In a special meeting Friday night, the Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Superintendent Joseph Mancini (effective September 22, 2020), voted to put him on administrative leave with pay until that date, and replaced him with Interim Superintendent Dr. Wes Shipley.
Board President Renee Pitrelli; Board Vice President Gary Rozanski; and Directors Barbara Wilson, Matt Morella, Jean Biehls, Norman Boots, and Kathleen McCommons supported the moves.
Directors Jennifer Tomon and Erica Gray dissented.
Tomon publicly questioned Pitrelli regarding the appointment of Wesley as interim superintendent.
“When did the board direct you to do so?” Tomon asked.
Dr. Wesley Shipley
Pitrelli said five directors agreed to the move and that she was directed by the board’s interim legal counsel Amanda Jewell (long-time solicitor John DeCaro recently resigned as the board’s solicitor).
Tomon said she didn’t feel Pitrelli made the proper effort to reach out to the entire board for directive and that the decision by email was a violation of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act.
Gray agreed.
“How is that not a violation of the Sunshine Law?” she asked.
Pitrelli insisted that she emailed all board members regarding the move, and that details were disclosed in email prior to the meeting and in Friday’s executive session—which occurred 20 minutes into the public meeting and lasted at least 40 minutes.
“We did not vote until now,” Pitrelli said.
The public Zoom meeting began at 5 p.m., but was marred with “hackers” who disrupted the board’s business with sexually explicit messages and vulgarity in the Zoom chat function, and yelling of vulgar words and other loud sounds throughout the public portion. Around 5:20 the Board entered executive session to remove the “hackers” and discuss Mancini’s leave. The same disruptive activity continued when the board came out of executive session around 6 p.m. to resume the public portion of the meeting. At that time the board quickly made its way through voting despite the loud disruptions.
Assistant Principal, John Sovich
In other votes, the board moved to appoint Lincoln High School’s Assistant Principal John Sovich to be in charge of day to day operations until July 27 when Shipley will become interim superintendent. They also voted to appoint the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV as the superintendent search consultant.
A profile on the Mars website stated that Shipley served as Mars Area School District superintendent since 2015. It also said Shipley has more than 30 years of public education experience, including serving as superintendent at both Mars Area School District and Shaler Area School District; and two years as an assistant superintendent at Shaler Area School District. Shipley’s contract was not renewed by the board at Mars in January 2020.
Mancini spent 30 years in educational roles. He became the ECASD’s superintendent in 2014 following five years as serving as assistant to the superintendent. Before his years in superintendent roles, Mancini spent four years as the principal of Lincoln JR/SR High School and six years as assistant principal. He also served one year as assistant principal at Riverside Beaver County High School and was a teacher for seven years at Grove City Middle School where he taught 7th grade social studies.
Mancini’s retirement was announced Tuesday evening in an email from Pitrelli.
In that statement, Pitrelli said the board wished Mancini well in his retirement and the they were prepared to move the school district forward in the education of its students.
“The Board will proceed to put in place an acting superintendent to guide the District through this Pandemic and return to school,” Pitrelli wrote. “We expect the district family, including the Administration team, to work with the Board and community to get our students back to school safely.”
She ensured a search for the right candidate.
“The Board will do an extensive search to select a qualified Superintendent who will work with the Board and community to develop a shared vision for the District,” Pitrelli wrote. “Our eyes are on the future, not the past, and we will do the work necessary to select a new leader who shares the Board’s vision.”
PATHETIC!