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• Continue to ensure a safe and healthy learning environment for all
students by conducting an assessment of district-wide safety through the
services of an outside consultant.
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• Review and update sections 4000, 5000 and 6000 Board of Education
policies to be conducted by Board of Education subcommittees and the
superintendent of schools. |
| • Improve instructional delivery by enhancing evaluation procedures
for all staff members including the Board of Education, superintendent of
schools, administrators, and teachers. |
• Analyze costs and revenues in order to identify potential cost
savings or alternative sources of revenue to the district including energy
costs, health care costs, bidding procedures, and utilization of district
property including a space utilization study. |
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Several articles have appeared in Newsday since last Thursday which have documented actions by former Harborfields employees, especially our former attorney (general counsel), Mr. Lawrence Reich, whose relationship with our district spanned roughly 18 years. After careful consideration, we offer the following additional information and perspective.
We want our school community to know that Harborfields was the school district that brought the matter of Mr. Reich's employment status to the attention of the New York State Employee Retirement System (ERS). The district has been proactive in pursuing a resolution to the employment/retirement system pension issue, first through ongoing written and verbal notifications to Mr. Reich as early as 2005, and later with the New York State Employee Retirement System (ERS) when the full details of district records were shared with ERS in the summer of 2007.
To date, the district has not been told that the arrangement is not within the ERS rules or is a violation of law by either the Comptroller or administrators of ERS, despite our persistent requests dating back to August of 2007.
Ingerman, Smith has been the law firm of record for the district since 1986, and Mr. Reich, who had previously serviced the district as a member of the firm, became a Harborfields employee in 1995 after he and his firm approached the district to request this. Mr. Reich and the law firm advised and always maintained that the arrangement was in compliance with ERS rules and the general rule of law. Mr. Reich provided and was paid for general counsel duties (review of legal documents, representation at hearings, attendance and counsel at Board meetings, representation of the district in other day-to-day legal matters), and the firm was paid for other external legal duties, like labor negotiations and construction negotiations.
The district has fully cooperated with ERS, the State Comptroller's Auditor team, and other legal authorities and will continue to do so as the Comptroller's office completes its further auditing of this matter in all districts involved. We await their determination as to the employee vs. consultant status of Mr. Reich during the years of his service to this school district.
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