Investigators want district’s hiring list

As part of a federal investigation, Wilkes-Barre Area School Board members were asked to review a list of elementary teachers hired since 2004 and put their initials by the ones they recommended for interviews, according to board members Joe Moran and Jim Height.

Wilkes-Barre Area Superintendent Jeff Namey requested the information from board members before Wednesday’s board meeting, the board members said.

Height said the Federal Bureau of Investigation wanted the information but he did not know the specifics.

Namey supplied board members with a list of teachers with check marks by all the ones hired for elementary school positions, the board members said. He asked board members to review the check-marked names and initial the ones they had recommended for interviews, they said.

The focus was on elementary positions because there’s little competition and sometimes a shortage of applicants for more specialized secondary education and special education positions, the board members said.

The request was made the day after Namey testified before a federal grand jury. The FBI on Wednesday made an unusual public plea for information in its probe of possible payments made by public school teachers in exchange for jobs.

A recommendation to interview an applicant is important in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District because of the way the district’s unwritten hiring process is set up, said School Board member Lynn Evans. Hundreds of applicants apply for elementary teaching positions, so the administration relies primarily on recommendations from board members to decide who is interviewed, Evans said. It’s nicknamed the “pick system,” she said.

Evans said she only recommended a few applicants based on her review of resumes, and she stressed that none was a friend or relative.

“The names I’ve picked have been people I felt would be good for the kids,” Evans said.

Once a recommendation is submitted, it’s up to Namey and others performing interviews to recommend which person should be hired by board vote, Evans said. She said she knows of no situation where a board member put pressure on Namey to choose an applicant who did not perform best in the interviewing process.

While the pick system is ripe for criticism, Evans can’t think of a better plan because the majority of elementary teaching applicants are fresh out of college.

“Yes, they’ve gone to different colleges and did student teaching at different places, but generally they’re on an even keel. To interview 500 people every time there’s an open position is not logical,” Evans said.

The pick system also ensures that all board members have the opportunity to recommend – not just the board majority, she said.

Before the board votes on a hiring, Namey briefs members on who was interviewed and which applicants performed best in the interview, Evans said. “I wish there was an easier way to do it, and if someone has a better idea, I’m sure we’d like to hear it.”

Height said he tries to recommend applicants who have put in time substitute teaching, and he said he has never recommended a relative for an interview. “I get resumes practically every day of the week. Once graduation comes, I’ll get several a day throughout the summer,” Height said.

Board member Frank Pizzella said he bases interview recommendations on his review of resumes, with no preferential treatment for friends or family. Pizzella said he keeps files of all resumes sent to him, and he always sends a letter to applicants acknowledging receipt. “You get tons of them. These kids take the time to finish high school and go to college, and we should at least have the decency to acknowledge their application,” he said.

Moran said he’s recommended one person for an interview because of the applicant’s superior academic performance. He believes the current practice of board recommendations is fair because it doesn’t exclude minority board members. “Everyone gets a chance to recommend someone for an interview,” he said, adding that he has not recommended friends or family members for jobs.

Moran said some applicants send resumes directly to board members. Resumes sent to the school district are forwarded to board members.

Accusations of favoritism and nepotism have long plagued the Wilkes-Barre Area School District and Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center, which is also a focus of the federal investigation. The FBI sought records on both facilities.

For example, board member Brian Dunn’s wife, Jody, was promoted to the school district’s multi-media/student safety coordinator in 1999. His brother-in-law, Robert Anthony, was promoted to principal in 2001, though Anthony had started working for the district before Dunn’s election to the board. Board member Jim Height’s brother-in-law, Kevin Elmy, was hired in 2003 as superintendent of building, grounds and custodial services at the vocational school. The following year, Height’s wife, DeizaRae, was hired as executive secretary at the vocational school.

Board member James Fisher’s brother, Brian, was hired to a custodial position at the vocational school in 2004. That same year, Fisher’s father-in-law, James Serafini, was appointed coordinator of custodial services in the school district. Dunn and Fisher could not be reached for comment.