Walter Horban
Dear editor,
The taxpayers of Fort Frances deserve to be informed of decisions made by the trustees of the board of education.
Why haven’t we been informed of how it was possible for hundreds of thousands of dollars to [go missing] over a period of [several] years without someone at the board discovering this after an audit?
Why wasn’t the board aware of this? It would appear that someone would have responsibility over financial matters pertaining to the schools.
The citizens made their concerns evident in the board elections of November, when only two members were returned to the board. The landslide support Dave Kircher received speaks volumes about how voters appreciated the efforts that he made in attempting to get answers from the board and administration concerning the disappearance of funds.
At many points, his attempts were stonewalled by administration.
Now we discover the outgoing “lame duck” board amended the contracts of senior management by quadrupling their severance payout for dismissal. Wow!
How in the world did they come up with that? Whose idea was it? It might be legal but it certainly is not moral.
They did not have the blessing of the voters any longer. This could have been a proposal for the new board to look into.
Somehow I think they would not have passed it.
The voters of Fort Frances are fortunate to have somebody of Mr. Kircher’s calibre participating in decisions made by the board. He has demonstrated a desire to have transparency in board matters. The public should be informed about matters of education, not kept in the dark.
Mr. Kircher is not one to make statements without doing research. He has looked into the legislation concerning educational matters and is well-informed.
If the amendment to the resolution stands, I hope that when it is time for new contract negotiations, that the severance payout is returned to its previous amount, which is still considerably more than what the average worker would receive upon dismissal.
Signed,
Walter Horban
Fort Frances, Ont.
