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DA’s office probing allegations WB councilwoman Gilbert raised in job resignation

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Local farmers sound off at forum with Pa. Agriculture Secretary

<p>While the possibilities of dueling lawsuits and criminal charges linger in the background, staff from the state Auditor General&#8217;s office showed up at Hanover Area School District on Thursday &#8212; apparently with questions regarding overpayments to a transportation provider owned by the parents of the school board president.</p><p>&#8220;The auditors were there again today,&#8221; Solicitor Jack Dean said Thursday afternoon, adding that Melissa Grenewicz &#8212; the employee handling transportation administration &#8212; was at the office providing documents to them. &#8220;I&#8217;m sure there is going to be some sort of finding.&#8221;</p><p>Asked to confirm the visit, Press Secretary Gary Miller said via email that the Auditor General&#8217;s office is &#8220;in the middle of an audit of the district that started in mid-October. I can&#8217;t comment further on an ongoing audit, but we&#8217;ll make a report available upon completion.&#8221;</p><p>At Tuesday&#8217;s school board meeting, Dean announced that an internal audit had discovered an overpayment of about $250,000 last year to Frank J. and Dorothy Ciavarella under a contract to provide van service for about 15 students daily. The two are the parents of school board President Frank Ciavarella, who acknowledged the connection when the contract was awarded in June 2017 and recused himself when the board voted to terminate it, effective March 1, at Tuesday&#8217;s meeting. The contract ran through June 2022.</p><p>Dean said accurate mileage had been submitted to the district, but inaccurately entered into the computer program used to calculate payment. The actual payment should have been about $136,000 for the year, but was close to $400,000.</p><p>The discrepancy was reported to state officials, including the Auditor General&#8217;s office, and to the Luzerne County District Attorney&#8217;s office. The state regularly audits districts. Under Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, scrutiny of districts has increased, so much so the department website homepage notes: &#8220;We are making districts more accountable by educating residents &amp; school board members.&#8221; It also includes a link to a &#8220;School Audits 101&#8221; video.</p><p><strong>&#8216;Very, very anxious&#8217;</strong></p><p>Dean said he found no criminal activity in his investigation of the issue, but noted &#8220;that&#8217;s not for me to decide.&#8221; District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis would make that call.</p><p>One possible charge could stem from Title 18 of the state criminal code, which includes a section on &#8220;theft of property lost, mislaid, or delivered by mistake.&#8221; It notes a person can be guilty of theft even if property is delivered in error if &#8220;he fails to take reasonable measures to restore the property to a person entitled to have it.&#8221;</p><p>Salavantis did not respond to request for comment Thursday.</p><p>Attorney Bruce Phillips, who is representing Frank J. and Dorothy Ciavarella, said he is still trying to gather information on the matter. But he doesn&#8217;t believe any criminal charges would apply because his clients did not make the mistake. He also said a lawsuit is not out of the question, though he has not made any move in that direction.</p><p>&#8220;I have to look at the documentation of how they came up with this number, and how the entries were made,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;My belief is this is a breach of contract,&#8221; he added, noting the contract should be terminated only if his clients had failed to fulfill the terms &#8212; a failure he insisted didn&#8217;t happen.</p><p>A lawsuit from the district is also possible in an effort to recoup the money. Along with voting to cancel the contract, the board voted to give Dean the green light on possible legal action. On Thursday, he said he still hopes to get the money back, but that a civil suit would be the only legal recourse if Frank J. and Dorothy Ciavarella do not repay it.</p><p>Dean said there is no set deadline for repayment, but &#8220;the board is very, very anxious. This is not an open-ended situation.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hanover Area School Board President Frank Ciavarella, right, presides over the board&#8217;s regular meeting Tuesday as district solicitor Jack Dean looks on. Hanover Area is trying to recoup about $250,000 in overpayments made to a transportation firm owned by Ciavarella&#8217;s parents. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_TTL020619Hanover-mg_2-1-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hanover Area School Board President Frank Ciavarella, right, presides over the board&#8217;s regular meeting Tuesday as district solicitor Jack Dean looks on. Hanover Area is trying to recoup about $250,000 in overpayments made to a transportation firm owned by Ciavarella&#8217;s parents. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Pa. Auditor General’s staff visits Hanover Area after overpayments revealed