Norwin board members file suit over superintendent assessment

Four members of the Norwin School Board have sued the board president and two other directors, alleging a 2022 assessment of the superintendent was a fraud.

The assessment excluded their comments and scores of his performance, according to a lawsuit filed this week in Westmoreland County court.

Directors Christine Baverso, Alex Detschelt, Shawna Ilagan and Robert Wayman filed the suit Tuesday against board president Darlene Ciocca and fellow directors Raymond Kocak and William Essay.

The lawsuit alleges the district posted a “fraudulent annual performance” of Superintendent Jeff Taylor that was not representative of the board’s evaluation.

The four directors want the court to void the existing annual superintendent performance assessment and require the school board to hold a closed-door meeting to give the nine directors an opportunity to reach a consensus on the assessment of Taylor’s performance.

Both Taylor and Assistant Superintendent Natalie McCracken “met the outlined objective performance standards for the 2021-2022 school year,” according to the published assessment.

Ciocca declined to comment on the lawsuit, on the advice of Russell Lucas, school district solicitor. Essay and Kocak declined to comment. Taylor could not be reached for comment.

The three defendants were on the superintendent’s evaluation committee last year. Ciocca had asked the board on May 9 to evaluate Taylor and submit those evaluations by June 7. Wayman missed the June 7 meeting, according to the suit. Ciocca told the board in an executive session in October that she, Kocak and Essay evaluated Taylor and Assistant Superintendent Natalie McCracken on their own and posted the evaluation on the Norwin website, according to the suit.

Detschelt said Wednesday that the assessment published online by the district “does not have an accurate representation” of the board assessment of Taylor.

“It is absent any criticism,” Detschelt said.

“Our feedback was not taken into account,” Baverso said.

Ilagan and Wayman could not be reached for comment.

The four members who filed the lawsuit, in which they have represented themselves, have been vocal critics of Taylor and the school administration.

The terms of five school board members expire this year: Ciocca, Essay, Joanna Jordan, Patrick Lynn and Wayman. Essay said he has decided not to run for reelection.

The directors elected in November could be in position to decide whether to renew Taylor’s five-year contract as superintendent, which expires June 30, 2024.