State Revokes Licenses Of Ex-Bergen Super After Camera Scandal

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — An ex-superintendent had her teaching and administrative licenses revoked this month after officials discovered she covered security cameras so her daughter would not be filmed working and transferred her daughter to a different office without approval.

Dawn Fidanza lost her principal, administrator, special education, and elementary certificates March 8 when the State Board of Examiners issued a ruling on her case.

Fidanza did not "admit or concede the truth" regarding the allegations brought before her, the board said in its ruling.

Fidanza was superintendent of the South Bergen Jointure Commission until she resigned in December 2017. She found herself caught up in a nepotism scandal that prompted her resignation. She was the 10th highest paid superintendent in the state with a salary of $222,941. (See related: Bergen County Superintendent Resigns After Transfer, Camera Scandal)

A report by the state Department of Education's Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance found that Fidanza transferred her daughter from the district's transportation office to the business office without the board's approval.

The report also states that the superintendent spoke to both of her daughter's supervisors and "attempted to influence the evaluations of her daughter."

Also, according to the report, Fidanza covered security camera lenses where her daughter worked so that coworkers would not see her come and go, according to the report.

The South Bergen Jointure Commission provides transportation, personnel, and special education classes to local school districts. Fourteen officials from various nearby school districts oversee it and its 276 students.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com