Education is the family business in the Dunmore School District
By Kyle Wind, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
About one of every 10 school employees is related to the district's top officials, a Sunday Times investigation found. The newspaper analyzed employment documents for 153 district workers and excluded relatives hired before school officials took district leadership positions. The paper also examined job applications and resumes for 17 relatives of district leadership. The documents were obtained through Right to Know Law requests.
The investigation found:
--The district has hired at least 17 relatives and in-laws of top school officials currently serving in leadership positions. The figure represents more than 11 percent of district staff.
--Ten of the employees are related to six school directors on the nine-member board. Board members approve the hiring of all employees, but solicitor
--The relatives and in-laws collectively earn
--The district does not advertise most of its positions beyond posting openings on the
--Three of the relatives who were hired to non-teacher jobs did not submit resumes. Superintendent
--
The newspaper spoke with several current and former school officials outside the district's leadership circle. While most said they consider nepotism a problem that has been ingrained with the district's decision-makers for decades, they feared retaliation and would not speak about their observations on the record.
District leaders who did speak on the record insisted they always strive to hire the best possible candidates.
"We try to hire excellent teachers,"
Good government and ethics advocates expressed concern over the number of relatives on the district payroll and the infrequency of fully advertising openings.
"If the district is not widely circulating its openings, I don't know how they can justify that they're hiring the best person for the job," said
Among the 17 relatives and in-laws hired in
The educators had a range of experience at the times they were hired, the newspaper's review of resumes found.
Aspiring teachers typically get substitute teaching jobs to build experience until they can get a full-time, long term position with a school district.
Five of the 11 relatives who became teachers did not list any substitute teaching experience on their resumes, although they all had experience with tutoring, child care. running recreation activities and/or serving as drug treatment counselors. One of those candidates served as a teacher's aide for one semester in college, and another listed a one-semester "junior internship" at an elementary school on her résumé.
One applicant had substitute teaching experience, and five of the teachers came to the district with prior long-term professional experience at another education institution.
The applicants all had field experiences and/or student teaching, which are required to get an education degree.
Why advertise?
The
Candidates continuously send resumes and applications to the district, which the superintendent said allows school officials to maintain a pool of qualified candidates.
The school board's hiring policy instructs the administration to keep materials on file for a year, and applicants must notify the district if they want to be considered each year.
"Why spend thousands of dollars on advertising when we already have qualified applicants?"
Considering cash-strapped districts around the state have laid off many teachers and
Choosing not to advertise positions likely denies the district numerous experienced candidates, and the district has an obligation to residents to "get the best bang for the tax dollar,"
Small, tight town
"In a small community, this is bound to happen," school Director
If relatives of district officials are the most qualified candidates, decision-makers should not hold the connections against the candidates,
On the opposite side of the state, similarly sized
The anti-nepotism policy has been on the books for more than nine years in the
"We have no trouble hiring qualified people," said Superintendent
A strong anti-nepotism policy takes pressure off of the administration to hire relatives of school board members when they are not the most qualified people for the job, Dr. Todora said.
"How do you tell your board president that his daughter came in fifth place?" she asked.
Meanwhile, requiring external searches and hiring outsiders with varied life experiences can provide students with a richer experience, she said.
When she was superintendent at
The problems did not end there. Dr. Todora said she later had to discipline her niece's soon-to-be husband and the situation was naturally awkward.
It is illegal under
In his 16 years on the school board,
'Making sausage'
The number of relatives the newspaper found on
States with a history of "machine politics" have a bigger problem with nepotism than other parts of the country because many politicians use the hiring of relatives to build support, Dr. Mitra hypothesized. Even relatively low-salaried school district jobs tend to offer job security, health insurance and pension benefits that are very difficult to find in the private sector, she said.
In an economy in which many people are desperate, more public officials are likely to look at hiring relatives as "taking care of their own" while overlooking the ethical ramifications, Dr. Mitra said.
It all adds up to a problem she thinks is so ingrained in
"It's like making sausage," she said. "It's one of those things people know about and don't want to think about."
Contact the writer: [email protected], @kwindTT on TwitterRelatives and a brief synopsis of experience related to their positions at the time of hire
n Daughter:
Background: studied liberal arts at
No résumé submitted; information from the application she filed
n Son:
Background: driver,
No résumé submitted; information from application
The elder
n Daughter:
Background: bachelor's, elementary education,
n Son,
Background: bachelor's, psychology, certification, special education,
n Daughter:
Background: bachelor's, special education,
Mr. Hallinan confirmed Mrs. Coyle was his daughter but had no comment.
n Sister-in-law:
Background: office manager for
n Daughter:
Background: bachelor's, health and physical education, master's, teaching,
n Brother,
Background: degree, building construction technology, college unavailable; foreman,
No résumé submitted; information from application
n Daughter:
Background: bachelor's, communication sciences and disorders, master's, special education,
n niece:
Background: bachelor's,
Superintendent
n Daughter Jenny McDonald-Ondek, art teacher. Hired
Background: bachelor's, art education,
n Daughter's mother-in-law:
Background: substitute custodian,
n Niece:
Background: bachelor's, elementary education, minor, science,
Solicitor
n Sister-in-law:
Background: bachelor's, special education,
n Married to first cousin:
Background: occupational health clerk, Cognetti & Conaboy Family Practice, 1999-2007; outpatient registration, business office,
n Second cousin:
Background: bachelor's, elementary/early childhood education,
n Second cousin:
Background: bachelor's, sociology,
___
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