Despite 3-hours of public comment asking for firings, board votes 6-1 to accept resignations
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Acting Coatesville Area School District Superintendent Dr. Angelo Romaniello reads a statement. Many of his words were met with jeers and boos.
CALN – The Coatesville Area School District Board of Education voted 6-1 on Tuesday night to allow the resignations of former Superintendent Richard Como and former Athletic Director James Donato.
After three hours of public comment from taxpayers, parents, students, administrators, and former staff calling for the resignation of school board members, demanding the firing of Como and Donato, and asking questions about the DA’s ongoing investigation, School Board President Neil Campbell said that he never reconsidered his decision to vote in favor of allowing Como and Donato to resign.
“I’ll tell you right now, if I felt I did something wrong, I’d step down immediately,” he said. “I know that I’m doing the best for this community. They may not know it right now, but they will down the road, and that is part of the healing process.
The lone dissenting vote was Dr. Tonya Thames Taylor — who is also the president of the Coatesville NAACP — who spent much of the night under fire for her conduct in the matter.
Reading a prepared statement, Campbell said that termination would require legal action, an expense that the school board did not want to incur.
Campbell also said that the board was acting in the community’s best interest by not explaining the details of the DA’s investigation.
“I was basically—and this entire board—was upholding what the DA (Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan), we felt, needed in order to do this investigation properly,” he said. “That’s exactly what we did, and we still to this day feel that feel we did the best that we had to do for this community.”
Campbell’s response comes in the wake of Hogan’s comments that he never told the board that they could not discuss the investigation.
“We did not put constraints on them,” Hogan said. “They were free to discuss the text messages.”
During his statement, Campbell said that Como and Donato would not receive “one red cent” from the district. He said that whether or not Como receives a pension is not up to the school board but is decided by the Pennsylvania State Retirement System.
Campbell also mentioned that the DA will be looking into alleged kickbacks involving the football team, which was met with cheers by the standing room-only audience.
Tuesday night’s meeting heard impassioned opinions from many members of the community. While many speakers called the resignations of the entire board, much of the public’s anger was directed at acting Superintendent Dr. Angelo Romaniello, Board Solicitor James Ellison, and School Board Member Dr. Tonya Thames Taylor.
The audience packs in to Tuesday night’s meeting. Many public comments and board statements were met with boisterous reactions.
Many residents felt that Taylor, who is also president of the Coatesville NAACP, was acting under a conflict of interest.
“She’s wearing two hats, and she should be out here with us [the members of the NAACP],” said NAACP member Jimmy Jackson.
Tuesday night’s meeting also revealed that acting Assistant Superintendent Dr. Teresa Powell worked with District IT Specialist Abdullah Hawa to reveal the racist text messages.
“I absolutely love my job, but I love being a person with integrity even more,” she said to applause from the audience.
Even in the agitated atmosphere of the meeting, some people focused on positives. Former Pastor John Carlson offered prayer, while others called for unity from residents and praised the district’s students and teachers.
“That doesn’t define our student body,” Student School Board Representative Paul Draper said of the text messages. “They [the students] succeed in life not in spite of the education they receive here but because of the education they receive here.”
All I can say is shame on me and shame on us all for turning a blind eye to the issues for so many years. How did we not see this? or did we not care? I graduated from Coatesville in 95 and while I always felt that racism was there I guess I ignored it because it was sort of indirect, if that makes any sense…I played football and Mr. Como would give speeches that would put us in tears and have us ready to take on the world before a game! He made us believe in each other and made sure we all had each others back. One speech that I was very fond of was “The Man In The Mirror”. Now I wonder if he can even look at the man in the mirror? I’m more in shock and saddened by this whole event then I am angry! I really can’t believe it! Wow Mr. Como! Very disturbing!
One more thing and then I’m done! Lets not forget that if the DA never launches an investigation this is swept under the rug! The board knew about this prior and wasn’t going to do a thing. What does it take to recall board members?
If anyone thinks that Theresa Powell would not be an excellent Superintendent they are dead wrong. I have personally dealt with her on a professional basis for the past decade and find her to be very qualified and loaded with experience at all levels. Regarding the use of the race card, Mrs. Powell just wants what is right for the school district and treats all races equally.
sdj,
You are correct! Remember, she wants to play the race card to become the next Superintendent and has made it well known inside the CASD building. She was appointed by Como, along with lots of other Directors besides just Donato.
I can’t speak to the quality of person Theresa Powell is. I don’t know her well enough to tell you if she’s the same as the old administrators or if she’s exactly what’s needed to change things.
That being said, don’t say she “wants to play the race card”. If we, as a community, are not going to repeat this disgusting event, we need to learn from it. We need to learn that racism is still very much alive in high-level administrative positions. Victim-blaming is not the answer. If you want to say that she’s going to use this one event to make her way to the top without proper qualification, that’s one thing. But to see this repugnant racism and say that the black community somehow benefits from it–that’s just doing logical backflips.
JUST REMEMBER -POWELL NOT A SAINT EITHER………….
VERY WELL SAID!! EVERYONE FROM ADMINISTRATION AND SCHOOL BOARD NEED TO GO!!!!!
So let us talk about the 800 pound gorilla in the room. It is difficult to believe the Board has anything but it’s own self-interests in mind when one considers that Mr. Ritter and Dr. Taylor had relatives hired by Mr. Como once they were on the Board. Not to mention Mr. Como’s son, who had his salary doubled within 2 years of being with the district.
Mr. Campbell’s explanation of the course of events was quite eloquent…I particularly liked the comment that we are family. Do we steal from family? Dr. Romaniello has bragged to several people in the district that when his wife left the district that she took district technology with her and is currently using it at her new job. Shame on you Dr. Romaniello for not returning the equipment and now shame on you Board for placing the fox right back into the henhouse and with more money. Good way to start the new era. I can personally attest to seeing and hearing Dr. Romaniello berate teachers, bully them into doing what they told him was “legally” wrong, and then threatening them with having their teaching license taken away if they ever dared to contradict a Romaniello command. One of those teachers, one of the best and most loved at CASH, left the district and teaching some weeks later as a result of the confrontation. There’s a real injustice. Our best leave because of a sick, twisted environment and the Board is, at best, unaware and at worst, compliant. Why is that?
This all goes far beyond racial and sexual slurs and the Board and solicitor know it. Mr. Hawa can tell you that the old administration used the technology department as their own personal toy store. Taking equipment before it could be properly put into the inventory system, demanding newer and newer phones, new printers, iPads, and then giving equipment, district property, to friends and family members and allowing certain employees to keep their equipment when they left the district. Shame on all of you! You all but wipe out technology education while at the same time take for yourselves, demanding technology funds be used for your own greed…and most of you make 2 to 3 times what most teachers make. And to add insult to injury, the Board gives Dr. Romaniello a $60,000 raise…be a hero Angelo and give that money back to the district for the students and teachers, therein setting an example for those to come.
Whose was the dissenting vote?
Dr. Taylor. We’ve added that. Thanks.