The heinous allegations read like a horror story for parents: an elementary school custodian in Cumberland County accused of urinating and spitting on school cafeteria cooking utensils, rubbing his genitals on food and performing sex acts on library furniture, while videoing himself to share online.
The custodian — Giovanni Impellizzeri, 25, of Vineland — was arrested last week and charged with second degree official misconduct, third degree aggravated assault, third degree tampering with food, endangering the welfare of another and attempted endangering the welfare of children.
But the allegations involving the Upper Deerfield Township School District also raise questions about school custodians and cafeteria workers. Namely, what type of certifications or requirements must they meet — if any — to be hired in New Jersey?
In short, not many, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association.
School custodians, like all school employees whose work involves regular contact with students, are subject to a criminal background check for public school employment, said Janet Bamford, the NJSBA chief public affairs officer.
Beyond that, “NJSBA is not aware of any specific certification required by custodians” at the state level, Bamford said.
The state Department of Education did not immediately respond to an NJ Advance Media request for comment.
Custodians and café workers could be asked to pass additional requirements from individual school districts, such as physical exams and drug testing, Bamford added.
Many boards of education, for example, require custodians to have a “black seal license,” which allows them to operate boilers in buildings. Anyone who is employed as a “buildings and grounds supervisor” is required to be a Certified Educational Facilities Manager (CEFM), a certification administered by the NJDOE’s Office of School Facilities.
But there do not appear to be any statewide regulations preventing school custodians and café workers from going wherever they want on school grounds, both inside and out of the building.
In the case of Impellizzeri, authorities received multiple anonymous tips regarding “alarming posts” he allegedly made in a group chat on the messaging app Telegram, according to court documents.
A tipster reported that Impellizzeri posted videos of himself “performing sexual acts with items from the school, as well as doing things that would endanger the well-being of the students at the school,” police stated.
The videos allegedly show Impellizzeri spraying bleach in a large container of cucumbers, spitting on utensils, rubbing his genitals on utensils and food, urinating in bowls and opening up a beanbag chair in the library and urinating into it, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed with the charges.
“Video showed Giovanni Impellizzeri utilized multiple pieces of bread to wipe his penis, testicles, and anus, as well as spitting on the bread, before putting the bread back into the container to be later served to children at the school,” police stated in the affidavit. He was also seen “masturbating and urinating on pillows and kitchen bowls.”
Investigators went to the Elizabeth F. Moore School, which has about 250 students, and verified locations seen in the videos and recovered items matching or resembling those seen in the videos.
Officials are trying to determine if the alleged acts occurred recently or in the past, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office. Impellizzeri has been employed by the district since September 2019.
The incident sent shockwaves throughout the state, as news of the horrifying allegations spread. An advocacy group is calling for an independent investigation.
“This incident is beyond deplorable, which appears to have been caused by an employee of their district,” the Puerto Rican Action Committee of Southern New Jersey said Saturday.
“The independent investigation should be conducted by the state to provide answers to the parents and students,” the action committee said in specifying that it should be led by New Jersey’s education department.
The latest U.S. Census data indicates almost 6% of residents in Upper Deerfield were born outside the U.S. and 18% identify as Hispanic or Latino. Within the school district, the Hispanic population has grown to 32% from 25% three years ago, and almost half of the student population is economically disadvantaged.
NJ Advance Media staff writers Matt Gray and Matthew Enuco contributed to this report.
Our journalism needs your support. Please consider subscribing to NJ.com.
Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.