Schools

School Board Scolds Vulcano For Talking to Press

Officials say Pat Vulcano violated confidentiality, but longtime school director says he did nothing wrong.

The Easton Area School Board has censured one of its members for revealing details about the search for a new superintendent to a local newspaper.

The board passed a resolution Tuesday that "admonished and condemned" Pat Vulcano Jr., saying he “brazenly violated confidentiality” by speaking to the Morning Call.

The action came on the same night board President Robert Fehnel said the district would name an interim superintendent, while still searching for a permanent replacement for current Superintendent Susan McGinley.

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For his part, Vulcano maintained he did nothing wrong, although he did apologize for revealing that Easton Mayor Sal Panto had applied for the superintendent job.

"I did slip on bringing his name out," Vulcano said Wednesday. "I apologize for bringing his name out. I think he would’ve made a great CEO."

Find out what's happening in Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In a later Morning Call interview, after two finalists for the superintendent job withdrew their names, Vulcano said that the board could have a third candidate "in the rafters."

Vulcano, who is up for re-election, was unable to attend Tuesday's meeting in person due to a knee injury, but listened/spoke over the phone and said he watched the action via the district's website.

He said he wished the board had waited until he was present to allow him to tell his side of things.

Fehnel said Tuesday that the board at one point had someone who was "a close third." The two finalists were Robert Culp, assistant executive director of the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21, and Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder.

Both men withdrew their names from consideration.

But Vulcano argued that Fehnel had revealed the names of two finalists before he even spoke.

This is the second time the board has censured Vulcano. He said the last time was for supporting the district's secretaries union when it went on strike in 2009.

At the bottom of all this is the fact that the district still has no one to replace McGinley when her five-year contract ends at the end of June.

Fehnel said Tuesday the board would reopen its search for a permanent replacement, while also reconsidering some of the candidates it had previously rejected.

 

 

 


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