Currently before the APW School District Board of Education is a contract to extend Superintendent Eric Knuth's term of employment. Added to this contract is a clause stating that the district will fully pay for Superintendent Knuth's pursuit of a doctorate degree. The position does not require a doctorate degree and therefore is an unnecessary expense to the tax payer and expends monies out of the recently passed school budget for 2019-2020 and tax increase that Superintendent Knuth told the public was necessary "for the kids". 

Now we see that Superintendent Knuth had his own personal interests in mind when using false and misleading statements to persuade voters to approve the budget with tax increase. This is conduct unbecoming of a school superintendent. Further Superintendent Knuth used scare tactics to persuade voters to pass the budget to avoid a contingency budget by threatening that sports and other activities would be cut. Neither Knuth or any board member specified publicly what would be cut in a contingency budget and we know that Expenditures Specifically Authorized by Statute include: Interschool Athletics, field trips and other extracurricular activities. 

Superintendent Knuth also repeatedly mislead the public by stating that it was only a 1% tax increase. Proposition 1 on the first ballot did not specify the actual amount of tax increase, and we learned during a public meeting, from Business Administrator Victor Holl, that it was actually a 2.29% increase. Proposition 1 failed to pass on the first vote and was resubmitted with revised text that stated 1% not to exceed $60,000. It passed on the second vote. Proposition 2 for the purchase of new school buses also authorized the board to levy taxes for the cost of new buses, $275,000. It passed on the first vote.  Superintendent Knuth again misled the public when he repeatedly told the public that the 1% tax increase is well below the 2.29% tax cap for the district, but he failed to account for the tax levy increase in Proposition 2. If $60,000 represents a 1% increase then $275,000 represents a 4.58% increase. Combined, 5.58% is well above the 2.29% tax cap. To exceed the tax cap requires a public vote. Neither Superintendent Knuth or any board member made it known to the public that the combined tax levy increases exceeded the tax cap. The NY SED Guidance on Separate Propositions sites Chapter 97 of the laws of 2011 allowing separate propositions, however it states that if any propositions, or propositions collectively would require expenditures of money that would require a tax levy and would result in the tax levy to being exceeded then such proposition shall be approved if 60% of the votes cast are in the affirmative. Proposition 2 failed to achieve 60% and Proposition 1 revised and resubmitted for a second vote also failed to achieve 60%. Therefore, neither Proposition is approved due to failure of achieving the required number of votes. Nonetheless, throughout this budget process the public was deceived into believing Knuth when he told them it was a 1% tax increase.

Siting here just the most egregious examples, we, the public, property owners subject to school taxes, voters, and residents of the district not only disprove Superintendent Knuth's contract extension with the added benefit of the district paying for his doctorate degree, but we demand that the board terminate his contract immediately for cause, namely his dishonesty and his conduct unbecoming of a school superintendent by misleading the public and using tax payer money for his personal gain.