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Former students confront Leonia Board, allege decades‑old abuse and say board concealed reports
Summary
Multiple former students told the Leonia Board of Education on June 17 that they are survivors of sexual abuse by a former teacher and accused the district and prior officials of hiding reports; the board read a statement describing existing policies and said it cannot comment further because of active litigation.
Multiple people who identified themselves as survivors of sexual abuse by a former Leonia teacher spoke at the Leonia Board of Education meeting on June 17, urging the board to acknowledge past failures and to change district practice. Acting Superintendent Dr. Karamanos opened the public portion of the meeting with a prepared statement describing district policies, mandatory reporting procedures and training, and said the board cannot answer further questions because the district is currently involved in active litigation.
The complaint and the public response: Dan Sliderman, who identified himself at the podium as a survivor, told the board he and other victims had repeatedly reported alleged wrongdoing and that, in his view, the district “have done nothing but hide it, cover it up” since a 2019 New Jersey law on abuse was passed. Mike Gonzales said he was abused “over 500 times” by the same teacher and described long‑term harm to himself and his family. Several other speakers, including a man who gave his name as Joey and Paul King, described decades of trauma and urged the board to engage directly with survivors.
Acting Superintendent Dr. Karamanos said the statement he was reading summarized the district’s current policies and procedures for preventing and responding to abuse, including criminal background checks, employee screening, mandated reporter training and the district’s confidential tip line. He said the district is bound by counsel’s advice not to discuss active litigation and quoted the school board code of ethics, telling the public that “the board will not be making any further comments or answer questions pertaining to active litigation.”
What the district says it does: Dr. Karamanos’ statement, posted on the district website and read to the audience, listed specific policies and processes the district said it follows: criminal history record checks for staff, volunteers and contractors; employment screening that contacts prior employers for staff with regular student contact; mandatory training on recognizing and reporting abuse; electronic‑communication restrictions for staff; and a confidential tip line (currently Rave, planned to switch to StopIt with the new website). The statement also said the district is a signatory to the uniform state memorandum of agreement with law enforcement requiring notification of potential crimes on school property or reasonable belief of child abuse to appropriate agencies, including the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.
Survivors’ asks and board limits: Speakers asked the board to adopt additional independent review and oversight steps similar to third‑party reviews used by some youth organizations, and to make reporting and support more accessible so victims feel safe coming forward. Several speakers said they had tried to report abuse years earlier and were ignored. The board’s public statement and counsel’s advice constrain what board members said they could respond to at the meeting; President Lee and other members accepted public comment and then moved the meeting toward executive session for issues the board said are personnel or litigation related.
What happened next: After the public comments, the board announced it would go into executive session for personnel matters and other items that cannot be discussed publicly. The board’s counsel advised that, because of active litigation, the board would not provide additional comments on the matter during the open meeting.
Ending: Several speakers urged the board to establish a community‑facing process for accountability and survivor support; board members and the acting superintendent said the district’s policies are publicly available on the district website and that the board is constrained by legal advice while litigation is ongoing. The public may comment again on non‑agenda items in later meetings but, per counsel’s advice, the board declined further public discussion on the pending litigation at this session.
