Atlantic County commissioners' resolution questions state hiring practices

The Atlantic County Board of Commissioners overwhelmingly backed a resolution asking the governor's and attorney general's offices to investigate how state agencies hire those dealing with children.

The move was sparked by the hiring of Ka'yan Frazier as a Division of Child Protection and Permanency caseworker after he was fired from working as a substitute teacher in the Atlantic City School District.

He is now jailed after pleading guilty to child pornography.

A group of citizens brought their concerns to the commissioners at previous meetings.

Only Commissioner Ernest Coursey didn't vote.

"Under the advice from the attorney, I'm going to recuse myself," he said, before stepping outside for the duration of the discussion and vote.

It was not clear why he left the room. But the conflict could involve his work as Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small's chief of staff. Small and his wife, Dr. La'Quetta Small, have ties to Frazier.

The now-convicted child pornographer met his victim while working as a substitute teacher at Atlantic City's Pennsylvania Avenue School, where La'Quetta Small was the principal. She is also Frazier's cousin.

Emails obtained by BreakingAC showed that Small knew her cousin was having the boy sleep in his bed more than two months before she reported it.

Frazier was fired by the company that provides substitutes in 2017, after Small made several complaints about his outside contact with two students, which violates school protocol.

At the time, Small knew Frazier had the one boy sleeping over in his bed, but has claimed not to know of any abuse.

Many have questioned why she didn't notify police or do more to keep her cousin from having contact with children.

The Division of Children and Families investigated and found no wrongdoing. Eight months later, they hired Frazier as a caseworker for DCPP.

"A state agency that protects children gets in involved to investigate it, then they hire him?" asked Commissioner Frank Balles, who co-sponsored the resolution with Commissioner James Bertino. "How does that happen?"

Frazier was still working there when he was arrested in April 2019, for producing and sharing images and video of children being sexually abused, including the Atlantic City student.

"I am extremely grateful you guys came together and presented that resolution," said Tracy Thompson, a foster mom in the county who said she risked renewal by coming forward. "We need to know how he got hired after he was under investigation."

During the discussion, Bertino had them add a line to the resolution asking that the agencies "report back to us with facts and findings of the investigation."

"Do I really think they're going to get back to us?" Balles asked. "No."

The DCPP has long been the target of allegations and questions, but has been able to continue to operate with little if any oversight while keeping everything that goes on out of the public eye.

While the department has privacy protections for its clients, it uses them to cite why the agency nor state can make any public comments.

The call for an investigation comes as one for the Atlantic City Board of Education seems to have quietly ended without result.

In October of 2020, a split board voted to investigate the district's handling of Frazier's employment and eventual termination. But that has been stopped twice due to the board not wanting to pay more.

Sources have told BreakingAC that the investigation cost was exacerbated by lack of cooperation.

The first time the investigation stopped, a lawsuit by the boy's mother sparked residents to come out and ask questions. Then, the board voted to increase the amount they would pay. Now it seems the investigation has stopped again.

Part of the investigation questioned Small's handling of the issue, including that she never reported it to police nor asked that he be removed from the district. When she did file complaints, they asked that he be removed from her school.

But Small already had removed him from her school by telling Source4Teachers, the company that employed Frazier, he was no longer needed to cover the position he was subbing. She made no mention of any issues in that email.

She has since become the district's superintendent.

"How in the world did she get to be at the top spot in the school district after she allowed children of Atlantic City schools to be molested," David Callaway asked. "It's just mind-boggling."

Commissioner Richard Dase, a seventh-grade teacher in Galloway Township, said he was especially concerned as someone who may try to get help for troubled students.

"I want to know as a teacher that I'm not turning the lamb over to the wolf," he said.

Each member of the public who spoke on the issue Tuesday thanked the commissioners for acting on their concerns.

But Chairwoman Maureen Kern gave the concerned public the credit.

"It's you guys," she said. "You guys fought. We commend all of you for your passion and taking care of your children."