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Sortisio gets contract extension

OBSERVER Photo by Greg Fox. Pictured is Fredonia School Superintendent Jeffrey Sortisio.

Fredonia Schools Superintendent Jeff Sortisio has a new three-year contract after a vote by the Board of Education Tuesday.

Sortisio, a former Frontier High School principal who became Fredonia’s superintendent in June 2017, is getting a raise. His original three-year contract contained a salary of $142,626, according to a Sept. 16 OBSERVER report. The new deal grants him annual pay of $150,675. Raises of 2.5 percent each year are in the new contract.

“You had an excellent evaluation,” Board President Michael Bobseine told Sortisio. “We thought it was appropriate to extend your contract a year.”

“I thank the board for your faith, your compliments and your support of me,” Sortisio replied.

Bobseine said after the meeting, “If you have a superintendent that’s doing well, you want to encourage them to continue to do well.” Noting that the average tenure for a school district superintendent is two and half years, he added the board wanted to do something to encourage Sortisio to stay longer than that.

The board president said Sortisio is getting paid “a little bit of a bounty” because he is not taking the school district’s health insurance, going on the health care plan of another family member instead. There were also vacation buyback provisions agreed upon after “some small negotiations,” Bobseine added.

Andy Ludwig, the former middle school principal and board candidate who has been a persistent critic of the district’s administration, bashed the new pact during the public comment portion of the meeting.

He questioned why the board was extending Sortisio’s contract when at its last meeting it was discussing the need for a strategic planner.

In other business at Tuesday’s meeting:

¯ The board heard a presentation from middle schoolers Lacey Drennen, Josh Kneitlinger and Rebecca Lash about Students Against Drunk Driving. The trio explained the club’s origins as an offshoot of Mothers against Drunk Driving, discussed activities of their branch and listed their goals for the upcoming school year.

¯ The board received and heard a presentation on an updated physical education plan for the district. The heads of the physical education departments in each school, Joanne Lotter (high school), Mary Bradford (middle school) and Tammy Rea (elementary school), updated the plan and gave the presentation.

¯ Special education teachers Shannon Ciciotti (fifth and sixth grades) and Sarah Graham (seventh and eighth grades) updated the board on how they were implementing things they had learned during professional studies they undertook last summer.

¯ The resignation of the retiring Farhana Siddiqui, a teacher aide, was accepted. Siddiqui worked in the district for 19 years.

¯ The board appointed Ashley Carroll, Michael Ferro, Casandra Lopez, Kristine Potter and George Tedone as substitute teachers.

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