Judge Says Jurisdiction In Player Suit Lies With State

PATERSON—Administrative Law Judge Ellen Bass will conduct a closed hearing Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in Newark to determine if nine Wayne Hills High School football players can participate in extracurricular activities – just days before the team’s championship game.

The state’s Bureau of Controversies and Disputes referred the matter to Bass after Passaic County Superior Court Judge Thomas Brogan did not rule on an application for emergent relief on behalf of the players Wednesday, saying that the jurisdiction lies with the state education commissioner. The bureau assists the state commissioner of education in hearing testimony and issuing rulings regarding disputes under state school laws.

Brogan said a decision about the ban barring the nine from extracurricular activities is the jurisdiction of Acting Commissioner of Education Christopher Cref.

"It's primary jurisdiction versus secondary jurisdiction," Brogan said. "It’s a policy of the state that when an issue arises under school laws that the Commissioner of Education should have primary jurisdiction."

Ron Ricci, the attorney who filed the suit, said that placing a stay on the ban so the players can participate in the game on Saturday is appropriate. The players have been charged with aggravated assault in an alleged altercation with students from rival Wayne Valley.

"Don’t punish them before the fact," said Ron Ricci, the attorney who filed the suit. "Things can happen that you can't fix."

Brogan did not dismiss the players’ complaint against the Board of Education.

The players claim that their right to due process was violated because they were not given enough of an opportunity to present testimony to the board at closed-door hearings earlier this month and were not informed of the reason for the suspensions until a press conference Nov. 25 when the Board lifted the stay placed on the suspensions Nov. 17.

At the press conference, the Board said in a statement that, “applicable law permits suspension from extracurricular activities for alleged misconduct which occurs off school grounds, when there is a substantial and material impact on the operation of the school.”

The board said in its statement that Wayne Hills and Wayne Valley principals Scot Beckerman and Robert Reis initially “reported that there was no impact being observed” in the schools.

Attorney Darren Del Sardo, who is representing one of the players, said that he has attempted to obtain copies of letters Beckerman and Reis wrote letters to district officials last week stating that the suspensions were causing problems with the order and integrity of the schools but to date, has not received them yet.

“When students are charged with criminal conduct off site [the Board] has the authority to have students’ disciplined provided there is a substantial impact on the school operations and the school environment,” said Nathanya Simon, the lead attorney in the matter. “There have been those impacts, very negative impacts.”

Simon said she was not comfortable discussing “any specific incidents at this time.”

The players were allowed to participate in the team’s first two state sectional playoff games Nov. 11 and 18.

Roth ruled Nov.16 that the boys could not play in the second-round game, but the board placed a stay on that ruling two days later, pending further testimony. The board later lifted the stay.

Ricci has also filed a petition for emergent relief with Cref. Ricci is asking for a stay to be placed on the ban, arguing the board’s actions violating the state’s administrative code.

Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that the players' complaint had been dismissed.