Of school buses, politics and wild pigs

NOW FOR a tale of clout, political power and how, sometimes, things get done.

State Senate President Joe Scarnati is a man with serious sway and a willingness to use it.

Folks running Brookville Area Schools in Scarnati's sprawling western Pennsylvania district are experiencing this firsthand.

The school district, in Jefferson County, last month was handed a PennDOT decision that came, well, out of the blue.

It requires the district to bus the kids of a Scarnati family friend, even though the kids live within state-designated walking distance to school.

Looks like the senator made that happen.

The decision was sent by PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch on July 2 to district Superintendent Sandra Craft.

Craft did not respond to Daily News phone and email requests for comment.

That's because the issue's something of a land mine.

And that's because the new decision reverses a 2010 PennDOT ruling that these same kids should not be bused - because they live within the walk limit and not on a hazardous road.

What changed?

The new decision came just after Scarnati threatened to amend the state School Code to shorten the designated walking distance.

Such an amendment could cost millions of dollars in rerouting expenses in most of the state's 500 school districts.

Drew Crompton, Scarnati's counsel and chief of staff, confirms Scarnati looked at a code change but says the Brookville kids in question live only one-tenth of a mile inside the walking limit.

"We thought the school district would pick them up," Crompton says. "We really didn't think this could turn into an issue."

But it has. The school board is appealing PennDOT's new decision.

Tom Breth, the board's attorney, said the appeal is based on the 2010 ruling, which followed an on-site review.

He said he's unaware of any additional study since 2010, and essentially is asking PennDOT to explain the change.

Tom Swab, a 20-year member of the Brookville School Board, says it's obvious: It involves a friend of Scarnati's and Scarnati can make things happen.

Swab says that he understands power politics but that, "A lot of people would like their kids picked up at the house. Who the hell wouldn't?"

Swab and Breth also say transportation changes can add significant costs, maybe tens of thousands of dollars a year, to the budget of the small district (three schools, about 1,500 kids) because other families also could be affected.

PennDOT says it can't discuss the case because it's under appeal.

If the district wins its appeal, Crompton says Scarnati might look at special legislation aimed only at Brookville schools or Jefferson County.

Political big-footing or, if you prefer, quality constituent service, isn't new for Scarnati.

You may recall he rammed through a bill in the waning days of the June budget session that many call a real oinker.

It's now law and it keeps imported feral swine - a/k/a wild boars, a/k/a "huge hogs gone wild" - coming to our state.

Why? Scarnati's district has two hunting ranches where the hogs are kept until, um, harvested by paying patrons.

The animals, which can weigh up to 400 pounds and sometimes escape into the wild, are regarded as dangerous and destructive to other wildlife, farm animals and habitats.

Scarnati's bill passed (while liquor reform, pension reform and transportation funding could not) over the objections of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The commission's website says the animals are an "ever-present threat to wildlife." It adds, "Pennsylvania would be a better place without these swine and the Game Commission is committed to their eradication."

It's one thing for a legislative leader to be helpful to local constituents. It's quite another for a legislative leader to put local constituent interests above the larger interests of a school district, or the commonwealth.

The Senate president, however well-intended, is doing the latter.