Cherokee Schools Superintendent Fined $500 By State Ethics Commission

Cherokee County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Petruzielo has agreed to pay a $500 fine imposed by the state ethics commission for emails sent by a district employee that mentioned a political candidate by name.

According to the Cherokee Tribune, the fine was formally imposed during the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission’s board meeting on Tuesday.

While Petruzielo did not send the emails personally, commission staff attorney Robert Lane noted ”he did take responsibility for what he called a miscommunication and self-reported the emails to the state ethics commission before a complaint was filed against him for the actions,” the Tribune reported.

Woodstock resident Tim Adderholdt filed the complaint with the state agency, accusing Petruzielo and school district spokesperson Barbara Jacoby of providing “direct” campaign support to Creekview High School teacher Meagan Biello by sending four emails that informed district employees about the January special election.

The four emails Adderholdt provided as evidence are dated between Jan. 7 and Jan 15. They included information given to district employees about the Jan. 7 special election and, after that election resulted in a run-off, information pertaining to the Feb. 4 run-off election.

The emails — all sent by Jacoby — only contained the name of Biello, one of four candidates who ran in the special election to replace the late State Rep. Calvin Hill.

Biello finished second in the Jan. 7 special election to take on Rep. Sam Moore during the subsequent Feb. 4 run-off. However, Moore defeated Biello to win the House District 22 seat.

School Board Attorney Tom Roach told the commission Jacoby “got excited” that a teacher entered the race and distributed the emails, thinking they were purely informational. In any event, Roach said sending the emails were a “mistake” and wouldn’t happen again, according to the Tribune.

The commission in July administratively dismissed the complaint against Jacoby, citing it does not have jurisdiction to punish her because she’s not considered an elected official.

(Photo: Dr. Frank Petruzielo. Credit: Cherokee County School District)