Friday, April 21, 2000
Job as principal now in jeopardy
Reinhard had conviction for theft
BY Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — Former school board member Jon Reinhard's theft conviction in Warren County has raised doubts about his tentative hiring as principal at a Frankfort, Ky., high school.
Three days after Mr. Reinhard was hired as principal of Franklin County High School, officials there said they weren't aware of Mr. Reinhard's criminal record because he wasn't asked about misdemeanor convictions on his job application.
A school spokesman said the district will leave it up to a state review board to decide whether Mr. Reinhard is fit for the job. He has to acquire his Kentucky teaching certificate to take the Franklin County position.
“It's a major concern. The principal is in charge of handling the money for the school. There is concern that this is not an isolated incident. It appears it isn't a one-time error,” Franklin schools spokesman Wayne Dominick said Thursday.
“Everyone is wondering how could this happen. There has been shock. Some people are saying, "How could somebody like that even apply?'”
Mr. Reinhard, 38, was placed on probation for two years and was forced to resign from the Mason school board in September after pleading to a misdemeanor theft charge for double-billing the district $378.78 in travel expenses for the Ohio School-to-Work program.
That action came a month after he was forced to resign from Clermont Northeastern High School for double bill ing $3,000 in travel expenses for the same program.
“They were aware of a situation (involving reimbursements), but not the extent of it,” Mr. Dominic said of the local school advisory council that approved Mr. Reinhard's contract on Monday.
Mr. Reinhard's contract, set to take effect July 1, is contingent on receiving teaching certification. He has not yet submitted an application to the Kentucky Department of Education, according to officials there. But they said he called Thursday to inquire about the required paperwork.
The application asks about all criminal convictions and an admission is scrutinized by the 17-member Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board, the board's attorney Allison Weber said.
The board meets next on May 8 and 9 to review the latest round of applications.
Mr. Reinhard could not be reached for comment. In September, he told The Enquirer that he did nothing criminal and attributed both double-billing incidents to sloppy bookkeeping.
Mr. Reinhard said he pleaded guilty to the theft charge as part of a plea bargain to avoid indictment on a felony charge of theft in office. The felony would have permanently stripped him of his Ohio teaching certificate.
Jay Bennett, the attorney who represented Mr. Reinhard in the Warren County case, said Mr. Reinhard was not barred from teaching because of the conviction. Ohio education officials said they have not taken any disciplinary action involving Mr. Reinhard's certification here because they weren't aware of the conviction.
Monica Zarichny, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education, said Warren County prosecutors did not contact the state office about Mr. Reinhard's conviction, as the law obligates them to.
Prosecutor Tim Oliver was on vacation and could not be reached.
Mr. Bennett said Mr. Reinhard has continued to work as a consultant for the Ohio School-to-Work program since September, and has turned down two school administrator jobs in Georgia.
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