State Suspends Westfield Teacher's License Over 'Threatening' Comments

WESTFIELD, NJ — Two years after the Westfield Board of Education fired third grade teacher Frank Fuzy III for making "threatening" comments to his students and other staff members, the State Board of Examiners voted to suspend his teaching license for three years.

Earlier this month, the State Board of Examiners agreed with an arbitrator's ruling that Fuzy's behavior was "unbecoming and unfitting of a role model." The board wrote in its decision that Fuzy's "threatening comments relating to gun ownership and physical stature" made others in the school community uncomfortable and "cannot be tolerated."

The school district first brought tenure charges against the Tamaques Elementary teacher on Dec. 27, 2018, listing comments he allegedly made to other staff members that he "owns multiple guns, including an AR-15” and saying he frequently referred to his height and weight in related conversations.

The board's suspension order states that Fuzy told a staff member that he is “six feet tall, weighs 230 pounds and has 26 guns” and repeated this statement seven times. In response to seeing a deer on school property, the report states that Fuzy told another staff member that he "wished the deer would escape and injure students so the principal would look bad."

A list of the charges also states that Fuzy told staff that he keeps a gun in his glove compartment and that “he would run out to his car if he needed to use a gun." However, Fuzy denied that he told others he kept a gun in his car.

The charges further state that Fuzy called his students stupid and made comments that caused students to cry.

Read more: Westfield Tenure Charges Upheld Against Teacher Who Mentioned Guns

At the Board of Education's Jan. 7, 2020 meeting, the board voted 8-0 on a list of personnel items, including terminating Fuzy.

Read more: Westfield Teacher Fired Over Comments About His Guns

Fuzy, who has won teaching awards in the past, fought back by filing a lawsuits both in Superior and federal courts in 2020, arguing that the school discriminated against him because he's a man, as well as a gun owner and a bodybuilder. He also said he was discriminated against for having attention deficit disorder.

However, the Superior Court suit was dismissed on Aug. 17, 2020 and the federal suit was dismissed on April 29, according to mycentraljersey.com.

In its ruling, the board noted that it is not the "appropriate body" to determine if the arbitrator's ruling was in error or without factual basis. The board also stated that it "cannot overturn the credibility determinations made by the arbitrator."

Fuzy was first hired as a third-grade teacher in 1995 and was named in 2013 as the "New Jersey Agricultural Teacher of the Year," according to mycentraljersey.com. He received "effective" or better evaluations throughout his time at the school until 2014 when he received a four-day suspension after throwing Post-It notes at a student and hitting her in the face, according to the charges;

Fuzy completed counseling after the incident, including anger management sessions, according to My Central Jersey.

In a testimony before the board, Fuzy stated that "he wishes he could go back and handle the situation differently" and that "being out of the classroom is a daily struggle for him." He said revoking his teaching license would "be overly harsh punishment as he has already been out of the classroom for four years," according to the board's ruling.

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