PA board, Scarantino reach deal

YATESVILLE – Pittston+Area+School+District%22>Pittston Area School District Superintendent Ross Scarantino’s 42-year career at his alma mater ended officially Monday night during a special meeting of the school board at Pittston Area High School.

Board members unanimously approved firing Scarantino, 64, by accepting a settlement and termination agreement with Scarantino, just moments before voting unanimously to hire George Cosgrove, 57, as the district’s new superintendent.

Board Solicitor Joe Saporito said by Scarantino approving the agreement he admitted he was fired for cause and has no recourse to appeal the decision to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.

The district did pay Scarantino a small severance package for his vacation days and a portion of his sick days, but saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in other contract benefits that Scarantino will not receive as part of the agreement.

Ambiguous wording in Scarantino’s contract, which was originally approved in 2005, when he was hired as superintendent and was set to expire in August 2010, required he be paid for up to 30 unused vacation days at his regular salary and all unused sick days at a rate of $100 per day if he was ever terminated for any reason.

Board members agreed to pay Scarantino for 30 days of vacation time at his regular salary and 125 of his 447 sick days at $100 per day for a grand total of $22,158.That was a small price to pay, board members said, for ending this contract with the embattled superintendent, who pled guilty in late May to federal corruption charges.

Scarantino will not receive district-paid life insurance, medical insurance or the remainder of his 2009 salary, any money for 332 of his sick days or 70 percent of his salary for five years, saving the district a grand total of $310,296.

Scarantino, a Duryea resident, and his attorneys, Phil Gelso and Frank Nocito, approved the agreement Friday, Saporito said.

Since Scarantino cannot seek any damages or appeal the board’s decision to terminate him, the district will save an undetermined amount of money in legal fees, Saporito said.

“I feel everything is behind us now. We have a new superintendent. …We are ready to move forward beginning with the next school year to make Pittston Area the best school district it can be,” board member Bob Linskey said.

Scarantino, Gelso and Nocito did not attend Monday’s meeting. Scarantino was unavailable for comment Monday night.

Scarantino was the only person from the Pittston Area School District charged in the FBI’s probe of Luzerne County school districts. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, but that only applies if the defendant has a prior record and other aggravating factors are presented. In early May, he submitted a letter of resignation to the board to originally be effective Aug. 3.

A member of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Scranton also approved the agreement, which will allow Gelso and Nocito to receive the payment on Scarantino’s behalf as an escrow account.

It’s still unknown if Scarantino will receive his pension from the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System because of his legal problems. When contacted last week, PSERS spokeswoman Evelyn Tatkovski said the agency’s legal department was still reviewing Scarantino’s case to determine if he violated the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act.

The act says members can lose their retirement benefits if they have been convicted or plead guilty or no contest to a variety of crimes – including theft by deception or extortion, theft of services and bribery.

Cosgrove, of Laflin, will begin his superintendent duties Wednesday. He took the reins as substitute superintendent in April after Scarantino requested a leave of absence.

Cosgrove, a Pittston native, began working as an elementary school teacher in the district 37 years ago before working his way up to the top.

“I am very happy with our faculty, our staff, and all the workers in our district. They have shown me a tremendous amount of support. If we get that continued support, I think our district is only going to go in a more positive direction,” Cosgrove said. He will earn $121,000 a year as superintendent.

The board will advertise in the near future to fill Cosgrove’s former position of district principal.

Linskey believes he and his fellow board members made a wise choice in hiring Cosgrove as the district’s new leader.

“I think there is a lot of relief that this is concluded. I just saw it from the standing ovation that was received today when Cosgrove was appointed superintendent. A lot of these people in the audience are longtime and more current school district employees. I think he’s got everyone’s support behind him,” Linskey said.

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Scarantino fired as superintendent and replaced by George Cosgrove.

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