Shikellamy directors vote 5-4 to pay legal bills to Philadelphia law firm

Mar. 14—SUNBURY — Four Shikellamy School District directors voted no to pay Solicitor Mike Levin's $17,000 legal bills, citing them as out of control.

Directors Tom Webb, Jenna Eister-Whitaker, Joe Stutzman and Julie Brosius voted against paying Levin's bills, which were on Thursday's voting meeting agenda.

The bills were charged to the district in February by the Levin Legal Group, of Philadelphia.

Directors Lori Garman, Mike Thomas, Justin Lenner, Wendy Wiest and Slade Shreck voted in favor of paying the legal bills.

Levin, who rarely attends meetings, was called prior to the start of Thursday's meeting and remained on the phone during the vote for his legal bills.

Moments later, Webb asked to separate a vote on giving Superintendent Jason Bendle full authority to hire employees prior to board approval.

The issue came to light when Assistant Superintendent Jeremy Winn was hired by Bendle and started his employment with the district two weeks before a board vote was taken.

At the time, Eister Whitaker and former director Jennifer Wetzel voted against the hire because they said they felt Winn should not have begun working until he was brought before the board.

Webb, who has continued to vote no to Bendle being given full authority, warned the board about a Right to Know request that came to the district by Simon Campbell, of Bucks County, seeking various items.

Webb told the board that Campbell warned the district in an email that giving Bendle full authority to hire employees before board approval is a Sunshine Law violation.

Campbell recently won a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association in the state Supreme Court after PIAA claimed they were not a public agency. The court ruled the PIAA was public and ordered thousands of documents to be released.

Thomas asked Levin if he had an opinion on Bendle being given full authority, and Wiest called for an executive session, which lasted about 15 minutes.

When the board returned a vote was taken and Webb, Eister-Whitaker, Stutzman and Brosius voted no, while Thomas, Lenner, Shreck, Garman and Wiest voted for Bendle to continue with his authority.

The board also began budget discussions, and business Manager Brian Manning said the preliminary numbers show no tax increase as of now.