School district wants to suspend former union head

By Emily Richmond

Friday, Oct. 25, 2002 | 9:37 a.m.

Clark County School District officials want to suspend the former head of the district's support employees' union for allegedly failing to disclose an arrest while he was in charge of the union.

Robert Mancuso, who ended his two-year term as head of the Education Support Employees Association in June, was arrested in March for allegedly soliciting a prostitute, court records show. He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 1 on charges of solicitation, a misdemeanor.

District officials refused to comment on Mancuso's suspension, citing personnel confidentiality. Mancuso, a school bus driver, could not be reached for comment. Joe Furtado, executive director of the union, also declined to comment or confirm that Mancuso was appealing the suspension.

Mancuso had two prior arrests in Clark County, according to court records. A 1996 arrest for solicitation was dropped to a charge of indecent behavior, and in 1994 Mancuso was cited for loitering in North Las Vegas.

According to a School District document obtained by the Sun, Mancuso did not disclose his arrest in August when filling out district paperwork that specifically asked about past or pending arrests for sex or drug-related offenses.

In a letter dated Oct. 14, Mancuso was told he would be suspended for 10 days for "insubordination, dishonesty, pending conviction of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude or immorality, and failure to follow the rules and regulations of the district."

Richard Ennes, business manager for the district whose office supervises bus drivers, did confirm that Mancuso was on the job as recently as Thursday.

George Ann Rice, associate superintendent of human resources, would not comment about Mancuso's situation. However, Rice said it is the district's practice to investigate situations where an employee has been accused of or charged with a crime.