( CNN ) -- A New Jersey school employee is under fire for enlisting an impersonator to fill in for Lady Gaga , who was slated to talk to elementary school students about the dangers of bullying , school officials said . Tenafly Public Schools administrators were alerted of the gaffe by one school-aged Lady Gaga fan who was n't fooled by a phony autographed photo of the pop star , superintendent Lynn Trager said . `` We are all disappointed and surprised , '' said Trager , who outlined the details of the May 25 stunt in a letter sent to elementary school parents in the district last week . According to the letter , the staff member who arranged for Lady Gaga to give an anti-bullying presentation to students via Skype claimed to have a personal relationship with the singer . But in the 11th hour , Lady Gaga backed out . `` Knowing how disappointed the children would be , without authorization the staff developer made arrangements for an impersonator to take Lady Gaga 's place -- a clear lapse in judgment , '' the letter said . During the presentation , the impersonator claimed her microphone was n't working and typed to students instead of speaking , Trager said . School officials were tipped off to the incident by a skeptical student who was n't convinced by the autographed photo of Lady Gaga that was distributed to students during the presentation . `` It was a student who discovered that the handwriting did n't look real to her , '' Trager said of how administrators were informed of the scam . The district immediately informed parents and suspended all future Skype guests . `` As soon as we discovered this we felt we owed it to the parents and students to be honest , '' Trager added . She would not comment on what actions , if any , are being taken against the school employee behind the Lady Gaga-swapping caper . In the letter to parents , Trager said she does not believe the employee intended to be malicious . `` Although her actions were inexcusable , I do believe that this was a misguided attempt to reward the children for their diligent preparation for the NJ ASK test , '' the letter reads , referring to a state standardized test , the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge .
Elementary school teacher said she could get celebrity to speak . Last - minute substitute typed instead of speaking . New school superintendent said he was ` ` misguided ''