The Frontier School Board has been hammered in a NYS audit of its funds. It has now come to the attention of State Auditors that several top administrators of the Frontier School District were given significant payouts without public disclosure. These payouts occurred during closed door sessions of the Frontier School Board.
Further investigations are underway within the State Auditors Department and it’s possible that criminal investigations may occur. Hamburg First verified several of these issues through contacts in NYS Government. Former Superintendents Gary Cooper and David Kurzawa were awarded thousands of dollars they were not legitimately entitled to.
This is the kind of problems you run into when you elect mailmen to oversee multimillion dollar budgets! LOL!! However in fairness these problems occurred before he took his seat on the board. What’s even more troubling is the response by our new Superintendent Mr. G. Decarlie. He claims these payouts were inadvertent. HA! Just another political hack trying to defend the status quo! Now they want you to believe they will try and get the money back. Ya right! That money is long gone and you payed for it people. WAKE UP, elect new people to the board this year!
Anyway here is the story published in the Buffalo News today.
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/southernsuburbs/story/248907.html
School Board faulted for overspending, poor controls
By Barbara O’Brien NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 01/11/08 6:50 AM
The Frontier Central School Board gave raises and other compensation to several administrators in executive session but never stated it publicly in the minutes.
The board’s admission came in response to an audit by the state comptroller’s office that says the district overpaid seven district employees a total of $10,864, did not authorize a merit pay increase for a former superintendent and spent more than it should have on life insurance policies for administrators.
The audit blames the improper spending by the district on poor internal controls and record keeping at closed meetings of the School Board.
“Comptroller DiNapoli’s audit identified numerous weaknesses in the district’s internal controls, which resulted in several overpayments in salary and unused sick time to school officials,” said Emily De- Santis, a spokeswoman for the comptroller’s office, adding, “It is important that any change to school officials’ contracts is approved by the board and properly documented in the board meeting minutes.”
Some of the payments are “inadvertent” errors, but some were made at the direction of the School Board in sessions closed to the public, district officials say in their response to the state. It appears some of the contract changes approved by the board never were added officially to contracts.
The audit found the district overpaid Superintendent Gary Cooper $3,111 for merit pay it did not authorize and gave him a $5,000 increase that was not included in a contract.
Board President Gerald Baldelli and new Superintendent Ronald G. DeCarli wrote the response included in the state audit report.
They said there appears to have been an “inadvertent salary overpayment” during Cooper’s first year of employment, which was identified and the $2,725 was returned to the district.
The $5,000 salary increase for 2002-03 was approved by the board during an executive session, Baldelli and DeCarli state.
“It appears that in both instances the board’s approval of the compensation increase was not further memorialized in either board minutes or in a resolution of the board,” their letter states.
The state found the district overpaid interim Superintendent David F. Kurzawa by $2,725 and made an “inappropriate” payment of $1,931 to former Assistant Superintendent Paul Casseri for sick leave.
Any inconsistent payments to Kurzawa appear to be the result of inadvertent error, and staff involved in processing Casseri’s sick leave payment was unaware a new requirement had been adopted, according to the district.
DeCarli, who was named superintendent last March, said it appears to him that the agreements made were appropriate, but they may not have been properly documented.
He said he has worked to make sure “everything is memorialized and everything is certified with the district clerk.”
He also said the district will examine with its attorney whether, and how, any improper payments may be recovered.
Ford sure hope you have good people lined up to get the old wood off the shool board. I hope you are considering a run.
Ford,
Maybe you should have not been so critical with their alignment with the Communists. Communism would never allow such inefficiency. Just think if the Communists take over, that gives you another party to get chummy with. You’ve already been through the Dems, the INDs and the GOP will soon get sick of you. Think RED Ford, think RED.
Do you know how big an idiot you sound like.
At least mine was a poor attempt at humor and not an actual post that you put some thought into:
For those who haven’t read this previously, please do, it is precious…
Fronteir School District Makes Pact With Communism:
http://hamburgfirst.wordpress.com/2007/10/21/frontier-school-district-makes-pact-with-communism/
So in that argument, what is your problem with the article. Really. Do you think our school district should be opening communications and agenda’s with a school from China that teaches and practices communism? What do you think they teach their kids over there? They teach them that Americans are capitalistic pigs and all are corrupt. When their own students stand for democracy they get arrested, torchered and killed. But now Frontier wants to open our kids up to that kind of thinking? Get real, this was the worst decision ever by the Frontier School Board. But then what else should you expect from mailmen?
Seriously Ford,
Are you for real??
There are plenty of criticisms to throw at the governemnt of China, but to continue calling them “Socialsits” or “Communists” speaks to your ignorance when it comes to foreign relations. The fact that you referenced the atrocities committed in 1989 in Tiananmen Square to describe the current Chinese regime speaks heavily to your ignorance in this area. I think it is time that you start to read more than the sports section of the newspaper. China is headed toward the type of uber-crony-capitalism that American Executives could only dream of. Hence the reason why every major American company is tripping over themselves to invest in China.
Secondly, would you rather our children be educated in a way that encourages them to place blinders over their collective eyes when it comes to the events that happen around the world? Especially in the largest country in the world, that will most likely dominate the headlines of the next generation? Would you rather that the students of the Frontier School District garduate without any context when it comes to the billions of people who populate the world other than the United States?
It seems that this formula could produce a President who starts a war that we cannot get out of, having no knowledge of the culture of the country, killing thousands of our troops and hundreds of thousands of of foreign citizens at the same time. Oh wait, I think that already happened. Let’s try not to replicate the type of education that produces this type of ignorance!!
Honestly, I have to ask the question again; Are you for real?? The fact that you would put your ignorance in print speaks louder than we will ever need to know.
And they (the Town Board) actually appointed you to anything? Speaks volumes about their leadership abilities!!!
Actually I believe that I have probably had more contact with that side of the world than most on the Frontier School Board. You may not know it or even care but China is a major supplier of arms to those who fight against our forces everyday. In fact, Chinese made AK-47’s are the predominant weapon of choice in most countries fighting terrorism. Just because they have “quasi” opened up their country to economic situations is not a defense against communism. The truth is that they are only cheaper to do business with because their workers are basically slaves. They have no environmental regulations and they have more uneducated people than anywhere else in the world. But then again lets just take your word for it and let our kids get acclimated to that kind of abuse. It will be easier to keep them as mindless sheep when they become adults so when more of their jobs leave for China they won’t know any better and bow to more of our own economic declines.
Since the Hamburg Sun wouldn’t print my rebuttal I will submit it for your perusal. In early April the President of Immaculata Academy published a letter to her school’s supporters claiming that unoffical information on the internet in blogs and on Facebook and Myspace were damaging her school’s reputation. As the author of a blog specifically created to voice my protest with IA’s tactics, favoritism of connected and wealthy families and my daughter’s expulsion which they blamed on me, I wanted to clear my side of the slate. Nothing on my blog is untrue or inaccurate. I am not a liar but I wondered several time sin my dealings with them if they could say the same. Somehow The Sun found my letter sensitive and gave me a run around ultimately refusing to print it. The fact that a person accused a local board member of lying twice and another writer claimed Shriner circuses hire rapists and murderers on the same page was somehow not too sensitive but my letter was. I smelled a rat and still do. My website though much diminished in size still tells the tale roughly of what happened there and why I couldn’t just let it go and move on. Their punchline was to call the Hamburg police on my wife and me as we sat with them in their office then tell us our girl was expelled. The AP who made the call Jill Monaco actually has a position on the Character Council of Hamburg. Yeah right.