Constance Days-Chapman
The Atlantic City High School principal accused of failing to report abuse allegations by the daughter of the city's first family is due in court Tuesday.
Constance Days-Chapman is charged with official misconduct, along with hindering apprehension of another, obstruction of justice and failure to report child abuse.
This will be her first appearance in court since charges were filed against her in March. Her attorney previously waived her first appearance in court.
The same day Days-Chapman's charges were announced, the home of Mayor Marty Small and his superintendent wife, Dr. La'Quetta Small, was searched.
They were later charged with various counts of abuse and child endangerment for allegedly attacking their 16-year-old daughter. Mayor Small is accused of knocking the girl unconscious during one alleged attack involving a broom.
A tort claim filed by the girl's boyfriend claims the Smalls also tried to destroy evidence in the case.
The teen first went to Days-Chapman — a family friend the Small kids know as "Aunt Mandy" — but the abuse was never reported, according to the charges.
The girl later disclosed the accusations to another school employee, saying she had notified Days-Chapman. The then-principal denied she knew of the allegations, and insisted she would report them, the charges claim.
Instead, she is accused of going to the Smalls about what their daughter alleged. The Division of Child Protection and Permanency, formerly known as DYFS, had no record of any reports filed, according to the charges.
As a principal, she is a mandatory reporter, meaning she has to take any allegation of abuse to DCPP.
The High School now has an interim principal, although the school district's leadership has refused to clarify how that happened and if Days-Chapman stepped down or was removed. It is also unclear whether she is being paid.
Meanwhile, Superintendent Small has remained in her top spot, with no public response from the Board of Education about the criminal charges despite five meetings since they were filed. Two of those meetings were held specifically to discuss the superintendent.
There has been some movement, with the board hiring special counsel to advise them on the superintendent's employment. A week later, that attorney was quietly taken into a closed session of the board.
The board also has voted on two doctrines of necessity, which allow conflicted board members to vote on issues they normally are barred from weighing in on due to ethics rules.
There are currently five board members who are conflicted due to family members being employed by the district.
One of the doctrines allows the conflicted members to discuss the superintendent's employment. The other lets them discuss the assistant superintendent's employment.
