EDISON - Tenure charges have been filed against the custodian at James Monroe Elementary School in Edison charged with starting the fire that destroyed the building in March.

Jerome C. Higgins, 48, of East Brunswick, tossed an unfinished portion of a cigarette into a trash can inside the school before he left the building, resulting in an inferno that consumed the 50-year-old building on March 22.

Higgins was charged with a petty disorderly persons offense for smoking inside the school by Middlesex County acting Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey on March 24.

But for school officials forced to relocate more than 450 students and pay for a new school, the charges aren't enough.

"It is beyond the word ridiculous that a man can burn down a school building and get by with nothing more than a traffic ticket," Superintendent Richard O'Malley said. "Therefore, the district had to act and yesterday we began the process of filing tenure charges against Mr. Higgins. He needs to be held accountable for his actions."

Tenure charges could result in Higgins termination. He is currently suspended.

Higgins is charged with neglect, misbehavior, insubordination, intentional violation of the law and school policies, as well as negligent disregard for the safety, health and well-being of employees according the sworn tenure charges.

Documents state that Higgins lied to James Monroe Elementary Principal Lynda Zapoticzny on the night of the fire.

"Knowing that Higgins is a heavy smoker, Ms. Zapoticzny asked him if he had been smoking in the building to which Higgins responded, 'no, absolutely not.' This statement was an intentional and knowing lie, calculated to cover up his wrong doing and to deceive his Principal."

Higgins admitted that he had been smoking in the school a day later while being interrogated by the police and prosecutor's detectives.

According to James Monroe Elementary teacher Kimberly Duhamel, Higgins approached her on March 23 at Zapoticzny's home.

"He hugged me and started apologizing - saying 'I'm so sorry Kim, I'm so sorry," Duhamel said in a statement. "He said he was sorry about the school - that he always runs his cigarettes under water and wraps them in a tissue before throwing them in the garbage."

Higgins, who has worked for the district for 24 years, has said he felt "horrible" about what happened.

"I want people to know that I love their kids," he told the Star-Ledger in March. "There was nothing that could be worse in my life than for me to displace 500 children and inconvenience and hurt their families."

Students moved into the space at Middlesex County College in March. However, the school will move again to a vacant parochial school in Iselin this September.

The district plans on building a new school on the former Sharp Road site and the school board has already requested proposals from architects for designs.