Monroe school administrator gets raise as cuts were made to busing

BY Christopher Lang, Correspondent, @topherlang2, MonroeNow, June 7, 2019

MONROE – A raise pushing the school district’s business administrator’s salary above $200,000 annually was not received well by residents during the May 30 Board of Education meeting.

Trustees approved a one-year contract for Business Administrator Michael Gorski with a base pay of $201,251 plus $2,475 for having his certified public account license and $2,500 for longevity for $206,222.

Related: Mass public objection leads to Monroe board reversing some cuts to courtesy busing

The new contract and raise came after a prior meeting where trustees agreed to cut courtesy busing to a few areas and after-school transportation for extra-curricular activities. The board reversed its decision on courtesy busing and directed the administration to re-examine the after-school service.

“There is something terribly wrong with this picture,” said Gazala Bohra. “How can we within two meetings cut such programs and in the second meeting, put on the agenda, and increase the salary of the business administrator.”

Bohra and others made it clear that the move to cut transportation services, the freshman orientation and then approving a salary increase for Gorski was counter-productive.

“With regards to budget cuts, you have mentioned that there were some administrative costs that have increased in terms of salary,” said Ananth Madabushi. “So why didn’t you look inward to first take a look at what administrative costs in terms of salaries can be cut before looking at other options?”

The board did not respond to the multitude of comments about the administrator’s pay increase since it is a personnel matter.