OBSERVER Photo by Andrew David Kuczkowski The Gowanda Board of Education accepted the resignation of now-former Superintendent James Klubek on Wednesday. The board stated he left due to personal matters. Pictured is interim superintendent and former high school principal Dr. Robert Anderson, left, and school board president Cynthia Sutherland.

GOWANDA — The Gowanda Board of Education accepted the resignation of Superintendent James Klubek Wednesday at its regular meeting. The board deliberated during the executive session for more than 30 minutes at the beginning of the meeting.

School board President Cynthia Sutherland added after the motion was accepted that Gowanda High School Principal Dr. Robert Anderson will fill the role, which he has for the past week, as interim superintendent, until further notice.

With Anderson stepping up, the board will look for a substitute high school principal.

Klubek has been absent from the previous three meetings. At both Jan. 25 and Jan. 31 capital project discussion meetings, Klubek did not attend and Anderson replaced Klubek at the latter meeting.

The board gave further insight as to why he hasn’t been at the recent meetings.

“Mr. Klubek was on vacation and that is why he wasn’t there,” Sutherland said. “And that was mentioned at the board meeting (that he left) for personal reasons that I can’t disclose.”

Klubek was hired on July 1, 2014, according to SeethroughNY.net, where his contract was available. The board and Klubek came to an agreement on July 5, 2016 to extend his contract until after the 2019-2020 school year. Klubek, according to the contract, received $135,000 from July 2014 to June 30, 2015; $137,000 from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016; and $139,000 from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017.

Klubek’s contract gave additional information as to how much time of absence he was allowed. For sick time of the superintendent or the immediate family, the contract allows up to 10 days. The contract said that the position allows five personal days, which need to be granted by the school board president two days prior to the date of leave, and the vacation time, which includes paid holidays, is 25 days from July 1 to June 30.

However, the contract states, “The superintendent will not use any of his vacation time during any period that school is in session, nor shall he take in excess of 10 consecutive days of said time, without prior approval by the board.”

The board made no approval of the superintendent’s leave at the Jan. 17 regular meeting, which was the last that Klubek attended and before his leave began.

The board gave a positive send off to Klubek in the statement it issued after the resignation.

“Mr. Klubek’s resignation is effective immediately, and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” the board’s statement read. “The board looks forward to initiating a search in the near future for its next superintendent of schools.”

There are no charges against Klubek, the board confirmed.

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