What had been expected to be a routine reorganization meeting of the Mt. Lebanon school board on Monday turned out to be a session filled with surprises.

School Director Mark Hart was elected president of the board by a 6-3 vote over School Director Josephine Posti, who had served as vice president during the past year.

The vote came after School Director Sue Rose, who was a nominee for vice president, revealed that a state auditor recently notified the district that Mr. Hart had not filed his Statement of Financial Interests as required by the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission for the years 2005 and 2006.

District records show that Mr. Hart, who is director of business for the Pittsburgh Steelers, eventually filed the forms on Aug. 20, 2007.

While he did not comment at the meeting, Mr. Hart issued this written statement yesterday:

"I was late in filing the financial disclosure statements, and took care of all of the paperwork as soon as I realized the error. The people who supported my election as president on Monday night understand this and recognize that it is not an issue that is going to hold us back operationally."

The statement also said he looks "forward to rolling up my sleeves and delivering positive outcomes for the schools' students, faculty, staff and the Mt. Lebanon community."

Voting for Mr. Hart were school directors Ed Kubit, James Fraasch, Dan Remely, Alan Silhol, Faith Ann Stipanovich and Mr. Hart. Voting for Mrs. Posti were Sue Rose, Elaine Cappucci and Mrs. Rose. Mr. Silhol was elected vice president by the same vote results.

The vote stunned Mrs. Posti, who said she had expected the board would follow with its past tradition of elevating the vice president to the presidency of the board.

Mrs. Posti said she was further surprised by the fact that the majority of the board voted for Mr. Hart as president after Mrs. Rose informed the board of Mr. Hart's failure to file the financial forms.

Mrs. Rose disclosed the information after the nominations for officers were made but before the votes were cast.

"I believe this was a significant issue that the new board members needed to know as they prepared to cast their votes for board president," Mrs. Rose said.

"Any school board member who violates the law, the Ethics Act, should be reprimanded and not allowed to guide the district as board president."

Mrs. Rose first attempted to share the information in an executive session, but solicitor Tom Peterson indicated the subject did not meet the requirements for a closed board session.

Then Mrs. Rose disclosed publicly that the previous board learned of the situation in a Nov. 16 e-mail from former board President Joseph Rodella, who said a state auditor pointed out the missing filings which he found during a recent audit of the district. Mr. Rodella did not run for re-election and is no longer on the board. ..........

According to Mrs. Rose, Mr. Rodella's e-mail said that while school directors can face fines and imprisonment for failing to file the financial interest statements, it's unlikely that sanctions would be levied in this case. But the e-mail indicated that the failure to file the forms would be noted as a violation in the auditor's report that is expected to be published in the coming months.

Ivan Anderson, a spokesman for the state auditor general, said he could not comment on the Mt. Lebanon audit because it is ongoing and "our policy is not to comment on ongoing audits."

At first Mrs. Rose did not name the school director who was the subject of the memo. But after she presented the information, she asked Mr. Hart if he was the school director in question. Mr. Hart responded that he "could be."

Mr. Rodella's e-mail warned the board that some of its past votes could be considered invalid since Mr. Hart did not have voting rights during the time he was not in compliance with filing his statements.

In an interview, Mr. Rodella said that information in his e-mail was included in the auditor's preliminary report to the district.

As a result, Mr. Rodella said he ordered an audit of all of the board's 5-4 votes in which Mr. Hart participated during the time that he had not filed the forms. But, he said, it appeared no significant votes were affected.

According to the financial statements that Mr. Hart filed in August, his two sources of income are the Pittsburgh Steelers and the PSSI Stadium Corp. He listed himself as the treasurer/secretary of the PSSI Stadium Corp.