Letter of resignation submitted

YATESVILLE – Pittston Area Superintendent Ross Scarantino submitted a letter of resignation effective Aug. 3 to the school district Tuesday morning.

Board members then received a call from the board secretary notifying them about the letter.

Board members Kent Bratlee, Bob Linskey and Tony Guariglia said they have not seen the letter yet, so they don’t know if Scarantino is officially asking for retirement or is resigning.

Scarantino has been on an extended leave of absence with pay for personal reasons since April 16. A district employee for 42 years, Scarantino earns $117,570 annually. He still receives his salary because he is using his accrued vacation days.

Linskey considered the letter more of a retirement notice than actual resignation because Scarantino is 64 years old.

Scarantino’s last day is 90 days from Tuesday. The 90-day notice is stipulated in his contract, which Bratlee said he thought expired August 2010.

“Dr Scarantino’s contract requires he give 90 days notice to resign or the board can terminate his contract with 90 days notice to him or we could come to a mutual agreement to do it sooner,” Linskey said.

Bratlee, who received the call around lunchtime, said he was expecting Scarantino to submit a letter of resignation at some point because George Cosgrove, now substitute superintendent, has been running the district’s daily operations since Scarantino began his leave of absence.

Scarantino was charged that same day by the federal government, which alleged Scarantino accepted thousands of dollars in exchange for awarding district contracts.

Board members still say they can’t understand what Scarantino did to be charged by the feds. Scarantino has not plead guilty or been found guilty of any crime.

“If he plead guilty or was found guilty, then we can terminate him with cause,” Linskey said.

Guariglia said he was shocked to think such alleged corruption existed in the district. He stressed district officials are using this incident as a learning tool.

All future contracts will now include a clause to terminate a person without pay if they are accused of a felony or charged by the federal government, Guariglia said. If the person is later found to be not guilty, they would be reinstated and given their back pay.

“I’m sure it will never happen again, but we are putting it in there because we are learning from what happened to us,” he said.

The school board meets tonight to discuss administrative contracts, including Cosgrove’s.

Linskey said he didn’t know if the board would accept Scarantino’s letter of resignation at tonight’s meeting, but he believes the board will at least officially acknowledge receiving the letter.

Linskey and Guariglia believe Cosgrove has showed “amazing” leadership abilities since taking over Scarantino’s duties. Scarantino will officially remain superintendent until Aug. 3 even if the board accepts his letter tonight.

Linskey said Cosgrove was responsible for much of the educational success at Pittston Area and wants him to ultimately win the superintendent’s job, but he also wants the board to follow its own policies.

“When Scarantino was hired, there was no advertising done, which was in violation of their own policy,” said Linskey, adding that he wants the board to advertise the superintendent’s job in a large geographical area to find the best eligible candidates.

Linskey noted that Cosgrove has not approached him or any other board member he knows asking for the superintendent’s job.

Bratlee, Linskey and Guariglia were not board members when Scarantino was hired in September 2005.

Another board member, Terry Best, previously said that when Scarantino was hired the board majority, it never advertised because they wanted someone from inside the district and felt Scarantino would be the best candidate.

Overcast 56°

Federal Investigation of Schools

Superintendent, charged by feds, on leave of absence; departure effective Aug. 3.

Place Quick Ads