BRUNSWICK, Maine — The School Department is out more than $5,600 after the company it hired to manage substitute teachers apparently disappeared.
Superintendent of Schools Paul Perzanoski on Wednesday said he has been unable to reach anyone at Syracuse, N.Y.-based Central Xchange, which provided an online service called Sub-IT to match schools with qualified substitute teachers.
“Back in September … they said ‘we’re having some problems, it’s going to take us a little while to fix it,’” Perzanoski told the school board. “To make a long story short, after two weeks of trying to email and call the company, we ended up calling the original number and it ended up being a car wash business in Los Angeles.”
A phone call Thursday morning to the number listed on Central Xchange’s website went to an automated message system for New England Car Wash Equipment, based in Acton, Mass.
Another call, to the office manager of State Tower Associates of Syracuse, owner of the building listed as the address for Central Xchange, revealed that the company moved out of its office several years ago.
“They’ve been gone for quite a while,” Gloria Allain said. She did not know where Central Xchange went.
Officials at other school departments that have used Central Xchange’s Sub-IT program, as listed on the company’s website, were not available for comment. Kevin Burns, a Nottingham High School vice principal whose testimonial is quoted on the Central Xchange website, is no longer employed at that Syracuse school.
Perzanoski said he presumed the company is out of business, so the department interviewed three other companies and has hired a new service to manage substitutes.
The department ended up with CRS Adanced Technology of Montoursville, Pa., which provides a substitute teacher management program called SubFinder.
Perzanoski said the department has already paid CRS nearly $4,600 for start-up fees, and it would pay a total of $9,800 for the first school year. The annual fee following that would then be $5,800.
The service will take a few weeks to start, Perzanoski said. In the meantime, teachers and administrators are picking up the slack for calling substitutes.
Perzanoski on Wednesday told the School Board that Central Xchange had been paid about $4,000 for the current school year. In an interview Thursday he revised the cost to more than $5,600. He said this was the fifth year the department had worked with the company.
“We haven’t had a problem with them until now,” Perzanoski said.
Board Member Matt Corey on Wednesday asked if it would be worthwhile for the School Department to seek legal action against Central Xchange.
“I’m still looking for them,” Perzanoski replied.
In other business:
• Business Manager Jim Oikle said the School Department has passed its annual budget audit. Oikle said the 2012-2013 school budget surplus is around $2.4 million right now, and that will carry over into the next fiscal year.
Board Chairman Jim Grant asked Oikle to clarify why that will happen based on a question from the public.
“Someone came out and said ‘they have $2.4 million, why aren’t they doing anything with it?’” Oikle said. “Well, we didn’t know we had $2.4 million for real until [the auditors] were done with it.”
“That [amount] now is available for the board to apply the amount to the next budget that we write,” he continued. “It would be futile to try and go back and amend this year’s budget, because really, we would be doing nothing. The tax rates have already been set. It would just be moving it from one pot of money in the town to another pot of money in the town.”
• Brunswick Dragons hoodies for sale at the local Walmart may soon become a possibility if the School Board agrees to license the high school’s name and logo to an Arkansas-based wholesale manufacturer for apparel sales.
The proposed contract was introduced by Athletic Director Gene Keene, who said PEL Industries has signed similar deals with schools across the country.
According to a letter from PEL, the contract would be a nonexclusive license that would return eight percent of all merchandise revenue to the school. The School Board would only have to agree to the contract for manufacturing to begin.
The manufacturer would then distribute the apparel at the Walmart on Tibbetts Drive.
Board Member Rich Ellis wondered if the sales would have a negative effect on students who sell their own goods for fundraisers.
Board Vice Chairwoman Corinne Perreault said she supports the idea because now only student athletes have access to school-themed apparel.
The board voted unanimously to look further into the contract, with Councilor Michele Joyce absent.
I have an idea. Instead of hiring outside companies to “manage” the substitutes, how about hiring a Maine resident or residents to do the same thing? Didn’t we use to manage our own school system and teachers? Why do we need outside help. Regarding this fiasco,anyone can get taken. If they did their due diligence with an out of state company and still got taken…lesson learned and move on. Hire local!
How much would it cost to hire a qualified person to do the job? I suspect that wages and benefits paid to a local person would be much more than contracting out with a “reputable” company. School budgets are very tight.
Just make it a stipend to a qualified teacher or ed tech
Good point. What exactly are they managing though? How did we use to do this? Am I missing something here? On the one hand you have a list of substitute teachers and their qualifications (verified one would hope) on the other side you have teacher’s scheduled time off or unscheduled time off. You call the subs qualified and match them up. I know that is an over simplification but really!
I taught school over 30 years ago fresh out of college.I hated calling in sick as you sensed that your boss was none too happy about replacing you for the day. Finding subs starting at 5 in the morning is not something that most principals want to have on their plates. These services are supposed to provide qualified teachers, not just babysitters. A lot of these school systems have fewer people now due to budget cuts. Principals are often asked to do more with less. Trust me-chasing down the right folks to handle a classroom for the day is time consuming.All of us remember the abuse the subs took.
I can understand that. Yes, I do remember subs in school God Bless them! Thank you for your input. Maybe that is a business that could be developed here in Maine. Anyone?
Qualified Maine subs though, correct? Obviously the subs aren’t going to be deployed from NY every time one is needed. Cheaper or not, it does seem a bit absurd.
The vetting process must be a factor as well. We’ve all heard horror stories of predators finding their way into the classroom. Perhaps these large scale operations have better tools available to root out these people before they have have the opportunity to harm a child.
Perhaps. Though shouldn’t the vetters be vetted themselves?
Perhaps, it’s just a case of getting what one pays for. Doing things on the cheap usually doesn’t pay off in the long term.
One would hope that everyone involved is thoroughly checked.With everything available online It’s difficult to run from your past these days-but not impossible. I remember having subs when I was a child that looked like the cat dragged them in.
Or maybe being a larger entity, it would be easier for someone of thet nature would fall through the cracks or a background check would be overlooked. local people know local people and are better suited for this task
Most people have known and trusted camp counselors, boy scout leaders,child care workers, clergy and so on. Just because someone is a local does not guarantee safety for kids.Fingerprinting etc. can find someone who is a past offender, but not someone who’s yet to be caught. It’s scary any way you cut it.
True.
The scamming company should have been vetted.
And the school administrators also , that picked these crooks.
Smarten up already.
#$%T HAPPENS
Yep…”Buy Local” doesn’t stop at the farmers market.
My mother used to substitute at our school and they had one of the administrators call her up and ask her to sub. Usually 3 times a week or more. Hiring an out of state contractor was definitely an inappropriate use of tax payer dollars here…
Feelgood central down in good ole Brunswick is showing that there isn’t much of the three Rs being taught in their school system.But I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that they have been taught the politically correct way to deal with special interest groups.
Great! Our taxes went up 5 1/2 % because we lost $2-3 million from the state and now we have a $2.4 million surplus. If they roll this forward to next year I would hope that means our taxes won’t be going up next fiscal year. However after talking to a woman on the school board she said that might not be the case even though we have several hundred students less because of the base closing. I hope the people of Brunswick wake up next year when the school budget is being discussed and remnd the superintendent and school board of this surplus.
Did they do ANY research of this company before they hired them? Oh, and the word startup should be a red flag…
Perhaps the superintendent could keep this as part of his duties–oh, maybe the teachers’ union won’t allow it!
Eyah. Privatize it. Save money.
The humble Farmer
Why in the world was the district using a company so far away? Makes no sense.
Thousands of dollars per year spent so a principal doesn’t have to manage a list of substitutes? Sure let’s cut programs and institute parking or participation fees but don’t expect the principal to manage a call list. Must be brutal to sit at a desk and use a phone.
When I substituted there was a local woman who handled the list. Her husband was the band instructor. I have no idea how salary/benefits/401K etc worked. She would call me at the beginning of the month with preplanned assignments. Then as other outages occurred she’d know which subs were available and what our preferences were. The teachers knew us and we knew them. Some would request me as I’d attended college with several and I’m sure there were subs who were invited not to return. Does not seem to me this process has become so big and involved that an out of state online system is needed. Wow is all I can think.