Federal Investigation of Schools

April 28, 2009

PA District’s $300K state deal questioned

Official: Contract with Intellacom never went through agency running program.

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter
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YATESVILLE – A Pittston+Area+School+District%22>Pittston Area School District contract with Intellacom worth nearly $300,000 that was supposedly awarded under a state program never went through the agency that coordinates that program, an official said.

The Pennsylvania Education Purchasing Program, or PEPPM, is designed to save districts money by allowing them to skip the bidding process by “piggybacking” on state-awarded contracts.

The Pittston Area School Board awarded contracts for a high school renovation project in April 2007. One of those contracts was for “security system upgrades.” That contract was given to Intellacom, of Plains Township, and the minutes of the meeting list it as “PEPPM State Contract No. 1.”

The state set up the PEPPM program 27 years ago and it is administered by the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit.

But the Pittston Area purchase order for the security upgrade work “was not processed through PEPPM,” according to Chuck Peterson, director of cooperative business services and operations for CSIU. Peterson said he didn’t know if there was any way a contract could be awarded under PEPPM without coming through the agency, but that “to the best of our knowledge it was not done through PEPPM.”

According to the PEPPM Buyer Guide on the CSIU Web site, “PEPPM requires that you submit your PEPPM purchase order one of two ways,” by fax or through an eCommerce system allowing the transaction via computer.

The PEPPM program awards a statewide contract to participating vendors “through a sealed competitive bid process,” PEPPM Director Jim Randecker said. “Having done so, schools get to piggyback on that one contract.”

Companies that participate in PEPPM can either sell directly to school districts or “designate authorized resellers to represent them under the contract.”

Intellacom is not listed as an authorized vendor on the PEPPM Web site, but is listed as an authorized reseller for Bosch/Phillips. The security upgrade involved a Bosch security system, according to purchase orders and invoices. The total cost of the project bid when awarded was $269,192.

School Board Solicitor Joe Saporito said that bidding was handled by either project construction manager Quandel Group Inc. or the architect and engineering firm overseeing the project, CEE Group. Saporito said one of those firms would have recommended which companies should be awarded contracts after reviewing bids.

Joe Mastrippolito in Quandel’s Harrisburg office said his company was responsible for giving recommendations “for anything that went out for public bid, but not for a state contract.

“The Intellacom contract was awarded by the school district, it was not our responsibility,” Mastrippolito said. “The only thing we did was coordinate the work in the field.”

A call late Friday afternoon to CEE was not returned. According to a recorded message, the office closed at 5 p.m. and The Times Leader called about 10 minutes before that.

Board President Mark Singer said he didn’t know who recommended the Intellacom contract, and that the board voted on it believing it was a state contract through PEPPM that would save the district money. “If the board believed it was a PEPPM contract and it wasn’t, that would obviously be of concern to me,” Singer said.

Intellacom records were among those obtained by federal investigators from Pittston Area’s administration office. It’s part of a wide-ranging probe that so far has involved Pittston Area, Wilkes-Barre Area School District, and Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center.

Pittston Area Superintendent Ross Scarantino has been charged with accepting money in exchange for awarding district contracts. Wilkes-Barre Area School Board member Brian Dunn was charged with accepting money in exchange for contracts and jobs.

Intellacom is owned by Anthony Trombetta. The company has done extensive computer work and sales at Pittston Area for years, and meeting minutes show that several board members have repeatedly questioned the amount of work the company received and the cost.

Intellacom also has done work at Luzerne County Community College, where Scarantino previously sat on the board of trustees, and at Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center, which is run by a Joint Operating Committee composed of representatives from the five participating districts, including Pittston Area.

The Times Leader has learned that the son of Pittston Area School Board member Joseph Oliveri worked for Intellacom at least part of the time the company was doing work in the district. Oliveri also represents Pittston Area on the Career Center operating committee.

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

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