Thursday, November 17, 2016

NEW CHS BASEBALL COACH HIRED: FISCHETTI ERA OVER

The departure of former Columbia High School baseball coach Joe Fischetti is now complete as the school board on Wednesday night approved the hiring of a new varsity baseball coach.

The board voted to hire James Whalen, a physical education teacher at Valley View Middle School in Denville. He will be paid $6,566 in the part-time position with his start date set for March 30, 2017.




Whalen has served as assistant baseball coach at West Essex High School in North Caldwell since 2002.

The hiring ends a very lengthy and difficult time for the baseball program, which saw Fischetti accused of several instances of harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB) dating back two years. 

Those claims led to the hiring of an outside investigator last spring to look into the charges and the school board's decision to search for another coach for the 2017 season. One former student, David DeFranco, also filed a lawsuit against Fischetti, other coaches and the district claiming abusive treatment, which has yet to go to court.

Fischetti, a tenured physical education teacher at CHS, remains in that teaching position.

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