BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer
The Lakewood Board of Education has demoted Business Administrator Kathryn D. Fuoto to the newly created position of assistant business administrator, accor-ding to Board Attorney Michael Inzelbuch, who announced the change at Monday’s meeting.
The action follows reports submitted by two accounting firms earlier this year detailing mismanagement of the district’s financial affairs.
Inzelbuch read a prepared press release that was agreed to by board members and attorney Frances Campbell, who represents Fuoto. A copy was distributed to the media afterward.
“Under the board’s plan, Ms. Fuoto loses her position as the school business administrator and will be assigned to the position of assistant school business administrator at a reduction of more than $20,000 in her annual salary,” Inzelbuch read. “By taking this action, the Lake-wood Board of Education believes that the public can be confident that the school system is moving to correct any deficiencies in the Lakewood school district’s business practices and operations.”
According to information provided by the district, Fuoto was hired as the district’s business administrator on Dec. 16, 1991. Under her current contract, which will expire on June 30, 2006, Fuoto was earning $110,079. She will now earn $90,079 and will continue to oversee the district’s finances until a new business administrator is hired.
Had the board voted to file tenure charges against her, which it had instructed Inzelbuch to draw up, Fuoto could have been removed for 120 days without salary, according to Frank Belluscio, director of public information for the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA). Belluscio told the Tri-Town News in April that between the filing of the charges and the rendering of a decision by the state commissioner of education, the time necessary for removing an employee with tenure takes on average more than a year. Belluscio said that after the initial 120 days, Fuoto would have been entitled to her full salary while the matter was being litigated.
Before Inzelbuch read the press release at Monday’s meeting, board members voted to create the new position of assistant business administrator and then voted to demote Fuoto.
Board President Chet Galdo and board members Meir Grunhut, Irene Miccio, Abra-ham Ostreicher, Simcha Shain and Bruce Stern voted to approve the first motion, but Ostreicher voted no on the motion to demote Fuoto. He did not offer an explanation of his vote and declined to comment when contacted on Tuesday.
Vice President Leonard Thomas and board members Norman Bellinger and Meir Neumann were not present to vote.
Acting Superintendent of Schools Edward Luick said after the meeting that the district would advertise for a new business administrator, but did not provide a timetable for filling the position or indicate if someone is already under consideration for the job.
The board is also currently conducting a search for a permanent superintendent of schools.
Luick, whose contract will expire next year, is
under consideration for the
superintendent’s position, according to Galdo.
Galdo told the Tri-Town News recently that board members would likely address their concerns with Fuoto before voting on a new superintendent of schools.
The schedule established by the board at the time that the search for a new superintendent began called for a person to be appointed by July 1.
In other business at the June 20 meeting, board members voted to approve the district’s participation in a state pilot program that will provide $350,000 to $400,000 in grant money. The program provides academic assistance to at-risk students who have not met literacy and/or mathematics proficiency standards on the NJASK3 test in 2005.
The governor’s intervention program provides four weeks during the summer for intensive instruction and reduces class time to two sessions per week starting in September and lasting up to the March 2006 ASK4 test. Summer classes will be held for two to three hours per day, four days a week and will include snacks for students. The fifth day will be spent in related recreational activities. Teachers will earn a stipend of $5,000 for five weeks during the summer, and $40 per hour during the school year.
Earlier this year, Lakewood was designated as a district in need of improvement following the failure of students at four out of six schools to meet benchmark standards of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Luick said after the meeting that students who participate in the program and still fail to meet federal benchmark standards through scores earned on the test will not move on to the next grade level the following year.