A South Jersey school principal is accused of misconduct for failing to report allegations of child abuse, authorities said Thursday.
Atlantic City High School Principal Constance Days-Chapman is charged with official misconduct, hindering apprehension of another, obstruction of justice and failure to report child abuse, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Attorney information for Days-Chapman was not immediately available.
The principal, according to a criminal complaint, intentionally avoiding filing a report with child protective services as an attempt to avert an investigation into the student’s parents.
In January, a student at the school allegedly told a staff member they had been emotionally and physically abused by the their parents, and the student had told the principal about the abuse. The staff member allegedly confronted Days-Chapman about the incident.
Days-Chapman denied the student told her about the alleged abuse and said she would contact the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, prosecutors said.
The agency, which is overseen by the state Department of Children and Families, said it never received any report about the abuse allegations from the principal, according to prosecutors.
Instead of contacting child protection officials, Days-Chapman met with the student’s parents at their home to inform them of their child’s allegations, prosecutors said. It was unclear Thursday if any action was taken by police following the abuse allegations.
Days-Chapman has been employed by the district since 2008, according to state pension records. Her latest listed annual salary is about $112,000.
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
