Board mum on probe
Hires former judge for a Bethelem Area School District investigation but won’t say why
The Bethlehem Area School Board voted unanimously Monday night to hire a former judge to lead an independent investigation for the district.
Emil Giordano, a former Northampton County judge, was hired at a rate of $495 per hour for an undetermined amount of time, according to a letter posted publicly by the board.
School Board President Michael Faccinetto would not comment on what Giordano was hired to investigate. He said he does not know if the district ever previously hired an independent investigator. Faccinetto said the timeline of the investigation is dependent on scheduling, but he hopes it concludes within “weeks and not months.”
Giordano could not be reached for comment.
Giordano practices estate and commercial litigation, and mediation and arbitration for the firm, Norris McLaughlin Attorneys at Law.
He was a judge from 2004-18. He is the chair of the Orphans’ Court Procedural Rules Committee for the state Supreme Court, and has worked on Orphans’ Court issues throughout his career. Giordano is certified as an arbitrator and mediator through Harvard Law School.
In 2020 Lehigh County commissioners hired Giordano at $250 per hour to serve as acting solicitor for the Election Board during its investigation of a ballot-tampering complaint. An election judge ultimately was charged with tampering with ballots in that case and in 2021 was placed in a pretrial diversion program for first-time offenders.
Faccinetto confirmed earlier this month that the board was conducting an investigation into an alleged incident involving Superintendent Joseph Roy. The
nature of the incident has not been disclosed. Beyond confirming the investigation, Faccinetto had no additional comment on the personnel matter, he said.
When Faccinetto was asked Tuesday about a timeline for the investigation into Roy, he said he did not have one.
Roy released a statement to The Morning Call on Nov. 6 refuting an allegation made against him and said he would make no further comments. At the time he also refuted rumors he was resigning.
“I’m aware of a specific unfounded allegation that has churned through the rumor mill for a few weeks,” Roy said in the statement. “I’m working with the district solicitor to address this unfounded allegation, while keeping the board president informed.”
The Morning Call first received reports of an incident involving Roy and a district employee in late October but was unable to confirm whether it happened. He said Tuesday he had no comment on the district’s hiring of Giordano.