State College Board Approves Settlement Payment in Litigation

Five months after it was filed, the State College Area school board formally ended Monday a federal lawsuit brought by a school worker and her partner.

Board members voted 7-0 to approve a negotiated settlement payment of $42,500 — for damages — to employee Kerry Wiessmann and partner Beth G. Resko. Only board members Richard Bartnik and Dorothea Stahl were absent.

The vote also authorized a payment of $47,000 — through the district’s insurance carrier — to Wiessmann and Resko’s attorneys, including those with the American Civil Liberties Union.

The payments’ authorization marks the final chapter in the litigation, which sought primarily to change district policy on health benefits. Specifically, Wiessmann and Resko cited as discriminatory a district policy that kept workers’ same-sex domestic partners from qualifying for the benefits afforded opposite-sex domestic partners.

School-board members agreed in July to reverse that policy.

But another element of the litigation, claiming that Wiessmann and Resko had suffered losses due to the earlier rule, remained outstanding.

To address that, the parties met Oct. 13 for a dispute-resolution process, according to a settlement agreement.

That’s when they struck the agreement for $42,500 in damages, to be paid by the district, and $47,000 in attorney fees, to be paid by the district’s insurance carrier, legal paperwork shows.

‘The (school) board and administration’s intent was to negotiate in good faith and reach a fair and suitable agreement for all parties,’ board President Ann McGlaughlin said Monday. ‘And we are confident we have done that.’

State College attorney Andrew Shubin, who helped to represent Wiessmann and Resko, issued his own statement Monday night. It reads, in part:

‘Pursuing a civil-rights lawsuit takes courage. As a result of this family’s efforts, the district now provides equal health-care benefits to same-sex domestic partners. The plaintiffs in this case deserve our respect and appreciation for bringing this important issue into focus.’

Shubin also noted the involvement of local attorney Justine Andronici, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the National ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, and Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton in the case.

‘As a civil-rights attorney, member of the community and parent of students in the district,’ Shubin went on, ‘I am grateful that the SCASD school board chose to embrace equality for its lesbian and gay employees.’

Wiessmann is an elementary-school counselor.

In other matters at the Monday school-board meeting, Superintendent Robert O’Donnell provided an update on his transition into the leadership role. (He began over the summer.) He also outlined several emerging, multi-year goals for the district, including these:

• Improvement of student achievement, with a focus on responsiveness to each student’s needs as a learner.

• Development of curricula and instructional staff. This will include a focus on a continuous-improvement process and a yearly professional learning plan, O’Donnell said.

• Fiscal stewardship. This is to include identification and implementation of strategies ‘to ensure fiscal stewardship,’ according to a presentation.

• Communications. O’Donnell said the district will update its communications practices with the school board, district staff and the school community at large.

• Facilities. The district will update and initiate the next steps in its district-wide facilities master plan, O’Donnell said. The district facilities director, Ed Poprik, is due to give the board an update on that plan next month.