KINDERHOOK–At a special board meeting Tuesday, April 30 the Ichabod Crane Central School District Board of Education appointed Suzanne Guntlow acting superintendent. The vote was unanimous.
Ms. Guntlow was appointed assistant superintendent in March and before that she was principal for Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR). She was hired by the district in December 2013 as principal at the primary school.
The board approved a resolution saying that the acting superintendent’s position is “commencing April 9, 2019, [and the board] approves the agreement dated April 30, 2019 and authorizes payment thereafter.”
Current Superintendent Michael Vanyo is on unpaid, indefinite leave. Mr. Vanyo was arrested on April 6 for driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and an improper right turn in the Saratoga County Town of Wilton.
On Monday, April 29, Mr. Vanyo had his driver’s license suspended by a town court justice. Jonathan Cohn, Mr. Vanyo’s attorney, told the Times Union that Town Justice David Towne did grant Mr. Vanyo two driving privileges, allowing him to drive to work and to doctor’s appointments, because he is a first-time offender.
“It’s pretty standard, pending prosecution,” Mr. Cohn told the newspaper.
The Board of Education agreed to Mr. Vanyo’s request to put him on unpaid leave April 9. The board has been meeting with the district’s lawyer and did discuss the process needed to dissolve Mr. Vanyo’s employment contract. The district would have to hire an arbitrator and a stenographer and go through a hearing, giving Mr. Vanyo due process of the law. The decision by the arbitrator would be binding.
Board members held another special meeting May 1. They went directly into a closed-door session with their attorney Jay Girvin of Girvin & Ferlazzo, PC. When they resumed the open meeting, Board President Matthew Nelson said the board was taking no action at this time. He stressed to the parents and staff who attended the Wednesday night meeting that the board was continuing to discuss the issue and that Mr. Girvin was talking to Mr. Vanyo’s attorney.
Mr. Nelson also said that Mr. Vanyo’s legal issues are going through the courts but are separate from the board.
To contact reporter Emilia Teasdale email