SOMERDALE -- When 11-year-old Matthew Dieterle played trumpet in the Somerdale Park School holiday concert, his father held a cell phone in the air so his mother, who was home, could hear him play.

When it was time for parent-teacher conferences, Laura Dieterle told her husband, David, what to ask their children's teachers. And for Matthew's first basketball game, David Dieterle had to cheer loud enough for both parents.

"It wasn't the same when my mom wasn't there rooting for me," Matthew said. "She always used to be there all the time, and now she can't come on school property. So yeah, it's tough."

In a move that some education law experts say may be the first of its kind, the Somerdale school board unanimously voted in September to ban Laura Dieterle, 37, from school grounds.

CAMDEN  --  The scaffolding, teachers say, tells the story.

This temporary frame has surrounded the entrance of Camden High School all school year, holding up the school's facade as the inside crumbles: Graffiti is not just on the walls, but also on some ceilings, windows and floors. Drop ceilings have panels missing, allegedly because students kick them out for fun, and some bathrooms are missing paper towels and soap.

Beyond the deteriorating physical state of the 1,500-student high school, there are fewer teachers and security guards this year than last -- a fact that some staff members believe contributes to the recent violence.

A melee Dec. 14 ended in six arrests, arson forced an early dismissal Thursday and, so far this year, at least three teachers have been injured in altercations involving students, the district said.

Now, unusual steps are being taken to address the troubled school. During a 2 1/2-hour closed-door meeting Monday at the Camden High auditorium, more than 100 staff members told Superintendent Bessie LeFra Young and other district officials of their grievances.

Note: Covering the April school budget elections is a staple of New Jersey newspaper reporting. But what do these votes mean? For this article I surveyed more than 100 school districts in South Jersey to get a look at the effect of budget cuts on schools and students.

 

When Waterford's elementary students leave home to begin the new school year, they will board buses with drivers they've never seen. At school, they will learn Spanish from audiotapes. And forget field trips -- if they take any, the Home and School Association will have to foot the bill.

About a third of school districts in the tri-county region saw their spending plans defeated by tax-weary voters in April, prompting cuts that will be felt by students when most return this week: fewer teachers, bus routes, janitors, construction projects, special education aides and extracurricular activities.

Roof repair was delayed in Winslow. Assemblies were cut in Southampton. And the 860-student Harrison Township Elementary School was left without an assistant principal.

NOTE: This article became national news in hours. After learning of a peace rally through a press release, I researched the rapper who was performing. His lyrics were riddled with violent messages, so I contacted the sponsors of the concert, including the police. After the article ran, a protest was held against the rally, and the police withdrew sponsorship.

CAMDEN -- Despite objections from the police, a city and school district-sponsored "Peace On The Streets" rally Thursday night will feature a hip-hop artist whose lyrics appear to promote violence and silencing snitches.

The mayor's office said it has been assured that the artist, Swizz Beatz, no longer raps about hard-core violence and will bring a positive message to teens expected to attend.

But Swizz Beatz's current single, "It's Me Snitches," includes two lines that say: "Freeze, you know who it is / It's me, snitches!" and "I ain't gonna shoot ya / I could just choke ya."

CAMDEN -- Over at McGraw Elementary School this year, there was a 27-year-old preschool teacher, Ryan Ratajski, bouncing around with the little ones and putting aside some of his salary for the family he's about to build.

In a first-grade classroom at Catto Elementary School stood Tia McIntosh -- 26 years old and passionately committed to children in the city. She planned to spend her entire career in Camden.

Meanwhile, Norm Dorrell, 41, a self-described "itinerant music teacher," shuffled between Catto and Dudley elementary schools, carrying a music bag with his own African drum, CDs and song sheets.

But that was last school year. This year, these teachers are among 171 school employees who were laid off as the cash-starved district tries to stem an estimated $20 million deficit.

WINSLOW -- The students called their parents at work and text messaged their cell phones. We're stuck in the school, they said. We don't know why, but there's a SWAT team roaming the halls and frisking students.

So, once again, parents rushed to Winslow Township High School last month to find a jarring scene: A dozen police cars, three news helicopters and students sticking their heads and arms out of second-floor windows. 

More than 100 parents massed outside, taunting Superintendent Daniel Swirsky with names like "Mister Softee" and chants of "talk to us." Escorted into the crowd by the police chief, Swirsky said there was a report of a man with a gun and students would be home soon. 

No gun was found and each student returned home safely, but the damage had been done. It was another in a series of recurring public relations nightmares for the district: Gun sightings without guns, a bomb scare without a bomb and a fight rumor that results in a daylong lockdown, but no fight.

CAMDEN -- A Camden schools employee was issued $130,000 since his death in 1974 while paychecks also were printed for three others with birth dates in the future, according to an audit of the district that found sweeping financial mismanagement.

The court-ordered audit released by the state Department of Education on Tuesday shows widespread irregularities in record-keeping; hundreds of "questionable" financial transactions; contracts for transportation and other services awarded without competition; and 996 instances of vendors being paid more than the purchase-order amount.

Of 334 purchasing transactions analyzed, 264 lacked appropriate documentation or were otherwise "questionable," the report found. The audit did not identify the dead workers or those with birth dates in the future.

I can't possibly explain how little desire I have to see Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. Not only that, on this, the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, I don't particularly want to watch any retrospectives on TV or hear any more stories about building monuments at ground zero.

In fact, I don't want to write this very column, and I wouldn't read what I'm writing if I wasn't, well, actually writing it.

This all has a lot to do with the fact that I was in New York City that day, and I watched as the second tower collapsed in front of me into a massive ball of dust. But this isn't a you-don't-know-because- you-weren't-there kind of thing. It's really about how my memories from Sept. 11 are already so fragile and fragmented that I don't need Hollywood, Rudy Guiliani or some random commentator confusing them any further. 

Courier-Post investigative report. Two articles.

Rape victims in Camden County are increasingly being denied immediate, round-the-clock treatment because of a severe shortage of specialized nurses, according to rape counselors and nurses.

This means victims are sometimes forced to wait in emergency rooms for hours on end and told to preserve their own evidence by refraining from showering, eating, drinking water, brushing their teeth and changing their underwear.

BEVERLY -- The driver of a rental truck that struck and killed an 11-year-old boy as it crashed into a house on Tuesday was drunk and is being held at Burlington County Jail on $200,000 bail, police said.

GLOUCESTER CITY -- Inside the squalid one-room apartment where Lisa Hoopes lay dead for 36 hours last weekend, blood is still splattered on the blue carpeting, brown suede couch, large television and radiator.

TRENTON -- The state Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could make New Jersey the second state to legalize gay marriage.