'Stealing money from my children.' Indicted superintendent out at Carrollton Schools

CARROLLTON − David Quattrochi, facing a series of theft-related charges involving the school district he led for a decade, is out at Carrollton Exempted Village.

The district's board met behind closed doors for nearly 80 minutes Friday afternoon before voting 4-0 to accept Quattrochi's resignation.

The board did not comment publicly about fellow board member Michael Pozderac or his wife, Carrollton High art teacher Mary Jackie Pozderac, who were also indicted this week on the same charges. About a dozen members of the media, school officials and parents attended the meeting.

Michael Pozderac was the only board member who did not attend.

More:Shell companies and theft: Carrollton schools superintendent, board member facing charges

More:Carrollton schools Superintendent David Quattrochi suspended, investigation pending

Board President Dan Ries said he had no information about the Pozderacs' status with the school district. He said he would say more once he knew and declined to answer additional questions.

On Thursday, Ries issued a statement that said the board requested the Pozderacs' resignations. It's not clear if they've submitted resignations. The board took no action Friday to dismiss or discipline Jackie Pozderac.

'We still aren't getting answers'

Kara Spilker of Dellroy, a mother of three Carrollton district students, accused school officials of not being transparent about the purchases of air purifiers at the center of the indictment. It's part of a pattern of not being open about how they make decisions on school policies, including the mask mandate that was later rescinded, she said. She said it wasn't clear what had happened to the purchased equipment.

"We still aren't getting answers. ... This does not surprise me," she said about the criminal charges. "We were not shocked. We knew this was coming."

Spilker called for Ries and board members Rose Seck and Wendy Gotschall to step down. She said they should have been aware of the alleged thefts before they were exposed by a state investigation. She said the newest board member Steven Pridemore was not responsible because he took office in January after the alleged thefts.

"Everyone needs to resign besides Pridemore," said Spilker. They "should be paying attention."

"These things are unacceptable when it comes to our kids," said Keri Nicholas, of Carrollton, a mother of four students. "You're stealing money from my children."

Spilker said about many of Jackie Poderac's former art students: "They're all heartbroken. She was a good teacher. ... They really liked her."

Criminal indictment filed over Carrollton Schools purchases

Several hours before the board vote, the Ohio Auditor's office in a written statement accused Quattrochi, the Pozderacs and a fourth person identified as Gus Nickolas of taking part in the theft scheme related to the district's purchase of air purifiers.

The Ohio Auditor's office, whose attorneys have been appointed as special prosecutors in the case, released a statement saying the four conspired to sell air purifiers to the district using two shell companies known as The Phoenix Rising and Pozitively Quality Air.

They took payments for the air purifiers by the district totaling $70,450 and split about $47,000 in profits while seeking to conceal their role in the sale, the Ohio Auditor's office said.

The Ohio Auditor's office said its Special Investigations Unit began a probe after learning that the address for one of the vendors on the purchase orders matched the address of a property owned by Michael Pozderac.

Before the board vote accepting Quattrochi's resignation, acting Superintendent Dave Davis read the Ohio Auditor's statement into the record. Board President Dan Ries said the statement or link to the statement would be posted to the school district's website.

Quattrochi and the Pozderacs face felony charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, money laundering, theft in office, grand theft, three counts of having an unlawful interest in a public contract and telecommunications fraud. They also were indicted on the misdemeanors of prohibited representation by a present official and accepting unlawful compensation.

Michael and Jackie Pozderac did not reply to messages left on their voicemail Thursday. Quattrochi did not reply this week to a message seeking comment sent to his personal email address. No contact information for Nickolas could be found.

It's not clear if any of the defendants have attorneys.

Arraignment scheduled

Quattrochi and the Pozderacs, who were issued summons and not taken into custody, are scheduled to be arraigned at 8:15 a.m. Dec. 22 before Carroll County Common Pleas Judge Michael V. Repella.

The Ohio Auditor's office statement said Nickolas was indicted for the same felony charges as the other three with an additional charge of receiving stolen property.

The Carroll County Clerk of Courts' online docket as of Friday evening did not have any record of Nickolas being listed as a criminal defendant. However, he is mentioned as taking part in an illegal scheme in the three other defendants' indictments.

The indictments became public by Thursday once the three were served with a summons. It's not clear if any additional indictments are still secret.

A spokesman for the Ohio Auditor's office in an email reaffirmed that the Carroll County grand jury had indicted Nickolas.

Carroll County Prosecutor Steven Barnett in a motion Wednesday sought to recuse himself from the case due to the prosecutor's involvement with the Carrollton School Alumni Foundation. Repella granted Barnett's request to appoint attorneys of the Ohio Auditor's office as special prosecutors before they presented the case to the grand jury Wednesday afternoon. Barnett wrote that the Ohio Auditor's office has been the lead investigating agency.

The indictments that have become public so far do not reveal much additional detail of the allegations against the defendants. But they mention the $70,450 amount, do reveal that the alleged crimes took place from Jan. 1, 2021, to Jan. 31, 2022. The alleged acts of unlawful interest in a public contract took place from March 16 to March 26, 2021; July 13 to August 30, 2021, and Nov. 15, 2021 to March 6, 2022.

Quattrochi's name has already been removed from the school district's website. Davis, who has served as Carrollton High School's principal, is now listed as the district's acting superintendent.

Pozderac is still listed as a board member on the school district's website as of Friday evening. No seat with his name plate had been reserved for him at Friday's board meeting. The school treasurer in reading the initial roll call noted that he was absent.

The board in October had suspended Quattrochi, a resident of Steubenville, pending the outcome of the state investigation.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Indicted superintendent David Quattrochi resigns amid theft charges