Old Bridge BOE member charged with theft can't be removed yet. Here's why
OLD BRIDGE - The township board of education currently has no authority to remove a fellow board member who, along with his wife, has been charged with stealing more than $50,000 from a PTA and a youth sports program, because he is innocent until proven guilty.
However, Board Attorney Christopher Parton explained that the board can vote to remove a member after missing three consecutive meetings without "just cause or excuse" as determined by the other board members.
The future status of Board Member Leonardo Marchetta arose after he and his wife Dana were charged April 8 by Old Bridge police with stealing $41,067.90 from the Grissom School PTA and its vendors, and $12,417.16 from the Rebels Football and Cheer Program.
Dana Marchetta, police said, was involved in the Grissom and Salk schools PTA organizations and the Rebels sports program, and allegedly misused her positions in the organizations for her own financial benefit.
Since then, there have been calls for Marchetta to either his resign his board seat or be removed.
At the April 16 school board meeting, Parton said the board is aware of the charges against Marchetta, who was not in attendance. The attorney also acknowledged the calls for Marchetta to quit or be removed.
Earlier: Old Bridge school board member, wife charged with stealing $50K from PTA, sports program
Parton said state law does provide that someone can be removed from the board if they are guilty of certain criminal offenses.
However, Marchetta has not been convicted, Parton said, adding "we are very much an innocent until proven guilty country."
"That is true at the national level and that is true all the way down to the bylaws of local school districts, like this one," he said.
A board member cannot be removed after just being charged with a criminal offense, Parton said.
However, he said state law allows the removal of a board member following certain criminal convictions.
"The word that that statute uses repeatedly is convicted," Parton said. "If any board member is convicted of anything that is in the list of disqualifying offenses, be assured that they will be removed immediately by this board and, by the way, by the state, but this board would act immediately if that were the case.”
However, a board member can be removed for other reasons.
Parton said meeting attendance requirements remain in place for all board members regardless of what they are alleged to have done.
Board members can be ousted if they miss three board meeting, in a row without just cause, Parton said.
"Just cause or excuse is determined by remaining board members," he said.
The April 16 meeting was the second board meeting in a row that Marchetta has missed, according to district records.
The next board meeting is scheduled for April 25.
At the meeting, Andrew Lewis, president of the Old Bridge Education Association, read a statement that called on Marchetta to resign effective immediately and that "the Board of Education members seated here join us in demanding his resignation."
Marchetta's wife is charged with altering checks by falsifying signatures and modifying an Old Bridge Police Department Incident Report, which she then presented to the Salk PTA Board, police said. Police also allege that some of the stolen funds were deposited into her husband's personal accounts, and the two allegedly "conspired" to benefit from the stolen money.
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She has been charged with seven counts of forgery, four counts of passing bad checks, three counts of theft by deception, two counts of theft, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, forgery by altering documents, public records fraud, falsifying records, money laundering, and conspiracy, police said.
Leonardo Marchetta has been charged with seven counts of passing a bad check, two counts of theft, theft by deception, and conspiracy, police said.
Email: sloyer@gannettnj.com
Susan Loyer covers Middlesex County and more for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Old Bridge BOE member charged with theft can't be removed yet. Here's why
