BCS Superintendent returns salary hike
By JOAN JOSEPHSONArticle Photos
BROCTON - The Brocton School Board heaped praise on Superintendent Jack Skahill at Thursday night's meeting.
Vice President Rod Geiben said he worked with administrators since 1968 when he began his career in education.
"Some have been good, but Jack Skahill is beyond remarkable," he said.
This was said before Skahill told the board he was going to give the pay raise he was going to receive back to the district. This is the second time he has given back his salary increase.
After the meeting, he said he didn't receive a salary increase "two or three years ago." This time, he will be giving the district $4,600, which he said, will be placed in the general fund.
He added that he currently earns $115,111 a year, a figure which, according to Business First, ranks his salary at 189 out of 200 school administrators in the Western New York area.
"I want to thank Jack for the sacrifices he has made for the district; giving his salary back goes way beyond," board member Harry Watters said.
Before Skahill announced his desire to return his raise to the district, the board was asked to approve a memorandum of agreement for his 2009-10 contract.
Board member Tom DeJoe was the only one with reservations. He said his concern was with setting a precedent and he wanted to demonstrate fiscal responsibility. When the vote was held to approve the memorandum, DeJoe cast the only no vote.
Skahill has said he plans to retire at the end of the next school year.
The board also offered its thanks to staff members Bob Sheldon, Chris Vacanti, James Delcamp and Larry Dolce for acting so quickly when a student's car caught fire in the school's parking lot.
They pulled the car away from other vehicles, preventing the fire from spreading, the board noted. The car was completely destroyed, but no one was injured.
In other business, the board accepted the internal audit report and the one received from the state comptroller's office. Both reports focused on the extra curricular activities funds the school maintains. "There were similar findings in both reports but there were no major discrepancies or deficiencies found," business executive Betty DeLand said.
She said changes have been instituted that will transfer the extra curricular activities funds to the central business office where controls are in place. High school principal Stephen Keefe announced that business law teacher Nance Ortolano has been named an adjunct professor at Niagara University. "Students taking her class will have the opportunity to earn three college credits when the successfully complete the course," he said.
He also noted the class is offered through distance learning to other schools.
In other action, the board approved an intermunicipal agreement for shared services between Brocton and Fredonia Central School for food services supervision. This is contingent on the Fredonia School Board approving the agreement, Skahill said.
DeLand said this agreement would save Brocton approximately $15,000 a year.
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06-20-09 11:00 AM
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To people, you can bet it counts, and they will use it towards calculation of his retirement. However it was a good gesture.
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People
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06-20-09 8:38 AM
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Does this raise count in his final average salary? Why didn't he just refuse an increase instead of "donating" it back?
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06-20-09 6:32 AM
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I want to say I'm sorry to Mr. Skahill, this article was about you and your leadership at sharing the pain. PhilJ and I took it another direction. This is about your good deed and others at Chautauqua Lake, Ripley, Dunkirk, Fredonia and the rest need to take a lesson from you, good job Jack.
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06-20-09 6:29 AM
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To Phil J, like I said you pay high property taxes here but you also get to write them off on your Federal Return. Everything in life has a cycle, at one time the south was poor, now they want all are teachers and smart kids. This is the time to invest in NY mark that down. 10-20 years from now this is the area people will want. There is a price to pay for everything. I wonder if you would be yelling 90 years ago when the few rich controlled everything and the worker had no rights, the union came. It has its cycle. Lets just see where those southern jobs are when unemployment hits 10-15 percent and stays there for a year or two.
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PhilJulian
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06-19-09 10:19 PM
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Listen - I'm glad you are happy paying 20 grand per year in school taxes. You musxt also be happy that our county and two largest cities continue to lose population because we can't attract investment in new industry and jobs. You must be over-joyed that our youth have to leave the area to find meaningful employment. You must be thrilled to see that our property values are about half of the national average. Sometimes we get so obsessed with detail that we fail to see the larger picture and in the big picture our county is dying because of excessive taxation. The problem IN PART has to do with excess administrative costs in education. We don't have to look to far to find counties in other states that are providing quality education at a much lower cost and it's probably no coincidence that their population is growing! I do respect your opinion and I think debate is healthy.
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06-19-09 8:42 PM
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D o y o u g e t i t n o w P h i l J? Mergers don't make sense unless they save money. You keep running off at the mouth with on facts. The Westfield-Ripley wouldn't have saved any money and in fact would have cost Westfield taxpayers more. You only merge if you save.
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06-19-09 8:38 PM
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Just so PhilJulian can understand things a little better here's to you. You stated on the superintendent pay survey that Buffalo schools save so much money with one superintendent and they have 33,000 students. Lets look at a few figures PhilJ. Fredonia has a budget of around $27,329,000 and a per student cost of $15,536. Cassadaga Valley has a school budget of around $19.5 million and a per student cost of around $15,453. Westfield has a budget or around $15 million and a per student cost of around $18,450. The Buffalo News reported the Buffalo school district has a budget of around $900 million. If you take your quote of 33,000 students in the buffalo school district (from your previous quote) it means the per student cost of students in the Buffalo School District is around $27,272. That means that the Buffalo school district under your one superintendent merged district cost around $10,000 more per student per year then the Chautauqua Co schools mentioned above.
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06-19-09 4:41 PM
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Once again Chautauqua BOE, cut your superintendent's pay and benefits, lets start treating everyone the same, lets all share the pain, not just the ones on the front line.
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06-19-09 4:40 PM
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And once again before all you clowns jump in and complain about teachers pay do your homework. I beleive they start out around $35,000 a year, ending at $70,000-75,000 at 30 years. Maybe I just got lucky, cause I don't have a BA and make far more then that. For you folks that are making less then 40 grand a year I do wonder how you make it, but you made your decisions in life. If you wanted to make what a teacher makes go back to school for 5 years or so and you'll be considered middle class, because that is what 50,000-70,000 per year is. You ain't getting rich being a teacher, you live good, but you ain't getting rich. If you want some $20,000 a year goof teaching your kids then stay home and do it yourself or move to a southern state and see what education level they are at when they graduate. I don't like paying taxes but I would rather pay property taxes write them off and not be taxed federally on that money.
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06-19-09 4:30 PM
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Don't quote me on those figures but I would say off the top of my head they are close. Randy Henderson and the Chautauqua Lake BOE entered into a fact finding process. You didn't like the findings so you said screw this. While many think teacher are overpaid, how can you give a raise to the Superintendent and then want to cut teachers pay? Common sense brother, that ain't right. Skahill is sharing the pain, Chautauqua BOE wants to screw 60 or 70 teachers causes its popular, but how popular is it to give a raise to someone who is making what $120,000, $130,000 a year. Henderson and the BOE you have seriously hurt your creditability, pay the boss screw over the worker. Lets be fair!
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06-19-09 4:24 PM
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Memo to the CHAUTAUQUA LAKE BOE: If you were serious about settling a contract with the teachers union this is one of the steps that the Chautauqua Lake Superintendent and Randy Henderson should have acted on. I'm talking here about Brocton Superintendent Skahill taking a $4,600 pay cut to assist the district. Lets share the pain Randy! Like I have pointed out before I am not a teacher, but I do pay 5 figure school property taxes and I do consider myself to have a little common sense. Lets get to the points, tell us did the Chautauqua BOE with President Henderson give the Superintendent a contract extension and increase in pay. What was that increase? Did the Superintendent have their health benefits cut? What incentives did the Superintendent get? A I stated some time ago, the COLA in the USA last year was 5.8%. I am thinking over the past 4 years or so the COLA increase total has been around 12-14% How much was that fact finder figure that was given? Was it around 12-14%?
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06-19-09 4:11 PM
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on issues, for some reason I don't know if you have done your homework. Are you aware that merger funds ARE NOT GUARANTEED BY NY State. This came out in the Westfield-Ripley merger study. So right there if Dunkirk didn't get that 40 million over the first 5 years the local taxpayers would be screwed big time, IT WOULD BE COMING OUT OF THEIR POCKETS, DUNKIRK WOULD BE BANKRUPTED. You talk a good game, but I also don't think you have the facts. I ASK YOU THESE QUESTIONS: 1.IF DUNKIRK AND FREDONIA MERGED CAN YOU GUARANTEE THERE WOULD BE A SAVINGS TO THE LOCAL TAXPAPERS? And I 'm talk 5-20% 2. IF BROCTON-FREDONIA MERGE CAN YOU GUARANTEE A SAVINGS TO THE LOCAL TAXPAYERS OVER THE NEXT 15 YEARS? I'M TALKING 5-20% 3. IF THE BROCTON-FREDONIA MERGER GOES THUR HOW MUCH MONEY WOULD YOU LIKE TO PUT UP REGARDING YOUR SUPPOSED SAVINGS? I WILL TAKE THAT WAGER!
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06-19-09 3:59 PM
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Phil what the heck don't you understand with regards to Bill14787NY. Your talking about saving money with a merger between dunkirk and fredonia. Then you claim with the merger NY state is gong to kick in 40% which equals about 8 million dollars a year. Where the h e l l do you think that 8 million is coming from???? You need to sit down with a pencil and do some figuring. Your merger idea is going me and other NY 40 million the first 5 years and then a declining amount for the next 9 years. As a businessman I would have to study those figures for hours if not weeks to determine if any merger savings overset the extra funds coming from NY State, which is the NY state taxpayer like me. State aid comes from NY taxpayers your forgetting that. Like I said I couldn't determine if there was any savings without weeks of reviewing information and figures, and I hate to say I have done pretty good in life. As a businessman I pay over 20 grand in school property taxes each year. I do my homework
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PhilJulian
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06-19-09 2:28 PM
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Commentor - I have always been a proponent of a Dunkirk/Fredonia merger in both government and education and I have written op-eds describing the savings and benefits to both taxpayers and students. Based on current state law Dunkirk can not seek a merger because of it's status as a city school district but I believe there are ways around that requirement.BILLWESTFIELDNY - other states do provide excellent examples of how to run school systems and we should be using them as models for greater efficiency. I can tell you that New York State provedes a 40% increase in state aid for districts that merge. After 5 years the 40% begins to decline for the next 9 years. In the example of Dunkirk that 40% amounts to about 8 million per year. That's almost enough to cover our tax levy.If you look at the places that are growing and prosperous they have county school districts and the administration of government functions is done at the couinty level. We don't need to re-invent the wheel.
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BillWestfieldNY
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06-19-09 1:55 PM
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Hey PJ, Jack Skahill just spit in your face.
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BillWestfieldNY
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06-19-09 1:53 PM
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PhilJ has some good ideas but the Captain is right, when you gonna put your comments in writing, with the savings and show us where the beef is. Write a letter with examples, numbers, and stats, and sign it. We have a couple of guy in Westfield that could show you how to do it. I think their names are Underwood and Neratko. Your continuing crap about consolidation is worthless without examples and exhibits. And don't go quoting some other state, we live in NY not Pa, or Florida or somewhere else.
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commentor
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06-19-09 1:52 PM
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It seems Mr. Julian has a lot to say about everyone and every place where he doesn't live. I would like to know what exactly are you doing to find a school to merge with Dunkirk? As for the Brocton Superintendent it may not be much but it's more than the Fredonia Super is doing. Captain, you are correct the BCS/FHS merger with both schools open is absurd! Closing BCS and moving all students to Fredonia doesn't solve anything either. Run the school as a business.
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BillWestfieldNY
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06-19-09 1:47 PM
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To Westfield School Board, take a good long look at this! Whatever the reasoning it goes a good long way on creating some creditability with the district voters. This is the type of gesture that leads to obtaining some extra votes come merger time. Its what folks look up to. Leadership Mrs. Habig, across the board for everyone not just the working low class. To BOE member Mrs. Habig and Pres Zanghi, can't get no good superintendents or principals to come to westfield because we don't pay good. WRONG AGAIN MRS. HABIG AND PRESIDENT ZANGHI. The two of you, your combined thinking about a 71 on the IQ common sense scale.
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bob1957
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06-19-09 1:44 PM
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My congradulations to Mr. Skahill for his most kind gesture. It is an example to follow. Leadership.
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Captain
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06-19-09 10:29 AM
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PJ: With all due respect, you keep advocating the consolidation of all school districts into one county system, yet you provide no details? I'd love to read a letter to the editor that outlines such a proposal. I'm all in favor of consolidation, since student enrollment has steadily declined, PROVIDED some schools are closed and paid positions eliminated, not this ridiculous proposal to merge FHS w/BCS, keep BCS open, retain most paid positions, and then unnecessarily bus groups of students from one school to the other as a means to balance the total number of students from adjoining districts. Regardless of whether or not a merger occurs, a freeze on teacher & admin. pay is loooong overdue.
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PhilJulian
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06-19-09 9:02 AM
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This is a nice gesture but it will have about the same effect as spitting in the ocean. Maybe the teachers should volunteer a pay freeze - now that would help! The problem is that we have too many superintendents and staffs for the size of our county and the only way to deal with that is to consolidate school districts.
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Captain
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06-19-09 8:20 AM
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From what's been reported regarding the alleged misuse of school funds (for personal use) & the deliberate falsification of travel records for reimbursement, I'd say Westfield's Super should be getting fitted for new striped pajamas. Unfortunately, if such allegations were pursued by the district and proven true, white collar crimes like this merely require restitution.
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Thinking
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06-19-09 6:29 AM
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Maybe Westfield Super should see this!!!
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