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HANOVER TWP. — The Hanover Area School Board voted 7-0 Thursday, with two members absent, to authorize the solicitor to look into possible legal action against former Business Administrator Tom Cipriano.

Attorney Bill Finnegan said the firm hired as solicitor — Elliot Greenleaf & Dean — will look into work done by Cipriano to see if there is any legal recourse for what board members and acting Superintendent William Jones have said are numerous fiscal problems discovered in recent months. At an August meeting, Jones rattled off a litany of bills left unpaid as reasons the district would not replace three retired teachers. “We are in financial distress,” Jones said at the time.

The board voted in March to notify Cipriano of intent not to renew his contract when it ran out in September. Cipriano landed a new job as assistant business manager at the Schuylkill Intermediate Unit effective July 19. He has threatened legal action against the Hanover Area board for denying his request for a Voluntary Employee Separation Program package, but Finnegan said Thursday he knew of no legal filings so far.

Finnegan said it’s too early to say what legal action, if any, the district might take against Cipriano, though he expects it would be a civil lawsuit. He said paying for a forensic audit of Cipriano’s work could be an option as the review of Cipriano’s work progresses. Finnegan said Attorney Jack Dean, also of Elliot Greenleaf, will conduct the investigation.

The objective would be to see if the district has any legal claim to recoup money from Cipriano, Finnegan said.

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By Mark Guydish

[email protected]

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish