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HANOVER TWP. — A new twist has emerged in the ongoing saga of Hanover Area School District administrators.
According to a published report, Business Manager Tom Cipriano — who has asked to be included in an employee separation program — has been hired by the Schuylkill Intermediate Unit.
Cipriano’s fate at Hanover Area has been uncertain ever since the March 30 meeting when the school board voted to notify him of intent not to renew his contract, which expires Sept. 30. The vote did not necessarily mean Cipriano was out, but it gave the board the option of replacing him. His contract requires six-months notice of intent not to renew.
At the same meeting, the board approved a motion to have the district administration work out a “Voluntary Employee Separation Program.” The idea was to develop a financial incentive that could prompt some veteran staff members to leave the district payroll. Money would be saved by replacing them with new employees at lower wages.
Once the VESP was worked out, employees had to express, in writing, interest in taking advantage, and the board had to accept the terms of the deal. The deadline for submitting a letter of interest to the board was June 5, and both Cipriano and Superintendent Andrew Kuhl submitted letters. Kuhl is nearing the end of the first year in his second, three-year contract.
Kuhl said the VESP would give him 27.5 percent of this year’s salary and $7,500.
Yet when the board met on June 14, it tabled a motion on the agenda to agree to VESP terms “for the following full-time administrators,” with a blank space where the names would ordinarily be. Board President John Mahle said there were still questions regarding the item.
But it appears Cipriano landed a new job the same day he submitted his letter of interest in the VESP offer. According to a published report, during a June 5 meeting the Schuylkill County Intermediate Unit 29 board of directors voted to make Cipriano assistant business manager.
On June 11, the Pottsville Republican reported the IU 29 board vote to give Cipriano the post effective July 19. The IU 29 business manager is retiring and the assistant manager is being bumped up to the manager position.
While the dates of the VESP deadline and the IU 29 appointment are the same, the IU vote still came more than two months after Hanover Area School Board voted on the intent not to renew Cipriano’s contract.
Cipriano did not return a call for comment Thursday.