Hogan: CASD board, Ellison may be ‘obstructing’ investigation

Calls for hiring of independent counsel, legal billing records to be turned over

Updated at 11 p.m. with CASD statement

Updated, 5:20 p.m., 10/22 with Rhoads & Sinon statement

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times

WEST CHESTER — Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said Monday that the Coatesville Area School District Board of Education and its solicitor may be actively obstructing an ongoing criminal investigation and called for the board to appoint an independent counsel to represent the district.

Hogan issued a statement suggesting that CASD solicitor James Ellision and the school board “appear to be attempting to obstruct, evade, and delay this criminal investigation.” He went on to say that the district needed to appoint independent counsel immediately, due to Ellison’s conflict of interest as a possible target in the ongoing probe.

In a statement released Monday night, the school board disputed Hogan’s accusation that it is not cooperating but did not address the conflict-of-interest allegation.

“Since learning of an investigation by the Chester County District Attorney, the Coatesville Area School Board (CASB) has offered its full cooperation in conjunction with its solicitor and will continue to cooperate in the investigation involving certain former administrators in the district,” the statement said.

“This board, acting on the advice of our counsel, will continue to provide information and continue to fully cooperate as we have been doing since the outset,” said CASB President Neil Campbell. “We are disappointed by the District Attorney’s statement but, nonetheless, we owe it to our students, their families and all taxpayers to do everything we can to address the questions and concerns that have been raised.”

Ellison’s firm, Rhoads & Sinon issued its own statement Tuesday afternoon:

Rhoads & Sinon rejects any implication that the Chester County DA has made regarding alleged impropriety on our part,” the statement said. “We, and the Coatesville Area School District, have cooperated and will continue to cooperate, with the D.A.’s investigation. All relevant evidence has been protected and preserved, and the School District has undertaken its own internal investigation into some of the same issues that apparently are the subject of the D.A.’s investigation.

“Thousands of pages of documents have been turned over to the D.A. so far. All unprivileged documents that the D.A. has the legal authority to request have
been produced to him or are in the process of being produced. Rhoads & Sinon will continue to cooperate with the D.A.’s reasonable requests as he concludes his
investigation.”

The district has apparently been under investigation by Hogan’s office for a number of months, an investigation which came to light in the wake of the texting scandal that led to the controversial resignation of Superintendent of Schools Richard Como, and James Donato, the Athletic & Activities Director for Coatesville Area High School. A Chester County Grand Jury issued subpoenas related to the investigation earlier this month.

“There is an easy way and a hard way for CASD to deal with this investigation,” Hogan said in the statement. “The CASD Board can cooperate fully, help to discover any crimes, and allow the truth to be exposed.  Or the CASD Board can fight the investigation, attempt to cover up any misconduct, and try to hide the truth.  At the end of the day, the Commonwealth will discover the full truth.  The only question is whether the CASD Board will help or hinder this process.”

Much of Hogan’s ire is focused on Ellison, whom Hogan said is now the subject of an investigation for “potential criminal conduct,” along with his Harrisburg-based law firm, Rhoads & Sinon. Specifically, Hogan said Ellison and his firm were under investigation for obstruction of justice and allegedly defrauding the school district, via the billing “of improper legal fees and expenses.”

Hogan said that although Ellison and the district pledged to cooperate, they have not and the District Attorney appeared to confirm claims made previously by West Chester attorney Sam Stretton that his clients, School District Information Technology Director Abdallah Hawa and CASD Director of Middle School Education Teresa Powell were harassed by school district officials.

“Instead, the CASD Board and its Solicitor appear to be attempting to obstruct, evade, and delay this criminal investigation,” Hogan said in the statement. “They have delayed or refused to produce basic documents. They have attempted to block CASD employees and representatives from providing information to the Commonwealth. They have taken steps to harass, intimidate, and bully the whistleblowers who initially reported wrongdoing. None of this conduct will derail this investigation, but it gives the appearance to all involved that CASD and its solicitor have no interest in allowing the truth to be uncovered.”

The school district’s statement said the “CASB voluntarily turned over the phones of both of the former administrators who exchanged the offensive text messages. The district has also turned over documents requested by the District Attorney’s office and has taken steps to secure all electronic files through the use of an independent third party to ensure that no files have been deleted or edited. Additionally, the district has directed all employees to cooperate fully.”

The district’s statement said “CASB pledged to conduct an internal investigation and that effort continues.  We promised to take every step possible to help bring our school community back together again and that effort also continues.  The CASB is currently taking the appropriate steps to begin the search process for a new superintendent.”

Hogan is demanding the district turn over all records involving Rhoads & Sinon’s billing and expenses submitted to the district. Because of this, Hogan said, Ellison and Rhoads & Sinon can no longer represent the district in this matter because of a conflict of interest, he said.

Regardless of whether Ellison and the district cooperate, Hogan pledged that the investigation will continue, but offered advice suggesting that the board’s best option would be to get out of the way of the probe.

“Sometimes the best way to get out of a hole is to put down the shovel and stop digging,” he said. “The CASD Board should heed this advice.”

Managing Editor Kathleen Brady Shea contributed to this report.