COAL TOWNSHIP - An attempt to terminate stipend paid for two positions on Shamokin Area School Board led to heated debate just minutes into the new board's first meeting.
Director Edward Griffiths motioned Tuesday to "freeze" the $5,400 combined salary for the positions of board secretary and treasurer, saying after the meeting that his intent was to eliminate the salaries altogether.
"For $90 a month, you stand up and turn a tape over," Griffiths said during the board's annual reorganization meeting. He was referencing the board secretary's responsibilities, or lack thereof, specifically citing when the secretary flips a cassette tape during the recording of a board meeting.
"That's not right," he said, later adding, "especially when we're going to have to cut people and not do it ourselves."
Director Bob Getchey gave an impassioned rebuttal to the move, a rebuttal that would be followed by his appointment to become board secretary.
"I would think it's a disgrace," Getchey said of eliminating the wage, adding that "our forefathers fought" for the stipend and that it should remain in place.
He said board members don't receive a stipend outside of the secretary and treasurer positions - which are paid $2,700 annually each - noting that elected officials to governing bodies of Shamokin, Coal Township and Northumberland County are offered stipends and benefits of varying degree.
Getchey's appointment was unanimous, meaning Griffiths actually voted in favor. However, in making his vote, Griffiths said he was voting in favor of "the person" and not in favor of "the salary."
What's fair?
Shamokin Area School District faces a deficit next school year estimated to be as high as $5.5 million. A deficit like that could certainly lead to budget cuts.
Griffiths said if school directors are considering making cuts, it's only fair to the taxpayers that they lead by example.
"If we're going to cut wages, shouldn't we start with our own?"
Getchey didn't agree. He said it shouldn't be up to the board to eliminate the wage, even though it's actually the board's responsibility to make such a move.
Getchey then questioned the timing of the move and asked Griffiths why he hadn't brought the issue to light under the previous board, to which Griffiths responded that he had - and that it went nowhere then, too.
Getchey seemed to argue that the wage is incentive for people to run for school board. He said board members attend monthly meetings and put up with "headaches" as part of the job, and such a move would hurt future board members.
Directors Charles Shuey and LaRue Beck each upheld the position that the salaries should remain in place, saying it should be the choice of the individual elected to either secretary or treasurer to decide whether to accept the money or donate it in some manner.
Beck added that she had used her stipend when she served as secretary to establish a scholarship.
"We could afford it then. We can't now," Griffiths said.
Tracey Witmer, who was appointed Tuesday as board president, said she supported Griffiths' stance and added that she did not accept the salary when she had served as secretary.
Despite agreeing with Griffiths, neither Witmer nor any other board member gave a "second" to the motion and it failed without being put to vote.
'Does nothing'
Griffiths is the board's current treasurer and, after the meeting, said flat out that he "does nothing" in the position other than sign checks, intimating the pay outweighs the position's responsibilities.
He said he donates his stipend to a fund set up in the name of his late stepdaughter which he said is used for various expenses for low-income students.
However, Griffiths said that money would best be used in the board's general fund, noting that the combined salary for the two positions over the length of a four-year term totals $21,600, which he said is the salary of a part-time position.
After the meeting, Getchey stood by his position but said he'd consider donating part of his stipend, possibly toward prom.
The rest of the transition went smoothly, so much so that not a single position filled received more than one nomination, with new and old board members alike nominating each other for various responsibilities.
Members belonging to the board are incumbents Beck, Griffiths, Brian Persing and Witmer, and new directors Getchey, Shuey, Jeff Kashner, Ronald McElwee and Bernard Sosnoskie.
They voted unanimously to appoint:
- Persing as vice president and to a one-year unexpired term on the operating board of Northumberland County Career and Technology Center;
- McElwee to a three-year term and Shuey to a two-year unexpired term on the career and technology center operating board;
- Sosnoskie to represent the board on the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit Board of Directors.
The Shamokin Area School Board's next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 25. It will then meet at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month through November 2012.