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UPDATE: Five dead, five officers wounded in Illinois shooting

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For Jimmy Hayes, WBS Penguins’ playoff push is personal

<p>HANOVER TWP. &#8212; The Hanover Area School Board appointed Elementary Principal Terry Schnee as acting superintendent while suspended Superintendent William Jones sat in the audience at a special meeting Friday.</p><p>Afterward, Jones and his attorney, Charles Coslett, questioned the moves related to a $250,000 overpayment for student transportation services, and said they will work to get Jones reinstated.</p><p>No other action was taken at the meeting that lasted just minutes. Immediately afterward, Coslett and Jones gave a different version of the situation than has been offered publicly so far.</p><p>&#8220;I want to clear up one misconception,&#8221; Coslett said. &#8220;The overpayment was not discovered by an internal audit.&#8221; He and Jones said the problem was found after Business Manager Robert Kachurak had filed a required state form known as the Annual Financial Report, and the Department of Education sent an email questioning why transportation costs had jumped by nearly $300,000.</p><p>They also said the state Auditor General&#8217;s Office received an anonymous tip that the money was missing &#8212; &#8220;It&#8217;s not missing, we know where it went,&#8221; Coslett said &#8212; which is why auditors who were already conducting a regular state audit looked into the matter.</p><p>Jones said Kachurak got the email Dec. 20 and immediately brought it to his attention. &#8220;I had no idea&#8221; why the increase was so large, Jones said. He immediately talked to Melisa Grenewicz, the employee handling transportation, and contacted Solicitor Jack Dean.</p><p>Dean has said the overpayment was the result of incorrect mileage being typed into the computer program the district uses to calculate payments to contractors, and that the correct mileage had been submitted to the district by Frank J. and Dorothy Ciavarella, the people contracted to provide van service for about 15 students daily. They are the parents of Board President Frank Ciavarella.</p><p>&#8220;Bill Jones did nothing wrong,&#8221; Coslett said. &#8220;Absolutely nothing. The person who input the wrong data still works at the office,&#8221; while Jones is on paid leave.</p><p><strong>&#8216;I want to come back&#8217;</strong></p><p>Coslett cited part of Jones&#8217; contract that requires the school board to notify him of any investigation into his performance &#8220;prior to the commencement&#8221; of the investigation. He said the board is also required to provide any relevant documents and give Jones a chance to respond.</p><p>&#8220;I believe they are already in breach of contractual obligations,&#8221; Coslett said. &#8220;I think the board made a serious error in judgment.&#8221;</p><p>Jones said he has been given little explanation as to why he was suspended, an action that happened the morning of the Feb. 5 regular board meeting. He said Dean came to his office with another attorney from the firm to give him the news. He did not attend the board meeting that evening</p><p>Jones said he had previously worked as transportation coordinator and had shown Grenewicz how to input data to the program, Bus Tracks, and that he was told &#8220;I should have monitored the bills.&#8221; Dean has said Frank J. and Dorothy Ciavarella should have been paid abut $136,000 for the year, but they were paid $250,000 more than that.</p><p>Coslett believes the money is &#8220;fully recoverable&#8221; by the district because the couple know they were overpaid, and he predicted it would be resolved out of court or &#8220;in the civil arena. I doubt there will be any criminal action.&#8221;</p><p>Coslett would not speculate on any future action regarding Jones&#8217; status. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know what comes next,&#8221; he said. But he promised &#8220;we will correct this at the appropriate time.&#8221;</p><p>Asked if he would consider a deal calling for his resignation, Jones replied: &#8220;I want to come back to work.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hanover Area School District Solicitor Jack Dean is shown during a Hanover Area School Board meeting Friday where an acting superintendent was named. Board President Frank Ciavarella is seated next to Dean. Ciavarella&#8217;s parents own the transportation company that received a more than $250,000 overpayment from the district. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_han_meet3_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hanover Area School District Solicitor Jack Dean is shown during a Hanover Area School Board meeting Friday where an acting superintendent was named. Board President Frank Ciavarella is seated next to Dean. Ciavarella&#8217;s parents own the transportation company that received a more than $250,000 overpayment from the district. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_han_meet2_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Charles Coslett, attorney for suspended Hanover Area Superintendent Bill Jones, talks with the media Friday after the Hanover Area School Board named an acting superintendent. Jones and Coslett explained their side of the controversy involving a more than $250,000 overpayment for student transportation services. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_han_meet2_faa.jpg</photo1><caption1>Charles Coslett, attorney for suspended Hanover Area Superintendent Bill Jones, talks with the media Friday after the Hanover Area School Board named an acting superintendent. Jones and Coslett explained their side of the controversy involving a more than $250,000 overpayment for student transportation services. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_han_meet1_faa.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Suspended Hanover Area Superintendent Bill Jones gathers his thoughts as a reporter asks him questions after a school board meeting Friday at Hanover Area High School. The board named an acting superintendent in the wake of a controversy involving a more than $250,000 overpayment for student transportation services. &#8216;I want to come back to work,&#8221; Jones said when asked if he&#8217;d accept a deal to resign. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_han_meet1_faa.jpg</photo2><caption2>Suspended Hanover Area Superintendent Bill Jones gathers his thoughts as a reporter asks him questions after a school board meeting Friday at Hanover Area High School. The board named an acting superintendent in the wake of a controversy involving a more than $250,000 overpayment for student transportation services. &#8216;I want to come back to work,&#8221; Jones said when asked if he&#8217;d accept a deal to resign. </caption2><photoCredit2>Fred Adams | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></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>

Hanover Area names acting chief, suspended superintendent gives his side