Lacey School Board Ethics Case Decision Revealed

LACEY, NJ — A Lacey Township Board of Education member had an ethics case against him dismissed.

The case against Harold "Skip" Peters, filed by former school board candidate Gavin Rozzi, was dismissed in January, according to the School Ethics Commission.

The complaint alleged that Peters “repeatedly engaged in improper conduct through hostile, derogatory, and inflammatory social media comments targeting constituents who questioned the referendum,” according to the document.

It specifically references incidents where Peters commented on Facebook posts in a Lacey group.

His comments referenced the recent referendum, saying in one “Aaaaaaah more people realizing the agenda of a few bad apples, bad apples that just consistently hang from a tree that wants to see this town fail.”

In another, the complaint claims Peters “publicly ridiculed” a member of the public who raised questions about the financial transparency of the proposed referendum.

The complaint claimed that Peters was acting in his capacity as a board member in making his comments, especially in his role as chair of the referendum committee.

But the School Ethics Commission disagreed, saying "there are insufficient facts and circumstances pled in the Complaint and in the Written Statement to lead a reasonable person to believe that the Act was violated as alleged in the Complaint."

Other things brought up, including potential defamation or potential board policy violations, are outside of the Commission's jurisdiction, which is why the decision was made to dismiss the case.

This is the latest in a series of School Ethics Commission decisions in Lacey.

READ MORE: Ex-Lacey School Board President Violated Ethics Act, Commission Finds

Previously, ex-Board President Shawn Giordano was found to have violated the School Ethics Act by using board resources to investigate his then-fellow board member Regina Discenza. Another prior cased was filed by the school board against Discenza.

Still pending are a case filed by Rozzi and one filed by former school board candidate Sonia Marchitello, both against Giordano.