Vo-tech principal gets drunken-driving charge
BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer

Paul LaPilusa

EAST BRUNSWICK - The principal of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High School was arrested Friday afternoon and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Paul LaPilusa, 47, principal of the Rues Lane school, also received summonses for driving with an open container of alcohol, reckless driving and failure to maintain a lane, according to police.

Police had stopped LaPilusa, of Sparta, at 4:47 p.m. Friday after observing his failure to keep within the lane in which he was traveling, on Summerhill Road near the Brunswick Square Mall, according to Lt. William Krause. After further investigation, the officer who stopped LaPilusa believed that he was intoxicated, and found open bottles of alcohol inside his black 2007 Mercedes, police said.

LaPilusa was not in school Tuesday, but officials would not say whether he had been suspended from his duties. The votech school district's superintendent, Karen McCloud-Hjazeh, said she could not comment because it is a personnel matter.

"Certainly anything involving our students' welfare is foremost in our schools," she said. "We at the school stand ready to always fully cooperate with our local police department."

Areceptionist at the high school, reached Tuesday, said she did not know whether LaPilusa would return to school the following day, and a woman who answered the phone at LaPilusa's residence said he was not at home.

Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools Board of Education President John Bicsko declined to comment on the matter, saying school administrators are handling the issue.

County Freeholder Ronald Rios, chairman of the Committee of Public Health and Education, also said he did not want to comment on the situation, because it involves personnel issues. Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel deferred to school administrators.

"I didn't know anybody was in trouble," Crabiel said.

The East Brunswick Vocational and Technical High School offers career majors in art and design, automotive and fabrication technology, construction technology, performing arts, professional and consumer services, and career development.