5/11/06   Was School Board President Buono Unethical? Over the past six weeks I’ve furnished factual information on how our taxpayer dollars have been spent by the Saugerties School District and have received overwhelming support on these reports. The criticism I’ve received came from certain board members who would like to and did attempt to discredit me. I have been pleased with the responses on both sides. On May 16th, voters must decide whether to approve or reject the proposed 44-million dollar budget and select three from the five candidates for school board. Repeating what I’ve said previously, May 16th school elections will be crucial since how our money will be spent in the future hangs in the balance. I’ve also provided information with respect to the camaraderie between Superintendent Rhau and Board Members Buono, McCaig, Parisian and Kovac, and their persistent pursuit of that "important" fifth vote. As I’ve remarked earlier, some board members have been circulating petitions for Flo Hyatt and have had their relatives, friends and neighbors sign them. Curious about Hyatt’s voting record during her last year on the school board, I delved into the 2002 school board minutes and discovered that Hyatt voted with fellow board members Buono and McCaig 222 times out of 225 opportunities, or 99% of the time. I also learned that she was late for board meetings almost half of that year (not counting meetings when she was absent). Not only were Hyatt and fellow board member McCaig the driving force behind the 62-million dollar school project (which was overwhelmingly rejected by voters), both were responsible for taxpayers having to pay more than $12,000 a year for the medical and dental health insurance for former superintendent Singleton and his wife for the rest of their natural lives. Their voting records speak for themselves. The question is, "Can Saugerties taxpayers afford to have these two individuals working in tandem again on the school board?" I think not. Read on for a few examples of runaway-spending, nepotism, cronyism and favoritism in our school district, and why we must stop it. Board president Vince Buono’s sister is paid $83,066 per year in salary, together with just under $15,000 per year for health and dental insurance benefits paid by the District (not to mention Social Security, unemployment, disability insurance, pension, etc., etc.). The problem here is that she only teaches three 43-minute classes per day, for a total of 129-minutes per day! She also serves as Department Chairman–appointed to by Tim Price. See the connection? How convenient. According to the July 6, 2005 school board minutes, board member McCaig made a motion to hire his daughter-in-law as a provisionally certified elementary teacher at almost $49,000 per year base. Her three-year probationary position would have given her credit toward tenure. About two weeks ago an incident occurred during an executive session following the BOCES budget hearing wherein Vice President Brennan and Board Member Tucker abruptly walked out of the meeting. During the May 3rd school board meeting, Tucker offered a public explanation as to why they had walked out: he accused Board President Vince Buono of acting "unethically" and "possibly illegally" in a personnel matter when he signed and sent out a letter that purported to represent the entire board without the board having read its contents or approved its release. Another item I’ve harped on is the fact that teachers are working without a contract. But not only is this unfair to the teachers, I have discovered that the failure is costing us big bucks. During a presentation given at the most recent board meeting, the business administrator claimed that the budget line item representing employee benefits shows a proposed savings. But this is based on an offer made by the teachers and would only occur if there were a signed agreement in place. Therefore, the statement is false and misleading. The line item should really indicate an increase of around $300,000 instead. In fact, it has been pointed out to me that the two-year failure to negotiate with the teachers has cost us approximately $661,000. The list goes on and on, topped, perhaps, by the trip by Superintendent Rhau and his family to Orlando, Florida, which cost the District more than $1,200 (and who pays for airfare, transportation and registration fees?) to attend a four-day conference. Coincidentally, their hotel, the Radisson, is 1.5-miles from Walt Disney World. Was it a conference–or was it an "all-expenses-paid" vacation? Prior to the start of the May 3rd meeting, Board Member Kovac indicated that he had "no problem" with Rhau’s charges. When asked if he had ever seen Rhau’s receipts prior to voting to approve them, he replied that he had not, and went on to tell me how I am "wasting" my time writing these articles as people "don’t care about Rhau’s expenditures." I think he is wrong, people do care, they care plenty, and he shouldn’t mistake our willingness to pay for a quality education for the children of our community with our determination not to waste or throw our money away. Voters can make a difference by putting a stop to outlandish spending of our money, nepotism, cronyism and favoritism in our schools by voting "No" on May 16th and returning board members Tucker, Petramale and Fisco to the Board–they are the only board members who are fiscally responsible and are not afraid to stand up to the administration and hold it accountable. They are our watchdogs for any further abuse.  George D Heidcamp, Sr.