Weekly Roundup: Bus driver charges, Seneca employee of the month, construction

Catch up on what happened this week in Shamong.

State police charge school bus driver for allegedly watching pornography in front of children

The New Jersey State Police have arrested Franck Lafortune, 64, of Burlington Township, N.J. for allegedly watching pornography in front of children on a school bus.

Superintendent Christine Vespe stated that the driver has been suspended and will have no further involvement with the Shamong School District. The safety of the students, staff and community are not at risk. The school district will continue to work with law enforcement on this ongoing investigation.

More information can be found here.

Seneca names Christine Gerber as February employee of the month

The Lenape Regional High School District has long been a backdrop in Christine Gerber’s life — in her childhood years she looked up to her father, who was a long-time educator at Shawnee High School, in her teen years she attended Shawnee, and in her adult life she returned to the district, becoming an educator Seneca since 2004.

Gerber is highly involved in the Seneca community, teaching accelerated pre-calculus, trigonometry and statistics college prep, support lab and algebra 2 college prep.

Gerber has been involved in the girls softball team since its start, with this marking her third year as head coach. She is the head boys swim coach, which she stumbled into after the team needed assistance almost 10 years ago.

Gerber is an advisor for the Goldies, an award show put on at the end of every year, highlighting athletes for their success throughout the season.

Above all else, Gerber has been recognized as employee of the month for her contributions as a mentor.

The full story can be found here.

Township moves forward with plans to construct rotary

At this week’s meeting, the Shamong Township Committee reviewed the Burlington County engineer’s concept plan to put a rotary at the intersection of Route 541 and Willow Grove Road.

Township Administrator Sue Onorato said the county determined the intersection was in the top 20 worst intersections in the state and top four worst intersections in the county, and therefore suggested a rotary be implemented to reduce incidents.

Dan Guzzi, township engineer, stated the project cost is expected to be about $20 million, however, the federal government will fund the entire project, including property acquisition and improvements/maintenance associated with it. There will be no municipal cost.

The full story can be found here.