Federal Investigation of Schools

April 23, 2009

Scarantino rose from new teacher to superintendent

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

YATESVILLE – Pittston+Area+School+District%22>Pittston Area School District Superintendent Ross Scarantino appeared to have the ideal career in education.

His nearly 42-year career in the district is now in jeopardy as the result of being charged by the FBI on Thursday with accepting kickbacks in connection with district-awarded contracts.

Scarantino submitted a letter to school board members Thursday morning requesting an extended leave of absence from his $117,570-a-year job for personal reasons. The letter was sent by his attorney, Frank Nocito. Nocito declined to comment.

Martin Quinn, who has served on the board for 20 years, said he was stunned because he always thought of Scarantino as a quality educator.

“This shocks me. I think it is a disgrace. This boggles my mind that Ross would be involved in anything like this. He is an excellent educator and a good person,” Quinn said.

When board President Mark Singer was a still a student at Pittston Area, Scarantino was working as an administrator.

“I’ve grown to respect his work, his love for the school and his love for education, so it is very difficult to digest. It is somewhat disheartening,” Singer said Thursday evening.

Scarantino has spent his entire adult life educating others.

By the time Scarantino began teaching basic core subjects at Pittston Area’s Jenkins Elementary School in September 1967, he had already been in the classroom for six months, according to his resume provided by the district.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Bloomsburg State College in January 1967, he worked as a permanent substitute teacher at Pennsburg School District in Fallsington until that June.

From 1970 to 1972, the young teacher led his peers as the head teacher at Jenkins Elementary.

Scarantino was promoted to the assistant elementary supervisor in 1972. That same year, he received his elementary principal’s certificate and master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Scranton.

Just 11 years after graduating from college, Scarantino was promoted to district principal, overseeing the elementary education division in 1978.

During his tenure in that position he implemented a full-day kindergarten program, designed the district’s gifted education program, restructured the district’s schools and established computer labs in each elementary school.

He received a letter of eligibility to become a superintendent after completing graduate work at St. Bonaventure University in New York. The year is unknown.

Scarantino earned his doctorate in education in January 1993 from Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Scarantino was named assistant superintendent in 2002, working directly under then-Superintendent Frank Serino.

Scarantino also served on the Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees from February 2003 until May 2008, serving as board chairman for two years in 2007 and 2008. The LCCC post was a non-paid position, but he did oversee the awarding of lucrative contracts during his tenure as chairman.

He became superintendent of Pittston Area on Sept. 1, 2005, after Serino retired. Scarantino did not return numerous calls seeking comment.

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