Status of Scarantino pension unknown

YATESVILLE – It’s unknown whether Pittston+Area+School+District%22>Pittston Area School District Superintendent Ross Scarantino will ultimately receive his full retirement benefits from the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System.

He has met the required criteria for retirement after a 42-year educational career – all at Pittston Area.

However, Scarantino’s legal troubles might cost him his pension. He faces federal charges of accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for awarding district contracts.

His legal case is being monitored by the retirement system’s legal department, according to PSERS Communication Director Gene Robison.

Scarantino could receive an estimated $115,415-a-year, according to the retirement system’s pension formula.

Scarantino has invested enough time in the state’s education retirement system to retire with his full pension because he is over 60 years old and has more than four decades of educational service, PSERS spokeswoman Evelyn Tatkovski said. Any school employee vested with at least five years of service up until 34 years of service can retire, but would lose a portion of their retirement pension due to penalties for retiring early.

Tatkovski didn’t know exactly how much Scarantino’s annual pension would be because it’s based on his highest three annual salaries during his career and the number of years he’s been in the educational field. She said a member’s pension is calculated when they retire.

Using 127 vacation days he’s accumulated through his tenure at Pittston Area, Scarantino is still being paid his $117,570-a-year salary since taking a leave of absence for personal reasons on April 16, the day federal charges were filed against him.

He submitted a letter to the school board on Tuesday giving a 90-day written notice, as stated in his contract, notifying he would resign effective Aug. 3 by retiring.

If Scarantino is found guilty or pleads guilty to the crimes he’s facing, the retirement system’s legal office would review his case to determine if Scarantino violated the Public Employee Pension Forfeiture Act, Tatkovski said.

“You would have to look at what type of crime he is being charged with,” she said, noting she couldn’t comment on Scarantino’s case specifically because she didn’t know all the details.

The act states system members can lose their retirement benefits if they have been convicted or pled guilty or no contest to a variety of crimes – including theft by deception or extortion, theft of services and bribery. If Scarantino is found not guilty or pleads to a lesser charge not defined by the forfeiture act, he would be eligible to receive his pension, Robison said.

Scarantino can receive his pension until his case is decided by the courts, no matter how long the judicial process takes.