MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon City Schools Board of Education has no immediate plans to hire an additional person to fill the position of director of business, a position now vacant due to the sabbatical of Dr. Al Haschak.
According to school board president Ian Watson, all of Haschak’s duties have been assumed by other members of the central office staff.
“For the foreseeable future, we have no plans to replace Haschak,” Watson said. “The net impact on the district should be zero dollars, because had he still been with us in the Central Office, we would have paid him. It’s already in the budget and we’re not adding any staff to take over what he was doing for us. I think it’s revenue neutral.”
When Haschak was placed on administrative leave in November, school district personnel took back the laptop computer Haschak used to work from home. Watson said anytime an employee whose work requires use of a computer or district software, it is standard practice to retrieve the computer when the employee will be gone for a period of time.
“The biggest reason,” Watson said, “is there’s usually information on the computer that’s needed to run the operations. We retrieve the computer so that whoever is filling in for that person has the information needed. It is school property, so of course we would want to protect it and have it under our control.”
Haschak’s paid sabbatical leave is effective for the balance of his employment contract with the district, covering the period from Jan. 1, 2008, though July 31, 2009. Under the terms of the sabbatical agreement, the board will also pay Haschak’s contributions to the State Teachers Retirement System and he will continue to accrue sick leave. If other administrators in the district receive a pay raise, Haschak will receive the same increase in compensation.
Since Haschak was advised to consult with an attorney before ratifying the sabbatical agreement, the board agreed to pay him $1,300 as reimbursement for those attorney fees.
Haschak has submitted an irrevocable letter of retirement from the Mount Vernon school district, effective July 31, 2009, but can submit a letter of resignation sooner if he obtains suitable employment with another public employer. In that case, according to the sabbatical agreement, the balance of his employment contract with Mount Vernon City Schools will be paid to him as compensation.
Watson said the salary and other compensations mentioned in the agreement are governed by employment contract obligations.
“Al is still under contract with us at this stage,” he said.
