Pottsville Area School District Business Manager Stephen C. Curran was placed on “paid administrative leave” Sunday, Richard A. Thornburg, school district solicitor, said Monday.
The school district Superintendent Jeffrey S. Zwiebel, school board President John F. Boran and numerous school board members contacted Monday refused to provide further details, and referred all questions to Thornburg.
“As much as I would like to discuss this, it is a personnel matter. And at this point, those questions have to be directed to our solicitor,” Karen E. Rismiller, the school board’s vice president, said Monday.
“I believe we have an acting business manager. I believe it’s Pat Lombel,” Scott Thomas, a member of the school board, said Monday.
He was referring to Patricia A. Lombel, the district’s assistant business manager.
The matter may be discussed at the next school board workshop, to be held 5:30 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Howard S. Fernsler Academic Center, or the next school board meeting, to be held 7 p.m. that night.
In February 2013, the school board hired Curran as its business manager. On Oct. 21, 2015, the board approved a contract renewal for Curran, effective July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2021. According to the October 2015 contract, Curran was to receive a 3 percent raise per year. For the 2015-16 school year, Curran said his salary is $103,766.78. In June, Curran agreed to not accept an anticipated 3 percent salary increase for 2016-17.
According to Thornburg, the school board had discussions related to Curran in three executive sessions held in the past week.
The first was 7 p.m. Nov. 2; the second was 10 a.m. Saturday; and the third was 7 p.m. Sunday, according to school board members Thomas and Patrick F. Moran.
“During the executive sessions, we talked about personnel matters,” Moran said Monday.
Moran said the length of sessions varied each time and would not provide a time frame. He also would not disclose if more than one personnel issue was discussed during these meetings.
“Mr. Curran was placed on administrative leave with pay. This did not require formal board action ahead of time,” Thornburg said.
“The administration is not bound by the Sunshine Act,” Thornburg said.
Thornburg said sometimes an administration has to act before the school board does.
“The administration sometimes has to step in,” he said.
“It happened late Sunday night. As for the reasons why, I have some recollection of the reasons. But I am not at liberty to discuss them,” Thornburg said.
Thornburg said the school board contacted him by phone for part of the executive session held Sunday at the Howard S. Fernsler Academic Center. But he said he wasn’t on the line for when the board made its decisions.
Thornburg said he talked for about 20 minutes by phone during the session about Curran “and other items of the school district related to Mr. Curran.”
“I’ve also been advised that the assistant business manager, Pat Lombel, has been asked to step up,” Thornburg said.
Thornburg said the administration “asked her to step in cause we need a business manager.”
He would not disclose additional details.
He said he did not think Curran was present for Sunday’s executive session.
Curran could not be reached for comment Monday.
The administration also has the authority to take Curran off administrative leave, Thornburg said.