State Ethics Commission: Blackhawk superintendent, Moon school board member traded jobs for their children

CHIPPEWA, Pa. (KDKA) -- The Blackhawk school board took action Thursday night after the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission found the superintendent and a school board member from Moon admitted to conspiring to trade jobs for their children.

The school board approved a motion to hire a special counsel to begin the process to charge Blackhawk Superintendent Dr. Robert Postupac for ethics violations that could lead to his firing. 

The State Ethics Commission released two reports on Thursday about Postupac and longtime Moon school board member Mark Scappe. According to the report, they both admitted to trading jobs for their children.

Superintendent Postupac's daughter got a job as a full-time elementary teacher at Moon and school board member Scappe's son got a full-time job as a gym teacher at Blackhawk.

According to the report, Scappe's son didn't make it past the first round of interviews at Blackhawk. Superintendent Postupac then intervened, making sure he got the job.

The report shows that Scappe instructed Moon Acting Superintendent Dr. Donna Milanovich to place Postupac's daughter on the school board agenda for approval for a full-time teaching job when none existed. She was hired as an elementary teacher.

Each one was found guilty of violating ethics laws and was ordered to pay a $750 fine.

Scappe issued a statement saying, "I contested these allegations but after thousands of dollars in legal expenses and facing even more costs if we continued the fight to a hearing, I accepted a $750 fine to settle and move on. I am proud for the past 20 years to have represented the students and community of Moon Area to the very best of my ability and will have no further comment in this matter."

Postupac had nothing to say after the meeting ended. 

"I don't think it's going to end well for him," said Lisa Benedetto of Chippewa Township. "I know so many people who try to get teaching jobs and for that to happen, it's disgusting."  

The report goes on to say the superintendent filed false ethics reports for a number of years. He didn't list all the money and monetary value that he got so they are making him file new ethics reports for 2016, 2017 and 2019. He also failed to identify all reportable sources of income for 2016, 2017 and 2019. 

"I'm disappointed and saddened, but I took an oath of office to follow the law," Blackhawk School Board President Frank Makoczy said in a statement. "The written report is disturbing. As such, we take this seriously and plan on referring this to the district attorney as well as the U.S. attorney office in Pittsburgh." 

KDKA-TV reached out to the president of the Moon Area school board about what actions, if any, they may take and she said they had no comment.