School Official Retires one day,is rehired the next

We blogged this one over at Newsalert.Newsday reports:

After retiring as an assistant school superintendent in Commack on Jan. 1 of this year, Ronald Grotsky could look forward to a generous public pension as a reward for his nearly 40 years of service -- $100,682 a year.

His retirement was remarkably short-lived.

On Jan. 2, Grotsky returned to the same job in the same district at the same salary he was making the day before, $174,900 annually. Coupled with his pension, Grotsky was now earning $275,582, paid by state and local taxpayers. The only difference was essentially a clerical one -- the district now classified him under the title "interim" assistant superintendent. He said the district did not interview any other candidates for the job before approving his interim status.

"I believe the district salary and benefits it affords me for the work is fair considering the actual work that I am doing," he said in an e-mail to a reporter.

On Thursday night at a Commack school board meeting, Grotsky announced his resignation from the district, effective June 30. He declined to answer questions from a reporter at the meeting.

A continuing Newsday examination of pension practices in school and special districts shows that at least 40 top-level school administrators on Long Island -- or one in nine -- are collecting two checks from the taxpayers, as retirees and interims. Most are working in different school districts than the ones from which they retired. Collectively, the 40 are getting paid approximately $11 million annually in salaries and pensions.

This practice, referred to by some as "double dipping," is the subject of a bill pending in the State Legislature in Albany that would require retirees to choose between a pension or a salary, if the pension is more than $83,389 and the salary exceeds $30,000. Records show that change would affect all but seven of the 40 administrators.

"I don't think there was ever any intention for the system to work this way," said Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), a critic of the practice who introduced the bill. State Sen. Owen Johnson (R- West Babylon) is sponsoring the bill in the Senate.