Quest for restitution from former Edison school custodian ends

• A judge has ruled Jerome Higgins does not have to pay restitution for smoking at an Edison school
• Higgins was smoking at James Monroe Elementary School in 2014 before a fire broke out that destroyed the building
• The new James Monroe School is being rebuilt on Sharp Road and is scheduled to open this fall

EDISON - A nearly two-year court case aimed at requiring a former school head custodian to pay restitution for smoking at an elementary school that was destroyed in a six-alarm fire on March 22, 2014 ended Tuesday without the requirement of any payment.

During a brief court hearing, Municipal Court Judge Gary Price said he will honor the request of the Edison Board of Education not to pursue restitution.

"That will conclude this matter," said Price, noting the fines and penalties have already been paid. "There are no further proceedings in that case."

"It turned out the way it should have turned out right from the beginning," Jerome Higgins, the former James Monroe Elementary School facilities manager, said as he left the courtroom.

"I didn't do it,"said  the East Brunswick resident, apparently referring to the fire that destroyed the school which is being rebuilt with plans to open in time for the 2016-17 school year.

Higgins attorney, Lawrence Y. Bitterman, said the judge did the right thing because the Board of Education wasn't seeking restitution.

Edison Superintendent  of Schools Richard O'Malley, however,  said the insurance company, not the school district brought the matter to court.

"Anytime the court needed factual information, they relied upon us to provide it. Therefore, we are not directly involved in this matter," O'Malley said in an e-mail comment.

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In September 2014 Higgins pleaded guilty to smoking in public, a petty disorderly persons offense, and was ordered to pay a $200 fine and court costs. The charge was changed from improperly discarding a cigarette.

Price said at that time the court felt it was necessary to consider restitution but was also aware of pending civil actions in the case.

Municipal Prosecutor Tara Auciello said the school district's legal counsel has advised her the district no longer wishes to pursue restitution and she memorialized that position in a correspondence to Price, Bitterman and the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, the municipal court's legal department and the court administrator.

Price said the victim is the most important when it comes to restitution and since the district is not seeking restitution, he will honor that request.

Higgins was working at the school on March 22, 2014 when he lit a cigarette, smoked it and put it out. Bitterman has said the act of lighting a cigarette in the building is a statute violation. Higgins case was by investigated by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, and he was not charged with arson, aggravated arson or any offense that suggests his actions caused the fire.

Investigators from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office determined that Higgins smoked a cigarette inside the one-story Sharp Road school building on March 22, 2014 and tossed an unfinished portion into a trash can in the custodian's office, where it apparently caught fire and spread through the school. The building did not have fire sprinklers because it was built before they were required.

Higgins resigned from the district June 30, 2014 for retirement. He had worked in the district for 25 years, and four months. He was assigned to James Monroe for the 2013-14 school year as facilities manager, overseeing custodial operations.

As facilities manager, Higgins was responsible for checking the school on weekends. School security system records show that he entered the school, located on a cul-de-sac in a residential neighborhood off Grandview Avenue, at 4:51 p.m. March 22, 2014 and left at 5:14 p.m. Records show that he was the only person in the school until the time of the fire at about 7:45 p.m.

The charred remains of the 1960s school had to be demolished and the school's 500 students, teachers, staff and principal were displaced.

Construction is underway on the new James Monroe Elementary school expected to be completed in mid-August, just in time to welcome the 453 students in kindergarten to fifth grade back to their neighborhood school for the Sept. 6 first day of class. For the last two years the students have been bused to the former St. Cecelia's School in the Iselin section of Woodbridge.

Staff Writer Suzanne Russell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com.