Hopatcong High School Teacher Suspended

A physical education teacher was suspended with pay last week as administration investigates whether she violated the district's code of ethics.

The Hopatcong Board of Education voted unanimously last week to suspend high school physical education teacher Hilary Gorzelnik with pay. The vote came during a special meeting early Wednesday morning at the .

No criminal charges have been filed against Gorzelnik, a 31-year-old girls soccer coach in her seventh year at Hopatcong. Gorzelnik, a Jefferson High School graduate, declined comment when contacted by Patch Monday.

Hopatcong schools Superintendent Dr. Charles Maranzano said he couldn't comment on the Gorzelnik investigation due to state privacy laws, but he understood "there's a lot of rumor and innuendo."

"We have to take our role responsibly when there are allegations of misconduct to protect student interest and weigh that factually to protect our staff and faculty," Maranzano said Monday. "We know there's a lot of rumor and innuendo. We're sorting through rumor and innuendo to get to fact, to absolute fact, [which] is key or critical to making a final determination about any staff member who has been accused of anything improper."

"Our investigation has yielded no form of criminal misconduct and until we uncover criminal behavior we have to follow legal precedence and legal guidelines and keep the interest of our staff member at the center of this investigation," Maranzano continued.

Board of Education President Cliff Lundin confirmed Monday Gorzelnik's with-pay suspension. According to meeting minutes, Gorzelnik was referred to as the "employee identified on confidential Schedule A" during the meeting.

Hopatcong teachers union leader Jeff Ryder said the union will continue to support Gorzelnik through the investigation

"By every indication she's got a strong, clean record in coaching and in the classroom," Ryder said. "There doesn't seem to be, realistically, anything that seems of any wrongdoing. I can only assume that the suspension is to protect both parties in the conversation and to let cooler heads prevail during the investigation."

Click here to view the Hopatcong school district's policies and regulations regarding teachers or click the PDF to the right.