New M-W High School security chief was fully vetted before he was hired

Blogger raises questions, but school officials say there are no surprises in Frank Squillante’s background, By Bob Quinn Central Valley - In vetting Frank Squillante for the job of security chief at the high school, Monroe-Woodbury school officials were aware of the substance of an October 2009 New York Daily News report regarding two incidents in the New York City Department of Corrections while Squillante was the assistant chief of operations. Reader comments posted on a story in last week’s Photo News about Squillante’s hiring raised questions based on the Daily News report. But in an interview this week, School Board President Michael J. DiGeronimo emphasized that Squillante was not under investigation because of the incidents, nor was there any breach of security. He was upfront about the reasons for his retirement from the New York City Department of Corrections, DeGeronimo added. The first incident happened when rapper Foxy Brown posed for a magazine photo shoot. She was serving nine months at Rikers Island for beating two manicurists, according the Daily News report. The second incident occurred at the Manhattan Detention Complex known as the Tombs where an Orthodox Jewish prisoner was allowed to have a catered bar mitzvah for his young son. Squillante said he opposed the photo shot for the singer because of security reasons at Rikers. He also said that it was common practice for detainees in New York City jails to have gatherings inside the jails for religious purposes. However, the bar mitzvah incident drew criticism because city taxpayers paid overtime for some jail staff to help out. Squillante acknowledged he had been disciplined for the bar mitzvah incident-loss of vacation time-and called the incident a mistake in judgment. Background checks DiGeronimo said that all reports about Squillante were positive, including those from fellow school board members Ray Rivera and James Galvin, who sought the counsel of Woodbury Police Chief Robert Kwiatkowski. And what school officials learned was that Squillante had a long record of accomplishment within the corrections department, including an award for warden of the year, that he and his wife had moved their family from Tarrytown to Highland Mills eight years ago because of the Monroe-Woodbury School District’s reputation, and that he retired with a “good guy” letter in his personnel jacket signed by the New York City commissioner of corrections saying that he had acquitted himself with distinction in his career. Such a letter is commonly given to a law enforcement officer once he or she retires in order to obtain a gun permit. That letter also states plainly that Squillante is not under any investigation. In an interview Wednesday, Rivera, a New York City detective, said he and Squillante knew each other through New York City law enforcement circles. He cited the “good guy” letter as a critical standard for judging someone. “I feel confident that Frank is one of the best people to be in charge of security at the high school,” Rivera said. “My kids’ lives are in his hands.” Kwiatkowski did not know Squillante until just recently when he begin his job at the high school. So when former school board member Galvin asked the chief if he had a sense of the man, “I asked my staff if they knew him, if they had heard about him,” Kwiatkowski said Wednesday. “They said he was a good guy, very knowledgeable - nothing negative. That’s what my staff told me - and I trust their judgment.” In an interview Wednesday. Squillante said his retirement plans were already in the works when the Daily News report appeared, and that the timing of story and when he submitted his resignation letter for retirement was coincidental, and certainly not cause and effect. After 25 years, he said, he was at the “top of (his) game” within the department. To continue would have meant more time away from his family. “And I am a family man. “I told the school board I wanted this job,” he added. “I don’t need this job - I want this job. And I do my job with integrity.”

I told the school board I wanted this job. I don’t need this job - I want this job. And I do my job with integrity.” Frank Squillante, the new director of safety and security at Monroe-Woodbury High School