School Notebook: District Welcomes New Administrators, Saves Money on Pizza

The Board of Education on Tuesday established a new position, assistant to the superintendent for human resources, which replaces the former position of assistant superintendent for human resources.

The school board then appointed Dr. Gary Dabrusky to the position. Dabrusky has most recently served as the administrator for personnel and operation for the Plainedge school district and is a former principal in the South Country school district. Details on his contract were not immediately available.

Kenneth Gray was appointed to the position of plant and facilities administrator for the district, replacing Robert Hansen, who retired. Gray will start August 8 and earn a salary of $105,000.

The school board also approved the excessing of "employees having the least seniority," including 2.5 teaching positions, one school psychologist, and one social studies teacher.

"[These] are based on the budget that was adopted by the BOE," said Cheryl Pedisich, assistant superintendent for pupil and personnel services.

Approved Bids Include Pizza Savings

A number of routine bids were also approved on Tuesday by the Board of Education, including one which will save the district money on students' pizza lunches.

Carlson said the previous pizza provider, Papa John's, charged the district $5.08 per pizza pie. However, the district will now use Domino's for its pizza lunches at a cost of $5.03 per pie.

The district goes through about 10,440 pizzas per year in its cafeterias. The newly approved bid will save the district $522 on school lunches over the course of the year.

Cellphone Reimbursement Agreement Adopted

Following the approval in December of a policy allowing certain administrators to use their own personal cellphones for business rather than carry a district-issued cell phone, the school board adopted a measure to allow reimbursements for the work-related use of personal phones.

"I just use my personal phone," said Jeff Carlson, assistant superintendent for business services. "A lot of districts do it that way. If we say you can't use your work phone for personal calls, we get to where we have to carry two phones."

The measure only applies to about 20 administrators whom the district needs to be able to reach at any time of day, including, for instance, all of the building principals. The policy was adopted after a recommendation from school auditors last October.

Exactly how much will be reimbursed remains to be determined, Carlson said, but it may be in the area of $30 per month.

"It would probably save money, but at worst break even," he said.

Other district employees who use cellhones for work-related purposes, such as computer technicians, security personnel, and maintenance staff members, will continue to carry the district-issued Nextel phones with the instant "walkie talkie" function.