The Easton Area School District has been painted by a Northampton County grand jury as a negative culture in which there exists severe mistrust between school board members and administrators that borders on paranoia.

This problem can be traced back to an IT director with a penchant for snooping on employee computers by remotely accessing them. IT Director Thomas Drago was ultimately charged with wiretapping when it was discovered that he had recorded a meeting among school officials. He was placed on ARD, a special program for first offenders in which charges are wiped clean after a successful period of probation.

Drago cooperated in the grand jury investigation.

While finding that there is no criminal activity, the 64-page report calls for the resignations of school board directors Frank Pintabone, Robert Fehnel and Kerri Leonard Ellison. Jurors also admonish district solicitor John Freund to report possible crimes to law enforcement instead of handling things internally. Finally, they recommend that the district revise its computer use policies to establish clear policies for remote access to employee computers.

The grand jury investigated whether school board members had engaged in any attempt to intimidate and retaliate against school district employees. School administrators charged that Drago was leaking sensitive information to school board members, but there was no evidence of any criminal conduct. The grand jury believes there may have been some retaliation under the guise of "restructuring", but that is a civil matter.

There was no evidence that Freund attempted to thwart any criminal investigation, but once the district's own investigation revealed that Drago had unlawfully recorded a meeting, the matter should have been reported, according to the grand jury.

Why should school board directors resign after being exonerated? The grand jury report said, "We are concerned that their continued service continues to put a strain on the relationship between school district administrators and the school board and that a newly reconstituted board without holdovers who were involved in the Drago matter would be in the best interests of the school district."

All three school board members intend to retain their seats.