SCRANTON — Scranton school directors delayed hiring a legal firm for the district.
Directors voted 5-3 Monday night to table appointing Joyce, Carmody & Moran as the district’s special education counsel. They did not vote on another motion to appoint the firm as the district’s general legal counsel. Both agreements would have started May 1.
Board President Ty Holmes, Vice President Danielle Chesek and Directors Tara Yanni, Catherine Fox and Marie Merkel voted to table, while Directors Tom Borthwick, Bob Casey and Sean McAndrew voted not to table the motion.
Directors decided to table after the proposed contract was changed and board members weren’t able to review it in time for Monday’s meeting. Superintendent Erin Keating, Ed.D., sent the revised contract to the board following the vote.
Officials would pay the Pittston-based law firm $200 an hour for a partner from the firm, $180 an hour for an associate and $130 for a paralegal through 2027, with rates increasing by $10 for 2028, according to the meeting agenda.
The firm’s agreement with the district for general legal counsel also specifies the district pay retainer fees to the firm of $60,000 this year, $65,000 next year and $70,000 for 2027. The fee will be paid in monthly installments and cover phone calls and email correspondence between the firm, the district’s central administration and board members on nonlitigation issues, weekly virtual meetings between administrators and the firm and attendance at all regularly scheduled board meetings, informational sessions and accompanying executive sessions.
In addition, directors agreed unanimously to appoint attorney Noah Katz as special counsel for the legal request-for-proposal process. He will be paid $175 an hour and will be reimbursed for expenses, including travel at the prevailing rate.
Katz thanked the board for selecting him prior to the vote. He said the process for selecting a law firm was thorough and transparent.
Joyce, Carmody & Moran and King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul of Bethlehem, the district’s current firm, both submitted proposals for legal services.
Board members hired Joyce, Carmody & Moran as its labor counsel in 2018, but shifted those responsibilities to the firm Sweet, Stevens, Katz & Williams in 2020. The board has used King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul since 2022, when a Lackawanna County judge ordered the district to rebid for its bus contract.
Several residents spoke about the change in legal services prior to the board’s vote.
Resident Barb O’Malley pointed out that Brendan Fitzgerald, an attorney with Joyce, Carmody & Moran, sent a letter early last month to NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania asking if Todd Pousley, one of its employees, would resign from his job if he won election to Scranton City Council, because the nonprofit receives funding from the city.
“JCM interjected itself into the race based on concerns about transparency, public trust and ethics, all very important, wouldn’t you agree?” she asked the board. “Yet JCM has not identified on whose behalf they wrote the letter. So much for transparency.”
Members of the Scranton school board at the regular meeting Monday, April 7, 2025. (Christine Lee/Staff Photo)
A Scranton school resource officer speaks with resident Virgil Argenta before escorting him from the podium during the regular school board meeting Monday, April 7, 2025. (Christine Lee/Staff Photo)
Attorney Noah Katz speaks before members of the Scranton school board at their regular meeting Monday, April 7, 2025. The board approved Katz to serve as special counsel for the legal request for proposal process during the meeting. (Christine Lee/Staff Photo)
Scranton resident Virgil Argenta, a candidate seeking a Republican nomination for a seat on the Scranton city council, speaks during the regular Scranton school board meeting Monday, April 7, 2025. (Christine Lee/Staff Photo)
O’Malley said the only link she sees between the firm and city council is McAndrew, who is also seeking a seat on city council, and asked that he recuse himself from the vote. O’Malley also asked that Casey recuse himself as he has received campaign donations from Lawrence Moran, one of the firm’s founding partners. As she was speaking, Holmes asked that the microphone be cut off and that a school resource officer remove her. A school resource officer walked up and escorted her from the microphone.
Resident Holly Meade asked how much the board spends annually for its current firm, how many hours were billable last school year and why the board terminated its contract with Joyce, Carmody & Moran in 2018. She said she noticed the district paid the current firm around $35,000 in February and $45,000 in April.
“This is a very lucrative contract for whichever firm the board chooses,” she said. “I just want to make sure we are spending these critical dollars wisely.”
Resident Virgil Argenta, another candidate for city council, asked why former Director Katie Gilmartin resigned. Holmes told him the board only has her resignation letter and no additional information. When Argenta kept speaking, Holmes also asked the microphone be turned off, and the same school resource officer escorted him from the stand.
McAndrew, Pousley and Argenta are among six candidates seeking three Democratic nominations in the May primary election to appear on the Nov. 4 general election ballot for city council, along with incumbent Councilman Tom Schuster, Patrick Flynn and Frankie Malacaria.
McAndrew said before voting he has no relationship with the firm. Holmes defended the process for selecting a law firm, adding it was transparent and all information was shared with every director.
“This process is about professionalism, not personal,” Holmes said. “This was the most transparent thing we did.”
He said school code states that a board majority can terminate a solicitor at any time, and that directors had no part in the negotiations for legal services.
“At no point was any director part of the negotiations,” he said.
Yanni said before voting that the current firm, King, Spry, Herman, Freund & Faul, has more than 30 years of experience and current Solicitor John Freund has more than 45 years of experience in education law.
“A law firm that specializes in general and special education is exactly what we need right now,” she said. “I feel strongly that changing our legal counsel is not in the best interest of our district.”
Director Bob Casey asked to hold a special meeting to vote on legal services.
In another matter, directors approved Gilmartin’s resignation, effective March 28. Directors thanked her for her service on the board before voting, with Yanni and Fox pointing out her leadership while the district was in financial recovery.
“Katie navigated this school board through some very difficult times while we were in financial recovery,” Yanni said.
Fox said Gilmartin got involved in the district at a time when there was a $33 million deficit in the budget and has been a great help to her on the board.
District officials advertised the vacancy on the district’s website after the meeting. Candidates have until noon April 18 to email an application, resume, letters of interest and statements of financial interest to Virginia.Orr@ssdedu.org. Directors will vote to fill the vacancy at a special meeting prior to the work session on April 28.