Why does it seem that people interested in busting teachers unions always have curious financial arrangements going on? How does a model "reform" era paradigm like Principal Rotunno survive numerous in-house investigations by the school system only to be exposed and undone by the friggin' PTA, ferchrissakes.
And how does this guy then go on to land himself a 175 K per year gig as principal in a top-flight suburban district... ON TOP of his NYC pension....* after* being exposed?
There's more bullshit in this story than you can shake a.... ummm... hickory stick at. Hits pretty close to home since I used to work in the building next door to JFK High and my nephew graduated from Pleasantville High... where our hero is now going to set up shop. ( Unless the hardworking property taxpayers of that burg wake up real quick. And if they DO wake up they should ask themselves
*H O W * this guy was hired. )
John F. Kennedy HS principal Anthony Rotunno may lose new job at Pleasantville High School
BY Rachel Monahan, James Fanelli and Rich Schapiro
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Saturday, June 26th 2010, 4:00 AM
A state audit of John F. Kennedy HS reveals that staffers under principal Anthony Rotunno (b.) stole nearly $90G of student funds.
Chu for News
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2010/06/26/2010-06-26_stench_follows_him_fake__bake_hs_principal_may_get_boot_from_new_job.html * Staffers at JFK HS swipe $90G, even bake sale money
The Bronx principal who resigned after an audit showed staffers swiped more than $90,000 from a student fund has already landed a cushy gig upstate - but it may not last long.
Just a month after John F. Kennedy High School's Anthony Rotunno submitted his resignation papers, he was named the $174,000-a-year new principal at Pleasantville High School in Westchester County.
Rotunno, 52, is slated to start working on Aug. 1.
But red-faced Pleasantville School District officials issued a statement Friday suggesting Rotunno could be canned.
"We are very concerned with these developments and are consulting with our school district counsel regarding this matter," the statement says.
Pleasantville School District officials said it wasn't until they saw the Daily News' front-page story Friday that they learned Rotunno was in charge of a school where staffers ran a giant swindle.
"Reference checks were extremely positive and no wrongdoings of any nature were reported," the statement says.
The News reported Friday that a state audit showed school staffers stole or misused $91,216 in cash generated from student bake sales and other fund-raisers.
Teachers blew more than $7,000 on four retirement parties, state Controller Thomas DiNapoli says. The Education Department is investigating what happened to the remaining $83,000.
Kennedy teachers union leader Sheila Brady denied that teachers used kids' money for staff parties.
But Kennedy PTA President Robert Bosolet Sr., said he long suspected staffers were plundering the students' account.
"Each year, there were always kids complaining that they did fund-raising, and they never saw a dime from it," fumed Bosolet, whose triplet sons graduated this year.
"Every time an event happened, and we asked where did that money go, we were never provided with that information."
Bosolet said he e-mailed his concerns to the Department of Education, but he couldn't provide evidence.
A DOE spokesman said it "hadn't received a credible accusation of financial mismanagement at the school" prior to the audit.
Rotunno's tenure at Kennedy, one of 34 schools facing possible closure, has been marked by turmoil.
In 2005, Rotunno was accused of raising students' grades on the Regents exam, but the DOE found he operated within his authority.
rschapiro@nydailynews.com
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