Middletown: 2 Other Districts Did Not Get Email About Revoked Teachers

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — There is a new update Friday afternoon in the ongoing saga of how a teacher who had his license permanently revoked by the state was able to keep teaching in Middletown public schools last year.

School superintendent Mary Ellen Walker and district lawyer Bruce Padula are adamant that nobody in the Middletown school district ever received this email sent July 29, 2022 from the Monmouth County Department of Education, notifying them special-education teacher Michael D'Alessio had lost his license.

As reported last week, the Monmouth County DOE provided proof the email was sent to five Middletown school district employees, including Walker.

But now it appears other school superintendents never received that July 29 email, either. The email was marked by the county as "high importance," as it listed eight teachers who had their license either suspended or permanently revoked by the state.

On Friday afternoon, Middletown school board president Frank Capone said the district even brought in an outside IT company to comb their email servers. On top of this, superintendents in Red Bank and Fair Haven school districts have no record of getting the email.

"The district's Manager of Information Services performed an exhaustive search of all emails sent that day — both received and rejected by district information security. In addition, the district retained an independent consultant who researched our servers on May 17, 2023 (this past Wednesday), and confirmed that no such email was delivered to the district," said Capone Friday.

"That email was not delivered to this district."

Capone said Padula filed an OPRA request asking if at least two other districts on that list could confirm they got it, and both said they have no record of receiving it.

This leads to speculation there may be something wrong with the email servers at the Monmouth County Department of Education — but Donna Pesci, the certification officer who sent the original email, did not respond to Patch's requests for comment. Neither did her boss, Dr. Lester Richens, superintendent of Monmouth County Schools.

Also, Laura Fredrick and Michael Yaple, who work as media spokespeople for the state Department of Education, did not return multiple emails from this reporter asking if there is something wrong with the email servers at the Monmouth County Department of Education.

"It is unfortunate that individuals continued to question the integrity of our staff, compelling us to prove that the Department of Education never delivered that email," said Capone. "As stated several times before and now proven, there was no wrongdoing by our administration or the Middletown school district. The questions need to be answered by the NJDOE, and I hope they can rectify their inefficiencies. Thankfully, in this case, there was no harm to our students, but every BOE needs to hold the NJDOE accountable for enhancing their system of notification regarding the revocation of teaching licensure. In this technology-driven age, there is no excuse for not notifying a district immediately, individually, and with a confirmation of receipt when a teacher has their license pulled."

Because of the error, D'Alessio remained a special-education teacher at Middletown High School South for an additional four months last year, until the district realized in mid-October he had lost his license. In New Jersey, a teacher may continue to teach in public schools if their license is suspended, but they cannot teach if their license is revoked. D'Alessio previously said he was acting on advice from the teachers' union and his lawyer, JJ Uliano of West Long Branch law firm Chamlin, Uliano & Walsh, that he could continue teaching.

D'Alessio has stopped commenting to Patch for this story.

He was a popular teacher in Middletown, by most accounts.

“By all accounts Mr. D’Alessio was a highly effective special education teacher in our district and while this is an unfortunate situation for all involved, no wrongdoing was done by any member of our administration or staff, and at no time did the DOE revoke his teaching license for any infraction against any of our students,” said Middletown BOE vice president Jacqueline Tobacco on Friday afternoon.

Some Middletown parents were upset about this issue at the most recent school board meeting, held this past Monday night (watch it here, public comment portion at the end), asking how someone without a license could remain working with students in the classroom.

A serious matter in Middletown schools:

Middletown Teacher Lost His License, Still Taught For 4 Months (March 1)

Middletown School District: No Idea We Had Unlicensed Teacher On Staff (March 10)

Email Shows State Told Middletown Last July About Unlicensed Teacher (May 9)