Lawsuits over school staff cuts | Inquirer South Jersey
And bell-to-bell cell phone bans.
Good morning, South Jersey. It’s set to be another sunny one.
A principal who lost her job sued her former employer — as did the principal who replaced her. Their lawsuits follow a period of turmoil in the Deptford tech school.
And starting this fall, public school students in the state will have to put away their cell phones under a new law.
Plus, Route 55 was the scene of another fatal crash, and more news of the day.
— Julie Zeglen (southjersey@inquirer.com)
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Both the Gloucester County Institute of Technology’s former principal and the administrator who replaced her have sued the school and its superintendent.
The separate lawsuits argue the Deptford Township tech school discriminated against them and mishandled staff cuts made amid a budget shortfall.
They are the latest in a series of legal actions against GCIT alleging retaliatory and discriminatory behavior.
“Nobody is feeling secure,” one longtime district employee said about recent actions taken by Superintendent Susan Heiken. The school’s changes have also prompted outcry from students and others in the GCIT community.
Reporter Sarah Nicell has the full, tangled story.
With a new school year come new rules about student cell phones.
A policy signed into law in January dictates that all K-12 students in New Jersey’s nearly 600 public school districts must now keep their phones off and out of sight, from bell to bell.
Bans have already been in place in some districts, including in Cherry Hill, Woodbury, and Washington Township. But those that don’t already have policies must adopt their own before the school year begins.
What to know today
A 68-year-old man was killed on Route 55 in Vineland Saturday morning after another driver crossed the median and hit his SUV — at least the second fatal crash on the freeway this summer.
Officials in Delran are searching for a woman who rescued a girl from the Delaware River on Monday, but then disappeared under the water.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced last week that New Jersey struck 5,100 registered voters from state voter rolls, New Jersey Monitor reports. The move came about a month after Sherrill revealed a glitch had allowed thousands of noncitizens to register ahead of 2024 election.
Burlington County is asking residents to weigh in on plans for a new “boardwalk-style” trail that would pass under Route 130 and over Rancocas Creek.
Selling blood plasma for money is becoming a side hustle as more Philadelphia-area residents try to make ends meet. One Audubon strip mall has become a hot spot for the practice, with the wait time sometimes as long as three hours.
Retired journalist Ron Avery, a longtime Daily News staff writer who wrote for the Courier-Post’s Camden City Hall bureau in the 1970s, died earlier this month of complications from ALS. He was known as an eclectic reporter and columnist and canoe enthusiast who led water trips in the Pine Barrens and elsewhere.
Philadelphia Eagles center Cam Jurgens’ beef jerky company, Jurgy, is releasing a limited-edition blueberry BBQ flavor in a collaboration with Atlantic City’s Ocean Casino Resort. The flavor is a nod to the region’s blueberry production.
🗣️ Quote of the week
Megan Paier, a Philadelphia Zoo member and volunteer docent from Cherry Hill, reached out to the French singer-songwriter Loris Assadian — professionally known as Plumes — to ask him to play for animals at the zoo. He obliged, to the delight of zoo visitors and residents alike.
🧠 Trivia time
The biopic A Complete Unknown was filmed partly in which Jersey town?
A) Washington Township
B) Audubon
C) Carneys Point
D) Cape May
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re ...
🚶🏽♀️➡️ Exploring: Haddon Avenue in Westmont.
🛍️ Shopping for: Gifts at the Gloucester Premium Outlets in Blackwood.
🐈 Visiting: The Happy Cat Hotel & Spa in Mount Laurel.
Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. See you back here tomorrow, bright and early.
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