They were paid $398,000 to go away

Three superintendents, four years and $398,000 in buyouts.

Over the past decade, the Beacon City School District has had nine school-chief changes, including interim appointees. Since 2012, the district has spent $398,000 — not counting the cost of benefits — to buy out the contracts of its last three superintendents, Barbara Walkley, Paul Dorward and Raymond Bandlow, according to records obtained by the Poughkeepsie Journal via a Freedom of Information request.

Bandlow worked seven months and received $202,250 to depart. Dorward stayed a year and received $132,656 upon leaving. Walkley lasted 11 months and was given $62,900 as she left.

The average tenure in 2015 of a school superintendent in New York state? About 5 ½ years.

On Monday, the district school board committed to another expense — an estimated $21,500 to hire, for the first time, a "professional" firm to lead its latest superintendent search. The price tag to hire the Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates search firm is about 5 percent of what the district has paid out in settlements over the last four years.

"I keep thinking of the money we spent in the last 10 years paying off the wrong superintendents," said Meredith Heuer, chairwoman of the district's superintendent search committee and a member of the district's Board of Education. "I think the wider reach (a private firm can offer) is the right way to go."

Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates also offers a guarantee: "If the superintendent departs from the position during the first year under any circumstances or within (two) years if the majority of the board is still in place, (the firm) will conduct a new search ... at no additional cost barring expenses."

Beacon has paid a steep price for short-term hires already.

Bandlow resigned in June 2012, about seven months into his nearly four-year contract. He was given a lump sum payment of $100,000, plus another $9,250 in vacation pay and $8,000 for a tax-deferred annuity program, according to records. Bandlow got another $85,000 payment in January 2013. The two payments, combined, were the equivalent of his 2011-12 salary.

Dorward started in July 2013 with a three-year contract. When he resigned in late July 2014, he was given a lump sum payment of $75,000, along with $7,656 in vacation and sick pay, according to records. In January 2015, as per the terms of his resignation, he was given another $50,000. The two lump-sum payments, combined, equaled 71 percent of his 2013-14 salary.

Walkley became interim superintendent when Dorward resigned and took over as "permanent" chief in March 2015. She was about 11 months into her three-year contract when she resigned in late January. She got a $45,000 lump sum settlement, along with $17,900 in vacation and sick pay, according to records. The lump sum payment equaled about 25 percent of her 2015-16 salary.

Terms of a buyout are "not typically in a contract" when a person is first hired, said Jacinda Conboy, general counsel for the state Council of School Superintendents. Buyouts are negotiated "when the need arises ... (at that point) everything is on the table to be negotiated."

A high rate of superintendent turnover is not just an issue in Beacon. In the nine-county Hudson Valley region, 75 percent of superintendents — the leaders of 91 out of 122 districts — had held their post for five years or less by the start of the 2014-15 school year, a Hudson Valley Pattern For Progress report showed.

And, buyouts are not unusual.

Chuck Dedrick, executive director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, said he "can't think of the last time" that a board took steps to terminate a superintendent, rather than offer a buyout.

Dedrick, who has conducted 35 superintendent searches in the past eight years, said the ideal search takes about nine months.

The Beacon board's goal is to have a permanent chief in place by January, though there are still a number of decisions to make, including whether or not to keep candidates' names confidential during the entire search process. The next step is negotiating a contract with the firm.

District mom Michal Mart said she thinks hiring a search firm is a good move.

“I am hoping that the community can rally around positive change and that we can include all the multitude of voices (during) the selection process," Mart said.

Contract provisions

Under state law, a superintendent's contract must be for a three- to five-year period.

Other than that stipulation, "there's no real other specific legal requirement" that must be in a school chief's contract, Conboy said.

A school chief's contract is negotiated at a local level. Because of that, terms can vary greatly district by district.

"But there are things I call industry standards" that are typically included, Conboy said. For instance, superintendents are not tenured and they don't belong to a union, but "most...will not take a contract without due process," which gives them the right to a fair hearing before dismissal.

And if a board and superintendent can't make it work?

"Everyone's preference is a buyout" rather than litigation, Conboy said.

The settlement amounts for the past three superintendents does not include the cost of medical benefits the district provided to them after they left. Walkley, Dorward and Bandlow were entitled to some health care (for at least a few months) after resigning. Other costs have accrued as well.

For instance, while the district has not previously used a private search firm, it did utilize the Dutchess County Board of Cooperative Educational Services for a superintendent search in 2011, at a cost of about $5,300. BOCES conducts superintendent searches for county districts at no extra cost, charging only for things like advertising, postage and printing.

Beacon paid nearly $6,400 to relocate Dorward and his family to Dutchess County from Albany County in 2013. And prior to his start date, Dorward was paid $2,000 to work four days as an educational consultant to then-interim Superintendent Harvey Hilburgh, according to invoices.

In 2015, the "average length of service for superintendents in their current position was 5.4 years," according to the state Council of School Superintendents. In general, that number has been consistent since at least 2003, though it has fluctuated slightly — 4.7 years in 2009, 4.9 years in 2012.

The last superintendent to stay in Beacon for more than three years was Vito DiCesare Jr., who was in charge from 1994 until his retirement in 2006.

Jean Parr took over upon DiCesare's retirement. Parr retired in 2008, two years into her three-year contract. Fern Aefsky took the helm of the Beacon district after Parr retired. Aefsky left about one month shy of her three-year-contract, in May 2011.

Hilburgh was brought in on a temporary basis to run the district when Aefsky retired. He was in charge until Beacon hired Bandlow in November 2011. Hilburgh, who was paid a per-diem rate of $775, was again brought in to temporarily lead the district during the 2012-13 school year after Bandlow resigned.

Right now, Ann Marie Quartironi is interim school chief. She was the district's assistant superintendent for business prior to becoming interim chief. Quartironi took over when Walkley resigned and has publicly stated that she wants to return to her business role, said board President Anthony White.

Questionable departures

The abrupt resignations of Bandlow and Dorward have been surrounded by questions. Terms of their settlements prevent both of them from making derogatory comments about the district, its officials, employees, students and organizations, and Beacon officials can't make derogatory comments about them, according to records.

But circumstances surrounding Walkley's resignation were highly publicized; just prior to Walkley stepping down, a parent filed a petition with the state Education Department, asking for the board to remove her as superintendent.

The petition alleged that Walkley had been having an inappropriate relationship with former teachers union President Kim Pilla, which created a "significant conflict of interest" and led to "troubling, unethical, inappropriate and illegal behaviors" in Beacon.

Walkley denied the accusations. Soon after her resignation, she and Pilla filed a federal civil lawsuit against Pilla's ex-husband and Beacon teacher Robert Atwell, on claims that he violated the Stored Communications Act and defamed them, using "pilfered emails, some of which were doctored."

The "public response to these falsehoods" caused Walkley to resign as superintendent and Pilla to step down from her spot as union president, according to the lawsuit, which is ongoing.

It's unclear which of the emails were allegedly doctored. School district officials have also said the emails were taken out of context, according to Journal archives.

But some of the messages, included as exhibits in the petition, paint a picture of district discord between board members, teachers and administrative officials, including Dorward.

This year is White's first time serving as board president. Melissa Thompson, who didn't run for her open seat this year, was president since the 2012-13 school year. Prior to Thompson, Bill Zopf, who's still on the board, served as president.

When a superintendent is looking for a job, his or her first question is "'what's the board like?'" rather than salary or contract length, Dedrick said. "That is the No. 1 question."

White said the board wants to "find someone who fits the district" and hopes hiring a search firm will quell the high turnover. There are three new board members this year and "I'm hopeful that with the new board, we will be able to tackle these issues."

The school board voted to hire Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates at Monday's meeting. The board picked the company, citing its thorough proposal, from five options, including four private firms and Dutchess BOCES.

References — other school districts — spoke highly of Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, Heuer said. "The one negative thing" Heuer heard was that the firm brought a district a superintendent candidate "that they loved but who was not in their price range. So ... (we should) be very clear what our (financial) limits are."

The search process will involve significant community input — an important factor in a district that has, at times, been mired in controversy regarding what parents and residents have called a lack of transparency.

District mom Jodi McCredo said Beacon has "a vibrant and diverse community," members of which "are active and committed to helping our schools. I have no doubt that we can find someone amazing to complement that, and our incredible teachers, to get our children the education they deserve."

Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518, Twitter: @pojonschutzman

Timeline

The Beacon City School District's superintendents since 1994

Vito DiCesare Jr.: 1994-2006

Jean Parr: 2006-2008

Fern Aefsky: 2008- May 2011

Harvey Hilburgh: June 2011- Nov. 2011 (interim)

Raymond Bandlow: Nov. 2011- June 2012

Hilburgh: 2012-2013 (interim)

Paul Dorward: July 2013- late July 2014

Barbara Walkley: August 2014-March 2015 (interim); March 2015-Jan. 2016 (permanent)

Ann Marie Quartironi: January 2016-current (interim)  

Board of Education

The following is the current membership of the Board of Education in the Beacon City School District.

Anthony White, president

Kenya Gadsden, vice president

Frank Garnot

Meredith Heuer

Georgia Patchen

Michael Rutkoske

Antony Tseng

William Zopf