Superintendent gets 4% Raise and Contract Extension as Teachers are Cut from MCSD
The draft minutes from the June 3 BOE meeting have been released and reveal concerning practices. (Updated 3 PM, June 11)
Sarena Eaton · 2026-06-11
The minutes from the June 3 Board of Education meeting have been released. Some concerning board practices and inconsistencies have been revealed.
After an executive session that lasted into the early hours of June 4, the Board of Education voted to give a 4% raise and contract extension to the Superintendent. With the motion made by Lukas Baker, and seconded by Dick Stearns, the superintendent’s salary will increase from $153,000 to $159,120. Charlie Forkey was the only opposing vote. Earlier in the evening, Baker had noted the need for fiscal responsibility, given the budget deficit, and voted against the reinstatement of sports (the video of this discussion is linked to the article).
For a board so concerned with fiscal responsibility, these actions call into question whether the elected members of the Board are acting responsibly within this financial crisis.
Further concern is drawn from how this section of the agenda was put to a vote at all. The section (item 13) was not on the original agenda for the meeting. The board does reserve the right to change the agenda at any time, but it is concerning that there was no item on the agenda regarding the Superintendent's Contract prior to the executive session.
Furthermore, the vote occurred after the executive session, ensuring no community members would be present for the vote. The minutes reflect that the executive session ended at 12:25 am. This creates concern that the board deliberately concealed what they knew would be an unpopular vote.
The current version of the minutes also does not show who voted for the motion; a previous version showed Mr. Forkey as opposed. State law requires board minutes to record what members voted for or against every motion in a meeting. When a vote by a Board of Education is not unanimous, the draft or final meeting minutes must explicitly move beyond a simple "motion carried" statement to provide complete public accountability. In prior minutes for the Marathon Central School District, this was clearly documented. However, the current draft of the June 3, 2026, minutes fails to properly identify when motions were not unanimous and the vote count. A numerical breakdown and identification of the vote of each member should be provided, along with who made the motion and provided the second. In the past, minutes have explicitly listed the members voting in the affirmative, those voting in the negative, any formal abstentions, and any members who were absent from the room or the meeting.
All this adds to the continued uncertainty for the district and highlights a board that is seemingly unwilling to operate in the full light of day.
Note: The Board of Education Meeting Minutes for June 3 have been updated after the initial post of this article to include who voted for and against each item.
Sources:
NNToday attempted to review the Superintendent's Contract via SeeThroughNY.net. No contract is on file for the Marathon Central School District Superintendent. Individuals may ask for this public document by contacting the District Clerk at penrosek@marathonschools.org.
Salary data was confirmed at: https://www.p12.nysed.gov/mgtserv/admincomp/