Fired Perth Amboy teacher loses license for students' 'Truth or Dare' game

PERTH AMBOY - The state Department of Education has upheld the teaching license revocation of a former Perth Amboy High School teacher who allowed students to play "Truth or Dare," which resulted in a boy touching the breast of a girl and another female student performing a lap dance with a boy.

In a decision released on Monday, the Department of Education agreed with a December ruling by the State Board of Examiners to formally take away the license of Vincent Cinquina not only for the lap dancing incident, but for calling the cops when the principal came to his classroom to observe his teaching.

The Department of Education agreed with the Board of Examiners' finding that Cinquina's actions "clearly indicate a repeated lack of the necessary self-restraint and controlled behavior expected in an educator."

Cinequina appealed the Board of Examiners' decision to the Department of Education, but the acting commissioner of education found the appeal was filed too late and there was not "sufficient evidence" to show the board's decision was "arbitrary, capricious or contrary to law."

Cinequana sill has the option of appealing the Department of Education's decision to the Appellate Division of Superior Court.

Cinquina, who was hired in 2005 and was last assigned to the high school and adult high school, "has revealed an inability to adhere to fundamental standards of professional conduct ... and to exercise the restraint and sound judgment essential for any education," an arbitrator wrote in a 2020 decision supporting the Perth Amboy Board of Education's decision to bring tenure charges against him.

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Though the immediate cause for the board to file tenure charges center around events in May 2018, Cinquina contended in the arbitration that he had been the victim of discrimination dating to December 2012. Cinquina argued that he had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sparked by a dispute over a parking space at the school in which security officers had to escort him from school property and his vehicle was towed.

Cinquina was placed on administrative leave following that incident and did not return until February 2016.

Two years later on May 1, 2018, according to the arbitrator's decision, Cinquina was supervising a ninth grade English class while another teacher was absent. While the other teacher had left activities for the students, including questions on readings, some of the students did not want to do the assignment and instead wanted to play "Truth or Dare," Cinquina testified at the arbitration hearing.

It's a game commonly played by the students, he said, and dares might include saying nice things about a teacher or doing something crazy with their hair. He testified he gave the students a list of questions to use, but they were permitted to create their own.

Cinquina then put on some music and went around to help the students who were performing their assignments in another part of the classroom.

However, as one student testified, the game progressed to boys and girls kissing each other and at least one of the girls took a dare to perform a lap dance with a boy and another girl performed a lap dance with a girl.

The student testified that Cinquina did not say anything while that was happening.

The student, testifying with what the arbitrator called "hesitance and expressing remorse," testified he had taken a dare to touch a girl's breast. The student did not know whether Cinquina had seen the act.

Another student testified that one of the dares was a student to lick the floor.

That student also testified that when one of the lap dances started, someone started playing dance music on a phone and Cinquina asked that the volume to be turned down.

After the class ended, another student told a vice principal what had happened, prompting an investigation. The state's Department of Children and Families was notified.

But that investigation found that neglect and inadequate supervision had not been established.

Ten days later, on May 11, the school's principal came into Cinquina's classroom to observe him. A student testified that Cinquina "called the cops on her in class." The student said she was unnerved by the presence of the police, while another teacher in the room told students to look at the blackboard and not what was happening at the rear of the classroom.

During the confrontation between Cinquina and administrator, he raised his voice and asked her to leave, saying he was going to call the police because he was being harassed. He then left the room and called police.

When police arrived, the officers told Cinquina it was not a police matter, and he should contact his union representative.

Later that day, Cinquina was placed on administrative leave and the tenure charges followed.

In his defense, Cinquina said he has been discriminated against because of his PTSD and the belief he was violent. However, the arbitrator found, that "there is no evidence in dealing with (his) sometimes peculiar and concerning approaches to communication, the administrators at any time portrayed (him) ... as a danger."

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Fired Perth Amboy teacher loses license for students' 'Truth or Dare' game