Fayette school whistleblower suit settled

A Fayette County school district has settled a federal lawsuit with a whistleblower who tipped off state auditors to fraud and mismanagement in a home-based teaching program that may have allowed students to graduate without ever setting foot in a high school classroom.

As a result of the tip from former administrator Joseph Bezjak, the state auditor general's audit of the Albert Gallatin Area School District for the 2000-2001 school year uncovered $86,000 in "questionable costs" in the district's Homebound Instruction Program, or HIP.

The audit also revealed instances of forgery, altered documents and padded time sheets submitted by teachers. In addition, it raised critical questions about the district's oversight of the program, particularly the amount of time instructors actually spent with students.

Superintendent Walter Vicinelly, who took over that job in 2001, concedes some students who participated in the homebound program may have graduated without ever attending classes at the high school.

"I've heard that there were cases," he said. "But I guess anything is possible."

Under state law, school districts must provide a maximum of three months' instruction at home for ill or injured students who cannot attend classes. Districts are reimbursed by the state Department of Education for the costs. Students are not eligible for the program if they are discipline problems or if they require special education.

Albert Gallatin pays homebound instructors $15 an hour for their services.

Vicinelly said there is nothing the district can do now about students who have graduated. However, he said the district is rewriting its policies, determining how long current students have been in the program and trying to recover money paid to instructors who inflated their time sheets.

As yet, no teachers have been removed from the program, he said.

Problems revealed

Records show Bezjak took over the program in 2001 from then-assistant superintendent Daniel Vidovich. When Bezjak discovered problems, he tipped off state officials and alerted school board members.

Later, Bezjak claimed he suffered retaliation and sued the school district, Vidovich, Vicinelly, then-Superintendent Denise Martin and Assistant Superintendent Thomas Tiberi in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh. District Court Chief Judge Donetta Ambrose dismissed all of the defendants from the lawsuit except Vidovich, who was Bezjak's direct supervisor.

In October, the school district settled the case with Bezjak, who is to be paid $37,500. District solicitor Lee Price said Bezjak, who is retired, will receive a lump sum of $7,500, followed by payments of $500 a month over a five-year period.

"Since he had resigned, and said he would never work again for the school district, the board thought it would be cheaper to settle than paying his salary," Price said.

Bezjak would not comment. Vidovich, who also is retired, did not return messages seeking comment.

In his lawsuit, Bezjak said he tried to alert the school board in a memo in which he reported that ineligible students with poor attendance and failing grades were being placed in the program.

"While on homebound they would make the honor roll repeatedly and would appear in the newspaper with regular educational students with high honors," the memo reads. "This went on for years. Some students graduated and walked across the stage and never attended our high school. Believe it or not many graduated or will graduate with a 4.0 GPA."

Bezjak on Sept. 5, 2001, wrote to the Bureau of School Audits, alleging that he'd found "some severe discrepancies in the reporting of students that are eligible and payment of staff and the proper signing of vouchers to pay Homebound teachers."

Bezjak said he then began having problems at work.

He said he received a "barrage of letters" from Vidovich complaining about his job performance, according to the lawsuit.

"While the letters do not overtly threaten Bezjak, they can certainly be interpreted as implying a threat of future discipline," Ambrose wrote in dismissing the lawsuit against the other defendants. "Indeed, the record contains evidence that Vidovich requested that Bezjak be fired."

The Pennsylvania Whistleblower's Act, Ambrose noted in her opinion, allows public employees "to bring a good faith report of wrongdoing or waste by employees." The law also bars employers from threatening or taking retaliation against a whistleblower.

Critical findings

Elizabeth Kupchinsky, a spokeswoman for the Auditor General's Office, said auditors already were conducting a routine audit of the district when they received Bezjak's letter. However, she said his tip led to critical findings that were referred to Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon for possible prosecution.

Vernon said she does not recall receiving anything about the audit. However, she said she will look into the matter if there are allegations of fraud and forgery.

"I'm going to contact the school district and auditor general and ask them to meet with me," she said.

Kupchinsky said the state Office of School Audits routinely reviews subsidies the state pays to school districts during the course of regular audits. But she added that the amount of money involved usually is so small that it doesn't raise a red flag.

"If it's a lot of money, they'll look at it," Kupchinsky said. "Usually, the amounts don't exceed several hundred dollars."

Bethany Yenner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said the state will take no action because it is up to the district to correct the problem. Yenner said the school district -- not the Department of Education -- is responsible for monitoring the program, graduation rates and classroom attendance.

Yenner also said her department will not seek repayment from the school district. She said even though state auditors questioned costs, they did not conclude that the school district was overpaid from the state HIP subsidy.

"It is expected that the observations and recommendations contained in the special audit will be addressed on a local level by the school district or other appropriate entities which received a copy of the special audit," Yenner said.

Discrepancies reported

According to records, the probe by Casey's Office of Special Investigations covered the 2000-2001 school term. The audit revealed that 105 students were enrolled in the program, when the district's records indicated just 38 students were enrolled.

The audit also found that many of the students enrolled in the program were students "who exhibited serious disciplinary problems."

One instructor reported he had taught 16 students for 51 hours in a single day, while another claimed he had spent between 18 and 20 hours teaching in a single day.

Auditors also discovered that parents' signatures were missing on time sheets, some signatures were forged and other signatures were photocopied onto the documents.

Investigators concluded the program had "ballooned" out of control because most of the participating students had been expelled or were being taught at home for disciplinary rather than medical reasons.

"By the end of the school year, there are so many students in the HIP that it is impossible to provide the right amount of instruction," the audit found.

In other instances, auditors reported that teachers had parents sign blank forms because parents "rarely" were present when the students were being taught. One parent interviewed by investigators said her son's instructor was present for just 15 to 20 minutes and they "mostly discussed personal issues not related to the lessons."

Another parent reported her signature was forged on time sheets at least six times in one school year. Investigators found that one instructor submitted bills claiming a student received 134 hours of instruction during the school year, but the school district only listed 20 hours in its report to the state Department of Education.

Auditors found no evidence that the instructors had been disciplined or received a cut in pay for the erroneous reports.