Federal Investigation of Schools

May 22, 2009

District will review Scarantino charges

Pittston Area board will hire attorney to investigate before terminating his contract.

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

YATESVILLE – The Pittston Area School Board unanimously approved a resolution during Thursday’s board meeting to hire an attorney to investigate whether the district should proceed to fire Superintendent Ross Scarantino.

The board hired attorney Mark C. Walsh of Scranton as special counsel to investigate the charges filed against Scarantino and determine if Scarantino’s agreement to enter into a plea agreement constitutes grounds for termination. Walsh will be paid $150 per hour.

“Our goal is for him (Scarantino) to be terminated for cause,” board President Mark Singer said.

If the district was found to have fired Scarantino without just cause, it may be held reasonable to pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars in a severance package.

Scarantino was the first school district employee in Luzerne County to be charged by the federal government in the ongoing FBI probe of area school districts. He was charged on April 16.

That same day Scarantino submitted a letter seeking a leave of absence for personal reasons.

Scarantino submitted a letter to the district on May 5 indicating he planned to retire on Aug. 3. Board members acknowledged they received the resignation letter, but did not accept it.

As part of a plea agreement with the federal government announced on Wednesday, Scarantino agreed to plead guilty to a charge of “corrupt receipt of reward for official action concerning program receiving federal funds.”

After news of the plea agreement was made public board members decided to move forward to have termination investigation proceedings, so district Solicitor Joe Saparito was advised to write the resolution that he presented to board members Thursday night.

Saparito and Singer, who is an attorney, explained that Saporito could not serve as the special counsel because he is an adviser to the school board.

Walsh will present his findings to the board during a public, impartial hearing to be scheduled at a later date. Singer hopes Walsh will present his findings by the end of June at the latest.

Scarantino must be notified of the hearing in writing and will be eligible to appeal the board’s decision after the hearing if he finds it unfavorable.

Walsh, from the Blasi and Walsh law firm, is a former member of the Scranton School District and former solicitor for the North Pocono and Riverside school districts.

Walsh has no connections to Pittston Area or Scarantino, Saporito said.

Due to some of the wording in Scarantino’s contract, if he is fired without proper cause the board could be held liable for a severance package of paying Scarantino for 30 unused vacation days, $100 per day of unused sick days, $425,000 life insurance coverage for the next 13 years, a 70 percent of last year’s salary and family health insurance coverage for the next decade, Saporito said.

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