Buffalo School Board accepts CFO's resignation, keeps him as a consultant

Geoffrey Pritchard had served with the district for 12 years. School Board President Louis Petrucci said after the brief executive session that the separation agreement between Pritchard and the district was a mutual one. He added that Pritchard left to pursue an opportunity with a local nonprofit entity but for the current school year at least would continue to serve the district in an advisory role. 

"So one of the terms and conditions of the agreement is that he's going to act as a consultant for the next school year while we go through this cycle of filings with the state Education Department to make sure that all of our forms are filled out properly and, more importantly for me as the board president, that we receive our payments from the state in a timely manner, as well," said Petrucci.

That continuity of performance is critical for the district, he said.

"It's a very limited, niche market," said Petrucci. "There isn't a very deep pool of people that have this skill set."

Petrucci said that, in addition to Pritchard's resignation, two other financial executives who might have been qualified to move into the CFO position – the finance controller and director of purchasing – also recently resigned their positions.

"So we lost three high level people all at once within a period of a month," Petrucci said.

The board president did not say how much Pritchard would receive as a consultant. According to information from the Board of Education obtained from the district's website, Pritchard was paid $171,200 annually as CFO.

The board on Monday also approved a separation agreement between the district and Cassandra Wright, who served as associate superintendent for school leadership in the district. 

"We wish her well in her new endeavors," Petrucci said. 

Meanwhile, Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Tonja Williams said Monday that the board would continue its discussion of the Parent Transportation Reimbursement Pilot Program with a presentation at another School Board meeting that will be held later this week.  

The board at its Sept. 21 meeting approved a key step in the program that would allow 1,500 parents to be paid for the mileage required to drive their children to school. It is part of strategy aimed at overcoming a nationwide bus driver shortage that is also being acutely felt on the local level.

Petrucci said the plan still needs to be refined and the parents who might be eligible to participate in the program have not yet been selected.

"They're still refining the data," Petrucci said. 

He added that the board also has to determine whether or not the state Education Department, which reimburses the district for transportation costs, will also reimburse the district for the payments it makes to parents.