School Board Corruption News    School Officials-Convict/Indictment List    Articles & Links

 

SCHOOL BOARD CORRUPTION NEWS

 

Read all about it in Newsday!

Ties to school questioned

BY SANDRA PEDDIE AND EDEN LAIKIN
INVESTIGATIONS TEAM
Newsday, February 20, 2006

 

 

 

 

Lets run down the list of these "wonderful school role models"! We like to refer to them as the "Great Abstainers" or AKA "Group Abstain". Or maybe we should just call it "AB(stention)SCAM", sound familiar?

 

  PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEWEST ABSCAM MEMBER!

 Thomas Gross, current school board member

  NEW! NEW! NEW!

  He just happens to work for ELDOR Contracting, a company that continues to

                        get school contracts!

Vincent Pascale, former School Board President:

Owner of VEP COMPUTER STORE on Montauk Hwy, Mastic.

In reply: The coalition will be looking through the school board records, minutes, etc. to

verify that the School System has purchased computers from VEP computer store,

as alleged by citizens of the district.   As Board President, Mr. Pascale should of at least been aware of

                   the NY State Municipal Law regarding conflict of interest. Evidently, ethics or competence aren't

                   required of board members. Our organization believes it is time for Mr. Pascale to resign from the board.

 

William Guiducci, former Board Member:

from Newsday:

Board member William Guiducci is a vice president of Long Island Commercial Bank,

which handled nearly $20 million last year in school district funds.

In reply: While Mr. Guiducci may feel that abstention from a vote benefiting Long Island

                   Savings Bank and  himself indirectly is appropriate, we feel that at  the very least, this is

                   completely unethical! We request that Mr. Guiducci resign his post immediately.

 

 

Patrick Nocerino, current School Board Member:

Board member Patrick Nocerino works as a supervisor in the testing division of Elemco,

an electrical contractor based in Bohemia, that has received more than $2.9 million in business

from the district.

In reply:   Need we say more? We also request that Mr. Nocerino be required to resign his post.

 

 

Mark Mensch, former Board Member:

 Mark Mensch has been a principal in three companies -- a bus line and two athletic training companies

 -- that have received more than $9 million. On June 30, 2004, he stepped down from the school board

 and became the district's athletic director and now makes $119,646 a year.

In reply: It appears that Mr. Mensch was rewarded with a high paying job due to his board

                    membership, company contracts and ties to the school. Evidently, our school district relies on a policy of

                    NEPOTISM, without any regard for hiring the most qualified candidate! We request that he resign

                    immediately.

 

 Rich Hawkins, former School Superintendent

 Responding to concerns raised about board members' business connections to the district, Hawkins said,

 "It's  just perceptual. What we've done is we have disclosed it and abstained from voting. There's nothing

 wrong with that." 

In reply: This statement shows why we refer to Superintendent RICH HAWKINS as  SUPREME

                    LEADER OF "GROUP ABSTAIN" aka "The GREAT ABSTAINERS". Totally unacceptable!

 

From Newsday: Ties to school questioned, BY SANDRA PEDDIE AND EDEN LAIKIN
INVESTIGATIONS TEAM, February 20, 2006

 

Asked whether William Floyd has a policy on board members or employees having contracts with the district, school officials said they follow the state's general municipal law on conflicts of interest. That law prohibits school board members from working for a company that has a contract with their school district, unless the school board member has no ownership interest and doesn't receive any money as a result of the contract, said Mark Davies, chairman of the state bar association's government ethics committee. He added that abstaining from a vote or disclosing one's interest does not alleviate the conflict.

 

Asked about the board's business relationships with the district, Monroe Freedman, legal ethics

professor at Hofstra University, said the board members had created a "a very awkward situation." He said the conflicts arise because it appears that board members could be trading votes for the business deals.

"In my judgment, they shouldn't continue serving at all on the board," he said. "It's an unhealthy situation. From my perspective, it's not a legal matter, it's an ethical matter and a matter of important public policy. And I think it's very unhealthy and undesirable."