CHS BASEBALL COACH INVESTIGATION DELAYED; WILL NEVER BE MADE PUBLIC

Leroy Seitz

Nearly a month after the school district hired an outside investigator to review its findings of harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) against CHS baseball coach Joe Fischetti, no findings have been released.

And they apparently never will be.

District Spokeswoman Suzanne Turner said the investigator, Parsippany-Troy Hills Superintendent Leroy Seitz, will not submit his report to the school board until its next regular meeting on April 18. That will be nearly two months after his hiring was announced on Feb. 22 and he was contracted on Feb. 26.

But even then his report will not be made public, Turner said.

Joe Fischetti

"There will not be a public report on the findings," she said via email. "Since we are legally prohibited from sharing results of HIB investigations with the public due to laws regarding confidentiality of students and staff issues. The Board of Education will receive an update during executive session at its April meeting."

At issue are the claims by several former players against Fischetti of multiple counts of alleged HIB behavior. One of the student's parents, Randy Nathan, had his allegations validated by a district review that also included a letter from Ramos supporting the claims.

In addition, another former player, David DeFranco, filed a lawsuit last month with additional claims against Fischetti and other coaches.

Superintendent John Ramos

The school board voted, 6-3, in February to re-appoint Fischetti for the 2016 baseball season, but with the provision by Ramos that Seitz would be hired to review the findings. He said then that Fischetti could be dismissed if the findings provided enough proof.

Seitz was hired on Feb. 26 under an agreement that pays him up to $5,000 for his work. Ramos said then that his investigation would take two to four weeks.

Saturday will be one month since the investigator was hired and there is no sign that the report is close to being completed.

And if the public is not made aware of the findings, as Turner indicates, how will the public know if the HIB claims are correct? And if the $5,000 in tax dollars spent to pay for it was worthwhile?

The CHS baseball team, meanwhile, starts its season on April 1. If the board chooses to remove Fischetti, that will leave the players in a bit of a bind.