August 20, 2008
A whale of an oversight
Sag Harbor is a picturesque old whaling village on the eastern end of Long Island. Its school district has only 870 students and 187 employees. When the district needed an interim administrator, it hired a familiar face, a retired principal of the high school.
An audit of the Sag Harbor Union Free School District by the state comptroller found the district lacked adequate controls to disclose a company hired by the district was owned by two school employees. The audit says:
Mr. Robert Schneider, an interim assistant principal with the District from January 9, 2007 through June 30, 2007, was also a co-owner (with his spouse) of "Human Growth and Development Network,Inc." (HGDN), a company that did business with the District. The District paid HGDN $13,100 for Interim Director of Pupil Personnel Services and budgeted service learning program-consulting services rendered from January 2007 through March 2007.
Schneider is retired as principal of Sag Harbor High School. His wife, Marian Cassata, served as interim director of pupil personnel services.
The audit says Schneider and Cassata did not disclose to school officials their interests in the contract. Article 18 of the General Municipal Law generally prohibits employees from having "interests" in municipal "contracts". In instances where such contracts are permitted, the audit says employees must disclose such "interests" in writing--and such disclosure shall be part of the school board's official proceedings.
It also notes Sag Harbor's purchasing policy prohibits district employees from having an interest in "any contract entered into by the Board or the School District."
In a letter responding to the audit, School Board President Walter Wilcoxen writes that the school board, when hiring Schneider as interim assistant principal, "should have better disclosed the fact that the individual had, for a number of years, provided consulting services to the district in the area of service learning." He adds board members were aware of Schneider's previous consulting services "and knew those services were totally separate from and would not be impacted in any way" from his hiring as interim assistant principal.
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