LOCK HAVEN - After an animated debate Thursday evening, the Keystone Central School Board voted to allow uncompensated leave for three employees working as officials for county voting locations, but will require them to pay back the cost of their benefits for the days in question.
Call it pinching pennies, as board member Steve Murray suggested, or leaving no stone unturned to save money, as was suggested by board member Charles Rosamilia, the concept drew considerable interest among board members before the final vote, which approved a "truly uncompensated" leave for the trio with Murray and fellow board member Wayne Koch falling short in their attempt to continue benefits.
A lot of the discussion was likely due to the elephant in the room - the proposed 2012-13 budget that starts out with this year's figures for expenditures at $66.1 million and anticipates an increase of about $3 million with a state limited increase of 2.3 percent required to avoid a voter referendum.
Board members Charles Rosamilia, Tom Shafer, Corey Aungst, James Heiney, Jack Peters, Debbie Smith and James Knauff voted approval of the leave minus benefits for the financial plan.
Clinton County Commissioner Jeff Snyder attended the session to speak on behalf of the poll workers. Snyder pointed to the difficulty in maintaining sufficient staff, lauded the loyalty and commitment of the workers and pointed out that the board members themselves are elected and benefited by the civic activities of their employees on election days. He asked the board to support the activity as a community service.
Murray pointed out that the school district already provided similar benefits to employees who work for the National Guard and jury duty, and Rosamilia countered that those situations were covered by state law.
The poll workers do receive compensation from the county, Snyder said, but the amount was "minimal" and less than $100.
Snyder also said that in the most recent election, in Pine Creek Township, a glitch in the system prevent some voters from exercising their right early in the day and "believe me, they weren't happy ... We have an obligation to do this, and we can't accomplish our goals without these people."
One suggestion from Rosamilia found a potential compromise position between the two sides. Rosamilia asked if the county might cover the costs of compensating the district employees' health benefits, and Snyder asked for those figures. The amounts, while not immediately available, are thought to be relatively small, according to Business Manager Kim VanGorder.
Superintendent Kelly Hastings noted that the board gave her instructions earlier this year to cut back on the number of uncompensated leave situations, since they continue to cost the district money in terms of temporary replacements for those workers. She said she believe the administration has been relatively successful in that effort, with more recommendations for denial coming before the board than in previous years.
"I'm not comfortable discussing this publicly," Koch said, "but I believe these three people are performing a civic duty and that requiring them to pay back their benefits is in a way penalizing them for that."
Koch said support personnel are given one personal day a year under contract, and when they are honest and asking for uncompensated leave instead of using that day, "we should be gracious."
"Don't overlook the taxpayers," Rosamilia said, but Murray pointed out that taxpayers are being served - by poll workers.
"I agree with the principal of the thing," Board President Peters said, "but we are constantly directing our business manager to save money, and we pay more than $7 million a year for health insurance. We say turn over every rock and then ... It's sort of like the state saying it doesn't want to raise taxes, then cutting our allocation so school districts are put in a bind."
While discussion on the budget was minimal last evening, board members have said they expect to struggle with figures this year to keep the pain as low as possible.
To that end, Murray noted that another finance committee meeting will be held Feb. 29 at 6 p.m. in the administration building to further discuss the financial issues, and invited any members of the public with solid suggestions for reductions or improvements to attend.
The three workers in question are support workers Elizabeth Falls, who had her uncompensated leave turned down last month, Vickie Hanley and Sandra Gensib.
