Business Manager Placed On Administrative Leave

The business manager of the Windsor Northwest Supervisory Union (WNWSU) was placed on administrative leave a week ago, and a five-hour executive session of the entire 12-person WNWSU board was unable to make much progress in resolving the situation Monday evening.

WNWSU Supt. Tim Mock confirmed to The Herald Tuesday that he had placed Business Manager David Allen on administrative leave, with pay. Mock referred all further inquiries to the chairman of the WNWSU board, Carl Groppe of Stockbridge.

The board is made up of school board members from all six towns that form the supervisory union—three each from Bethel, Rochester and Stockbridge, and one each from Granville, Hancock, and Pittsfield.

The Supervisory Union offers business and curriculum services to the three elementary schools and two high schools in the six towns. (Schools in Granville and Hancock closed this year.)

The WNWSU had also taken the lead in proposing a partial merger between Whitcomb High School in Bethel and Rochester High School, which is being pursued.

Board Chair Groppe told The Herald the board is involved in an “ongoing process” involving the status of Allen. He had been appointed business manager only in August of last year, after having served as chair of the Bethel School Board.

Monday night’s emergency board meeting was “the first step” in the process of dealing with Mock’s case regarding Allen, Groppe said.

He said the meeting was properly warned, but The Herald did not receive notification by direct contact, as is required for an emergency meeting.

The meeting began at 6 p.m. and lasted until 11 with “no results,” he said. Allen was present, as was Supt. Mock. The board was assisted by an attorney, David Wells of Montpelier, who specializes in school issues, according to Groppe.

No ‘Irregularities’

Because it is a personnel issue, Groppe would not discuss the reasons that Allen had been placed on leave. When asked, however, he said that the reasons did not involve irregularities with the funds of the supervisory union.

“There was no representation of that; this is not a criminal issue,” he stressed.

However, the business manager will remain on leave, since the WNWSU did not reach agreement. He will remain on leave indefinitely, pending further discussion, he said.

The state Department of Education may have resources to help the board in this situation, he noted, and “if we need to have another meeting, we will.” A future meeting will be properly warned, Groppe pledged.

The Bethel School Board chair, Kristin LaFramboise, told The Herald it appeared there will be “a longer process than anticipated. We’re going to be careful about getting our information.”

She noted that she was “caught off guard” by Allen’s resignation and the emergency board meeting.

Two Treasurers

Business Manager Allen has been at odds with two school treasurers in the six-town union over the last few months, one of whom resigned. These disputes do not appear to be related to Allen’s current status, however.

Long-time treasurer for the supervisory union, Jean Burnham of Bethel, confirmed last week that she had been replaced as treasurer, though she had not, she said, been told why she had been replaced or even who the new treasurer was. Burnham is still treasurer of Bethel town and the school district; she said she had been treasurer of the supervisory union “probably” for 30 years.

She told The Herald that she was uneasy that Allen asked her to authorize him to write the SU checks himself. The SU office was moved from Bethel to Pittsfield, which made it more inconvenient for her to sign the checks, she noted.

“At first I said I would if the board agreed to it,” she told The Herald. “Then I got to thinking about it and put it out there on the Internet to other treasurers. Everybody said ‘No, don’t let anybody else sign the checks.’”

WNWSU Board Chair Groppe said he remembered that in the spring Allen had “presented a recommendation to replace” Burnham as treasurer. He does not remember the reason that was given, but said it seemed like “a changing of the guard” to a treasurer more familiar with new accounting systems.

The change stirred no controversy at the time, but Burnham remains disappointed at how she was treated, especially that she was given no formal notification that she had been replaced.

Granville Dispute

Allen has also been embroiled in a dispute with Granville school treasurer Kathy Werner over the practice of “arbitrage.”

With Allen’s urging, the Granville board had agreed to borrow $205,800 in order to make about $1500 in investing it at 2.55% while paying just 2.11%.

Werner, however, disagreed with the practice and refused to sign the loan documents.

Two weeks ago, Allen and the WNWSU were handed a legal opinion, confirming Allen’s belief that the signature of the town treasurer on such a loan is not necessary.

All that is necessary, said Atty. Paul Gilles in the opinion, is that the Granville School Board direct that the loan be made, and another agent could sign the papers.

Whether the arbitrage procedure will now be implemented is an open question, however. The school board did support the arbitrage proposal in the past, but the controversy may lead the members to take a second look at the situation, Supt. Mock noted.

In fact, Werner told The Herald that the bank which offered the 2.55% interest rate, Merchants Bank, has pulled out of the deal.

The bank likes to see cooperation between all officials involved, she noted.

Supt. Mock told The Herald that Allen intended to “move forward” with the arbitrage deal. However, Allen was of course not at work in his office, and he wasn’t expected.