Federal Investigation of Schools

April 25, 2009

FBI seeks firm’s invoices in probe

Pittston Area paid co. $243,010 since 2004

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
Jennifer Learn-Andes on Facebook   |   @TLJenLearnAndes on Twitter

The FBI has requested invoices on King Glass & Paint Co. as part of its investigation of Pittston+Area+School+District%22>Pittston Area School District, and a review of those invoices show district paid the company $243,010 from July 2004 to the present.

All but $470 of that work was related to carpeting.

Pittston Area School Board member Terry Best verified that the FBI requested documents and purchase orders for King Glass.

Best said he has concerns about the way the work was awarded. The district in at least some cases bought carpet tiles through a state-bid program but did not bid out the actual installation to see if other local businesses would offer a better price, Best said.

“Although we’re getting the carpet at the state bid price, are we getting the installation at the best price?” Best said.

Richard Emanski is listed as president of the Swoyersville-based King Glass & Paint. Emanski could not be reached for comment on several attempts over a week.

King Glass has also done work in Wilkes-Barre Area School District and the Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational-Technical School – which are also being investigated by the FBI.

Wilkes-Barre Area School District paid the company $953,713 from August 2004 to the present, mostly for carpet installation, records show.

The district’s payments include $21,677 to inspect the painting being done by another contractor at Meyers High School in 2005 and 2006.

Much of the carpet installed by King Glass at Wilkes-Barre Area was purchased from Shaw Industries through a state bidding program called the Pennsylvania Education Joint Purchasing Council. Shaw regional sales representative Ron Royer said his company doesn’t dictate which local installers must be hired by government agencies.

The school district may seek quotes or bids for installation and then make sure that Shaw is comfortable with that supplier’s work and willingness to honor warranties, Royer said.

“Basically the contract is open to any legitimate dealer in Pennsylvania. Nobody is excluded. If a school district wants to use a certain one, the local dealer just needs to be authorized by us,” Royer said. “Shaw has a wide range of dealers. We don’t come back to a school district and say, ‘You have to use this one.’”

Several Wilkes-Barre officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say the school board did not seek bids or quotes from several businesses for carpet installation.

Wilkes-Barre Area School Board member Jim Height said he thought the installation was part of a state bid contract, but he was not sure of the specifics.

Height acknowledged that Emanski is his friend and said he’s been part of a group of six or seven friends who have traveled to Las Vegas with Emanski. Height declined to name the others in the group but said he has proof that he paid his own way.

The Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational-Technical School has paid King Glass $196,321 from July 2004 to the present for carpeting and glass, according to records.

Luzerne County Community College has also paid King Glass to install carpet purchased from Shaw in recent years.

The ongoing corruption probe into Luzerne County school districts has resulted in federal charges against two officials to date – longtime Wilkes-Barre Area School District board member Brian F. Dunn and Pittston Area School Superintendent Ross Scarantino.

Dunn, 45, of Wilkes-Barre, was charged with accepting tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks in exchange for his influence in the awarding of contracts and the hiring of teachers within the district from January 2005 to December 2008, according to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Scarantino, 64, of Duryea, is accused of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes in connection with the awarding of a contract within the Pittston Area district on or around February 2008.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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