A recently resigned School Committee member faces “allegations of misconduct.”
The accusers are his former fellow School Committee members.
What kind of misconduct?
That’s a public mystery.
The School Committee Chairman, the Committee’s legal counsel and the superintendent all refuse to comment.
David Santilli resigned his seat on the School Committee last month. He didn’t say why publicly. His resignation letter was a single line.
Following a failed special School Committee meeting Tuesday night, Santilli spoke in a brief interview through his attorney J. Dixon-Acosta.
“We’re in the dark, regarding the allegations,” Dixon-Acosta said in a sinking Ferri Middle School elevator. “My understanding is that … Mr. Santilli has long alleged the board has not been keeping in its duties regarding the Open Meetings Act, and that he had been vocal in that regard.”
The Johnston School District is planning to overhaul all of the town’s school buildings, if a $215 million bond passes voters in several months. The project has moved along quickly, and as a sitting Committee member, Santilli had asked for more transparency in the decision-making process.
Johnston Schools Superintendent Dr. Bernard DiLullo Jr. said the town was “on a tight timeframe” and Johnston Mayor Joseph M. Polisena has urged rapid passing of school building plans to take advantage of presently generous state reimbursements for major projects.
The Johnston School Committee gathered Tuesday night to discuss in private, and vote in public to hire lawyers to investigate Santilli, who was not named on the agenda.
However, no votes occurred. No executive sessions were held.
Due to technical difficulties (a faulty Zoom link), the emergency meeting was canceled, and will likely be rescheduled for next week.
The night’s agenda called for a closed-door “discussion and/or vote” on two topics: whether to initiate “investigative proceedings of former Committee member related to allegations of misconduct” and “engagement of independent legal counsel for the purpose of initiating investigative proceedings of former Committee member related to allegations of misconduct.”
Santilli, the “former Committee member,” sat in the audience with his attorney.
“We first learned of these supposed allegations regarding his tenure practically two months ago,” Dixon-Acosta said. “We informed the board of Mr. Santilli’s intent to vigorously defend his record as an honorable steward of the School Committee. To date we’ve received no further information regarding the supposed allegations, which we think are likely spurious.”
Santilli and his attorney said they expected a vote on Tuesday night’s agenda items back in December 2021, prior to the Committee member’s resignation.
“They were poised to hold the meeting in December while he was still on the board,” Dixon-Acosta said. “And we let them know that he intended to attend and participate, when we were informed that the meeting would no longer occur, because of his impending resignation.”
Santilli submitted his resignation letter on Dec. 22; his resignation was effective Dec. 31.
“Mind you, he was still a member of the board then, so he would have been privy, and been able to participate in executive session,” Dixon-Acosta said. “Now that he’s not on the board, he’s not privy to the executive sessions, and I think that that was a calculated move on the part of the board.”
If the School Committee had decided in executive session Tuesday night to investigate Santilli, they were set to vote in public session on engaging “Benjamin M. Scungio, Esquire, of Brennan, Recupero, Cascione, Scungio & McAlllister, LLP for the purpose of initiating investigative proceedings of former Committee member related to allegations of misconduct,” during the “Superintendent’s Action Items” portion of the meeting.
Polisena swore in Santilli’s replacement on the Committee, Marysue Andreozzi, on Jan. 10.
Santilli initially found himself back on the board to fill a vacancy when chairwoman Janice D. Mele passed away in April 2019. Santilli was picked to finish the two years remaining on her term and was then elected to the District 3 seat for a full term in 2020.
At the time of his resignation, he was less than halfway through the four-year term, which will expire in 2024.
Santilli previously served three two-year terms on the Johnston Town Council, and also served two previous four-year terms — one as vice chairman — on the School Committee.
“David did a very admirable job when he was on the School Committee,” Polisena said two weeks ago. “He did a very good job when he was on the council. So he’s going to be missed. Public service to the town doesn’t go unnoticed. We appreciate that.”
On Tuesday night, Santilli sat quietly in the row behind his attorney, who brought a large, heavy box of files into the Ferri Middle School Library. The box occupied its own seat.
For the first time in years, Santilli was part of the audience, facing his former fellow board members.
“Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties this evening and were not able to open the Zoom meeting, as scheduled, for the Special School Committee meeting at 6 p.m.,” wrote Angela A. Brasil, Confidential Administrative Assistant to the Superintendents and School Committee Secretary, in an email after the meeting. “Since the meeting must offer a virtual option, according to Governor McKee's Executive Order under the Open Meetings Act (OMA), we were unable to go forward. Therefore, this meeting must be rescheduled.”
Brasil said the meeting will be posted on the RI Secretary of State website Wednesday, and will likely be set for 6 p.m., Monday, Jan. 31.
Nobody on the board or in the district’s administrative office would speak on the record for this story.
“I’m sorry but I can’t give any information since the discussion is listed for Executive Session,” DiLullo wrote in an email Monday.
On Saturday, in the Johnston High School parking lot, School Committee Chairman Robert Lafazia refused to comment for this story.
After Tuesday night’s attempted meeting, the School Committee’s legal counsel, William J. Conley Jr., offered only “not comment” on the “allegations of misconduct” facing Santilli.
“So right now it seems their only question is whether to investigate or not investigate,” Dixon-Acosta said. “I can’t imagine what they’re investigating about someone who is no longer on the board. If we knew more, we’d likely have more to say.”
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