Perkins board approves suspensions for Santoro, Harbal

PERKINS TWP. — The Perkins Schools board approved suspensions for high school principal Jeff Harbal and head football coach Jalen Santoro at its board meeting on Wednesday. Harbal and Santoro both will be suspended for five days without pay. The board unanimously approved superintendent Lonny Rivera's recommendation to suspend Harbal and Santoro after an investigation of a Nov. 29 bus incident that occurred after the Pirates defeated Glenville in a state semifinal game. Santoro and Harbal were on the team's charter bus that drove into neighborhoods in Bellevue, passing by the homes of recently retired Bellevue football coach Ed Nasonti and athletic director Cody Cramer. Expletives were shouted from the bus. The punishment was meted out 40 days after the incident. Rivera said he headed up a thorough investigation. "Part of what we had to do was talk with our legal team. We also had to figure out all the details," Rivera said before the board went into a closed-door session. "What happened here tonight had to be approved by the school board. All that time is where the board meetings fell and it took a lot longer to get through this process." Rivera said the suspensions will be served before the current school year ends — and before the next football season begins. "We're going to work on that here shortly," Rivera said. "The high school principal role, I have to figure out how to make it the least intrusive to our operations. We'll work with legal to find out what parameters we have to do that. We also have to work with North Point (Educational Services Center) because Jalen is an employee of North Point." As part of the agreement, Harbal no longer will coach football in "an official capacity," Rivera said. Harbal was a defensive coordinator for the Pirates, who went 14-2 this past season and lost in the Division IV state championship game. "That's part of one of the agreements," Rivera said. "Mr. Harbal will be focusing on being the high school principal." Harbal's salary totals about $117,400. Santoro, the district's youth athletics and activities liaison, makes roughly $55,800 a year. He also made $7,800 for coaching football. Wednesday's meeting was moved to the school auditorium, and two police officers were present. About 50 community members, football players, staff and parents looked on as the vote was taken after Rivera read his recommendation. Harbal was in the audience, but Santoro did not attend the meeting. Harbal declined comment afterward, citing a brief press release the school issued afterward. Santoro did not return a phone call seeking comment. The recommendation was approved by all board members in attendance. Board member Brad Mitchel was not in attendance due to work responsibilities. "Dr. Rivera did a very thorough job evaluating what had occurred and balanced a lot of the possible consequences and made a recommendation to the board that we fully supported," board member Ted Kastor said. "It's unfortunate. It kind of cast a shadow over a highly successful football season." Ben Ohlemacher, the school superintendent at Kelleys Island and a prominent local realtor, was the only speaker who addressed the room from the dais during the meeting's public participation period. He thanked officials involved in the decision and expressed the importance football has in the community. "I don't know Coach Santoro that well, but I hope he's here for a long time," Ohlemacher said. "I've known Jeff Harbal for a long time in a lot of different capacities. I hope you support them both and continue to help them grow." Ohlemacher, a former football coach, said one of his sons was coached by Santoro at Perkins. "I just want to say how much I appreciate all the thought and time that has probably been given by all of you. I can only imagine the stress and some of the uncomfortable conversations that were had," Ohlemacher said. "I appreciate you holding the football program to the highest standards, but I also hope you offer your full support." The investigation confirmed that the team bus was taken off route without district authorization and drove past the homes of a former and current Bellevue employee. The release said that the bus did not make a complete stop and that nobody exited the bus before returning to Perkins High School. "My neighbor called me up. He was in his front room and saw them and heard them," said Nasonti, who was at home at the time of the incident. "Plus some other neighbors on the street did. It's just disappointing. That's the only thing I can say about it." There has been plenty of bad blood between Perkins and Bellevue since Santoro left the Bellevue coaching staff to take the head coaching job at Perkins in 2020. Santoro, a star quarterback on Bellevue's 2012 state finalist coached by Nasonti, was an assistant coach for the Redmen. Prior to the state semifinal game in Clyde, Bellevue hosted Glenville for a walkthrough and chapel service, drawing the ire of many in the Perkins camp who saw it as an affront against a fellow Sandusky Bay Conference member. Nasonti said hosting Glenville was nothing out of the ordinary for Bellevue. "We provided a professional courtesy and some hospitality to a school that traveled 80 miles (from Cleveland)," Nasonti said. "We've hosted five or six teams in the last eight years. Last year, we had Olmsted Falls do the same thing." The Bellevue school district has been contacted by Perkins and the two districts will continue to work together with a mutual commitment to improve relations, the release stated. Throughout the 40 days that have passed since the bus incident occurred, the Register has contacted the district several times for more information on the situation and its development. The most recent request was for a final report or any documents created at the end of the investigation including those shared with board members. The deadline for these documents was noon on Thursday. The Register also asked for email communications and attachments from those leading the investigation and from Santoro and Harbal. The deadline for these documents is Tuesday. The district has not sent the documents or confirmed if it has received the request.