Federal Investigation of Schools

December 8, 2009

Indicted Pizzella heads W-B Area

School board’s president has pleaded not guilty to a charge of helping with a bribe.

JANINE UNGVARSKY Times Leader Correspondent

WILKES-BARRE -- A board member under indictment by the FBI was re-elected to the presidency of the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board on Monday, even as new directors were sworn in to replace two others caught up in the ongoing corruption investigation in the county.

Frank Pizzella was chosen as the board’s president by a 6-1 vote, with two abstentions.

Pizzella was charged with passing along a $5,000 bribe to another board member who helped a third person obtain a teaching job. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and remained on the board.

Before being charged, Pizzella replaced Jim Height as president after Height resigned from the board. Height later pleaded guilty to accepting $2,000 to help a contractor secure a contract with the district.

Height was replaced on the board by Christine A. Katsock, who was appointed a few months ago. Katsock won the position in the November election and was sworn in by Judge Joseph Musto on Monday night.

The election also filled the seat of Brian Dunn, the first member of the board to be indicted on charges he accepted thousands of dollars in exchange for influencing contracts and teacher hirings. Dunn never resigned from the board but hasn’t attended a meeting since he was charged.

The meeting included the swearing-in of Katsock and returning board member Lynn Evans, and for new board members Robert M. Corcoran and Phillip B. Latinski. Four district judges administered the oaths of office as family members held Bibles for the board members.

Even with Height and Dunn replaced, the corruption investigation hung over the board as several members expressed concern about Pizzella’s role as president. New board member Corcoran passed on voting on the appointment, while MaryAnn Toole voted no.

Evans abstained, but said later she meant to vote no and thought abstaining was how she had been instructed to cast a negative vote on the appointment.

“I couldn’t in good conscience vote for him because of the indictment,” Toole said of her “no” vote. “I had to follow what my conscience said.”

Evans said she also voted the way she did because of the indictment. “What I’m not understanding is all the yes votes,” Evans said. “We have to think about who is representing our kids.”

Toole and Evans also voted against Joseph Moran as vice president. Toole again cited her conscience as the reason for her vote, while Evans said it was a “personal preference,” noting she has helped Moran keep his place in the agenda for months.

“If you can’t follow along in the agenda, how do you expect to be the next president?” Evans said.

“Hey, look, we live in America. I have no animosity toward them. You have to vote the way the way you feel,” Pizzella said. He said he didn’t anticipate any problems working with any board members or fulfilling his board duties while dealing with legal issues.

“I’ve been doing it all along,” he said. “I’m on top of everything.”

Board Secretary Leonard Przywara said Pizzella has been meeting his responsibilities. “He makes my job very easy,” Przywara said.

It was Moran who nominated Pizzella for the board presidency. “Why not?” he said about the nomination.

“He’s been the sitting president. It was the natural thing for him to carry that over to the new term. It’s America, and everybody is innocent until proven guilty.”

Moran said he had no problem with the board members who voted against him or Pizzella for their offices.

“We live in a democracy where you can vote whatever way you want,” he said, adding he feels he would be able to handle the presidency if it became necessary for him to take it over.

“I would absolutely be able to do that but I don’t foresee that happening,” he said.

The board did table two motions related to the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center.

One motion was to appoint a director to a three-year term on the tech school’s joint operating committee. The other motion was to name a director to replace Dunn on the tech school committee. Pizzella noted the motions were being tabled without explanation.

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