The school board for the Sayreville (N.J.) school district voted Tuesday evening not to reinstate George Najjar, the head coach of Sayreville War Memorial High School football team, as a teacher after the hazing scandal that emerged last month.
According to Greg Tufaro of MyCentralJersey.com, the board unanimously voted to reinstate four other football coaches—top assistant Michael Novak (physical education), assistant Mark Poore (physical education), head freshman coach Ed Mish (science), and assistant freshman coach Tim Ballard (social studies). The board also approved action that prevents Mish and Ballard from receiving their scheduled salary increases in the 2015-16 school year.
The board initially upheld the suspensions for all five coaches last month, and also reduced their coaching stipends at that time.
“Tonight we are moving forward as a school district,” Superintendent Richard Labbe said, according to a statement released following the vote, per Tufaro. “The actions taken by the board are the next step in this process. Our investigation is ongoing.”
Seven players have been charged with an assortment of sex crimes stemming from the alleged hazing, which took place during a week-and-a-half span beginning in mid-September.