Superintendent search must be open, honest

Sunday, May 27, 2007 10:41 PM EDT

Contrary to what some insiders said would happen, the Auburn Enlarged City School District Board of Education made the right decision last week when it voted in a special meeting to conduct a full search for its next superintendent.
Some on the board had wanted an internal candidate, J.D. Pabis, to be named the next permanent superintendent to replace John Plume, who is retiring in roughly two months. Supporters of Pabis who voted against having a search said there is no need to look elsewhere when there is a qualified candidate in house.

The majority of the board, however, wisely saw the value in a search, even if they agree that Pabis is a strong candidate.

This position is far too important to this community to appoint any person without at least exploring all of the options available.

We applaud the board's current leadership, President Mike Stearns and Vice President Ginny Kent, for proactively moving the district forward in this process by calling last week's special meeting.

But at this stage, it's now important to emphasize that this search must be legitimate. In making its decision to seek applicants, the board also agreed to make Pabis, currently the assistant superintendent for personnel, finance and operations, interim superintendent when Plume steps down.

While having an interim leader is good for maintaining stability, we hope the board isn't simply conducting a search for appearances. Without taking away from Pabis#, qualifications, it would be a disservice to all of the stakeholders in the district if the board has no intention of seriously considering anyone else who applies.

The city of Auburn went through a similar process last fall. In the end, city council landed a highly qualified person to fill the position, largely because they agreed to have a search, they got the community involved in the process and they kept an open mind about all of the candidates.

The same process should happen with the school district.

The Citizens' Say

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There are 10 comment(s)

Dolt wrote on May 29, 2007 10:55 AM:

" Umm, school board members are volunteers who don't earn a dime. "

interested reader wrote on May 29, 2007 10:26 AM:

" Jerry L. Morgan good job withthe statistics of the candidates prior employment. However, your points about the size of the school in which your candidate was a Superintendent are not valid or accurate. Many times it is more difficult to run smaller districts. It depends on your support structure and what duties you are directly involved in. Good candidates that are good people with good character is far more important than how many teachers a his/her school has. "

The Truth wrote on May 29, 2007 8:00 AM:

" Those who cant do, teach. Those that can't teach, teach gym. Those that can't teach gym become administrators with bloated salaries in the Auburn School District. "

Hey Jerry wrote on May 28, 2007 6:55 PM:

" I would have thought you'd have the foil information already available before making such an outrageous claim about the salary the interim superintendent will be paid. If Mr. Pabis received a $41,000 pay raise bringing his annual salary to $150K to be interim superintendent, I'd like to see proof where the school board approved it if it's even true at all. "

Jerry L. Morgan Sr wrote on May 28, 2007 6:31 PM:

" I'll tell you what. I will submit a foil for the exact amount of money you agreed to pay this man. You can put a spin on it all you want. You can't undo what you have done. You and your rubber stamp board gave the store away. You raised the bar concerning pay rates for administrators, yet you totally ignore the secretaries, and the others who are working at the lower end of the pay scale. I can cut and paste pay rates for every administrator in the district. I have that information. It is scary knowing that you have the ability to throw huge amounts of raises at this administration. Its terrifying to know you have the will and the votes to do it. You are doing more damage than you realize "

Don, Killeen, TX wrote on May 28, 2007 4:59 PM:

" Your Superintendent pay is off in retrospect to amount of students, buildings, jobs, and results. I said it once and I'll say it again--- the college President should be the overseer of Auburn School District. Yes, the college is a county ownership type deal; however, the college is a two year institution, not a major university, and the bulk of the students are products of Auburn School System, Debate the concept, issue the challenge, and get the wheels in motion. Notice, I said overseer which means that they will have a seperate boss to handle Auburn School System while they handle college aspect. In reality, the college President would be the School System Superintendent instead of college President. "

Hey Jerry wrote on May 28, 2007 4:58 PM:

" I must be missing something. Can you please point out exactly where in the article it is stated that Mr. Pabis will make $150,000.00 annually as interim superintendent? "

Jerry L. Morgan Sr wrote on May 28, 2007 12:38 PM:

" A story you never read in this paper. Just like Paul Harvey, the rest of the story. $150,000 TO START! Auburn starts superintendent search Thursday, May 24, 2007By David L. Shaw Staff writer The search is on for Auburn's next school superintendent. The school board voted 6-3 Wednesday to conduct a search, coordinated by Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES Superintendent Gary A. Gilchrist, for a successor to Superintendent John B. Plume. Plume, 57, has been superintendent since April 2001 and will leave July 27. He and his wife, Rebecca, plan to move to South Carolina. The vote followed a 65-minute executive session that was called to discuss whether the board should offer the job to Joseph D. Pabis, assistant superintendent for personnel, finance and operations. The board began its discussion in open session. But board member William R. Andre said he wanted to discuss hiring "an internal candidate" and suggested the executive session. Board President Michael J. Stearns said the discussion would be limited to discussing the internal candidate, an allowable topic under the state's Open Meetings Law, and would not stray into a discussion of the general search process. When the board returned to open session, there was an immediate motion by board member Joseph M. Leogrande to conduct a search, seconded by Charles O. Cator. "I'm going to vote no. I think we have an internal candidate who is eminently qualified, is a known quantity and will continue the district in the direction it needs to go," said board member Frederick E. Cornelius. "I think we'd be doing a disservice to do a search for the sake of appearance," he added. Andre agreed. He mentioned Pabis by name, saying he hoped Pabis would be the next superintendent. He called a search "frivolous" and "unnecessary." But board member Virginia T. Kent said the district is a large organization in terms of budget, staff and students. "It's our responsibility to do a search." "I'm voting to invite all who feel qualified to apply," said board member C. David Lansford. Voting for the search were Stearns, Kent, Leogrande, Lansford, Cator and Salvatore J. Giangreco. Opposed were Andre, Cornelius and Kent R. Brandstetter. The board then voted unanimously to offer Pabis the job of interim superintendent, should that step be necessary. Gilchrist said the job will be advertised in newspapers, journals and Web sites, and at all 38 BOCES in the state and at colleges. The job has a minimum starting salary of $150,000. The deadline to apply is June 29 "

raise??? wrote on May 28, 2007 11:23 AM:

" I am in the wrong job--I think I will run for school board president! If dummies in Auburn want to give me a 41 thousand dollar raise--here I come! My qualifications are: Supervisor that oversees 60 employees (which I don't even get paid 41 grand a year for now), I am good at debating costs and expenses, and mostly I love kids-having a few of my own to keep in line---SO VOTE FOR ME! "

Jerry L. Morgan Sr wrote on May 28, 2007 7:56 AM:

" Lets look at the qualifications of JD 2002-present: Assistant Superintendent for Personnel at Auburn 1998-2002: Superintendent of Candor Central School District 1986-1988: Director of Personnel Groton School District 1982-1986: Counselor Lackawanna Vocational School Scranton PA 1974-1982: Counselor North Eastern Educational Intermediate Dunmore PA 1971-1974: Recreation Phys Ed Instructor Fairview State Hosp Waymart PA 1981-1985: Adjunct Counselor Penn State University Scranton PA Now lets talk about his qualifications as a Superintendent. Canton Central School District is near Elmira NY it is a small district with a graduation class of 59 students. There are currently 43 employees at the high school level. This includes teachers secretaries, and counselors. There are 50 employees at the elementary level. Once again this includes every employee. The total number of employees at Candor Central School District is less than 100. Candor Central School District has approximately 11 Administrators The budget for Candor Central School District is a little over 15 million dollars. Now Auburn we have approximately 400 staff in the district We have approximately 50 administrators Auburn Enlarged School District is 85% LARGER than Candor Central School District Auburn has a budget of 63 Million Dollars compared to the 15 Million of Candor. In my OPINION he is not qualified to lead this district. If you doubt me the web site is www.candor.org you can check out the site for yourselves. In spite of his lack of leadership qualifications this board gave JD Pabis a raise equal to that of out going Superintendent John Plume. In essence they gave him approximately a $41,000 raise. No interim Superintendent should make the salary of the current superintendent. Nothing has changed. The multitude of problems that have been facing this community are still here. He has done nothing to warrant a raise of that magnitude. The Auburn Board of Education has now set the pay scale bar higher for any future administrator that comes into our district. Yet this paper says nothing about any of this and has the gall to congratulate Mike Stearns and Ginny Kent. The public has the right to know the full story, and the ramifications of their decisions. "

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