Federal Investigation of Schools

April 23, 2009

FBI seeks public help in job probe

Because “word got out,” agency spokesman said decision made to publicly seek citizen input.

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter
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SCRANTON – The FBI has taken what one agent called a “very unusual step” by asking the public for help in a probe of possible payments made by public school teachers in exchange for jobs.

Special Agent J.J. Klaver, media relations and public affairs coordinator in the Philadelphia Division office, said the decision to go public was made despite bureau policy to typically neither confirm nor deny investigations.

“There is an ongoing investigation, and apparently through some steps we have taken, the word got out. There was a call-in radio station with a lot of calls, so in talking to the (U.S.) Middle District Attorney (Martin Carlson), we decided it might be valuable for us to reach out to the public.”

Carlson echoed the reasoning: “After hearing media reports of people possessing information, we wanted to make it unmistakably clear that people who believe they have information should report it to the FBI.” .

A statement issued Wednesday asks public school teachers, employees or prospective employees who have “been required to provide money, or anything else of value, to any individual in connection with being hired at any public school in northeastern Pennsylvania,” or who have been denied jobs after refusing to pay, “to immediately contact either Special Agent Richard Southerton or Special Agent Joseph Noone in the FBI’s Scranton office at telephone number 570-344-2404.”

The request came several days after federal authorities subpoenaed records, including school board minutes, from the Wilkes-Barre Area School District and Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center, and one day after Wilkes-Barre Area School District Superintendent Jeff Namey testified before a federal grand jury.

Authorities have also interviewed several teachers, Namey has said.

Carlson and Klaver both would not comment on whether other districts are involved in the probe. Southerton said only that “a crime in Luzerne County is a crime in Wyoming or Susquehanna counties.”

The Scranton FBI office, officially known as a Resident Agency, covers Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties. It’s one of eight satellite offices of the Philadelphia Division office, which covers 41 counties.

Klaver acknowledged that the public request will likely draw numerous calls, and that the agency was prepared for that. Klaver also said that, despite persistent rumors, the school probe was not spawned by and is not directly linked to the ongoing investigation of the Luzerne County Courthouse, which forced two judges off the bench and so far has snared at least two other county employees.

“This is unrelated to the judge probe,” Klaver said.

While the FBI statement focuses only on paying for jobs in public schools, a source familiar with the probe, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said authorities are also investigating allegations that construction supplies meant for school projects were diverted to others for use in their homes.

Wilkes-Barre Area School District officials have been tight-lipped. When Namey appeared Tuesday before the grand jury, he arrived with an armful of documents and left without most of them. He testified for about 25 minutes, and at the time said that to his knowledge no one else from the Wilkes-Barre Area School District had testified.

A source said School Board member Brian Dunn, accompanied by an attorney, was seen in the federal courthouse on Monday, the day before the grand jury met. It could not be determined why Dunn, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, was at the courthouse.

He did not attend Wednesday’s School Board meeting. Namey and Board President James Height both said they didn’t know why he was absent and that Dunn had not called them beforehand with any notification or explanation.

Dunn has not returned multiple calls made on separate days to his home and work this week. The Birch Street address listed on the Statement of Financial Interest he filed as school board member was dark Wednesday evening, and no one answered the doorbell.

As of press time, there was no response to a written message left in the mailbox

The Times Leader asked most other Wilkes-Barre Area School Board members if they have been contacted by federal investigators and they all said no.

Solicitor Anthony Lupas also said he has not been contacted by them or talked to them.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Lupas answered a resident’s questions regarding the probe by saying “the board is cooperating 100 percent.”

Several board members have said they are confident the hirings have been above board. When asked for a copy of the district’s hiring policy, Namey said there is no explicit policy on paper. “There is a procedure that is followed without exception,” he said, and that procedure has changed slightly over the last decade or so, “but there’s no written policy.”

Pennsylvania State Education Association regional spokesman Paul Shemansky said teacher union members “can request legal representation” from the PSEA, “but at this point in time we haven’t gotten any requests.”

Shemansky also said that, to his knowledge, no one at the regional office in Plains Township has been contacted or questioned by investigators, but he pointed out that any payment for jobs would be done before a teacher joined the union.

Times Leader Reporter Terrie Morgan Besecker contributed to this story

The FBI statement:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking the public’s assistance in an on-going criminal investigation in northeastern Pennsylvania. If you are a teacher, prospective teacher, employee or prospective employee of any kind who has been required to provide money, or anything else of value, to any individual in connection with being hired at any public school in northeastern Pennsylvania, or if you were denied employment because you refused to provide money or anything else of value for your prospective job, you may have been the victim of a crime and you are requested to immediately contact either Special Agent Richard Southerton or Special Agent Joseph Noone in the FBI’s Scranton office at telephone number 570-344-2404.

If you are a member of the public who has knowledge of any teacher, prospective teacher, employee or prospective employee being required to provide money, or anything else of value, to any individual in connection with being hired at a public school in northeastern Pennsylvania, you are also requested to contact the FBI at the telephone number above.

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

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