A vice principal at Gateway Regional High School was charged with stealing students' prescription drugs from the nurse's office, Woodbury Heights police disclosed yesterday.

Philip Bevilacqua, 41, of Pitman, middle school vice principal at the 7th-through-12th-grade Gloucester County school, was arrested Wednesday following a six-week investigation, according to Woodbury Heights Acting Police Chief George Lindsay.

Lindsay said the medications taken were Adderall and Ritalin. Both drugs are stimulants used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Police had been notified in March by the Gateway superintendent's office that prescription medicine belonging to students and stored in the nurse's office was missing.

Police began an investigation with the cooperation of the superintendent's office, the nurse, the students and their parents. The police also had pharmacies' and doctors' cooperation in replacing the missing medicine, according to Lindsay.

The medication was properly stored and double-locked.

The latest thefts are alleged to have occurred on April 2 and 25 and Wednesday.

Wednesday evening, Bevilacqua was charged with theft and illegal possession of controlled dangerous substances, and official misconduct.

The vice principal had been with the district for about five years, said district business administrator Bruce Finkle.

"We feel very badly about it," Finkle said. "He's a colleague, and it's a reflection on the district."

Staff, faculty and students were told about the arrest yesterday morning, he said. Parents were informed by telephone, as well.

Bevilacqua was put on administrative leave with pay and released pending a grand jury hearing.

The school in Woodbury Heights serves about 1,000 students from Woodbury Heights, National Park, Wenonah and Westville.