School board votes to lay off employees

Two building principals and the athletics director are on the layoff list.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
STRUTHERS -- Apparently without warning to the employees involved, and without the knowledge or input of Schools Superintendent Sandra DiBacco, the board of education voted unanimously to lay off several administrators.
The layoffs, announced during the board's Jan. 12 meeting, are effective July 1, DiBacco said.
Calls to board members, three of whom are new this year, were not returned Wednesday afternoon.
DiBacco said the administrators slated to lose their jobs include Vince Colaluca, director of instruction for the district and Middle School principal; Kent Polen, assistant principal at the Elementary School; Ronald DiBacco, manager of the district's technology purchases and grants, and of its educational management information system; Rob Conklin, athletics director and open-enrollment coordinator; and James Marino, buildings and grounds and maintenance supervisor.
Ron DiBacco, the superintendent's brother, worked for the school district for many years before Sandra DiBacco was hired as superintendent.
Board's reasoning
Board members said the layoffs were necessary because of a lack of funds, the superintendent said. The district is under state fiscal oversight.
Because of a levy failure at the November general election, DiBacco had said cost-cutting measures would be necessary.
The superintendent, however, was waiting for the results of a state financial audit before recommending staff and/or program cuts.
She thinks the cuts made by the board are premature and not based on accurate financial data.
Board members said the staff reductions would save the district $276,000 a year.
DiBacco thinks, however, it would be less than that, and she plans to provide data to the board showing "actual cost savings" from the layoffs.
At least one person to be laid off will bump down to a teaching position, and he could actually earn more than he did as an administrator. The savings from the employee eventually laid off will be the salary and benefits of a less senior, lower-paid teacher, she said.
DiBacco said it will be difficult to operate without the people who are to be laid off.
Training of new people will be necessary for the jobs that have to be done. Much more is required of school administrators now than even 10 years ago, she said.
"I'm not afraid of hard work, but one person can't do everything," she said.
State audit
DiBacco said a state performance audit performed last year did not recommend any reductions in the administrative staff, and noted that administrators generally make less than their peers in surrounding districts.
Nonetheless, DiBacco said administrative positions equaling 2.5 full-time equivalent jobs were eliminated in 2005, partially by not filling a job that became vacant.
In defense of the board, DiBacco said the members may have felt they had to take action because of a Jan. 31 deadline to not renew administrators.
She added, however, that the Jan. 31 deadline is to notify the affected employees by letter of the board's intentions. The deadline for actual board action is March 31.
alcorn@vindy.com