Board votes to rehire Sauer at Webutuck

WEBUTUCK — Following an unusually lengthy public discussion, the Webutuck Central School District Board of Education voted 6-1 in favor of rehiring Ken Sauer at a special meeting held Aug. 24.

Opening public comments for the meeting lasted nearly two hours and mostly pertained to the two items of discussion on the meeting’s agenda, which included the board’s search for a high school principal.

Parent Tina Robustelli opened the meeting by saying she was upset after hearing in the community that the board was planning to rehire Sauer, who served as principal of Webutuck High School from 2004 to 2007.

As reiterated by several speakers during the public comments portion of the meeting, there are a significant number of parents, teachers and students who had huge concerns with Sauer during his time at Webutuck. Most issues revolved around criticism of Sauer’s administrative methods,  which some people said included anger issues, humiliation of students and favoritism.

For those not in favor of rehiring him, like Robustelli’s husband, Gino, Sauer’s strict style of discipline was compared to “the police.�

But for those in favor of hiring him, Sauer’s strict sense of discipline was an asset. Trustee Joe Matteo didn’t agree with calling Sauer “police,� but said that having a principal whom the students liked wasn’t always the best thing for the school in the long run. He said that his own son, now graduated, didn’t like Sauer, but acknowledged that there was “order in the school� and more school spirit when Sauer was principal.

“He didn’t equate it to Ken Sauer, but I do,� Matteo said.

“My daughters didn’t have a good experience with him,� said board Vice President Joe Herald, “but they did say that things were better when he was here.�

Herald said that he wasn’t in favor of granting Sauer tenure at Webutuck, an issue that arose shortly before his departure from the school. The vice president added that he believed Sauer left because he was told by then Superintendent Richard Johns that the board was going to fire him if he didn’t resign, which Herald said was not the case. Matteo called it being “chased away.�

Sauer “did have issues,� Herald acknowledged, “and he will be held accountable. I had a conversation sitting down with him and I asked him about those issues, including anger management. And I believe he’s learned and grown from that.�

Another issue that several board members and current Superintendent Steven Schoonmaker pointed out was that the candidate pool for the position was weak. Schoonmaker said there were more than 20 applicants. From that group, he reviewed applications and followed through with interviews for about 12. From there, he presented the board with a final five candidates.

“There were varying degrees of fit for Webutuck,� he said. Sauer has “the credentials and experience for a high school principal position,� Schoonmaker said, but an issue at a previous school remains a mystery.

After his service at Webutuck, and before his most recent post, Sauer was asked to resign from his principal position in the Brockport Central School District, outside of Rochester. Both Herald and Schoonmaker said they were unable to find out any information from the district as to the circumstances regarding his departure due to a confidentiality agreement.

“But that doesn’t make that person automatically a disqualifiable [sic] candidate,� Herald said. “We don’t know and we can’t find out. It was a concern and something I asked [Sauer] about and I felt comfortable about it in the end.�

But Trustee Casey Swift, who originally brought up the issue, said that the mystery surrounding it “threw up a red flag� for her. Swift was the only trustee to vote against hiring Sauer at the end of the meeting.

Schoonmaker said the lack of information surrounding the Brockport issue bothered him. But he also said he has spoken with the North Carolina school district where Sauer is currently principal and that they “spoke very positively of him.�

Herald also pointed out that the district climate was much different when Sauer was hired the first time then it currently is at Webutuck.

“As much as Ken had his issues, the superintendent [at the time] was incompetent at his job and the board was fighting continuously,� he said. “What you’re seeing now is a whole different story.�

Several parents and students commented that whatever the board decides, Webutuck desperately needs stability.

“I’ve been through several principals,� said incoming senior Jenifer Dean. “We don’t like the change. Sometimes it’s necessary but sometimes it’s not.�

Dean voiced her dislike of Sauer, saying he “said a lot of things to middle schoolers that I don’t agree with and he played favorites. I could see that. That’s not how it should be.�

“We need to find someone who is committed to this school,� said incoming junior Colleen Carmody. “I’ve been to see other school districts and they’re light years ahead of Webutuck.�

Parent Barbara Russo has been living in the area for the past six years.

“Every year there are two or three more people leaving,� she said. “These kids need to know there’s a stable environment. If they don’t see that things are consistent here, they’re not going to feel safe. They’re not going to excel.�

Board President Dale Culver and Herald attributed at least part of Webutuck’s constantly changing roster to the fact that the school is viewed as a training ground for inexperienced teachers to build their resume.

“We’ve often had people come in saying they were staying long term,� Culver said. “But we found out later they were shopping resumes every summer until they got a bite.

“As a smaller school, if they go 40 or 50 miles south, there’s a larger pay scale that we just can’t meet,� he added.

The candidate pool had been whittled down to two candidates by the start of the Aug. 24 meeting; the other candidate, Joyce Long, was only mentioned briefly. She has been an administrator at various levels, Schoonmaker said, up to assistant principal. He did reference checks and there was no negative feedback, but Culver said that he had concerns on two issues involving her.

There was a lengthy discussion stemming from the discussion of Sauer on drug problems in the school, with both Dean and Culver stressing that it was a significant issue for Webutuck. Where there was a difference in opinion was whether rehiring Sauer would adequately address the problem or whether his strict disciplinary policies would overreach and create a learning environment that students didn’t want to be a part of.

Addressing several public comments that Sauer was feared in the district by employees, Matteo said he didn’t believe that was true. And while acknowledging that there were people on both sides of the fence about him, he said he had spoken with many school employees and “the majority of teachers said they would be OK with him coming back.�

The board eventually retired to executive session and when it returned voted 6-1 to hire Sauer, with Swift voting against the motion. Culver said later on in the week that Sauer had accepted the position verbally, but there was not a signed contract yet and a start date for the position still had to be finalized.