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Head of charter board is convicted drug felon
Friday, September 28, 2001 By Eleanor Chute, Post-Gazette Education Writer
The board president of the troubled Thurgood Marshall Academy Charter School in Wilkinsburg was convicted in 1989 of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Aaron Scales, 50, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the first-degree felony conviction. He served part of the sentence before being paroled in 1994.
Andy Evankovich, solicitor for the charter school, said yesterday that he was unaware of Scales' record. The superintendent of Wilkinsburg School District, which hired Scales as a teacher in 1997, also was unaware of it.
Under the state charter school law, a charter school board member "who is convicted of a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude shall be immediately disqualified from serving on the board of trustees."
But Beth Gaydos, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, said the provision doesn't apply to prior convictions.
"We interpret this as looking forward, meaning that ... if you are convicted of a felony while you are on the board, you shall be removed from it," Gaydos said.
Scales did not return telephone calls yesterday. Other board members of the charter school could not be reached.
Wilkinsburg Superintendent Joseph Tindal said he did not know about the conviction.
He said he "absolutely" would not have hired Scales as a teacher had he known of it.
Because the conviction was out of state, standard background checks may not have uncovered the information.
Pennsylvania teachers must undergo a state criminal background check, but that covers only convictions in Pennsylvania, said Trooper Linette Quinn, public information coordinator for the state police.
Scales holds a valid teaching certificate for social studies in Pennsylvania, originally issued in 1975, according to Jeff McCloud, spokesman for the state Department of Education.
Under state law, a school district cannot hire a teacher who has been convicted of certain crimes, including the type of drug felony in the Scales case, within five years of the conviction. After that, the school district has discretion to do so.
Scales was hired by the Wilkinsburg District, initially as a day-to-day substitute, in the fall of 1997. He also filled two long-term substitute positions during the 1997-98 school year. In the fall of 1998, he became coordinator for the Center of Excellence at the high school, a position he held for one year. He has not worked for the district since.
Scales also worked as a day-to-day substitute in Pittsburgh Public Schools from 1976-80 and from 1983-88, according to Pat Crawford, spokeswoman for the city schools.
The Thurgood Marshall board accepted Scales' application to serve on the board at its Sept. 21, 1998, meeting. The minutes noted, "Mr. Scales works in the Center of Excellence at Wilkinsburg High School. He has knowledge of the educational system and knows the students."
Scales became board president earlier this year after Priscilla Jones was ousted.
The Wilkinsburg school board revoked the academy's charter in July, saying it had failed to offer promised curriculum, use the number of certified teachers required by law, meet the requirements of student performance and follow acceptable financial standards, and had violated state laws, including those governing children with disabilities. The school continues to operate while it appeals to the state Charter School Appeal Board, which is to hear the case Nov. 5.
In New Jersey, assistant prosecutor John L. Higgins III said Scales and two others -- one from New York City and the other from Wilkinsburg -- were traveling in New Jersey when police stopped their car.
Higgins said a gun was found in the car and about 8 ounces of cocaine was found in a bag in the trunk. He said the fact that the quantity was more than 5 ounces made a five-year minimum jail term mandatory. A jury convicted Scales of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of cocaine, but acquitted him on a charge of possessing a weapon.
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