Wednesday night, the Homer-Center School Board approved the contract for Superintendent Ralph Cecere, but the vote was split.
The vote was 5-3 with Dr. Christa Pontani Palmer, Gerald Bertig and E’milie Aires voting against it, and Dr. Tory Dellafiora abstaining as she has only been on the board for a few weeks. All three said their no votes were not against Cecere. Palmer said the board had received the contract a little over 24 hours before the meeting. She was also against some of the parts of the contract concerning health insurance packages and the increase in salary. In board comments, she asked Cecere to match his contract increases with financial savings.
Board President Michael Bertig said that the discussions leading up to the contract were thorough.
In other business, the board approved a resolution for the Pennsylvania Act One Index, meaning the district will not raise taxes above the 5.1% rate. This does not commit the district to any tax increases.
