos and having sexually explicit conversations with a male student, Somerset County Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson said at the time.
Alan Abraham, 60, of Belmar, the former director of the Manasquan High School Warrior Band, has pleaded guilty to stealing about $2,300 from the organization between 2015 and 2016, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. On September 24, Abraham pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree thef-by-unlawful taking in front of Superior Court Judge Vincent N. Falcetano. His license was revoked.
Michael J. Martino, a former Hackettstown teacher, permanently lost his teaching license, four years after he was accused of a sexual relationship with a student. The State Board of Examiners permanently revoked Michael J. Martino's teacher certificates at a May 17 meeting. He previously held Teacher of Mathematics Certificate of Eligibility with Advanced Standing and Teacher of Mathematics and Supervisor certificates. Martino's certificates were first revoked in 2017 when he was indicted on sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and official misconduct charges.
Justin W. Bozinta of Roselle, a former gym teacher in East Orange, was accused of uploading child porn while at school and ran a pot "grow house," former Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced. Bozinta was suspended from his job as a physical education teacher at Costley Middle School in East Orange. Bozinta had also been hired by the East Orange School District in 2000 as the head wrestling coach. The district suspended Bozinta after he was initially charged and has filed papers to terminate his employment. His license was revoked.
Michael Ettz, a Lodi math teacher, struck a Bergen County Police Officer in 2014. Ettz pleaded guilty to assault by auto in 2016, more than two years after he reportedly drove drunk and rear-ended his vehicle into Breslin's Bergen County Police car on Route 46. Breslin was parked on the shoulder helping another police officer with his police radio. Breslin's car was pushed into a utility pole and trapped him inside. Ettz fled the scene on foot, but was later apprehended by authorities. He was indicted aggravated assault, driving while intoxicated assault by automobile, and leaving the scene of a crash with serious injuries. His license was revoked.
Ashley L. Frabizzio, 34, of Butler, a special education teacher, has agreed to forfeit her New Jersey teaching licenses following allegations she abused special education students, officials said. She was arrested and charged in December 2015 when she assaulted students at Sixteenth Avenue Elementary School in Elmwood Park, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office said at the time of her arrest. She was charged with two counts of child abuse and two counts of simple assault.
Nathaniel Gerson, who worked in the Paterson school district since 1999 and was teaching math at the district's Don Bosco Technology Academy, was accused of striking a student in a snowball throwing incident in February 2017, according to northjersey.com. He resigned as part of a settlement under which the Paterson school district dropped its disciplinary charges against him. His license was revoked.
Sean Lora of Bayonne, a Jersey City school teacher, has been charged with molesting boys at School 7 in the Heights, it was announced last year. His license was revoked.
John Costello, a tenured school nurse in Northfield, was fired after he suffered a breakdown and shouted "I can't take this anymore" while a third-grade student cried in his office, according to NJ101.5; Costello appealed his termination but lost the fight when an appellate court panel rejected his arguments. His license was suspended for two years.
Pedro Rodriguez, a Passaic substitute teacher, was arrested after authorities said he fondled a 10-year-old girl while two other students watched, according to Daily Voice.
Daniel Pinkham of Branchville, a teacher and girl's soccer coach at Sparta's Veritas Christian Academy, admitted to having sexually explicit conversations involving photos with an underage student while he was employed at the school. He was sentenced to five years probation, according to the New Jersey Herald. His license was revoked.
Casey L. Bartholomew of Browns Mills, a substitute teacher aid at Pemberton Township High School, was charged with having inappropriate contact with a male student and using social media to engage in sexually explicit conversations by sending him nude photographs of herself, according to CBS3. Her license was suspended for 14 months.
Eugene G. Cimis resigned his position after Linwood alleged that, on January 26, 2018, he smelled of alcohol when speaking with two colleagues at school that morning. When Cimis was called into a meeting with administration, he denied that he had been drinking but agreed, per district policy, to go for alcohol testing. When Cimis went outside with his union representative to go to the doctor's office, he stated that he wanted to put his things in his car before leaving. At that point, he got into his car and told his union rep that he was leaving. When she explained to Cimis that she could do little to help him if he drove away, he noted that he understood and then left. The district policy indicated that "refusal of a teaching staff member to consent to the medical examination and substance test will be determined to be a positive result." Cimis was suspended from his position and later resigned. His license was suspended for three years.
Shelly Tucker Quintana was found unconscious in a car with a small child on her lap in July 2017. The car was parked, not running and the windows were up. Quintana was charged with public intoxication and abandoning/endangering a child. She later pled guilty to assault causing bodily injury. According to the information provided, Quintana agreed to a two-year suspension of her Texas certificate after she pled guilty to the criminal charges. Her New Jerseey license was suspended for four years.
Brian Rochford's license was revoked as a substitute teacher. No reason was given, and no school district was identified.