GOSHEN – Now that the Newburgh Board of Education voted to grant Roberto Padilla a two-year paid leave of absence totaling close to $1 million when factoring in his salary, benefits and $10,000 per year listed as “other,” Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said he would impanel a special grand jury to investigate the situation.
“The citizens of Newburgh deserve some transparency and some understanding of what happened in this situation. The DA’s office intends to fully examine the situation [the superintendent’s dismissal] for criminal wrongdoing, misconduct, non-feasance or neglect by public servants, including the school board,” Hoovler said.
The DA has received at least one formal request for the inquiry by a district official and numerous calls from district residents urging his office to investigate.
Hoovler wants to scrutinize the two investigators’ reports, which have yet to be made public. One highly redacted report was provided to Mid-Hudson News only after a freedom of information request was made.
The DA said he wants to conduct a full inquiry into the allegations and the process by which the school board came up with the buyout.
