http://media.myrecordjournal.com/system/files/MellaLetter

SOUTHINGTON PUBLIC S'CHOOLS

, June 15, 2009

Mr. William Mella

JOSEPH V. ERARDI, JR., Ed.D. SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

HOWARD J. THIERY , ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT FOR INSTRUCnON 8: Lc:ARNING

BOARD OF EDUCATION

BRIAN 5, GoRALSKI

BOARD CHAIRPERSON ROSEMARIE MICACCI FISCHER VICE CHAIRPERSON TERRI C. CARMODY SECRETARY COLLEEN W. CLARK

Southington High School

720 Pleasant Street

Southington, CT 06489

Dear Mr. Mella: On Sunday, May 17,2009, members of your coaching staff contacted,'

Southington High School Principal, Kathy McGrath, to inform her that they

believed .there were extraordinary fiscal improprieties within the football "Blue

Knight" checkbook. Due to Ms. McGrath receiving this infonnation, she '

arranged to meet three ofyour coaches who all concurred the original message of

your alleged tampering with fund raised money. Specifically, allegations

included their belief that a minimum of $4,000 had been taken by you from

fundraising dollars in October 2008, never used for the program, and never

returned to the account In addition, allegations included mismanagement of

cash withdrawals, and questions around whether volunteer coaches received an

honorarium or were strictly volunteers.

DAVID J. DERYNOSKI

JILL NOTAR-FRANCESCO

PATRICIA P. JOHNSON

On Monday, May 18,2009, Ms. McGrath and Mr. Swallow met with you and

your three assistant coaches in separate meetings to further discuss and

understand your alleged wrongdoings.

ZAYAA. OSHANA

KATHLEEN C. RICKARD

49 BEECHER STREET SOUTHINGTON, CT 06489' WWW.50UTHINGTONSCHOOu;;.ORG

OFFICE TELEPHONE (860) 628-3202

FAX (860) 628-3205

On Tuesday, May 19,2009, I met with Ms. McGrath, Mr. Swallow, Mrs.

DiNello, Mr. Terino, and with you in the Southington High School conference

room to discuss the issue at hand. You emphatically stated that you would never

take a penny from your football athletes and further stated that the alleged act of

misconduct was due to broken coaching relationships. I shared with you at the

May 19, 2009, meeting that I planned to have the Blue Knight checking account

audited and, upon further investigation ofthis issue we would reconvene in the

near future.

On Wednesday, May 20, 2009, you left with Toni Marie Landino, the

Southington High School activity account bookkeeper, $4,000 in cash that you

claimed was the money that you had held since October 2008.

On Thursday, May 21, 2009, I was informed that the high school administration had received letters ofresignation from three assistant coaches.

On Wednesday, June 10,2009, you met with Ms. Hunt, Mrs. DiNello, Ms.

McGrath, Mr. Swallow, and Mr. Terinoin my office at 10:30 a.m. so I could

share with you an update on the audit and also ask you additional questions

regarding the incident at hand.

William Mella

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June 15, 2009

Page 2

I shared with you that I had documentation that directed all ~aches (dated Februaiy 10; 2009) to close any.independentcheeking accounts .. Iii addition, I asked you a series of questionsaboutthematteiOfthe $5,000 and your role with the <:heckbook account. Yau repeated your May 19,2009 statement that you had never taken money from the account for personal gain. You stated you had given $1,000 to a coach who had worked for the program and that $4,000 had been held to support ongoing spring football expenses. I also questioned you about the "Sword and Shield" account which was opened approximately two months ago. You shared with me that this account was intended to replace the ''Blue Knight" account and that you were unaware of the fact that $12,300 representing three withdrawals had been taken from the ''Blue Knight" account to be deposited into the "Sword and Shield" account. .The June 10,2009 meeting concluded with me informing you that the final draft audit report will be made available to my office within a few weeks, and furthermore, that I had been informed by safety officials that there will be a criminal investigation conducted by the Southington Police Department pertailling to the alleged fmancial differences within the "Blue Knight" account.

Immediate outcomes: The Blue Knight checkbooks will be closed as quickly as possible. Since you are not the individual who can close either checkbook, this is shared with you as informational. I will be back in touch with you when this is complete.

The Southington High School Football Program will deposit all funds into either the Gridiron Booster Club account or directly into the Southington High School Activity Account. Failure to do so will be construed as gross insubordination and will lead to your termination as the head coach of the Southington High School Football Program.

As of June 13,2009, you are expected to carry on in full all responsibilities that pertain to being the head coach ofthe Southington High School Football Program.

Upon receiving the final draft ofthe audit, and the outcome of the police investigation, we will reconvene to further discuss the end result of the allegations that were brought to the attention of the school's administration on Sunday, May 17,2009.

In part, this letter is to formally reprimand you for your failure to follow the February 2009 administrative directive to close out all independent checkbook accounts.

Please feel free to give me a call or to set up a meeting with my office if you have pending or further questions .

.

~~

Superintendent of Schools c:

Kathy McGrath, Principal, Southington High School Richard Terino, SEA President Howard Thiery, Assistant Superintendent Eric Swallow, Director of Athletics Sherri DiNello, BusinesS Manager Kimberly Hunt, Pers6Dnel Manager V. Personnel File da/cIletterslmellajune1509finalrev.