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Friday, May 9, 2014

Absegami Principal Faces Allegations of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying in Complaint Filed by Employee

Dr. Jeri-Lynn Gatto
On April 30, 2014 a complaint was filed against Absegami Principal, Dr. Jeri-Lynn Gatto. The complaint, which alleges harassment, intimidation and bullying was filed by an Absegami employee Sally Giannandrea. 

According to the complaint, an incident occurred on April 2, 2014 between Gatto and Giannandrea in the presence of another teacher. Giannandrea states, "I am filing this claim as a member of a targeted group of individuals, those affected with cancer." Giannandrea explains in the complaint she has battled cancer for several years and had to recently take three months of medical leave due to her condition. 

Additionally described in the complaint, upon Giannandrea returning to work she was called into a meeting with Principal Gatto on April 2nd in which she alleges, "I was asked by Dr. Gatto why I came back to work and told I was incompetent."

"I was told that I was seen as weak by my colleagues and that this school and these kids are not my "therapy" Giannandrea stated. Dr. Gatto asked Giannandrea if her students would be better off without her.

Giannandrea also alleged that Dr. Gatto discriminated against her due to her condition when it involved fire drills. "Without being asked whether it was needed, my supervisor had another teacher walk my students out during a fire drill. As a result, Dr. Gatto then questioned my physical competency by asking what else I was NOT able to do with my students, if I can't even take them out during a fire drill" Giannandrea wrote in the complaint.

Dr. Gatto stated that the situation was not working and then proceeded to send Giannandrea home. Giannandrea alleged she was not afforded Union Representation during the meeting, of which she alleges she was abruptly pulled from class and taken to the principals office with no advanced warning of the meeting. 

Dr. Gatto did not return our request for comment. 

Dr. Steven Ciccariello, Superintendent of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District stated, "The matter you address in your questions is a personnel matter and I am not permitted by law to discuss it with you."

"I can advise you that the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District has strict policies, required by state law, to address harassment complaints initiated by students and employees.  These policies are strictly followed and enforced" Dr. Ciccariello further stated.

Giannandrea ended the complaint by stating, "due to the callousness and brutality of the principal's harassing tone, my supervisor and I left the meeting in tears."

Dr. Gatto who has been with the school district since 2007 earns a salary of $131,433, and also holds several degrees including a degree in psychology from Richard Stockton State College in 1985. 

The complaint is being investigated by the School District in which several interviews are currently being conducted. 

54 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice hyperbole in the language...

Anonymous said...

Here you go again. Putting out allegations that cannot be refuted or argued by one side because of strict laws, regulations and policies of privacy designed to protect a public employee in personnel matters. And you try to make out that is a bad thing. These are the same laws that protected you as a public employee. What recourse does Dr, Gatto have now you are smearing her good name, without her ability to legally respond to these allegations? I will be pleasantly surprised if you publish this comment.

Anonymous said...

I'm not surprised whatsoever by the allegations.

Anonymous said...

This does not surprise me at all. Gatto has always been a bully. She was when she was the supervisor of the history department at Oakcrest, of course she still is now.

Anonymous said...

There goes the same person attacking the publisher. Get a life man. Nothing would be out in the public if it wasn't for her because all the schools do it cover it up. Thank you Lisa again for your precise reporting.

Anonymous said...

Good, she needs to get fired , what kind of principal is that?

Anonymous said...

Incompetence? How coincidental that Gatto allegedly raised that point. I bet that Giannandrea knows how to pay attention to the weather and effectively plan graduations, something that Gatto clearly cannot do.

Anonymous said...

Wow $131 thousand plus, so why do the teachers need a raise At this school when the teachers miss treat each other, how do we know this doesn't happen to the students that go there

Anonymous said...

Freedom of speech. Dr. Gatto deserve what she gets. I graduated from there and she made it impossible for me.

Anonymous said...

Allegedly Students at the high school are wearing the teacher's initial on their clothing to support their teacher, and are being sent home, suspended, or asked to remove it. That is horrendous.

Anonymous said...

Good for Sally. There is absolutely NO reason to treat someone, let alone someone battling an illness, like that. She has a history of bullying several other teachers and deserves to be reprimanded for her cruel actions. I hope the GEHRSD takes this VERY seriously.

Anonymous said...

doesn't surprise me one bit...Gatto is nothing but a bully!

Anonymous said...

I'm not surprised. Gatto always had the bully feel when she roamed the halls.

Publisher said...

Comment modified to meet term & conditions @ 5:21 pm from Anonymous.

"Yeah that lady was and always will be a complete **********. The fact that she makes 130k a year is kinda disturbing."

Anonymous said...

I attend Absegami and I can confirm that majority of the students in the school wore the initial on our shirts, including me. I can also confirm that kids were asked to take the initial off.

Honest T said...

Why the hell is she getting paid so much? Karma is a S.O.B, hope she knows what she's bringing on herself and family! To the teacher: God bless you as you continue your battle with Cancer!

Anonymous said...

Say good Bye Dr Gatto..what goes around comes around LOL

Anonymous said...

I went gami in the past and it was the worst experience because of Mrs. Gatto and Mr. Wilberham. Both of them either bullied or intimated students. I had both VP and Principle try to intimate me but i was never shook. Also I had witness gatto bully other teachers. I was shocked because that's how she her coworkers, imagine how she treated us students. I feel bad for sally and teachers need to speak up because they do witness this too.Also $131k for an principal, damn that's a lot especially if they say the school needs money(vice principal-Voci) Class 20012-big V

Anonymous said...

Gatto gotta go..she try to take.halloween.away and now shes.bullying.a teacher. Whos has.cancer.

Anonymous said...

Isn't her daughter the mayor of Hamilton and isn't she also being sued? I guess power makes you mean and heartless in that family. Good luck to the teacher and may justice be served!

Anonymous said...

What would Dalton do? WWDD

Anonymous said...

Hey I really liked Wilby when I went. He may have raised his voice every so often but it was always for good reason. Kids are freaking insane. Heard he was punched at and a lot worse. After I left the students became more and more out of control. Never had any qualms with him.

Anonymous said...

It appears Gatto suspended you from English/grammar class on the day they covered the proper use of the period.

Anonymous said...

Just the tip of the Greater Egg iceberg of problems.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Gatto seems to abide by the same tactics and ideals as Mullica's Dr. Harring-Marro - intimidation, bullying, revenge, lying…. Why is that people in power in our local schools are so abusive? Aren't they the ones that are supposed to be leading our students by example? It is such a shame how these women have abused their power.

Anonymous said...

Lmfao good job.. I love Gami

Anonymous said...

I can totally see her doing something like this....I had an issue with her when my daughter was going there and it got ugly quick because of how she talks down to people and then proceeded to try and get nasty with my daughter right in front of me...well, that did not go over well with me, I told her if anyone is gonna to talk to my daughter like that it was going to be ME! Needless to say, the situation never got cleared up until I had to call the Superintendent of schools.....

Anonymous said...

i was once a student at absegami and i had to write this principle an apology letter for refusing to give up a friends cell phone i was holding on to. she told me if i didnt write her one that she was taking prom and project graduation and the ability to walk at my graduation from me. i wrote this letter and personally gave it to her. after reading it she tore it up in front of me and said it was sarcasstic. as i cried in her office she told me i no longer could go to prom and project graduation. i was only allowed to walk at my own graduation because she didnt want me to be a disappointment to my family. she is an evil woman and even in my late 20s i still remember how damaging this woman could be to students lives.

Anonymous said...

You don't know me but I work at a absegami...its true and many more incidents then this...

Anonymous said...

As a 99 grad thats sick. When i was there i has mr gilly great principle. But no principle should act like that. You are supposed to have a school where theres no discrimination, bullying, you have to be there for studenrstaff providing the best in safety, good education, respect so forth. SHE BETTER GET FIRED ....

Anonymous said...

Not surprised at all. She tried the bully and Intimidation on My daughter and I . My daughter stood up to her and so did I and we won that battle. I am sure more people have had similar problems with her. If Gatto knew the employee was dealing with cancer couldn't she be a little more compassionate. I mean really how would she feel (God forbid) if she or someone in her family was stricken with that terrible disease.

Anonymous said...

My class saw this coming. Her reign started my Junior year and antics like these are exactly why our underground news paper The Voice was circulated before graduation. On Senior week many in our class wore shirts that had WWDD on them for 'What Would Dalton Do'.

Anonymous said...

This occurs in many school districts thoughout the country. Honestly, administrators are typically incompetent, overpaid bullies who use the system and other connections to propagate abusive behavior. The Superintendant needs to fire her immediately and refuse to write a letter of recommendation. Case closed and good riddens.

Anonymous said...

Judging from the terrible spelling, grammar and sentence construction most of the posters paid scant attention in their english classes. Walk a day in any school administrators shoes dealing with the parents, children and disgruntled employees who are posting on this site and your view will change dramatically.

Anonymous said...

It is pretty obvious that you are expressing an opinion from an administrative perspective. I work for a school district. I know the game administrators play. I could most definitely do their job, they most definitely could never perform my duties. They play checkers while I play chess. They try to cover their tracks, I expose the steps. You should review your own grammar and sentence structure before placing criticism.

Anonymous said...

@ 10:07 PM above…I suggest you check your own posting for correct grammar usage prior to criticizing that of others. To make your post grammatically correct, you need an additional comma, after "construction", an apostrophe in "administrators", and for goodness sakes, unless you are talking about the spin you put on a ball in the game of pool, "english" needs a capital. You must be a school administrator because, based on the horrifying use of grammar I see from my own child's principal and superintendent, yours is fairly commensurate.

Anonymous said...

Makes me wonder why the drop out rate is so high compared to other jersey high schools....

Anonymous said...

That may be one reason why these kids keep dropping out of gami especially when there is little support at home or parents just working so hard for a better life.....

Anonymous said...

Graduation was a joke last year no video of anything as we sat in the gym clueless....horrible experience and all those kids were like give me my diploma in free...just horrible

Anonymous said...

If your in the position to make a stand with your fellow co workers ..here is not the place you must band together for not your career, but for our children's future's

Anonymous said...

Here's a suggestion: review your own writing for grammatical errors before criticizing others' writing. You're missing quite a few commas, one apostrophe, and one capital.

Anonymous said...

To the commenter on May9th at 12:08. Miss Gatto can legally respond. It's a complaint against her. If she wanted her story told, she would talk and refute the allegations against by our teacher. To not comment makes it appear as if she is guilty. Since I read the story as a whole, I see where it says Gatto didn't return the request for comment. Perhaps you should stop attacking those trying to help everyone and keep your nonsense mouth shut.

Anonymous said...

Not surprised. This story just sheds a small light on all the problems that Absegami's administration has or had. It's so sad that intimidation, bullying, and harassment is just as much of a problem for faculty than the high school students themselves. As a graduate from back in the day, I see that things still haven't changed. Hoping justice will be served, to prove to the student body, and adults alike, that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated.

Anonymous said...

Asking students to remove their small signal of protest (wearing the teacher's initials) is not only ridiculous because it's not even distracting in a classroom, but this could be a violation of the students' 1st Amendment rights. It might not be since it's in a school, but that's not a fight the school should go out and try to have. Let the students be.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to see that finally Dr. Gatto's bullying has been brought to light. She is a bully, her administrators are bullies and many of her teachers are bullies. She has pushed out many wonderful teachers and replaced them with 20 something know-it-alls that follow in her footsteps. Unfortunately, just like everything else in that school, most likely nothing will come of it. I'm just counting down the days till my kids are out of there.

Anonymous said...

Everyone needs to come to the Board Meeting on May 19th @ Oakcrest and speak out about this. It's great that you are writing about it and tell us what a bad principal she is but the Board Of Ed isn't going to do anything unless there is parent/community complaints.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous May 10th....check your spelling

Anonymous said...

Dr. Gatto can be a little critical but she has the balls to make things happen. I favor Dr. Gatto she gets things done plain and simple.

Anon.

Anonymous said...

Yes, indeed. Be interesting to see what the losers, whiners, complainers and drama queens ever accomplished in their pathetic lives.

Anonymous said...

Whenever you're in public service you're bound to face critics. Case and point here. While I don't know the circumstances, I only see what has been written. The Publisher has done her due diligence. Policy dictates no reply from the school, understandable. But, who is doing the "investigation". What training do they have to do said investigation? I wonder if there will be a police presence increased at her house, like that of her daughter. Patrol cars in and out a lot there, makes you feel safe. Good to see at all hours of the night.

Anonymous said...

I truly hope that the Board of Education handles this as a serious issue and not back her just because they happen to be neighbors or friends. An educator needs to be compassionate, level headed and treat everyone, staff, students and visitors, with dignity and respect. If you want respect you must show respect it's not a given. If the allegations prove to be true than she should be relieved of her position.

Anonymous said...

That salary is about what Nj public school administrators earn.

Anonymous said...

Yes ..daughter is Hamilton mayor.

fashionable Char said...

I just came across these posts after addressing an issue at Absegami with Mr. Aron regarding my child and although the conversation with Mr. Aron was not going favorable, Dr. Gatto walked in Mr. Aron's office and said she is there to intervene and asked me "what has me so upset with HER PEOPLE". This question was very derogatory and I did not expect for Dr. Gatto to respond in this manner. I was then surprise to see this site and posts to understand that she has a habit of talking to people this way. I am in the process of taking further actions against Dr. Gatto, Mr. Aron and Absegami. I am asking that if there are any parents, teachers, students, etc. that would like to join in with me on the fight of fairness to our students at Absegami, please send me an email so we can put our complaints and plan together. I know there are some on here that are in favor of Dr. Gatto and I am thankful that you nor your kids have to experience her negativity but there are many of us that are going through something that is unfair especially from someone who's in a position of setting an astute example for others to follow. My email address is charoletts@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing you soon. thank you

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