Resident: Superintendent may have paid motorcycle club for ‘intimidation and security’

West Mifflin Area School District superintendent Daniel Castagna may have paid members of a motorcycle club $200 each to show up at a school board meeting to provide “intimidation and security,” a community member testified Monday.

Mike Yuhas said he spoke to one of the bikers, who indicated that they were not from the area and were there because Mr. Castagna had paid them to attend. The owner of the district’s security contractor testified last week that the men appeared to belong to the Sin City Desciples Motorcycle Club.

Neither witness indicated the date of the meeting nor the reason for the alleged intimidation.

The school board Monday conducted its third public hearing on whether to fire Mr. Castagna, who is facing several accusations, including a DUI charge and alleged violations of the Public School Code. The board is holding Act 1080 hearings, formal proceedings that would allow it to remove Mr. Castagna from office after all testimony concludes.

Mr. Castagna, the district’s top administrator since 2011, was placed on administrative leave earlier this year amid the pending DUI case in Beaver County. The board voted 6-3 to place him on unpaid leave in July.

On Monday, a witness accused Mr. Castagna of ordering him to improperly conduct surveillance operations, including secretly watching a school board member who had requested public records from the district before an election.

Mark Hart, who previously served as the district’s head of security and safety operations, said Mr. Castagna in 2014 directed him to drive to board member Nick Alexandroff’s home to see whether he was having a “reading party” shortly after the district provided him with a trove of public records he had requested.

Mr. Hart, who was later fired from the district for alleged theft, said he was swept up in “ugly politics” and “paranoia,” defending Mr. Castagna from political foes, “almost to the point of fist-fighting” several board members.

“I was a West Mifflin administration guy,” he said. “I was on their team. I was loyal to that team, good or bad.”

Mr. Hart also testified that Mr. Castagna directed him to improperly videotape a school custodian who was receiving workers’ compensation to prove that he was physically healthy.

Colleen Ramage Johnston, Mr. Castagna’s attorney, asked Mr. Hart whether he — not Mr. Castagna — was the one who suggested the surveillance operations.

“Absolutely, 1,000 percent no,” Mr. Hart said.

In a federal lawsuit against the district and the six board members who voted to suspend him, Mr. Castagna claimed he had been wrongfully targeted because he reported wrongdoings by several district employees. A hearing on that suit is scheduled for next month.

The district’s next hearings on Mr. Castagna are scheduled for Wednesday and Sept. 17.