COAL TOWNSHIP - A Shamokin Area School Board director is fuming over the appointment of another director's wife to a secretarial position at the school.
But if the candidate is already a district employee, hired long before her husband made the board, and has ample experience in the field, it begs the question - is her appointment really nepotism?
Charlie Shuey says that is clearly the case. Jeff Kashner denies the accusation.
"This is why I ran for the board, these are the very reasons, to end under-the-table deals, back-room agreements," Shuey said Wednesday.
"Of the three candidates, my wife is the only one to have any kind of a business degree," Kashner said Wednesday. "If (Shuey) thinks it's nepotism, that's his opinion. There's no nepotism at all. ... It's not like we're making a job for her. It was posted and anyone could apply."
Maxine Kashner holds an administrative degree in office communications/administrative secretary. She currently works 180 days a year as a secretary at the Elementary Annex, earning a base salary of $12,870.
Since she is not enrolled in the district's health plan, the total cost to the district is $15,749.
She was appointed Tuesday to the position of confidential secretary for child accounting/business office on a 5-3-1 vote.
Shuey, Tracey Witmer, board president, and Bernie Sosnoskie voted against the move. LaRue Beck, Bob Getchey, Ed Griffiths, Ron McElwee and Brian Persing voted in favor. Jeff Kashner abstained.
With the appointment, her work schedule will increase to 260 days in office for which she will earn a base salary of $27,300. She will continue not to accept health benefits, according to her husband.
Shuey said Wednesday that Maxine Kashner had a "slight edge" over the other two candidates, both of whom are teachers aides at Shamokin Area.
However, he said board members agreed to set the position's hourly rate at $12. He alleged Maxine Kashner remained firm on earning $14 an hour and said three phone calls were placed to her during an executive session to try and negotiate.
That courtesy wasn't extended to the other two, whom he said sought $13 an hour and $10 an hour, respectively, and that's what "ticked him off most."
"That in my mind is corruption," he said, adding that it also made no sense for management to "negotiate upward" when two other candidates were willing to do the job for less.
"I said, 'The only reason we're having this conversation is because it's the wife of a board member,'" Shuey said, "and not one person denied it."
Shuey further alleged Persing said he had no problem with giving the nod to Maxine Kashner because of her husband.
Persing didn't deny it, and here's why: He said Shuey told board members that Maxine Kashner had a slight edge over the other candidates.
"Why should she be punished and not get the job if her husband's on the board and she's the most qualified person for the job?" Persing asked Wednesday.
He said he didn't call the extra consideration a "perk," as accused by Shuey, but did note that board members work long hours in unpaid positions. If all things are equal and a board member's relative is more qualified for a position, he said he didn't have an issue with them becoming the successful candidate.
Persing also stressed that the appointment would save the district money.
The position is currently held by Frances Brennan, a long-time employee set to retire. She was projected to earn $53,789 next school year in salary and benefits.
The district is now in line to spend $26,489 less on her replacement. Persing added that the board may not fill the vacancy of Maxine Kashner's current position, meaning that's another $15,749 off the books.
"It's all about dollars and sense," he said. "The district is saving more money in the end by hiring Maxine Kashner."
Shuey supported hiring the candidate seeking the lowest pay, he said, purely for financial reasons given the district's budget woes.
"You can't spend an additional $4 an hour when we just laid off 19 teachers and a huge number of support personnel as well," he said Wednesday.
Shuey denied accusations himself that he was close friends with either of the other two candidates, saying he's familiar with one and less so with the other, and is close with neither.
Persing was not alone in mentioning Maxine Kashner's qualifications as a reason for her appointment. Beck, Getchey and McElwee all said Wednesday that administrators said she was the most qualified candidate.
Getchey noted that she worked in the district before her husband was elected to the board. He also spoke of her "devotion," saying she's come in to work on off days when she didn't have to.
Beck said given how small the Shamokin area is, it's not always easy to avoid considering a relative, friend or neighbor when hiring for a position, but one making that decision must remain focused on qualifications.
That's what seemed to upset Jeff Kashner the most. He felt his wife's qualifications were being overlooked amid accusations that she was appointed to her new role because of who she's married to.
Shuey and Kashner both spoke about how demanding the job is.
Kashner said it goes beyond answering a door or phone and dealing with the public, saying there's substantial accountability and work involved.
Shuey himself said administrators said it would take any of the candidates years to grow fully comfortable with working in the position.
Kashner said that's one reason why his wife, who he said has two decades of secretarial experience in banking and hospital settings, is the best person for the job.
Shuey said it shows that any of the candidates would need a lot of time to learn the transition.
"I feel if we put an unqualified or unskilled person in that position, we'll put the district in jeopardy," Jeff Kashner said, saying the district would face fines from the state if the accountability isn't met with transportation and student services dealt with through his wife's new position. "There's ramifications if we don't have all our ducks in a row."
Kashner said the person willing to accept the lowest pay doesn't make them the best candidate.
You get what you pay for, he said. If that person would leave because they're not experienced enough to deal with the demands of the job, the position would again become vacant - but then without a skilled person to train their replacement.
Shuey said he will make a motion next month to forbid hiring immediate relatives of board members to positions within the school district. He'd also seek that any existing relatives working in the district be barred from receiving a promotion, he said.
"I'm not doing this for fun," he said of the issue. "To me it's very stressful."
The News-Item was unable to reach Griffiths, Sosnoskie or Witmer for comment.