More Problems on the Horizon? Once again, Saugerties Central School District is faced with involvement in civil rights-based litigation, and once again Superintendent Rhau and High School Principal Price are subjects of the complaint. A Notice of Claim was served on the District, et al., for violation of civil rights under 42 U.S.C.A. §1983, New York State Executive Law §291, New York Education Law §2801, and Saugerties School District Policy on "Bullying." This is the second violation of civil rights charged against the Saugerties Central School District under the Rhau and Price administration during the past two years. The Notice of Claim is available to the public through the FOIL process.
Additional Project Costs In another matter, as you will recall, Rhau claims an additional $2-million dollar is needed to complete the school project. It is my understanding that Rhau is now aggressively working "the circuit," talking to the different groups in an effort to convince them that we need this money. In fact, I've even been told that he has indicated that the track may be the first to go. I think–and the reader will undoubtedly agree–the first expenditure that should be eliminated is any additional office space that Rhau, Nucifaro and the administration want. At the last school board meting, Rhau claimed that he and business manager Joe Dziadik met with state officials to discuss"free" money that is available. Rhau, who is notorious for being quite the salesman, will undoubtedly use threats and scare tactics (such as the "threat" about the track) to try to convince taxpayers to vote in favor of this additional funding. What scares me most every time Rhau opens his mouth about getting more money from taxpayers is the $600,000 deficit in the Fabius-Pompey School District and that 21% increase in their taxes to recover from it. I just can't stop thinking about that. While I'm not suggesting that anyone vote against this proposal, I am suggesting that we all be informed voters before we vote. ..... you know, voter beware. Over the next few weeks I'm sure taxpayers will be bombarded with newsletters filled with numbers, figures, cost estimates, etc., from school officials who are striving to convince voters to approve the additional 2-million. During last month's school board meeting, Rhau and Brennan (board president), who is backing Rhau on the 2-million dollar proposal, also talked about the possibility of building more classrooms. This, of course, would result in the hiring of additional teachers. Remember, Brennan would like to see his daughter land a teaching job in the District. And, she already has her foot in the door when–remember, she was hired by the Board at last month's meeting as an "instructional substitute teacher." Remember, Rhau is the person who makes the hiring recommendations. Perhaps we should keep a close eye on this one.
More on Dziadik If you recall from my previous article regarding Business Manager Joe Dziadik's problem at Fabius-Pompey, I had pointed out that while Rhau apparently had some knowledge, other board members were not aware of Joe's problem. In fact, I had been told, personally, by at least three school board members that they had no knowledge of Dzidiak's problem in Fabius-Pompey School District regarding the $600,000 deficit, and, further, if they had known, they never would have voted to hire him. However, after last week's article was published, I received a very interesting e-mail from an individual who has requested to remain anonymous, but who gave me permission to use the text of his e-mail, the exact content of which follows: " It so happens that my grand kids [sic] go to that school district and I knew about this over a year ago. I personally question Bob McCaig about it over a year ago and he told me the board knew all about it before they voted to hire him. "I do not know the whole story but I can tell you the people of Fabius and Pompey sure are not happy with him. Big tax jump this year to recover." If this is true, and I presume that it is, why is it that McCaig knew about it but not the other board members? Did Rhau intentionally withhold that information from certain board members, and only certain ones? What was the criteria for "spilling the beans?" How did he select who to tell and who to keep in the dark? Did McCaig and cronies Buono, Parisian and Kovac know? There is something desperately wrong here, something "fishy," and Rhau and cronies have an obligation to come clean with the public...tell us the truth. This is exactly why we need change on this school board. What else are they hiding from the public? What else did they discuss during all those Chowhound lunches? How can they be so arrogant?
Arrogance To give you an example of the arrogance of these cronies, I was out enjoying some lunch at a local establishment this past Saturday, when board member Kovac walked in and made a remark to me about doing "something more constructive" with my time and how he was going golfing .... and then poked fun that the school is paying for it. Arrogance......he thinks this is all very funny. The Kovac, Buono and Maclaac terms are up in May, I suggest we vote them out of office. More to come, stay tuned..
George D. Heidcamp, Sr. September 28, 2006 |