Staff at Sussex Tech call for five school board members to resign amid finance fiasco

Jessica Bies | The News Journal

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Teachers and staff at Sussex Technical High School in Georgetown have called upon five school board members to resign and take responsibility for ethical and financial missteps detailed in a 2017 audit.

Sixty-seven staff members recently issued a vote of "no-confidence" in board members Patrick Cooper, George Torbert, Teresa Carey, Judy Emory and Warren Reid.

On June 11, at a school board meeting, staff called on those board members to resign. They didn't include board members Marcel Hayes and Gregory Johnson, who were recently appointed by Gov. John Carney.

Cooper, who is board president, on Tuesday said he had no comment but planned to release a statement.

English teacher DJ Forcucci at last week's meeting presented a statement, which he said was approved by 71 percent of the teaching staff. The meeting was recorded and can be found online.

“As educators and support staff, we teach our students to think critically, to behave responsibly and to act honorably," Forcucci said. "Unfortunately this message of accountability did not translate to our previous district administration, and we found out last year at this time that they were careless, irresponsible and unethical, and as a result, we continue to suffer the burdens of our leaders, both at work and at home."

Forcucci was referencing a state audit that found evidence at Sussex Tech of widespread financial impropriety, which appeared to benefit local developer Michael Horsey.

After receiving an anonymous complaint about the district's financial practices, state Auditor Tom Wagner launched an investigation into Sussex Tech's dealings with Horsey's company, Common Sense Solutions LLC.

The audit found Horsey was able to sell a piece of property to the district for nearly twice what he bought it for just two weeks earlier. Then, his construction business was awarded nearly $4 million in district contracts without state approval.

“The school board entrusted Sussex Tech administration to make decisions regarding the construction projects without the school board’s involvement which created a lack of accountability," the audit said.

The district's top administrators were put on leave after the audit's release and eventually resigned. The board promised to create financial and oversight committees, Forcucci said, but have not followed through.

Instead, the school's staff are shouldering "the heavy burden of corruption, corruption that was not the result of the teachers who commit themselves to serving their students and their families, corruption that was not a result of the support staff who keep this school running efficiently so we can enjoy a clean, safe and supportive environment, but corruption initiated from the top, corruption that occurred under the watchful eye of this school board," Forcucci said.

Teachers asked for more oversight and transparency after the audit but said on June 11 that they felt ignored.

Anthony Natoli, another English teacher, said: “We were told that our voices matter, and yet, as you began your search, assessed candidates and ultimately interviewed and hired a new superintendent, we were noticeably absent from that process.”

The board announced in April 2018 that it had hired Stephen H. Guthrie as the new superintendent. Previously superintendent of the Carroll County Public School District in Westminster, Maryland, he starts July 1.

“We have continually been excluded and silenced," Natoli said. He also accused the board of strong-arming local politicians and ostracizing neighboring school districts.

Sussex Tech's Virginia Forcucci, who is Delaware's 2018 Teacher of the Year and has worked at the school for more than 22 years, also addressed the school board.

“As educators, we believe that sacrifice is also necessary to make sure that our kiddos, ours, our kiddos, thrive," she said. "We sacrifice after school, we sacrifice weekends … we sacrifice sleep when we worry for our struggling learners, for our neglected and our abused, for our students whose needs cannot be met without extra efforts from us, and we are so willing to make these sacrifices.

"The question that we pose tonight, that I pose tonight, is: Are you? We are asking for you to be selfless, to do what is right, to sacrifice your egos, to step down, to give us a chance to rebuild our house so that it once again can feel like home."

Katie Hiller, the granddaughter of a founding Sussex Tech school board member and incoming president of district's education association, appealed to Gov. John Carney during the school board meeting last week. In Delaware, members of vo-tech school boards are appointed by the governor, and not elected. They serve for seven years.

“If the five resignations do not occur, I implore the governor to dismiss the damaging and ineffective members of this board and make staff — and community — supported appointments,” Hiller said.

Jon Starkey, Gov. Carney’s communications director, said the governor visited Sussex Tech recently and is aware of the situation. His office will continue to monitor it.

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Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.

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