Lehighton Area School District’s board of directors on Monday night voted down a motion to forward new documentation related to a years-old National Education Foundation contract to law enforcement for investigation.

Several members, however, said their “no” votes were not based on disagreement with the idea of an inquiry, but rather because the full board had not yet reviewed the documents in question.

The motion, introduced by board member Duane Dellecker, sought to send materials obtained through a recent Right-to-Know request to the Carbon County District Attorney’s Office and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The motion failed by a 5-4 vote.

Board members Dellecker, Jeremy Glaush, Richard Beltz and Sean Gleaves voted yes. Voting no were President Joy Beers, Heather Neff, Kerry Sittler, Barbara Bowes and April Walker.

Walker said her vote was not a reflection of the content of the complaint.

“I’m going to say no only because I think that the board should have an opportunity to review these documents,” she said.

Beers echoed that reasoning for her no vote.

The discussion stemmed from new information Dellecker said was uncovered after the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas ordered the district earlier this year to release Right-to-Know records requested by former board member David Bradley.

Dellecker said the district hired a company to assist in fulfilling the request.

“The cost was a mere $16,000 — not the $200,000 the former board and administrator claimed it would be,” he said.

STEM Program

According to Dellecker, more than 100 pages of documentation were produced, including materials related to the district’s STEM curriculum purchased through the National Education Foundation.

He said the program cost taxpayers over $3 million and raised concerns about $55,000 in stipends paid to staff.

“The documentation appears to show that a dozen staff members, some of whom are current employees, were paid stipends totaling $55,000 for a program that allegedly involved work that was not done,” he said. “If all this information is verified and correct, we have a serious problem that occurred under the leadership of former and current staff as well as former board members.”

Dellecker said the program “looked like it was a very good program,” but questioned whether it was ever properly implemented.

“Our duties include ensuring that the board members and staff perform their duties properly,” he said. “If not, I want those stipends returned.”

The National Education Foundation contract has been a source of controversy in Lehighton for nearly a decade.

In 2014, the district applied for the Qualified Zone Academy Bond program through the Pennsylvania Department of Education and received $8.5 million to support construction of a new elementary school and renovations to its middle and high schools. It received another $6.8 million under the same program in 2016.

To comply with program requirements, the district partnered with NEF, which pledged to provide 10% of the bond proceeds as an in-kind donation. However, the arrangement ultimately cost the district more than $3 million for what was initially believed to be a “no-cost” STEM partnership.

A 2020 audit by the Pennsylvania Auditor General said the district “failed to monitor the agreements to ensure that it received goods and services in accordance with the agreements.”

The audit also found that for the 2016 contract, which cost $1.36 million, the district “did not receive any of the agreed-upon services, stipends, rewards, etc.”

One of six findings in the report stated that “the district paid stipends to its employees; however, the work that was to be performed for these stipends was to the benefit of NEF and not the district.”

Insufficient evidence

In October 2022, Lehighton’s board voted to ask Carbon County District Attorney Michael Greek to investigate. Greek referred the matter to the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, which completed its review in January 2023.

“After investigating this matter, we have determined there is insufficient evidence of any criminal conduct,” Brian Zarallo, chief deputy attorney general with the Public Corruption Section, wrote in a letter to the district.

Greek said at the time that while the audit noted the NEF agreements were never approved by a majority vote of the board at a public meeting — a violation of the state’s Public School Code — that failure “renders the agreements void or unenforceable but does not provide for any criminal penalty.”

He also noted that neither his office nor the attorney general’s office was listed as a stakeholder on the audit report or received a referral from the auditor general requesting a criminal investigation.

Dellecker said Monday that, based on the newly released documents, he believed the matter should be reexamined.

“If this is what it appears to be, I have a real problem with the ethical behavior of former and current staff as well as former board members,” he said.

Ryan Bowman, a Lehighton resident, voiced support for forwarding the complaint.

“I’m just glad that finally we’re going to make the previous administration accountable,” Bowman said. “You have a responsibility to this district, to the taxpayers, and to the student body to hold people accountable for the money that was wasted.”