October 16, 2016
Source/Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School.
The administrators of a northern New Jersey high school canceled an annual homecoming election after it was discovered a large part of the student body planned to use their ballots as a tool to embarrass and bully a pair of vulnerable students.
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Officials with the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional School District, located in Monmouth County, called off the homecoming king and queen election on Thursday after votes revealed the students plotted to match unlikely partners in order to publicly shame them when the RFH Regional High School football team faced Saint John Vianney on Friday night, according to local news outlet RedBankGreen.
District superintendent Pete Righi called the rigged votes an act of "mass bullying" and said he was embarrassed by the incident.
Prior to the vote and the school's investigation, there had not been any complaints connected to RFH's LGBTQ community. Specific details of the collective scheme were not revealed.
RFH is regional, comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades.
Righi said the annual king and queen voted will eliminated in favor of an emphasis on the school's pregame carnival with foods, rides and music.
