Utica school board pledges accountability, transparency after Superintendent Karam arrest

Utica City School District officials rushed to assure the community that they are working to regain the public’s trust in the wake of the arrest of Superintendent Bruce Karam.

Karam, who has been on paid administrative leave since Oct. 18, 2022, was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on five counts related to the alleged misuse of district property and staff time for political and non-school-related fundraising purposes.

Former school board President and former Utica Mayor Louis LaPolla was also indicted on two counts.

‘While both Mr. Karam and Mr. LaPolla are entitled to their day in court,” school board President Joseph Hobika read from a joint statement from the school board during a special meeting Tuesday afternoon, “we recognize that the bond of trust between the Utica City School District and our community has been violated. We, the current UCSD Board of Education, deeply regret this breach and extend our sincere apologies to our students, staff, parents, and community.”

The board has called another special meeting on Monday, Nov. 27 —and informed Karam of that meeting—to “address his employment with the Utica City School District,” according to the board.

During the meeting, Hobika introduced Joseph Shields, an attorney with the firm Ferrara Fiorenza which now represents the district as general counsel. “We understand you’re curious about this situation and have lots of questions,” he told the audience. “The board is committed to transparency during this process. That statement that Mr. Hobika read contains all the information we have at this time.”

After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the special meeting, the board went into executive session to discuss “the employment status of a particular person” and pending litigation undertaken by the district, Hobika explained. Upon exiting the executive session, the board briefly discussed and voted on the superintendent’s report before Hobika read the statement.

The meeting adjourned less than half an hour after it started.

“We, the board of education, want to assure the Utica community that since Mr. Karam was placed on administrative leave by this board in October 2022,” reads the statement released to the public and read by Hobika during the meeting, “we have taken aggressive and proactive steps to overhaul our administrative operating structure, hire necessary staff and overall, implement guardrails and protective measures to ensure the type of egregious and illegal misconduct outlined in the indictment doesn’t happen in our district in the future.”

Here are some of those steps as outlined in the statement:

• The board will cooperate in the ongoing investigation and has promised to give the public timely updates as legal proceedings against Karam and LaPolla progress and as the board tries to get legal cover to vote on firing him.

• The board hired Acting Superintendent Kathleen Davis, the third acting superintendent since Karam was placed on leave, in July. Her more-than-41 years of experience in education have allowed her to make recommendations on how to approve the district’s operating structure.

• The district has put a new administrative leadership team in charge of the grants and finances offices.

• The law firm of Ferrara Fiorenza, of East Syracuse, has replaced Donald Gerace, of Utica, as the board’s general counsel.

• The board has hired public relations specialist Emily Benedict to improve communication with the public and ensure transparency. Her LinkedIn profile says that she is the founder of ESB Media with corporate communications experience working for Fox Searchlight Pictures, Starbucks and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

• The firm of Mengel, Metzger and Barr will conduct an internal audit and risk assessment for the district, which also undergoes an annual external audit as required by law.

• The district has restructured its internal auditing team to include a full-time claims auditor who will also oversee inventory control and updates to district databases, allowing for an in-depth look at claims, payroll, inventory and compliance with school board policies.

• The district has hired a new accountant with 22 years of experience, including in the state comptroller’s office.

• The district is working with the New York State Education Department on regularly planned target monitoring of Consolidated Title Grants and has a site visit with the department scheduled to review the district’s federal COVID Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds.

• The district is looking to hire employees with experience in federal funds management to oversee, distribute and ensure the appropriate use of federal funding.

Karam was placed on leave on Oct. 18 to allow for an independent investigation into complaints made by two district administrators. Since then, Karam has sued the district in both state and federal courts. The state case was dismissed and the district is waiting to hear whether its motion to dismiss the federal suit will be granted.

The district has also gone to court hoping to have his employment contract declared void, which would allow the board to fire him by a majority vote.

The independent investigator filed a report accusing Karam of inappropriate conduct and bullying behavior toward district staff. Karam appealed the findings, but lost.

“The district’s leadership team will continue to carefully analyze appropriate options regarding Mr. Karam with due regard for developments in the pending litigation and the district’s operational needs and goals,” officials said in the statement.

The board also pledged to meet the fiduciary responsibility placed on it by taxpayers and the community and to work toward improvement.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Utica school board holds special meeting after Bruce Karam arrest