Williams puts off contract extension, seeks unity
Says that harmony should be priority
Buffalo School Superintendent James A. Williams avoided a political donnybrook Wednesday night by delaying consideration of a contract extension for him until next year.
“There’s been a lot of discussion about extending my contract,” he said at a meeting of the Board of Education. “My position on this is not to extend that at this time.”
Williams, whose current contract runs to July 2011, claimed that “a majority of the board wanted to extend it” before Catherine Collins, a staunch supporter, is replaced by newcomer John B. Licata on July 1.
But in an apparent reference to the acrimony a proposed contract extension would generate, Williams said harmony on the board should be the first priority.
“I want to have a united board to assist us in continuing the work we have started,” he said. “Right now, continuity and working together is the most important thing.”
Williams’ comments were made after the board met in closed-door executive session for an hour to discuss the results of its just-completed job evaluation of the superintendent.
The evaluation was not released or discussed publicly, and school officials have not responded to a Buffalo News request for the document under the state’s Open Governments Law.
No board members responded to Williams’ statement, but Catherine Nugent Panepinto, who publicly opposed a contract extension last month, later disputed Williams’ assertion that a majority of board members favored an extension.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “It would have broken down at least to not deciding on an extension now. Most members felt that was the responsible way to go.”
Panepinto welcomed Williams’ comments.
“I’m glad, and I look forward to next year when we make the determination,” she said.
Williams said he and the board should discuss his job status next summer and begin negotiations then if there is a desire to extend his contract.
If not, he said, “I will have one year to pack my bags and move on.”
Two years ago, the outgoing Board of Education extended Williams’ contract just weeks before four newly elected members took office, angering the new members even before they were sworn in.
Panepinto last month filed a resolution that would have committed the board not to approve an extension until after July 1. The resolution was never brought to a vote, but Panepinto said it brought focus to the contract issue.
In another matter, the board voted to put off for two weeks consideration of a proposed policy that would end the system’s existing practice of providing busing for some schools outside the city limits and of busing children to and from city charter schools when traditional city schools are not in session.
School officials said logistical, legal and financial considerations are behind the proposed policy.
Ten speakers — most of them charter school representatives — asked for more time to work with city school officials to find a legal and cost-neutral way to continue the busing.
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