Hi my name is Lou Cerchio and my family needs your help. We are in a legal battle with the Scotch Plains Fanwood BOE. My wife Lisa has served as Head Varsity Gymnastics Coach at SPFHS for 16 seasons from 2004-2019.

Publicly filed Court documents before the Office of Administrative Law reveal as follows:

At the conclusion of the Fall 2019 season after winning the County Championship, a student made a bullying allegation against Coach Cerchio, while attempting to collect equipment at the conclusion of the season. This was the result of Coach Cerchio following direct instructions from her supervisor in an attempt to return past due equipment to the school. This bullying claim was investigated by two administrators; one of which instructed Coach Cerchio to collect the student’s equipment in the manner in which it was, but failed to mention his instructions during the investigation. The BOE ignored ten adult witnesses who were present during this exchange who vouched that no such display of bullying occurred.

Subsequently Coach Cerchio was removed as head coach after 16 years of impeccable evaluations and replaced with a new coach who has no experience coaching at the high school level.

Our family has been under financial stress and incredible social pressure during the last two years of litigation. We have paid for our own legal counsel up to this point and shed too many tears to count. We have three daughters who are competitive gymnasts, and their dreams to become members of the SPF Raider Gymnastics program have been shattered. If you can support us in any way it will be greatly appreciated. We are praying the truth will eventually be told as we have exhausted every option to resolve this matter before it heads to full litigation.