The Communications Office and the job of the Assistant Transportation Supervisor were eliminated at the Dec. 14 meeting of the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education, putting Paul Henning and Deb Maciejewski out of jobs just days before Christmas.
The cuts were part of a cost-savings recommendation from School Supt. Tom Riutta, who also recommended large raises for two supervisors and raises for secretaries.
The board needed to find funds for the new technology team and a new high school within a high school ($400,000 or so) planned to start next school year.
The elimination of Henning’s job will save about $34,000 this school year and about $90,000 for 2011-12, Supt. Riutta said.
Riutta said the work done by Henning will be shared internally through the Technology Department, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction (Peggy Voigt), the Superintendent’s office, and the Parent Involvement office.
The elimination of Maciejewski’s job would save $25,000 the first year and $55,000 the next year, he said.
He also recommended the reduction of the assistant BHS principal assignment of D. Connelly, who was completing his work assignment as of Dec. 17. The planned elimination of Connelly’s interim position would save $40,000 for the remainder of this year and $80,000 the next school year, Riutta said.
The final cost-cutting recom-mendation was a reduction in the personnel office. Currently, Neil Hartman, another interim employee brought in by Riutta, is working five days a week and this was reduced to three days on Dec. 13, as was planned in the past. The estimated savings would be approximately $25,000 for this year and $42,400 for next year, Riutta said.
Riutta said the total of these cuts exceeds his recommendation for raises in salaries and opening of the Technology Department.
Riutta figured adding the two-year savings together would total $391,400, far exceeding the two years of salary increases, which he estimated at $115,228.
The board unanimously passed the cuts and raises, as outlined by Riutta.
The raises are:
• Supervisors’ increase of $16,786 each year for two years, for a total of $33,572 increase.
This includes Director of Plant Operations and Services Brian Brice who will get a $10,000 raise, from his current $65,913 to $75,913 in 2010-11 and another $10,000 to $85,913 in 2011-12, for a total of $20,000 over the two years.
Brice has announced he plans to retire in 2012. The contract approved by the board is for two years.
Also, Business Office Manager Pam Smart, who currently makes $51,428, will receive $58,214 in 2010-11 and $65,000 in 2011-12, for a two-year increase of $13,572. Her contract also is for two years.
She has been fulfilling the duties of finance director since Nick Armelagos resigned and now is named Supervisor of Financial Services. She will serve as an assistant Business Manager, while Mike Dixon serves as the three-day-a-week interim Business Manager.
Riutta said that with staff cutbacks, both Brice and Smart have taken on significant job responsibilities in addition to their original duties.
• Technology Department increase, $38,126 for the first year, $38,125 for the second year for a total of $76,251; and
• Executive Secretarial increases, $5,405 for 2010-11. This includes a $4,635 raise for Kathy Kovach, secretary to the superintendent, and an increase of $1,000 for Patty Burrell, business office secretary.
Kovach’s salary goes from $52,095 to $56,500 and Burrell’s goes from $50,676 to $51,676.
The next morning after the school board meeting, Henning issued a statement when the Independent asked about his reaction to losing his job the week before Christmas.
“I have done some of the best work of my career for the District and I am very proud to have been a representative of Van Buren Public Schools.
“I wish to thank everyone for giving me the opportunity to rise to the challenges of the last seven and a half years and broaden my career skills. I hope you will remember me for going above and beyond for the students and the community.
“I wish the best of luck to all as the District moves forward into tougher challenges with state funding and finishing the construction of the new high school.”
Henning’s last day was Dec. 17.
Sherry Frazier, who was elected to the school board on Nov. 2 and will take office in January, questioned why the school board made decisions to cut jobs and give raises at the last meeting for David Peer and Victor Hogan, who had been defeated at the polls.
Frazier has been attending meetings regularly since October and hadn’t heard any discussion about these cuts or raises.
“You don’t give out $20,000 raises on your last meeting in office,” Frazier said Friday. She also spoke on the issue at the meeting.
“I just think it’s excessive,” Frazier said. “There was no discussion from any board member.”
Frazier said Trustee Martha Toth said that it pained her to let Henning go, since he has been an excellent employee. “We won’t know how much he has done for us until he is gone,” Toth said.
Frazier and others at the meeting said it was improper to have these decisions made by the old board. She said board members told her this has been discussed for a long time and the new board members wouldn’t know the background. But Frazier said it hasn’t been discussed publicly in the last few months.
Frazier pointed out that Henning’s position also was as a grant writer and if he wrote one good grant, it could pay for his salary.
Mike Long of Van Buren Township said he was a little befuddled by the board’s action.
On Sunday, Long said that at the Dec. 13 meeting he asked the board if they could wait one meeting until the new board members were seated and Trustee Martha Toth said it wouldn’t change anything.
Long said everyone is interim in the leadership positions and when the new school is built most of these people will be gone.
“I just couldn’t understand why they couldn’t wait one more meeting,” he said.
Long, who is Henning’s brother-in-law, said he had some concerns about the school district in the past, but didn’t speak out because of his relationship to Henning. Now that is no longer the case.
He noted that Henning never discussed his work with family members.
Long said he had nothing against the ones getting the big raises or their abilities.
He said it was almost inconceivable to hear the superintendent say the district couldn’t hire a permanent business manager because nobody applied, when the only place they posted it was on the district web site, with a link to RESA.
Long was a longtime official in Van Buren Township government and now is a Realtor. He has two children in Belleville High School and one in elementary school.
He also recommended the reduction of the assistant BHS principal assignment of D. Connelly, who was completing his work assignment as of Dec. 17. The planned elimination of Connelly’s interim position would save $40,000 for the remainder of this year and $80,000 the next school year, Riutta said.
The final cost-cutting recom-mendation was a reduction in the personnel office. Currently, Neil Hartman, another interim employee brought in by Riutta, is working five days a week and this was reduced to three days on Dec. 13, as was planned in the past. The estimated savings would be approximately $25,000 for this year and $42,400 for next year, Riutta said.
Riutta said the total of these cuts exceeds his recommendation for raises in salaries and opening of the Technology Department.
Riutta figured adding the two-year savings together would total $391,400, far exceeding the two years of salary increases, which he estimated at $115,228.
The board unanimously passed the cuts and raises, as outlined by Riutta.
The raises are:
• Supervisors’ increase of $16,786 each year for two years, for a total of $33,572 increase.
This includes Director of Plant Operations and Services Brian Brice who will get a $10,000 raise, from his current $65,913 to $75,913 in 2010-11 and another $10,000 to $85,913 in 2011-12, for a total of $20,000 over the two years.
Brice has announced he plans to retire in 2012. The contract approved by the board is for two years.
Also, Business Office Manager Pam Smart, who currently makes $51,428, will receive $58,214 in 2010-11 and $65,000 in 2011-12, for a two-year increase of $13,572. Her contract also is for two years.
She has been fulfilling the duties of finance director since Nick Armelagos resigned and now is named Supervisor of Financial Services. She will serve as an assistant Business Manager, while Mike Dixon serves as the three-day-a-week interim Business Manager.
Riutta said that with staff cutbacks, both Brice and Smart have taken on significant job responsibilities in addition to their original duties.
• Technology Department increase, $38,126 for the first year, $38,125 for the second year for a total of $76,251; and
• Executive Secretarial increases, $5,405 for 2010-11. This includes a $4,635 raise for Kathy Kovach, secretary to the superintendent, and an increase of $1,000 for Patty Burrell, business office secretary.
Kovach’s salary goes from $52,095 to $56,500 and Burrell’s goes from $50,676 to $51,676.
The next morning after the school board meeting, Henning issued a statement when the Independent asked about his reaction to losing his job the week before Christmas.
“I have done some of the best work of my career for the District and I am very proud to have been a representative of Van Buren Public Schools.
“I wish to thank everyone for giving me the opportunity to rise to the challenges of the last seven and a half years and broaden my career skills. I hope you will remember me for going above and beyond for the students and the community.
“I wish the best of luck to all as the District moves forward into tougher challenges with state funding and finishing the construction of the new high school.”
Henning’s last day was Dec. 17.
Sherry Frazier, who was elected to the school board on Nov. 2 and will take office in January, questioned why the school board made decisions to cut jobs and give raises at the last meeting for David Peer and Victor Hogan, who had been defeated at the polls.
Frazier has been attending meetings regularly since October and hadn’t heard any discussion about these cuts or raises.
“You don’t give out $20,000 raises on your last meeting in office,” Frazier said Friday. She also spoke on the issue at the meeting.
“I just think it’s excessive,” Frazier said. “There was no discussion from any board member.”
Frazier said Trustee Martha Toth said that it pained her to let Henning go, since he has been an excellent employee. “We won’t know how much he has done for us until he is gone,” Toth said.
Frazier and others at the meeting said it was improper to have these decisions made by the old board. She said board members told her this has been discussed for a long time and the new board members wouldn’t know the background. But Frazier said it hasn’t been discussed publicly in the last few months.
Frazier pointed out that Henning’s position also was as a grant writer and if he wrote one good grant, it could pay for his salary.
Mike Long of Van Buren Township said he was a little befuddled by the board’s action.
On Sunday, Long said that at the Dec. 13 meeting he asked the board if they could wait one meeting until the new board members were seated and Trustee Martha Toth said it wouldn’t change anything.
Long said everyone is interim in the leadership positions and when the new school is built most of these people will be gone.
“I just couldn’t understand why they couldn’t wait one more meeting,” he said.
Long, who is Henning’s brother-in-law, said he had some concerns about the school district in the past, but didn’t speak out because of his relationship to Henning. Now that is no longer the case.
He noted that Henning never discussed his work with family members.
Long said he had nothing against the ones getting the big raises or their abilities.
He said it was almost inconceivable to hear the superintendent say the district couldn’t hire a permanent business manager because nobody applied, when the only place they posted it was on the district web site, with a link to RESA.
Long was a longtime official in Van Buren Township government and now is a Realtor. He has two children in Belleville High School and one in elementary school.