Carthage District Issues Deceptive Statement

In the March 12 report by News Channel 10, the Carthage Central School District publicly denied admitting to violating the law by offering a private compensation deal to a Carthage administrator for a second time. However, its representative, Alfred Riccio, the Jefferson – Lewis BOCES representative handling the Carthage School District's litigation against its own administrators association (CSAA), stated in a February 27 sworn affidavit that the district is "willing to stipulate to….the agreement executed by Jennifer Vail on August 14, 2007, and Tina Soukup, vice president of the board" and that the district "did not engage in negotiations with the CSAA over the terms of Ms. Vail's employment agreement" as required under the Taylor Law.

The district's current position as reported to News Channel 10 on March 12 also flies in the face of Mr. Riccio's February 3 letter to the judge where Mr. Riccio stated that the district, "in its answer admitted that [the District] entered into an agreement with Principal Jennifer Vail which granted her certain retirement benefits which other members of the bargaining unit were not entitled to under the collective bargaining agreement."

Said Arthur Scheuermann, general counsel for the School Administrators Association of New York State (SAANYS), "The district's first attempt to undermine CSAA in July 2007 resulted in a settlement where the district admitted that it violated the law. Its subsequent attempts to cover up or spin its second violation have resulted in further lies. CSAA has been the victim of lies in this entire episode and it was forced to file charges in order to end the lies. While in good faith trying to unveil the truth, the association has been repeatedly pilloried by the district. The district should publicly admit to the wrongdoing and put an end to the matter before it spends any more valuable time and resources defending the case."

The hearing will be held in Syracuse on March 19. SAANYS and CSAA are confident that they will prevail on the procedural issue. Upon resolution of this matter the Carthage association members look forward to a positive future providing the educational services required for the children of the community.

SAANYS represents over 7,000 school administrators, supervisors, and coordinators. As a professional association, SAANYS provides direction, service and support to the membership in their efforts to improve the quality of education and leadership in New York State schools. SAANYS is affiliated with the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).###