Assistant Superintendent parts ways with district after being placed on leave last fall
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Dr. Angelo Romaniello
CALN – The Coatesville Area School Board accepted Assistant Superintendent Dr. Angelo Romaniello’s resignation at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Romaniello had been on leave since November and was placed on leave a separate time last spring. The district did not comment on the matter per personnel policies.
The board also voted to terminate the employment of district food services employee Megan Testa for her “outrageous” racially-charged messages posted on social media.
“We want to be perfectly clear that this kind of behavior simply will not be tolerated. What you do on social media, even if it’s not during work hours, is a reflection of the school district that we all care very much about,” read a statement released by Superintendent Dr. Cathy Taschner on Tuesday night.
In another effort to combat discrimination in the district, the board approved anti-discrimination policies for the district employees and candidates in the hiring process.
“This district will be a district that values all people,” said Taschner.
Those policies include sexual orientation as a protected class. At the policy committee meeting earlier this month, board member Laurie Knecht, who voted against the items on Tuesday, opposed including the group as part of the policies. Tuesday night, she said that her comments were misreported in The Times. Knecht said that our coverage of the committee meeting stated that she was against anti-bullying policies when she actually opposed including sexual orientation in employment policies.
“I love gays, but my conscience is telling me this is not right to add sexual orientation policies,” said Knecht.
Contrary to Knecht’s claims, the article, published on Jan. 15, as well as a followup column published Jan. 16, The Times did not mention anti-bullying policies. The article—which can be found here—states that, “While discussing these items with the full board, Laurie Knecht pointed out that one policy regarding equal employment opportunity did not include sexual orientation as a protected class while the other policies did. She suggested the removal of sexual orientation from all of the [nondiscrimination hiring and unlawful harassment] policies as a protected class as state law does not require that classification.”
In the article and column, The Times has only mentioned antidiscrimination hiring and unlawful harassment policies.
During public comment, Caln teacher Tim Long stressed that sexual orientation should be included in antidiscrimination policies.
“Think about what would happen if you failed to protect the LGBT population of our district,” he said. “We should not in good conscience eliminate sexual orientation from the anti-discrimination policy.”
In other district news, board member James Hills spoke out against the student ineligibility rate at Scott Middle School. Hills said that he recently reviewed statistics regarding the rate, and he wants the district to take action against it. He said that reading is “fundamental” and was willing to bet that most of the ineligible students are not reading at their grade level.
Board member Deborah Thompson agreed that the ineligibility rate should be examined and proposed that Scott’s practices could be compared with those at the more academically successful North Brandywine Middle School. The board agreed to discuss plans moving forward, and said that action will be centered around the education committee.
The Board approved certified public accountant firm Maille LLP to conduct an audit of the District. The audit will examine the period from Aug. 2006 to Sep. 2010. The estimated cost is $2,500 plus out of pocket expenses.
The board also approved a memorandum of voluntary consent on Tuesday night. The memorandum authorizes the superintendent to allow “a search of school district records and other things in relationship to criminal investigations that the district attorney’s office and/or law enforcement is/are conducting….”
Further regarding district investigations, Taschner told the public that the Conrad O’Brien report should be released in the next 7-10 days. Answering a question from resident Greg Wynn, she said that the firm has reviewed and redacted appropriate information from the report for free but also advised that the district solicitor’s firm also review and redact what it deems necessary.
The board eliminated two positions for the sake of cutting budget costs. The custodial/building manager and grounds/maintenance manager were released by the district. The positions will be combined into one position.
Bill Androwick, who held the grounds/maintenance manager position called the move a “huge disappointment” during public comment. An employee for 22 years, Androwick said that he has helped the district realize documented savings in utility costs. He also expressed frustration that he will not have access to his unused sick leave or severance pay though the district has allowed administrators to go on paid leave.
