A former tenured ROTC instructor got his license suspended for two years after he was accused of flipping off a student, swearing at another and other inappropriate behavior, the state ruled.
Shellie Mackson resigned from the Passaic County Technical Institute, after the school brought tenure charges against him for alleged misconduct, according to the decision posted by the State Board of Examiners.
The school claimed in the charges that Mackson stroked another student's hair and kissed her on the lips, touched other students' buttocks, and made unwanted physical contact with another faculty member, according to the board's decision.
Mackson denied the claims to the state.
The state's investigation began in 2014 and found that Mackson, in his first months of teaching at the school in 2004, cursed at a student and gave the middle finger to another student after he was disruptive in class. He later apologized for both incidents.
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Among the state's other findings were that he asked a student if she needed help with her belt during a uniform inspection, which was part of his job as the NJROTC instructor.
Mackson allegedly placed his hand on her buttocks and said "firm," or something to that effect. The student said she didn't feel like his touch was "sexual in nature," according to the board's decision.
Regarding the kissing, the state found the student's testimony to be "too contradictory to give credence to her allegations." The state conceded that while Mackson's comment about a student's buttocks firmness was inappropriate, it might have been in reference to how she should wear her uniform.
The state determined that act inappropriately by hugging a fellow teacher and did not adhere to prior warnings about physical contact with a student when he pulled a student's hair back to show how it should fit under a hat.
After Mackson resigned, he worked for more than a year as a ROTC instructor in the Asbury Park schools, The Record reported.
An administrative judge found that Mackson engaged in "inappropriate behavior toward certain students and staff," at the technical institute but found that his behavior did not rise "to such a level of gravity warranting license revocation," according to the decision.
The judge recommended his license be suspended for two years and he complete sexual harassment training.
The board agreed to suspended Mackson's Teacher of Military Science certificate, which he's had since 2005, for two years, but dropped the training requirement.
A spokesperson for the Passaic County Technical Institute did not immediately return requests for comment. Mackson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sara Jerde may be reached at sjerde@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SaraJerde.
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