Beverly Hills Schools Superintendent Fired

The Board of Education voted to fire Supt. Robert Pellicone Friday, just one month after officials accused him of misusing his district-issued credit card. The Beverly Hills School Board voted 3-2 to terminate Pellicone’s contract following a closed meeting Friday morning. Board President Barry Brucker said the termination would prevent Pellicone from receiving severance payments.

Officials say the credit card bills are unrelated to the district’s $300,000 budget deficit. Pellicone, whose annual salary was $143,000, had held the Beverly Hills post for about nine months before he was placed on administrative leave with pay in July.

At the time, Brucker said that Pellicone had run up a number of expenditures that were not authorized under his contract or under the California Education Code, for purchases that apparently included alcohol. District credit card receipts show that Pellicone was billed for more than $5,000 by restaurants and hotels in San Francisco and Bevelry Hills. Receipts also showed $250 in bar tabs.

Neither Brucker nor the district’s lawyer, Erik Bathen, would comment on the superintendent’s termination, saying it was a personnel matter. However, Pellicone’s lawyer, David Kendig, said the board had terminated his client’s contract unlawfully. “He’s looking at his legal options at this point” Kendig said.

The board must now decide whether to advertise for a new superintendent or offer the job to the acting superintendent, Richard Bertain. Pellicone had come to Beverly Hills from the Eastchester, N.Y., school system, where he also had been superintendent.