The Neshaminy School District will shell out roughly $40,000 to fight a legal motion filed in February by a group of school board candidates, according to officials.
School board member Stephen Piratano stated the figure during a comment session on Tuesday evening and several board members confirmed the cost. The figure was announced after questions from residents Kevin Gallagher and Steve Rodos.
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District spokesman Chris Stanley said the $40,000 figure was from an estimate from their legal team and no invoices have yet been received.
In late February, school board candidates Robert Sanna, Robert Feather, Staci O’Brien and Karen Lowry filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. In the complaint, the four candidates, who call themselves the “Save Our Schools” team, said the district delayed their ability to review full documentation related to a bond the board voted on.
The group claimed in its initial filing that the district “failed to comply with federal rules and regulations promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission requiring municipal entities to disclose to the investing and interested public certain matters regarding the issuance of public debit.”
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In the end, state officials ruled against the filing and said they could not block the district from taking out the bond.
“As taxpayers, the SOS group believes that the complaint filed by us earlier in the year was in the best interest of the district. We had hoped to stop the process of costing the district up to $116,000,000 over the next 23 years that the current board wants to spend in order to construct a new mega school. If defending the suit really cost the district $40,000 in attorney fees, the district was taken advantage of, as a board member has stated it only took two weeks to defend,” the SOS members said in a statement that was distributed by candidate Robert Sanna.
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The members also stated the district might want to look for new, more affordable legal counsel.
“The board members are selectively stating that our group has cost the district money without looking at what their own actions have cost and continue to cost the children and taxpayers. Since we do not feel that the current board had the districts best interest in mind, it was our responsibility to move forward with our action,” the statement read.
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Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the SOS statement was distributed by candidate Robert Sanna.
