24/7 BOE Policy Appeal Denied by Appellate Court

The state Appellate Court on Monday denied an appeal from the Haddonfield Board of Education to challenge the legality of its 24/7 student-conduct policy that was ruled illegal last year.

The appeal was denied on because the school board's solicitor Joe Betley failed to provide the court with a transcript of a previous administrative preceding.

Betley and the board were trying to overturn a decision by the state Commissioner of Education, banning 24/7 student-conduct rules that imposed penalties, such as denial of extracurricular participation for low-level arrest for possession of alcohol or marijuana.

Betley called the education commissioner's ruling a "warped" interpretation of a court ruling last year striking down a similar policy in the Ramapo school district in North Jersey.

Matthew Wolf, an attorney for plaintiffs in a federal law suit against the Haddonfield Board of Education on behalf of several former students disciplined under the 24/7 policy, also argued against the appeal in the state Appellate Court.

Wolf says the court action Monday effectively ends the 24/7 fight in New Jersey. The Ramapo district did not challenge the Appellate Court ruling striking down the policy last year. Haddonfield did.

Betley said the case was dismissed on a technicality and that he planned to continue the appeal.

"We want the court to go in another direction," he said Monday. "The fact remains that we think the board had the legal authority to adopt the policy, as did Ramapo."

Wolf had a different take on the ruling.

"The Appellate Division granted my motion and dismissed the appeal," he said. "This means that the Haddonfield Board of Education can no longer contest the legality of the 24/7 policy."