One by one local residents stood up and told the Springville-Griffith Institute Board of Education members exactly what they thought about the proposed dismissal of two highly respected and popular teaching staff.

Despite President Mike Connors stating at the beginning of the meeting Tuesday night that neither individual has been terminated from employment and their status continues to be under consideration by the Board of Education, the comments appear to belie some of the facts.

For example, a letter dated Oct. 7 to Athletics Director Bill Dickinson from Superintendent Vicki Wright states in part that if she does not receive his letter of immediate resignation by Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009, she will recommend to the Board of Education that it terminate his probationary appointment at its Nov. 17 Board meeting. In the meantime, Dickinson has been on paid administrative leave because he admitted to chewing tobacco at a football game.

However, the day after the Board of Education meeting, his status apparently was changed again. On Oct. 22 Dickinson received another letter dated Oct. 21 from Wright which said that in addition to disregarding the district’s policy on tobacco use, the district is not legally authorized to continue him on its active payroll because he lacks the necessary certification as a school district administrator. The letter went on to say that effective immediately, “the payroll of your salary will be discontinued.”

Further, the letter said that Wright would continue Dickinson in an administrative leave status, pending a determination of whether his probationary employment will be terminated.

The final paragraph states: “During the course of your above leave, you are not to enter upon any premises owned or operated by this District without my express, written consent.” It also says that he may not attend any athletic events, either at home or away involving students from the district.

Thus, although he is not being paid and is not allowed on district premises, he is still considered an employee.

As for the Middle School Principal John Baronich, he was advised by Wright to submit his resignation by October 9 and if he did not, she would recommend to the Board at its January 5, 2010 meeting that he be dismissed. His crime? Poor performance. According to Baronich, in July he received his first less than stellar performance review by Wright which focused on the fact that he was not meeting District goals and expectations.

Of the approximately 45 residents in attendance at the meeting, eight stood up with a litany of questions, comments and protests.

Carl Emerling of Boston was the first to stand and address the Board. “I have the biggest single item,” he said. “We are seeing a lot of people losing confidence in their school district with high turnover in administration. There seems to be a lot of misinformation in the community and I think the public deserves to know what is going on.”

He went on to say that there is a lot of unrest in the community and referred to one petition with over 400 signatures and another with 100 signatures which was delivered to the high school and has apparently since disappeared. The petitions request an investigation into the dismissal of both Dickinson and Baronich, in addition to asking for reasons as to why there continues to be an excessive amount of administrative turnover in the district. The petition concludes, “We believe that these recent decisions and the actions of the superintendent do not reflect the desires of our community, nor are they in the best interest of the Springville-Griffith Institute School District.”

Emerling also questioned why an interim athletic director is now in place, referring to an e-mail dated June 1, 2009 from Wright to Dickinson in which she apparently asked him not to apply for a Section VI executive director position because she wanted him to stay on in his present position as athletic director “for a few more years yet.” In a later meeting with Dickinson, Wright apparently thanked him for not applying for the position because he would have succeeded in obtaining it.

Emerling concluded his presentation by saying, “We were always the shining light in quality and education. Now people are asking, ‘What the heck is happening in Springville?’ We want to see ourselves elevated back to where we were.”

Springville resident Nils Wikman gave an address to the Board, stating that prior to teaching he was employed in the retail profession for 20 years and was heavily involved in the hiring, development and training of associates with a strong human resources background. “I also studied the fields of leadership and organizational behavior and the common thread that seems to permeate all great organizations is that they value the people that make them great,” he said. “Looking at our school district over the past several years, we have severely neglected this human factor and it is almost frightening to think of the number of missteps we have made, the numbers of lives we’ve ruined and how far behind we find ourselves in developing the kinds of people that can help our district and community move forward.”

He went on to say that policy in the district permits all personnel activities for teachers and administrators to be handled and controlled by one person: the superintendent of schools. He said that the Board relies heavily on this individual to be the sole investigatory voice for any issues that arise and when information is then presented to the Board, it is presented as fact and that the Board has no provision for questioning or investigating on its own. “Superintendent recommendations are taken blindly and passed routinely,” he said. “The Board then makes decisions with blinders on and attributes it to policy. The Board then hides under the guise of confidentiality and tells us to trust them to do the right thing.”

Wikman then addressed the issue of tenure which he said has become a tool for manipulation, intimidation and fear in the district and that this practice also has the ability of coercion with the implicit threat of being denied tenure at the expense of collegiality, friendship and just doing the right thing. “For the past several years we have summarily dismissed them (administrators) and ruined their lives for subjective reasons,” he said. “I would guess that we have spent more money on attorney fees, payouts and interim salaries for miscues than any other district in the rest of New York and this is embarrassing to us as a district and as a community.”

Concluding, Wikman said that the policies and procedures that have been followed for many years will not let the district grow. “We cannot keep doing the same things and expect different results,” he said. “This is truly insanity.”

Another resident, Joseph Giroux said that he is a lawyer specializing in labor relations and employee matters. “In the interest of full disclosure,” he said, “I’m going to tell the Board and everyone assembled here that two of the individuals whose careers and future within our district are in jeopardy have contacted my office.” However, Giroux went on to say that he was attending the meeting as a resident, taxpayer and parent. He said that two things impressed him about the school district when his first-born child was very young and about to enter the district school system: the continuity in the administration of both the district office and the buildings. “Unfortunately, over the years that has changed,” he said. “We have not had long tenure, neither at the superintendent level nor within many of the school buildings.” The other point he made related to the reduction in the number of teachers who are residents of the district.

Five more residents stood up and echoed many of his and the previous speakers’ remarks.

Some residents had referred to the district as being the “bottom of the pit” and having a “toxic environment,” the latter referring to morale. Board member Peter Sobota, after thanking all the participants for their comments, said, “I don’t think our district is the bottom of the pit and I don’t think we have a toxic environment.” He explained that on any given day there are 27,000 undergraduates walking around the south and north campuses of the University of Buffalo where he works and routinely people who barely know him stop and ask him, “What’s in your water out there (Springville)? Why are all your kids in your little community in the honors college?”

Sobota concluded by saying that he had not received a single telephone call or message from anyone expressing their concerns and that residents were welcome to contact the building principal concerned, who would then contact the superintendent who in turn will then notify the Board. “If you don’t trust that this will happen, send it to all three levels,” he said.

President Michael Connors addressed the meeting by first thanking the audience for attending and then discussing the merits of contacting the subject of their complaint or praise before bringing it to the Board’s attention. He also remarked that he had received about 250 telephone calls recently, stating of a board member position, “It’s 24 hours a day, it’s 7 days a week, it’s 365 days a year.”

On the subject of hiring practices, Connors said that the board is aware that these need serious evaluation and that the subject will be appearing on an agenda in the near future.

Asked by the Journal his opinion on the issue of tenure, Connors stated that this question should more appropriately be directed to the superintendent. When asked the same question, Wright explained, “The reason that tenure is not recommended is that based upon actions or incidences, you don’t want to tenure somebody that you believe is not going to be able to promote or move forward in the district.”

In a telephone conversation following the meeting, Superintendent Wright said that she appreciates the community feeling comfortable going to the Board and as a result, she will be conducting a public forum to be held at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Concord Town Hall (upstairs) on Franklin Street in Springville. “I will be happy to meet with the public and address their concerns to the extent that I can,” she said. “In the past this (public forums) has proved to be a very helpful and productive conversation with the community.”

The next meeting of the Board of Education will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at the Colden Elementary School, 8263 Boston-Colden Road in Colden.