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Plum School Board awaits superintendent's decision after offering him paid leave

PLUM, Pa. — Two days after being given the option to take paid administrative leave, Plum Area School District Superintendent Dr. Timothy Glasspool had yet to announce his decision as of Thursday afternoon, school board members told Channel 11 News.

Board members said Glasspool must decide by the end of the day Thursday whether he’ll voluntarily go on paid administrative leave during an independent investigation into the conduct of several current and former administrators that led to a teacher sex scandal in the district.

The superintendent's secretary told Channel 11 News that Glasspool was not at the school Thursday.

An email sent to Glasspool requesting to hear his side of the story was immediately returned with a bounce back message saying he was out of the office with no return date listed.

Since February 2015, three Plum Area High School teachers have been charged with having sex with students.

A grand jury report released last week found that Glasspool had been told of rumors and concerns about teacher Joseph Ruggieri having an inappropriate relationship with a student years before any charges were filed.

"If everybody throughout Plum was talking about it, he had to know,” Laverra Garcia said.

Garcia, whose 12-year-old granddaughter is a student at Plum, said action needs to be taken.

“I think he should step down, and I think this should be over with,” she said.

One school board member told Channel 11 News that Glasspool will be placed on administrative leave if he doesn’t take it voluntarily.

Glasspool released a statement last weekend, disputing the accuracy of the testimony in the grand jury report, but he has not spoken publicly about it since.

The school board also placed Plum Area High School Principal Ryan Kociela on administrative leave last weekend, pending results of the independent investigation.

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