Middletown Teacher Lost His License Last June, Still Taught For 4 Months

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Editor's note: March 3: This story has been updated to reflect a new response from Middletown school board lawyer Bruce Padula.

A teacher who had his license permanently taken away by the state last year after a 2015 drug arrest still taught in Middletown schools for an additional four months — without a teaching license.

The teacher is Michael D'Alessio, who up until this fall has been a special-education teacher at Middletown High School South for many years.

On June 30, 2022, the State Board of Examiners voted to permanently revoke his teaching license, according to this public decision. The New Jersey Department of Education said they told the Middletown school district in July that his license had been permanently revoked; Middletown says they were not informed until October.

Because of this, D'Alessio taught Middletown summer school in the summer of 2022 and he was back teaching class at High School South in September and October, at a salary of $102,163.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Education said the DOE notified the Middletown school district on July 29 that D'Alessio had lost his teaching license.

"The State Board of Examiners issues a monthly report that contains a list with all historical and newly effectuated revocations and suspensions," said DOE spokeswoman Laura Fredrick. "This report is then distributed to all districts through the county offices. The monthly report that contained notification of Michael D’Alessio’s revocation was distributed to all districts in Monmouth County on July 29, 2022."

Middletown school superintendent Mary Ellen Walker said her office has no record of ever receiving that report last July.

In fact, she said the Middletown school district was not notified that D'Alessio had lost his license until sometime in mid October. The district removed him from the classroom within 24 hours, she said.

"In our experience, the Department of Education periodically sends districts spreadsheets with the names of individuals whose certificate was suspended or revoked," said Walker. "Our district did not receive any such notification from the DOE identifying Mr. D'Alessio as newly-revoked. Rather, in October of last year, the district's Human Resources Department received the periodic spreadsheet and, upon reviewing same, identified Mr. D’Alessio’s name within a list of 2,194 other revoked/suspended individuals."

"Immediately upon being informed that this individual no longer possessed the required credentials, he was removed," said the superintendent. "Upon identifying Mr. D'Alessio's name and consulting with counsel, the district removed him from his position within 24 hours."

D'Alessio said he was represented by a lawyer from the state teachers' union, the New Jersey Education Association, who told him he could keep working in the classroom while he appealed to get his license back.

This is despite the fact that the Board ordered D’Alessio to return his teaching certificates within 30 days of their June 30, 2022 decision.

When contacted by Patch for comment, D'Alessio said he is still appealing to the state to get his license back, and that he wants to go back to working in the classroom with special-needs students.

"I have been a committed special educator dealing with our state's most difficult population for 20 years," he said. "I have helped many students gain employment, enter rehab and become drug-free by hosting interventions, and have had five of my players reach the NFL. I have numerous letters of support by our current Board of Education president, and my fight is not over, with one appeal left."

Middletown School Board president Frank Capone has not answered any of Patch's questions about this story, including whether he knew that D'Alessio was teaching in Middletown schools without a license. According to superintendent Walker, Capone did not write a letter of support for D'Alessio.

Speaking through Middletown school board attorney Bruce Padula two days after this story was originally published, Capone said he has never met, spoken with nor written any letters of support to which D'Alessio refers.

"The only person in the district who knew Michael D’Alessio was teaching without a license was Michael D’Alessio," said Padula.

Why he lost his teaching license

The State Board of Examiners reviews the credentials of anyone in the state who requires a state license to operate. The Board will sometimes revoke the licenses of doctors, dentists, real estate agents, massage therapists and teachers, among other professions, usually when that person pleads guilty to a crime.

The state of New Jersey also makes it public knowledge when the board revokes or suspends a license.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office asked the State Board of Examiners to review D’Alessio's license after he entered a pre-trial intervention program in 2019, after a 2015 arrest for third-degree drug possession (suboxone).

On Oct. 21, 2015, D'Alessio was charged after an investigation by local police into the sale of prescription pain medication.

According to the state Board's decision, "individual(s) associated with D’Alessio obtained medication from the Acme pharmacy and then returned to the parking lot outside the pharmacy. The medication was sold in the parking lot out of the vehicle driven by D’Alessio. D’Alessio had his child in the car at the time of the investigation and allegedly when the sale(s) were made; further, D’Alessio’s credit card was used to purchase the prescription medication."

When one enters Pre-Trial Intervention in New Jersey, it usually involves a guilty plea. But D'Alessio said he never pleaded guilty to any crimes.

"I entered PTI to finally move on from this nightmare, but I was awarded 'special condition' because I refused to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit," he said.

In February 2022, Administrative Law Judge Joseph Ascione decided to permanently take away D'Alessio's teaching license. D'Alessio appealed, but on June 30 of last year the State Board of Examiners voted to uphold Ascione's decision.

Regarding his criminal charges, D’Alessio said he was "in the wrong place at the wrong time," according to the Board.