December 15, 2014

More than a year after a series of sexist, racist text messages by two Coatesville Area School District (CASD) administrators prompted national outrage, the pair has been charged with multiple crimes – and the investigating grand jury has made recommendations for all school districts.

Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan announced Monday, Dec. 15, that former superintendent Richard W. Como and former athletic director James A. Donato III, who worked previously as Kennett High’s football coach,  would be charged with stealing school funds and violating the state’s Ethics Act.

“The superintendent of CASD, his associates, and the CASD solicitor ran the school district as if it was their own personal fiefdom,” the grand jury report said. “Money was stolen and misdirected, felons were hired, enormous legal bills were incurred, cronyism and nepotism ran rampant, and at times it appeared that the school district was built around the best interests of the football team, like the worst outlaw NCAA football programs of the past.

The grand jury report, which details numerous instances of theft and unethical use of school funds, also cites numerous positive changes that have taken place in the district during the past year. It expresses optimism that such changes will prevent the return of the “apathy, corruption, and dysfunction” that crippled the CASD during Como’s tenure.

“Most importantly, we hope that other school districts throughout Pennsylvania can learn from Coatesville’s experience,” the report said. “To that end, we conclude this report with the following recommendations for school districts throughout the Commonwealth.”

Acceptable Use Policy. Establish and enforce an acceptable use policy for school district employees regarding the use of emails, texts, and other electronic communications. The enforcement of such a policy should include annual training and periodic spot-checks of individual user’s accounts to make sure of compliance. The racist/sexist texting scandal in this case could have been avoided with the enforcement of such a policy.

1. Handling of Cash. Establish and maintain appropriate financial controls over the handling of cash within the school district, particularly regarding athletic events.
Such controls should include an exact accounting of all cash received and disbursed, a system of doublechecks and sign-offs for all cash transactions above $50, and an independent annual audit of cash transactions. School districts also should perform credit checks every year on every school district employee who is authorized to engage in accounting for large sums of cash for the school district.
2. Nepotism. Establish and enforce a rule outlawing nepotism in school district hiring. The rule should be clear and absolute: No family member of a school district supervisor or board member may be employed by that school district. This must be a rule, not merely a guideline. The occurrence or appearance of favoritism has a tremendously negative impact on a school district.
3. Consent Agenda. The so-called “consent agenda” should not be used by school boards. Under a consent agenda, a board considers a large number of issues (e.g., hiring, budgetary issues, discipline, spending, community input, etc.) often over a number of hours, then simply votes “yes” or “no” on the agenda as a whole. Such a practice decreases accountability and transparency. Each issue on the agenda should be subject to a separate vote by the school board, allowing for community input and allowing the community to see how each board member is voting on each issue.
4. Board Training. For new school board members, require mandatory training on the duties of a school board member. Such training should include ethics, the Sunshine Act, parliamentary procedure, budget issues, personnel issues, and other basic duties. Many board members are elected with only rudimentary understanding of these basic issues. Uninformed and uneducated board members can be a recipe for disaster.
5. Legal Fees. The legal fees for a school district must be reviewed every month by a school district supervisor who: (a) has a basic understanding of appropriate legal billing; and (b) has access to sufficient information to check on the activities of the board’s solicitor. The board should require that the solicitor bill in tenth of an hour increments and prohibit the practice of “block billing” (billing for unspecified activities or multiple activities in one consolidated block of time).
6. Hiring of Criminals. Require a criminal background check for all prospective employees. Under Pennsylvania law, school districts must disqualify anybody who has a prior conviction for certain crimes. Even if the applicant’s criminal conviction does not technically disqualify the person from employment, school districts should be reluctant to hire a convicted felon to be around children. All school districts should have a policy requiring that every arrest of a current employee be immediately reported by that employee to a designated school district supervisor. All school districts should update criminal history checks on all school employees at least every other year.
7. Academic Priority. Athletic programs are an adjunct to the educational purpose of schools. School districts must not let the educational activities of the school revolve around athletics in general or any particular athletic program. It is the duty of a school district superintendent and school board to maintain this priority. As many colleges have discovered, allowing an athletic program to become more important than academics is an invitation to long-term failure.
8. Job Candidate Qualifications. School districts must carefully select candidates for supervisory positions who are highly qualified. Being a football coach does not qualify somebody to become the superintendent of a school district, which involves a multitude of complex duties. School boards should consider the relevant work experience, educational level, and personal background of every person chosen for a senior supervisory position in a school district.
9. Transparency. School districts must operate openly, not in secrecy. Important decisions for the school district should be made in public meetings with public input. The public should be advised at least three days in advance of any items that will appear on a board meeting agenda for public discussion.
10. Superintendent’s Performance Evaluation. School boards should develop a formal procedure for evaluating the superintendent, which seeks input from all of the district’s stakeholders: administrators, teachers, parents, community members, etc. More importantly, this input should be confidential to ensure that no one fears reprisals for their critique.
11. Compliance Reports. Every school district should have a compliance officer and a “tip-line.” The compliance officer should be a direct report to the school board, serving as an independent check on potential abuses by school district supervisors. And the compliance officer should maintain an anonymous tip-line, allowing school district employees, students, parents, and other parties to report potential wrongdoing in the school district to the compliance officer.
12. Expenditure of Funds. School districts must spend money with a full recognition for the source of that money — the hard work of taxpayers. School district funds must not be spent on supplying smart phones and tablets to favored employees, must not be spent on celebratory jewelry for administrators and athletes, must not be spent on providing cell phone service for a non-employee to make personal phone calls while on vacation, and must not be spent on expenditures for the personal benefit of school district supervisors and board members. School district money should be spent on expenses that provide a quality education to children.

Link to Report http://www.ddrinc.com/Grand_Jury_Report_CASD.pdf

In January, when Tom McGarrigle, the chair of the Delaware County Council, assumes the 26^th Senatorial District seat he won last month, the council is expected to fill the vacancy, and several Democratic candidates have expressed interest.

The Delaware County Democratic Committee announced on Wednesday, Dec. 10, that Jayne Young of Lansdowne and Bob Dimond of Media have submitted their letters of interest to be appointed to the seat.

The Delaware County Republican Committee did not respond to repeated requests for comment about potential GOP candidates.

In a press release, the Democrats presented the following information:

Young served as mayor of Lansdowne Borough for three terms from 2002 to 2013. In 2011, Young ran for the Delaware County Council and was endorsed by the Delaware County Daily Times. Currently, Young is the project manager at the Pennsylvania Resources Council.

“Good government transcends party politics,” said Young. “Good government serves the people through responsible budget management. Good government provides constituent services, creates models of economic revitalization and maintains proven programs that sustain the quality of life here in Delaware County where I have been a happy resident for 38 years.”

Bob Dimond currently serves as the Media Borough tax collector, a position he has held for four terms since 1999. Prior to serving in Media, Dimond was the mayor of East Lansdowne Borough for eight years from 1989-1997 and served on the city council for eight years before being elected mayor from 1979-1987.

A graduate of Temple High School Dimond is a Korean War veteran and father of seven children, fourteen grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

“I believe my years of experience in all phases of government quality me and it would be my honor to serve Delaware County” Dimond said.

David Landau, the chairman of the Delaware County Democratic Committee, said it’s “long past time” to end one-party rule in Delaware County.

“The members of the Delaware County Council have a responsibility to serve all of their constituents regardless of party affiliation,” said Landau. “I hope that they will seriously consider adding a much needed minority voice to their ranks.”

Whoever gets the appointment will complete the year that McGarrigle had remaining on his second term and could decide to run for a full term in the 2015 election.