Why Would a Top-Level Administrator...

[Chris_Wendt]

...leave Wantagh?

I certainly agree that Maureen Appiarius is a top level administrator, and that Wantagh has benefitted from her tenure here.

Questions abound about why she is leaving,  I cannot answer for Maureen, and I sincerely wish her well in Garden City.

But the answer to the question(s) and the various suppositions "why?" can be addressed rather straightforwardly, which I will do, here, momentarily.

The issue has nothing intrinsically to do either with the person or with any of the Districts involved, in this case, Jericho, Wantagh, and Garden City.

The real issue is one of expectations, and of a (bad) hiring decision by the Wantagh Board of Education.

Wantagh should never have hired someone from Jericho with the expectation of that person being a permanent or even long-term member of the Wantagh family.

Wantagh should have no sense of surprise or dismay over losing someone, originally from Jericho, to Garden City. Here's why:

Respective Property Wealth per Student (Proxy for Property Tax Base) of the 3 Districts:

• Jericho $1,494,122
• Garden City $1,376,372
• Wantagh $564,391

Respective Income Wealth per Student (Proxy for ability to pay school taxes) of the 3 Districts:

• Jericho $414,683
• Garden City $405,520
• Wantagh $174,972

Combined-Wealth Ratio, each district compared to the entire state:

• Jericho = 2.554
• Garden City = 2.419
• Wantagh = 1.018

(Wantagh is on-par with all districts in the state; Jericho and Garden City have two and a half times as much wealth as the average NYS school district)

Local Revenue (Proxy for local school taxes paid, 2013):

• Jericho $110,174,933
• Garden City $100,142,267
• Wantagh $56,851,284

Per-Pupil Spending by the 3 Districts:

• Jericho $35,102
• Garden City $26,466
• Wantagh $22,069

To me it is clear that, if Wantagh was looking for a long-term administrator and potential successor superintendent, then, in my opinion, we should not have hired someone from a platinum school district. If we wanted and excellent administrator whom we could train for a better position in a gold-plated district, then hiring someone from a platinum district may have made sense, for the short term.

As I see things...

Chris Wendt

[Phil Wendt (WHS '67)]

Excellent analysis! I do think that, as instructive as these numbers are, they really can't tell the whole story. Who really knows why someone from Jericho would take a job in Wantagh unless Wantagh paid too much (more than they should have paid, or could have afforded), or perhaps there were just personal reasons known only to the applicant that made sense to her at the time. She may have also been underpaid at Jericho.  An exit interview, to the extent she could or would be candid, would also shed some light on all this. But I think your analysis shows that there was plenty of room for head-scratching at the time of hiring. In the final analysys I think these types of positions are always a bit of a crap-shoot. I see similar revolving door situations out here as well in these types of school admin positions. I think it appears to be common for a great deal of turnaround in these types of jobs.

Phil Wendt

[ld]

In one post, you question why the district should hire a new admin, in the next, you wonder why the original one left.

Forget about the "type" of district. Perhaps the perception that they could do more with less staff...such as dropping to two positions as you suggest is part of the problem. Why not go to another district with half of the job and for more money? GC has two positions that make up this one in Wantagh.

[Chris_Wendt]

Yes, the bottom line gets overlooked in the who-and-why conversation.
Wantagh is in a long-term declining enrollment pattern, forecast accurately 5 years ago by a professional actuarial study.
This trend is expected to persist until 2020.

What this means, and what it has meant, is that the cost per student in the Wantagh school district continues to climb, into the realm of college tuition cost.
The two products of this trend—fewer students at a higher cost—combine to create an untenable situation.
Unless the Wantagh Board of Education comes out of the box of traditional thinking and explores, tries some new, more cost effective and efficient approaches to administration, etc., then they will eventually find themselves joining the larger debate which is sweeping Long Island:

"Which school shall we close?"

---

Of course, the other byproduct of the declining enrollment trend is the constricted and constricting ability of Wantagh schools to offer better, or the best education to our children in the future.

Keep on keepin' on!

Chris Wendt

[Chris_Wendt]

One thing I have always appreciated is someone who causes me to dig deeper into a story, and especially when such deeper digging yields more thought-provoking information. Case in point, From What to What? ...and, for What (How Much (more))?

---

In Wantagh, the position, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, is a very important position, relevant to academics, especially. All professional faculty as well as the curriculum, textbooks, educational materials, evaluations, etc. come under this domain. This position is NOT responsible for finance or the finance staff, or for Facilities Operations & Maintenance, or transportation or aides and monitors, which fall under the responsibility of the Assistant Superintendent for Business. As far as span-of-control, or span-of-responsibility, the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction in Wantagh is at the fulcrum of the District's academic life.

In Garden City, the new position into which Maureen Appiarius, Wantagh's departing Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, is embarking is NOT "Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum" (the corresponding Garden City job title which correlates to Wantagh's Assistant Superintendent for Instruction), but rather something called "Assistant Superintendent for Personnel". Here's a link to the Garden City School District Organization Chart.  In her new position, it appear Mrs. Appiarius will be responsible for Adult Education, Athletics (the Athletic Director), coordinating public information (probably keeping the info current on those red LED signs in front of each school building and editing 'What's New in Wantagh Garden City', and, for the Personnel Office Staff (her minions), which, I presume, hand out job applications, post open positions on Linked-in, help new employees fill-out tax, medical, pension, union (dues) and background check forms, and handle health insurance claims processing issues, and submit the payroll for processing each week.  Not too much academic "Wow!" factor in any of that.

Actually, the move to Garden City seems like even less than a lateral move, career-wise. I mean, I think of it as taking a giant step backwards, but that is just my opinion.

So, then, what was it? The money? Let's what we can find about Maureen Appiarius salary.

• 2014 Wantagh salary: $175,683 (See Through NY)
• Add 3% for 2015 estimated Wantagh salary: $180,953
• Add 3% for 2016 projected Wantagh salary: $186,382
• Actual hiring salary (2015-16) in Garden City: $185000

Her "2015 Salary" will be half of her Wantagh 2015 Salary plus half of her Garden City 2015-16 salary, or probably $182,977.

I don't really see a compelling salary impetus for this move either.

What's it really all about?

My guess, my personal opinion, is that Wantagh is on the decline, definitely in terms of enrollment, and, our financial outlook, given our "same-old" ways of doing business, is not rosy; Garden City has a lot of money in both property value (tax base) and income (ability to pay school taxes), and apparently presents a better long-term educational prospectus for a really good educator to make a strategic move, even one that initially entails mostly lateral movement and no appreciable immediate financial gain, again solely in my opinion.

I can be contacted at [e-mail] if my opinion needs correcting.

Just saying....

Chris Wendt