An employee placed on leave by the Pittston Area School Board on Tuesday night will continue to receive salary and benefits.
After the 8-0 vote, district leaders would not confirm the name of the employee. The board's action comes after police charged Superintendent Kevin Booth with simple assault and harassment for allegedly attacking his wife earlier this month. Booth did not attend the meeting. Court documents filed after the charges revealed Booth is undergoing “unspecified treatment.”
“It's a personnel matter that we are taking extremely seriously… there are processes in place that we are respecting and we are fulfilling our obligation as a school district,” Assistant Superintendent John Haas said after the meeting. “At the forefront of it, we're still maintaining that we keep our vision and our mission about our kids and making sure that they receive the best education every day.”
Board members did not discuss Booth publicly, and no members of the public spoke during the meeting at the high school library.
Booth has served as superintendent since 2016, and his current contract expires in 2029. As of July, his salary was $155,346. His salary is scheduled to increase by $10,000 in January.
District alerted the Pennsylvania Department of Education
Booth allegedly came home intoxicated on Oct. 5. He “tossed” his wife around and choked her, according to the arrest affidavit.
His wife, Jessica Booth, applied for a protection-from-abuse order after the alleged attack, writing in the application that her husband had emotionally abused her and cheated on her “off and on” for more than two decades.
The school district has alerted the Pennsylvania Department of Education of the charges — a requirement of the state’s school code, Haas said.
“There's many fronts going on right now,” Haas said. “We intend to continue to comply with everything, but we're also very mindful of people's presumption of innocence and their rights to go through the court system… Our board of education, our administration, is diligent in making sure we fulfill our obligations as educators and make sure that we respond appropriately, and I believe we are at this point.”
The district also realizes that some students may be aware of the issues due to media coverage, Haas said.
“We have made our counselors aware to address any scenarios with sensitivity and understanding,” he said.
Sunshine Act concerns
District officials refused to say whether a resolution on Tuesday’s agenda pertained to the superintendent, nor would they confirm whether Kevin Booth is still an employee.
The resolution included an employee number and not a name: “Motion to ratify the retroactive placement of employee #040377 on administrative leave effective October 14, 2025, with continued salary and benefits as outlined in the employee’s contractual agreement, pending further action by the board.”
The contract says the district can suspend the superintendent without pay if he’s charged with a felony, but neither charge he faces is a felony.
WVIA News questioned whether the lack of public disclosure — and the public not knowing who the resolution pertained to — was a violation of the state’s open meetings law.
The Sunshine Act requires all votes to be publicly cast, meaning that the public can witness and understand the actions taken by elected officials, according to Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
The law requires the school board to provide an opportunity for public comment before all official action, but if members of the public don’t know who is being voted on, they can't provide meaningful public comment, she said.
Solicitor Sam Falcone said the district was following the law.
“I appreciate your concern, but I believe we've complied with the Sunshine Law,” he told WVIA News.
