Position in a position as GCS, residents discuss future budget
By TIM LATSHAWArticle Photos
GOWANDA-The assistant superintendent position at Gowanda Central School may soon be vacant, adding another question to those asked by district residents as to how Gowanda plans to respond to potential school aid cuts. Residents Joe and Janet Vogtli came to the Wednesday meeting of the school board with questions regarding both issues and how they may affect each other.
Assistant Superintendent Kimberly Moritz was appointed superintendent of Randolph Central School at a Nov. 5 meeting of the Randolph School Board. No official announcement had been made at Gowanda until the Wednesday meeting, however, as Moritz is still negotiating terms with Randolph and has not yet resigned from her assistant superintendent position. Moritz was not present at the Gowanda meeting, but Superintendent Charles Rinaldi said she had given her approval recently to inform the staff.
The assistant superintendent position at Gowanda was created in June 2007 and subsequently filled by Moritz, who had previously served as the high school principal. Some district residents contested the creation of the position not because of Moritz's merits, but because they said they felt the decision had been made too quickly and without enough public notice. Now that Moritz is likely to depart, such attentions have been drawn back to the position.
"When that position was first put in there, the community felt it was pushed through - was done as a succession plan for people who were leaving - and now we find that exactly the reason that was given for you to fill that position is exactly what's happening," Janet Vogtli said. "So, I hope from now on we would learn from hindsight that we don't do this again and run something through, and we don't not explain it to the public what's going on."
The Gowanda School Board has never officially said that the position was created to retain personnel, having otherwise cited a desire to create a position that could focus on restructuring the district's curriculum. But the board has said that the increase in state aid provided last year was a driving reason in proceeding with the creation.
According to Rinaldi, under the current proposed state budget cuts Gowanda would potentially lose $455,000 in state aid, leaving Joe Vogtli to wonder whether the assistant superintendent position should stay and if other cuts may have to be made in the future.
"I think you've really got to look at tightening the belt like everybody else has to in the country in these economic times," he said. "If we don't fill a position, so be it, but if it gets bad enough, you may have to significantly cut staff because that's where two-thirds of your budget is."
When asked how the school district was responding to potential budget cuts, Rinaldi said he has been working with the business office on a 30-month plan in the hope of avoiding taking drastic measures before necessary.
"We don't want to find ourselves using all of our fund balance that might solve a short-term problem and then just create a spike in tax rates because we didn't look ahead," he said.
Rinaldi added that, regardless of what the final state budget for the coming year holds for schools, he will still recommend cuts in Gowanda's expenditures. A special school board meeting that will focus on Gov. Paterson's budget proposal and its effects on the school district's financial planning will be held Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. The meeting will be public.
Comments on this article may be sent to tlatshaw@observertoday.com
