Personnel Changes Approved For Barnegat Special Education

BARNEGAT, NJ — The Barnegat Township School District is promising to do better following allegations that an 8-year-old autistic girl was bound with tape while in the special education program.

At a special meeting earlier this week, the Board of Education voted to move Russell O. Brackman Middle School Vice Principal John Fiorentino to Interim Director of Special Education. Dan Gundersen, the former director, was previously reassigned to assistant principal.

READ MORE: 5 Fired After Autistic Girl Allegedly Bound With Tape In Barnegat

"It's a process I think we're going through as a board, as an administration, to ensure something like this never happens again in our district," Board President Scott Sarno said. He said he was creating an ad hoc committee specifically to work with the special education and ACES program to review everything from hiring to district procedures.

"There's many things that we're looking to go through with a fine toothed comb," Sarno said.

Members of the community feared that wouldn't be enough. A parent and former employee of the district presented the board with a petition to terminate Gundersen's employment, which as of Thursday afternoon has just more than 400 signatures.

"The best than an educator can give is to get somebody to be self-reflective," Jill Sidote said. "I think you are being self-reflective, but a little bit too late for that."

Sidote said that demoting Gundersen wasn't enough, and that he needed to be fired for the best interests of the district and its students.

"Hopefully, all of you are in those seats because one of your goals was putting the children first," Sidote said. "It's time to live up to that goal."