Anthony Scro stood to address the Jordan-Elbridge school board one last time during the Nov. 3 meeting in the high school auditorium. Scro was fired from the district treasurer position in September. Scro’s named hadn’t been called like the others.
“Was I purposefully skipped?” he asked.
Yes, he was.
“Mr. Scro, we’ve been advised by our counsel (Frank Miller) to just allow taxpayers and residents of the community to address the board in the public comments section,” said board president Mary Alley. Scro lives in East Syracuse. “But if you would like to address us tonight that would be fine, but this will be the last time that we allow that.” Suspended Principle David Zehner took issue with this.
“Shouldn’t that be a board resolution then?” Zehner asked.
“It’s a policy,” Alley said.
Scro reflected on discovering in his contract for the 2009-10 year that his pay for the next year, as with other JE employees not represented by any type of union, would be based upon his performance. He said he challenged his evaluation when it came out at the second board meeting in July, adding that the majority of the grades were low. “I was especially upset with the one that said, out of a grade of 0 being unsatisfactory to 4 being outstanding, I got a 1.5 on ‘working relationships.'” The evaluation claimed he was “too uncooperative when faced with reasonable requests for assistance,” Scro said. “I said, ‘That can’t be me. Why am I getting a 1.5?'”
According to Scro, this review did not mesh with his supervisor’s comments written on the back of the evaluation: “And I quote, ‘Anthony always completes assigned tasks. He will always stop to answer questions of others.'” “I said, ‘This whole thing is a farce … this whole thing is contract fraud.'” Scro claimed he was fired because he questioned the evaluation.
“All I’ve put through is to say I was wrongly terminated, and I expect to get my job back, with back pay,” Scro said to applause. Interim superintendent selected, decision awaits final approval
The JE school board went into executive session at 8:50 p.m. to discuss candidates for the interim superintendent position, pending litigation and undisclosed personnel matters. They returned at 10:24 p.m. with an announcement:
“It is resolved that the Board of Education hereby selects candidate Larry Zacher for the position of interim superintendent for the Jordan-Elbridge School District,” Alley said. The board approved the motion unanimously, authorizing BOCES Superintendent William Speck to enter contract negotiations with Zacher. The contract will then be subject to the board’s approval. Zacher is the former superintendent of Mayville and Whitesboro schools and has served as interim superintendent in eight different districts. The board also announced an open meeting for 6 p.m. Friday at the high school library. The agenda went up on the school website the next day, stating that the board would consider appointing an interim superintendent.