Upper Township Schools File Lawsuit Over Ocean City Investigation

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The Upper Township Public School District is reportedly taking legal action against the Ocean City Public School District because they have been denied information related to an investigation.

Upper Township is filing a lawsuit over the denial of Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests for documents related to the investigation of former Ocean City High School Athletic Director Christine Lentz, the Ocean City Gazette reports.

Upper Township claims Ocean City investigated Upper Township Superintendent Vincent Palmieri, Board of Education President Michele Barbieri and Fran Newman, Upper Township's representative on the Ocean City Board of Education. It says the investigation came to light during the early stages of Lentz’s official misconduct trial earlier this year.

However, Ocean City Board of Education Solicitor Michael Stanton has called those accusations “false” and the claims “irresponsible.”

Last month, Upper Township authorized an investigation into the school district, and said that if Ocean City Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Taylor and Board of Education President Joe Clark don't cooperate in the investigation, it will immediately call for their resignations. They have both turned down an invitation to attend next week’s Upper Township Board of Education meeting, according to the report.

Students from Upper Township attend Ocean City High School as part of a sending/receiving relationship. Ocean City has similar relationships with Corbin City, Longport and Sea Isle City. Upper Township has three seats on the Ocean City Board of Education. Each seat is for a one-year term, and the members are appointed by the Upper Township Board of Education.

Lentz, 54 of Upper Township, was found not guilty on charges of second-degree official misconduct and third-degree criminal computer activity earlier this month. She was accused of stealing Taylor's iPad in an effort to get contract proposals before negotiations.

Lentz was accused of accessing Taylor's emails without authorization between April 1 and June 1 of last year. During this time, there were ongoing contract negotiations centered around a new contract for the Ocean City Administrators' Association.

Lentz was the Ocean City Athletic Director for seven years, beginning in 2008. She resigned in the summer of 2015, initially citing health reasons, but later claiming she was forced to resign. She was charged with hacking Taylor's account in August of 2015. Lentz is a former girls basketball coach at the school, earning 217 wins, the 11th most in Cape-Atlantic League history.

Patch file photo