NJ School Superintendent Arrested for Assault

As a parent, you have to worry about what kind of environment your child is going to school in. When I was a kid, we had monthly fire drills and police officers come in to talk to us about the DARE program. Yet, my kids are growing up in an era where going to school can take their life. School shootings, once rare in the time of Columbine, have become the norm with massacres on a grand scale taking place such as Sandy Hook and Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that took place on Valentine’s Day earlier this year.

These mass shootings have be a major propellent in stricter gun laws and advocacy of mental health. In the 2016 Presidential Election, the topic of gun control was at the forefront of voters’ minds.

Bullying Statistics

My kids go to school and have to worry about coming face to face with drills about how to stay safe when there is an active shooter in the building. Aside from this, there are the normal stressors of going to school and fitting in. According to the website Stop Bullying, “28% of U.S. students in grades 6-12 experienced bullying.” Bullying can take multiple forms, from peer-to-peer, to cyberbullying and everything in between.

Further research on Stop Bullying shows that “70.6% of young people say they have seen bullying in their schools.” These statistics show that while the number of those who are bullied may seem relatively small, in comparison, it could easily be prevented if even a handful of those 70.6% intervened in the negative behavior.

Terrifying factors such as bullying and gun violence are just the beginning as to what has become the new normal when it comes to raising children and sending them off to school. When I was growing up, my teachers were entrusted to make sure I was protected on school trips and that I learned how to do trigonometry accurately enough that way my parents didn’t have to suffer through it.

Now, as a parent myself, I have to entrust these teachers to save my child’s life is someone open fires down the school hallways. Every year when I have to take back-to-school pictures, I always feel a twinge of uneasiness in what senseless acts of violence could take place, not just at my children’s schools, but at institutions across the country. The dangers that have evolved in this world are devastating.

Cumberland County Superintendent Arrested for Assault in NJ

What’s even more devastating than the possibility that an incident out of the norm may occur, is the fact that the people we trust to teach our kids are the same ones who may hold skewed viewpoints that indicate a level of instability when it comes to making safe and responsible decisions. For example, it was just released less than 24-hours ago that a Cumberland County, New Jersey Superintendent was arrested on assault charges.

Michael Knox apparently employed the services of a Philadelphia-based surveillance company to spy on his wife and in return, assaulted one of the employees with a baseball bat. Knox’s aggressive assault on the spy-company’s employee indicates that he went into the business with motive and intent to hurt whoever was there working on the clock.

It has not yet been released as to why Knox aggressively assaulted one of the company’s workers or why he hired them in the first place. There are a plethora of reasons as to why someone may hire the services of a spy-company which aren’t limited to financial troubles or cheating, although they would be the prime suspects.

Knox, additionally, is facing charges for making terroristic threats against the Philadelphia-based surveillance company. Apparently, Knox had arranged for the shop to spy on his wife and when he thought they were doing a bad job, ended up assaulting one of the workers. It can only be assumed that perhaps, Knox held contempt toward the company for not finding the results he wanted or anticipated.

In the aftermath of the assault, Knox fled the scene of the crime, reportedly leaving behind his school identification card, leading police right to him. Appropriately, Knox has now lost his job and is facing criminal charges for assault, intent and terroristic threats. He was arraigned on these charges this past Friday and posted bail. He will be back in court on November 13th.

This is a prime example as to what kinds of situations our children are being exposed to. You’d expect that the superintendent of a school would never, in a million years, be involved in this kind of far-fetched situation. It’s a safe bet that his wife will most likely be getting a restraining order against her husband before ultimately filing for divorce. As for for the Fairfield Township Public School District, they at least, now can begin the process of finding a suitable replacement for Knox and in safer hands for the children and staff attending.