CASD board to vote Tuesday on administrators’ exits

Sources say board disagrees that firings are in district’s best interest

By Kathleen Brady Shea and Kyle Carrozza, The Times

CALN — A statement from the Coatesville Area School District on Monday confirmed that the board plans to vote Tuesday night on whether to accept the resignations of former Superintendent of Schools Richard Como and Coatesville Area High School Athletic Director Jim Donato.

The pair has been linked to racially-charged texts that have sparked outrage in the community and prompted calls for the resignations of the entire school board as well as the termination of the former district administrators.

The district issued a statement Monday afternoon outlining the process that had transpired and that board had been prepared to suspend the pair and begin the process to terminate them when both men resigned.

In the statement (which can be downloaded here) Board President Neil Campbell said that the behavior was not something the district could accept and that board had acted with proper speed to address the situation.

“The racist and sexist language expressed by the two men was sickening and obviously unacceptable,” Campbell said in the statement. “The Board followed state and federal laws and moved as expeditiously as possible while simultaneously cooperating with the District Attorney.”

Multiple sources familiar with the board’s thinking were emphatic Monday afternoon that allowing the two district officials to resign was the smarter long-term strategy for the district, one that would facilitate closure and healing as well as minimize legal costs and exposure to additional liability.

They took issue with published suggestions that the board sat on the information and attempted to cover it up. They said board members acted swiftly and with unanimity to initiate termination procedures within a week of learning about the offensive texts, which were provided to Dr. Tonya Thames Taylor, a member of the board and head of the Coatesville Area NAACP.

Taylor immediately contacted James Ellison, the board solicitor, who set up a meeting with Board President Neil Campbell and and Vice-President Richard Ritter, prompting an internal investigation, the CASD statement said. That investigation got interrupted by a request from Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan that materials be handed over to his office, which was already conducting its own probe, sources said.

The sources said they were told not to comment on the investigation but approached Hogan after a public outcry erupted because of the board’s apparent secrecy, and it received an OK to explain that the matter was under investigation by the District Attorney’s Office. It wasn’t until Como and Donato were advised they were on unpaid suspension pending termination proceedings that the board was asked to consider letting them resign or retire, the sources said.

After considering the options, the board agreed that in the long run, the district would benefit from avoiding a protracted legal proceeding. Even if Como were fired, he would still be entitled to his pension under state law, they said, and could have also received the balance of his contract. Under the current scenario, Como will only receive vacation and sick time he had accrued in addition to his pension, they said, while Donato, who was not entitled to a pension, will receive only some sick time.

Publicity over the reportedly offensive text messages exchanged between Como and Donato has generated public outrage.  There has been no official confirmation of the accuracy of the transcript, and The Times has not been able to confirm their authenticity independently. Hogan has declined to verify them.

The school board announced Como’s retirement on Aug. 29, after several days of rumors and speculation at the beginning of the new school year. Less than a week later, the resignation of Donato, who had been suspiciously absent from school, was confirmed by a school official.

Hogan, who had previously declined to acknowledge that his office was conducting an investigation – even after the school board issued the  statement referencing the probe – said this past weekend that he became aware “of certain text messages” over the course of an investigation and that materials were turned over to his office.

Although the messages do use the word “kickback” in reference to a Coatesville High School football camp, such programs are not run by the district. And since racist language is not illegal, people have surmised that the texts were not the only issue under scrutiny in the administration.

That conclusion has prompted Rev. Randall Harris, the pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, to call for the resignations of the entire school board. “This is running deeper than just these comments,” he said, explaining that members of his congregation are now irately discussing a host of alleged inequities that occurred during Como’s tenure.

Harris said the fact that the school board did not initiate termination proceedings against Como and Donato sends the wrong message. And even if some board members had no knowledge of any of the alleged infractions, some of which deal with the preferential treatment received by the football team, they should have. “We need to rebuild,” Harris said. “We need to start over.”

He said the anger he heard from his congregation on Sunday prompted him to urge his parishioners to remain calm.  “I would never advocate violence, but I do understand why people are upset,” he said, adding that the actions of the school board have fueled the rancor. “They all ought to resign. “

At publication time, more than 700 people had signed an online petition urging members of the school board to wait until the investigations have been completed before accepting the letters.

Krishaia Hall, a senior at Coatesville Area Senior High (CASH), said the comments have prompted shock and confusion among students. “It kind of affects all of us, but being African American, it was hurtful,” she said. “He [Como] shook hands with everybody and then he talks about us behind our backs.”

Hall said she believes Como needs to be fired.  “It makes our school look so bad,” she said, adding that she was wearing a Coatesville shirt while grocery shopping recently, which caused people to give her funny looks.

County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone, who attended the 75^th anniversary celebration on Sunday of the Coatesville Area NAACP, had this reaction to the messages: “We are proud of our children, and no one should be calling them names.”

Congressman Jim Gerlach agreed. “These reported messages represent a shocking and callous degradation of students, administrators and other members of the Coatesville School District community that is simply inexcusable,” Gerlach said in a prepared statement. “That type of racist and sexist language has absolutely no place in our society, let alone in our schools, and I support efforts by the school board and the community to thoroughly review this matter, mete out appropriate sanctions where possible, and lead the community in a much-needed healing process.”

After the NAACP celebration, Linda Lavender Norris, who presented a history of the Coatesville NAACP, recalled a 1983 incident where NAACP was compelled to rally against non-inclusive hiring policies. “My god, history has a way of repeating itself,” she said of the current turmoil.