Report: Suspended Teacher's Messages a Concern

NJ.com reports Hopatcong's school superintendent is worried a high school teacher who was suspended with pay  might have had improper communications with students.

Superintendent Dr. Charles Maranazno said he has "very serious concerns" that the physical education teacher could have been involved with possibly improper emails and text messages with male and female students, the report said.

Maranzano also told NJ.com that Gorzelnik was suspended to keep her from students until the investigation ends.

Gorzelnik, a girls soccer coach, has been at the district for seven years. She couldn't be reached for contact Friday. Maranzano had previously said he couldn't discuss particulars of the investigation and also couldn't immediately be reached for contact Friday.

said in an email Hopatcong has been investigating Gorzelnik for about three weeks, "and has failed to uncover anything other than rumors. No factual evidence has turned up."

The district hasn't reached out to the state Institutional Abuse and Investigation Unit, which investigates alleged improper contact between students and teachers, Wollmer said.

"That would appear to support the facts as they are being reported (that no evidence of any criminal nature has been found)," Wollmer said.

The Sussex County Prosecutor's Office was contacted, however, and has taken no action "based on absence of evidence," Wollmer said.

"I would point out that today's students are very aware of how to get a teacher in trouble, and there is strong evidence this could be a case in point," he said.

Click here for the full NJ.com report.