State settles Winsted superintendent lawsuit

WINSTED — The state’s Department of Education has reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed by Superintendent of Schools Anne Watson.

Watson filed the lawsuit against the Board of Education in Superior Court in Hartford on Aug. 19, 2015.

She was suspended on Aug. 17, 2015, by former Winchester School District Receiver Robert Travaglini.

History and background

Watson was hired by the Board of Education in July 2014 and given a three-year contract with the district.

Her contract with the district is for three years and, for the 2014-2015 school year, her salary was $149,000, more than previous Superintendent of Schools Thomas Danehy’s salary of $140,800.

In May 2015, now former Board Chairman Susan Hoffnagle and board member Doug Pfenninger wrote a negative job performance review of Watson.

The four-page evaluation lists “significant deficiencies in performance in business matters with regard to budgeting and managing expenses.”

The evaluation also lists deficiencies in public and community relations along with leadership skills.

Later in May 2015 the board chose not to renew Watson’s contract, which was followed up by Travaglini suspending Watson in Aug. 2015.

Despite being suspended, at a November Board of Selectmen’s meeting, current School District Receiver Freeman Burr said that Watson continued to receive a salary from the town.

At the meeting, Burr said that the district is currently projecting a $23,000 deficit due to the payment of salary for Watson.

Settlement

The Winsted Journal received a copy of the settlement between Watson and the Board of Education through a Freedom of Information request sent to the state’s Department of Education.

According to documents, Watson agreed to the settlement on Dec. 26 through her attorney, Leon Rosenblatt of Hartford.

The settlement, which is a release and separation agreement, was co-signed by Burr.

As part of the settlement, Watson agrees to resign on June 30, which is when her contract with the district is scheduled to end.

The settlement document states that: “During the remaining period of employment with the board, Watson will be on leave with full pay and benefits to which she is entitled and receiving currently as an active employee.”

After Watson resigns, she will not be allowed to seek any further employment within the Winchester School District.

Watson will receive a one-time payment of $11,000 for attorney’s fees.

She will also receive a one-time lump sum payment of $6,708 which “represents nine days of accrued vacation time and 20 days of accrued sick time earned by Watson during her active employment with the board.”

Previous claims

As part of the settlement, Watson agrees to drop all previous claims and complaints she made against both the Board of Education and the state.

Back in Aug. 19, 2015, as part of the lawsuit, Rosenblatt filed a written complaint on the behalf of Watson which contained several accusations against Hoffnagle and the school district.

“Shortly after assuming the position of superintendent, the plaintiff learned the Winchester special education program was deficient and, likely, violating federal and state law,” Rosenblatt wrote in the complaint filed with the court. “On or about July 18, 2014, Watson contracted with the Capitol Region Education Council [CREC] to perform a comprehensive review of the school district’s special education program. In August 2014, Watson took personnel action against the district’s special education director because Watson learned the director was falsely reporting expenditures for the district’s special education program and because the director was creating improper Individual Education Plans (IEP’s) and not complying with the laws and rules governing special education.”

At the time, Ania Czajkowski was the director of pupil services and special education for the district. Czajkowski resigned in September 2014.

“On or about Sept. 14, 2014, [Watson] notified the Connecticut Commissioner of Education that the school district had submitted false claims to the Connecticut Department of Education for reimbursement of special education services,” Rosenblatt wrote in the complaint. “The plaintiff also arranged for a financial audit by the Department of Education.”

A report issued on June 1 by the department’s Office of Internal Audit said the school district failed to use accurate data or failed to support data with documentation, including the lack of inclusion of base tuition, in obtaining the state’s Special Education Excess Cost grant for the fiscal years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014.

The department determined that, for both fiscal years, the district owes the state $720,865.

The complaint goes on to refer to the CREC report issued in November 2014.

“[The report finds] that Winchester’s special education program was seriously deficient,” Rosenblatt wrote in the complaint. “The school district was spending more money than comparable school districts on special education, but the quality of its special education program was poor and out of compliance with federal and state law.”

The complaint goes on to make allegations against former school district food service director Art Lehne, who resigned in November 2014. 

“In or about November 2014, the plaintiff [Watson] learned the defendant’s [Hoffnagle] food service director likely was stealing students’ lunch money,” Rosenblatt wrote in the complaint. “She reported this to the police and the Connecticut Department of Education.”

Burr’s response

In an email to The Winsted Journal, Burr wrote that he had no comment concerning the settlement.

“I wasn’t involved in the negotiation of the settlement other than the responsibility to sign off as the current receiver,” Burr wrote.

Burr wrote that he did not have any knowledge concerning Travaglini’s investigation of Watson’s “alleged performance concerns,” including if Travaglini ever completed a report on the investigation. 

“The action of the former receiver preceded my involvement in Winchester,” Burr wrote. “I was not privy to information related to the former superintendent’s performance nor was I involved in any aspect of the investigation related to it.”

Burr wrote that the settlement was not needed in order for the school district to hire a new superintendent.

“The former superintendent’s contract was not renewed beyond June of 2017 so the hiring of a new superintendent would not have been impacted in any way,” he wrote. “The posting for a new superintendent will likely occur in the near future. The board and community will be involved in the process. The selection of a new superintendent will be made by the receiver with input.”

As for the review of the school district’s nutrition program, Burr wrote that: “Ed Advance is now running the district’s food service program and we are involved with the state’s Department of Education to mitigate Winchester Public Schools’ financial burden due to the inaccuracy and lack of documentation concerning  the Free and Reduced Lunch Program. The current vendor and district have revised the practices related to ensuring the appropriate documentation is in place.”