Federal Investigation of Schools

September 21, 2009

Pizzella: I'm not stepping down

PLAINS TWP. -- Stating he was elected to serve, indicted Wilkes-Barre Area School Director Frank Pizzella gave notice Monday that does not intend to step down.

Pizzella was indicted Sept. 15 by a federal grand jury and charged with passing on a $5,000 bribe to help an unnamed person get a teaching position.

On Monday, he gave media representatives attending a Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational-Technical School meeting a prepared statement that read: “I will continue to serve as the President of the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board and a member of the Wilkes-Barre Area Vo-Tech Board. I was elected in 2007 to serve the electorate and taxpayers, and I will continue to do just that.”

The statement continued, “I will remain accessible to the public and therefore, I will be more than happy to answer any questions from the members of the press regarding School District and/or Vo-Tech business. In regards to any questions relating to the recent events of the past week, my comment is and will continue to be ‘no comment’ on the advice of my counsel due to the ongoing investigation.”

Pizzella was the fourth member of the tech school board of trustees to face federal charges in five months. Former tech school board president Jim Height and Brian Dunn, both representing Wilkes-Barre Area, and Joseph Oliveri from Pittston Area have also been charged with accepting bribes. Oliveri and Height resigned. Dunn remains on both the Wilkes-Barre Area and tech school boards but has not attended meetings since he was charged in April.

At Monday’s meeting, the trustees appointed Principal Frank Majikes as night school coordinator for 400 hours at a salary per the night school wage and salary policy. Rosemary Frati and Cheryl Thomas will split 200 hours plus a possible 25 additional hours to share the night school secretary position. Joseph Pistack was appointed math tutor for the practical nursing freshmen at $25 per hour for two to four hours per week.

Snyder & Clemente were named auditors for the 2008-09 year at a cost of $17,000, with up to an additional $5,000 for auditing student financial aid programs and up to $3,000 to audit the capital project funds. The trustees also approved the fifth installment payment to CM# Building Solutions for the energy performance contract at a cost of $448,595.

 

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