Federal Investigation of Schools

April 23, 2009

FBI is not visiting other districts

Records from 4 other districts supporting career center not being taken.

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter
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WILKES-BARRE – Federal investigators may have sought records at Wilkes-Barre+Area+School+District%22>Wilkes-Barre Area School District and Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center, but they haven’t been to any of the other four districts involved at the jointly run center, superintendents and administrators at those districts said Friday.

The center is run by a joint operating committee with members from five participating school boards: Crestwood, Greater Nanticoke Area, Hanover Area, Pittston Area and Wilkes-Barre Area. Investigators have sought information, including board meeting minutes, from Wilkes-Barre Area.

Pittston Superintendent Ross Scarantino and Greater Nanticoke Area’s Tony Perrone both said Friday that no investigators had been to their districts. Hanover Area Superintendent Anthony P. Podczasy was unavailable, but high school Principal David Fisher said no one had been in the district building that houses the high school and administrative offices. Crestwood school board member Gene Mancini, who also sits on the Career Center Joint Operating Committee, said he was not contacted by any investigators and had not heard of any further investigation at Crestwood.

Wilkes-Barre Area Superintendent Jeff Namey said he had been in Harrisburg all day discussing the federal stimulus money that will soon flow to area districts through the state Department of Education, but said that to his knowledge investigators had made no further requests in his district.

The investigation so far has apparently focused on who was on the Career Center’s Joint Operating Committee from 2005 to the present, and on minutes of meetings from both Wilkes-Barre Area and the Career Center. Those minutes are typically terse explanations of official action by the board, primarily hiring staff, awarding contracts, and paying bills.

The Joint Operating Committee is comprised of representatives from the school boards of each participating district. The number of representatives from each district is determined by the number of students the district sends to the school, which in turn affects how much that district pays for the school’s operation. Crestwood and Hanover Area have one representative on the committee, Greater Nanticoke and Pittston have two, and Wilkes-Barre Area has five.

Federal investigators sought and obtained lists of the committee members from 2005. Those lists show how little the committee makeup usually changes: Seven of the 12 representatives have been there since 2005.

Both of Greater Nanticoke’s seats have been filled by Gary Smith and Robert Raineri all four years. The Hanover Area seat similarly has been held by one person, David Evans, throughout. Four of Wilkes-Barre Area’s five seats have been held by the same people since 2005: Brian Dunn, James Fisher, James Height and Maryann Toole. The fifth Wilkes-Barre seat was held by John Corcoran in 2004-05, James Susek the following year, and Joseph Moran for the last two years.

William Jones represented Crestwood the first two years but was replaced by Mancini in 2006-07. In Pittston Area, Anthony Rostock and August Piazza were the representatives in 2004-05, James O’Brien and Joseph Oliveri the following year, and Martin Quinn and Oliveri the last two years.

On Friday, Toole and Height both said no investigators have contacted them personally. Height said he didn’t see how the probe could involve staff hiring, since those decisions are made in public by roll call votes.

Mark Guydish, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7161

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