Federal Investigation of Schools

April 23, 2009

Scarantino tied to LCCC controversy

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com
Law & Order Reporter
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YATESVILLE – Pittston+Area+School+District%22>Pittston Area School District’s superintendent, charged Thursday with accepting money in exchange for the awarding of a school contract, had previously been involved in another controversial contract that was awarded by Luzerne County Community College.

Dr. Ross Scarantino was chairman of the college’s board of trustees when the board approved a construction manager contract that called for Precept Associates to be paid a significantly higher fee than managers who handled similarly sized projects.

Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said Thursday she had concerns with numerous aspects of the Precept contract when it was approved in May 2007. Given the charges against Scarantino, she said she thinks federal authorities might want to look at that contract and others that were awarded during his tenure on the college’s board.

“Should it be looked at? Perhaps,” Petrilla said. “They could talk to some of the people involved in the awarding of the contract to see how it was awarded.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Scarantino with accepting thousands of dollars from an unnamed person in exchange for the awarding of a school contract on or around February 2008.

The affidavit in support of the complaint was sealed. U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson declined to release further details out of concern it could harm the ongoing investigation.

Carlson also declined to say whether his office is investigating the awarding of contracts at LCCC.

College President Tom Leary on Thursday said he had not been contacted by federal authorities regarding the awarding of contracts. He said the college would cooperate if any requests are made.

“We are committed to transparency; we welcome any inquiry into any matter,” he said.

The Precept contract came under scrutiny last fall after The Times Leader wrote a series of stories quoting construction experts who said the firm’s fee was unusually high.

The contract, which was not bid out, called for Precept to be paid 8 percent of the total cost of construction of the college’s $20 million Public Safety Training Institute.

Construction experts said the standard rate for a project that size was 2 percent to 5 percent. The contract also allowed Precept to charge for items that were not typically included in construction manager contracts, the experts said.

Leary later conceded that neither he nor anyone else at the college reviewed the contract before he signed it. The board approved the contract, he said, based solely on the recommendation of the finance committee and the college’s architect.

No one was ever accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the contract. The board later negotiated more favorable terms.

Scarantino was a member of LCCC’s board of trustees for five years before he and several others were ousted in May 2008 as part of a shakeup orchestrated by Petrilla.

Petrilla said there was no specific issue that led her to seek to replace Scarantino on the board.

“I just felt it was time to go in a different direction with board members. There were people who spent many years on the board, and I felt it was time they took a term off and let new people in with fresh ideas,” she said.

Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7179.

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