Waveline Bennett-Conroy, the Mount Vernon schools superintendent who was reassigned in February 2023 and is ensnared in a criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, sued the city's school district Tuesday in order to safeguard her job.
Bennett-Conroy is asking a federal judge to pause arbitration proceedings the school district has commenced against her, which could result in the termination of her employment. Because she is a target of the DOJ's criminal probe, she cannot testify in her own defense at arbitration without risking self-incrimination, her attorneys argued.
"Conroy is being forced to choose between exercising her rights under the Fifth Amendment on the one hand, and her constitutionally (and contractually) protected right to due process in the arbitration proceeding on the other," her filing states. "Anything Petitioner says during her testimony may be used against her in the criminal investigations."
Bennett-Conroy was reassigned by the school board in February 2023 and, according to the lawsuit, was placed on "home assignment" in April 2023. The board said at the time that Bennett-Conroy and the school district faced a federal investigation over their handling of federal grant money.
Around the time of her reassignment, federal prosecutors in Albany and Manhattan opened probes into the handling of federal grants to the Mount Vernon school district. Her attorneys acknowledged that she is a "target" of these investigations, at least one of which is criminal in nature.
Federal grants the focus of federal probe
At issue appear to be millions in federal grants awarded by the district to two Rockland-based education agencies.
In April of this year, Albany prosecutors reached a $500,000 civil settlement with a nonprofit, Wellcore Inc., over allegations of fraud and forged grant applications. Wellcore owner Victoria Shaw acknowledged using grant money meant for anti-drug programs on unrelated expenditures, such as a relative's criminal defense lawyer and gym memberships for herself and family members.
Wellcore received grant money from the Mount Vernon schools in 2015 and 2016, when Marlon Stephenson, Bennett-Conroy's son, worked for Wellcore. The Mount Vernon district later gave millions of grant dollars to another Rockland-based education group, Just Inspire Inc., which was formed in 2016 by former Wellcore employee Susan Maher. She also employed Stephenson.
Stephenson later worked for the Mount Vernon schools as director of business and grants.
According to Bennett-Conroy's lawsuit, federal investigators from DOJ and the U.S. Department of Education have seized her electronic devices. Her records have also been subpoenaed. However, no decision on whether to charge her criminally has been made, her lawyers wrote.
Internal report found no evidence grant money helped students
A July 2023 report commissioned by the Mount Vernon school board concluded that the district gave $7.1 million in federal contracts to Wellcore and Just Inspire between 2015 and 2022, mostly to create programming with federal School Improvement Grants. The report prepared by Cerini & Associates, a Long Island-based accounting firm, concluded that the district could not provide evidence that Wellcore and Just Inspire offered programming or that students benefitted.
In February 2023, the state Education Department also concluded in a document that Mount Vernon district officials "did not seek competition or properly administer competitive bid opportunities for securing services through Just Inspire, LLC and Wellcore Inc. from 2016-2021."
More: Mount Vernon schools' grant scandal: 2 investigations, 2 superintendents, many questions
In March of this year, the city's Board of Education served Bennett-Conroy with disciplinary charges outlining several allegations of misconduct against her, which kicked off the arbitration process that could result in her ouster. The board also suspended her from her job at that time, pending the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings.
Bennett-Conroy was hired as superintendent in 2022 and given a three-year contract with a starting salary of $285,681. She previously served as assistant superintendent for school improvement, overseeing grant-related programs, since 2015.
One of the disciplinary charges referenced an exchange between Bennett-Conroy and a school district trustee, Lorna Kirwan, at a Board of Education meeting in September 2022. Kirwan questioned Bennett-Conroy about a school improvement grant awarded to Just Inspire.
"What is this company? Who is this company?" she asked. "I don't know this company, I'm sorry."
"These are grants that we have to do every year, so that's why they are there," Bennett-Conroy responded.
The Board of Education accused her of lying to Kirwan, writing that "the district did not have any legal obligation to continue its relationship with the identified vendor."
Other alleged misrepresentations regarding grant funds and Bennett-Conroy's communication with state regulators were cited in the school district's disciplinary complaint.
Staff writer Jon Bandler contributed reporting to this story.
Do you work for the Mount Vernon city schools? You can send this reporter a tip at astockler@lohud.com . Reach him securely: asher.stockler@protonmail.com .
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Suspended Mount Vernon superintendent, under criminal investigation, sues school district
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