Wayland High School’s football coach arranged about $120,000 worth of clothing purchases for school teams, staff, and departments from businesses run by his father for more than a decade, the State Ethics Commission reported last week.
The commission found “reasonable cause to believe” that Scott Parseghian violated the state’s conflict of interest law by either arranging the purchases while serving as the high school’s assistant principal, or working as a representative on behalf of his father, according to a letter issued by the commission Dec. 12.
“Given your participation as Wayland High School head football coach in purchases of merchandise from your father’s businesses, a reasonable person would conclude that you are likely to act as a result of kinship to your father, or that your father can unduly enjoy your favor in the performance of your official duties as an employee of the Wayland Public Schools,” the commission told Parseghian.
The commission will not pursue adjudicatory proceedings against Parseghian because he cooperated with its investigation, and because Wayland High School investigated and imposed a “financial penalty” on Parseghian.
Parseghian is a 1992 graduate of Wayland High School who started working for the school in 1996, and became the head football coach in 2001, according to the ethics commission and an online biography. Between 2004 and 2016, he also served as the assistant principal of Wayland High School.
Wayland High School made approximately $150,000 in purchases of embroidered and screen-printed clothing from 2001 to 2015 from three athletic apparel businesses run by Parseghian’s father, Arnold Parseghian, according to the ethics commission’s letter.
During that time, Scott Parseghian placed a combined 41 purchase orders and requests for payment with the high school or the local boosters club for purchases from the elder man’s businesses, the commission reported. Those purchases were worth about $60,000.
Scott Parseghian also facilitated an additional 46 purchases — worth roughly another $60,000 — from his father’s businesses for high school staff, the commission reported. In those purchases, records identified him as a “rep” or “delivery representative” on behalf of his father’s businesses, the commission reported.
“Other Wayland High School staff members, acting on behalf of school athletic teams, clubs, or departments, reviewed catalogs and merchandise samples in your office, placed orders through you with your father’s businesses, and/or received delivery of ordered merchandise through you,” the commission told Parseghian.
Parseghian’s attorney, Christopher J. Petrini, said in a statement that while Parseghian unintentionally overlooked certain technical reporting requirements under state law, he did not violate the conflict of interest law or financially benefit from the clothing sales.
Petrini said Parseghian’s superiors were aware that the coach’s father sold apparel to the schools, which was a business relationship that predated Parseghian’s employment with the town.
“By agreeing to issue a Public Education letter, the State Ethics Commission has effectively recognized that the conduct in question did not warrant the commencement of adjudicatory proceedings or the issuance of a fine or other penalty. Scott Parseghian respects the SEC and its decision and looks forward to putting this matter behind him so he can return to his primary mission of serving the students of the Wayland Public Schools,” Petrini’s statement said.
In June 2015, Parseghian stopped his involvement in the transactions and reported his conduct to the State Ethics Commission.
The move came after Stephen Cass, a former athletic director of Wayland High School, notified the School Committee in May 2015 about his concerns over misused funds and other practices in the school’s athletic programs. He raised the concerns publicly after learning his contract would not be renewed.
Cass filed a whistle-blower lawsuit earlier this year alleging that the nonrenewal of his contract was retaliation for his complaining about unequal treatment of boys and girls sports teams. In August, the lawsuit was moved from Middlesex Superior Court to US federal court in Boston.
Cass’s attorney, Benjamin Hincks, said the concerns Cass shared with Wayland school officials included Parseghian’s possible conflict of interest.
“Yes, in that sense, there is a sense of validation” due to the ethics commission’s findings, said Hincks, who called on school officials to make the financial penalty they issued against Parseghian public.
In 2016, Allyson Mizoguchi, Wayland High School’s principal, announced that Parseghian left his post as Wayland High School’s assistant principal to become the district’s K-12 health/wellness curriculum coordinator, a position he currently holds.
Mizoguchi directed comment to Arthur Unobskey, the superintendent of schools, who declined to answer questions.
“The Ethics Commission has concluded its investigation. We have no further comments,” Unobskey said in an email.
The Wayland School Department’s staff ethics and conflict of interest policy forbids employees from engaging or having financial interest in any activity “that conflicts or raises a reasonable question of conflict with his/her duties and responsibilities in the school system.” The policy was approved by the School Committee in December 2016.
Ellen Grieco, the chairwoman of Wayland’s School Committee, declined to comment.
The five-member State Ethics Commission voted in September to find reasonable cause to believe that Parseghian violated the conflict of interest law by acting as an agent for his father’s companies; by acting as the school’s football coach in making many team purchases from those companies; and by creating the appearance that a reasonable person could conclude that he unduly favored his father in purchasing decisions.
Parseghian told the commission he believed his superiors “tacitly approved” of the relationship between his father’s businesses and the school. The commission wrote that “neither your belief nor your appointing authority’s tacit approval” would have made participation in the purchases lawful.
The commission released a public education letter last week to help municipal employees better understand the requirements of the state conflict of interest law, said David Giannotti, a commission spokesman.
To public workers who are in similar situations, “this is saying, be on notice here,” Giannotti said.
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.