Tom Galovic speaks out after his termination from GCCS

CLARK COUNTY — His termination left him with questions about how he was treated, the process that led to his getting sacked and whether he’ll ever work in education again.

Tom Galovic, the former chief financial officer for Greater Clark County Schools, has taken to the web with some of his perspectives and opinions on what happened to him and the school district in general on a locally based Internet forum.

But in his interview with the News and Tribune, Galovic said he’s speaking out because he wants to make sure his side of the story gets told.

“I feel like if nobody actually comes forward and discusses how these things are handled in Greater Clark and in education in general, nothing’s going to change,” Galovic said. “Somebody’s got to step forward and give the other side of the story.”

Investigated

Galovic said in the time he worked for Greater Clark County Schools, he had not been formally reprimanded or otherwise disciplined for anything until an investigation was launched against him in January.

Galovic said the investigation was started in part because of a payment he authorized to Robbie Valentine, former board member, for a mentoring program at Parkview Middle School. The $500 payment was donated through EMCOR in October 2011, and paid through the school’s extracurricular account.

But upon approval, Galovic said he was unaware Valentine’s wages were being garnished. Documentation from the district shows the money was refunded in full to GCCS on Dec. 22, 2011.

Though Galovic said he understands he made an oversight with Valentine’s garnishment, he thinks that incident was used by the board as something it could “hang its hat on” for disciplinary proceedings against him.

“That’s so minor,” Galovic said. “It was an oversight on my part about the garnishment. Everything else was handled properly.”

The day after the money was returned, GCCS board members Kevin Satterly and Mark Pavey, along with board president Christina Gilkey, approached Superintendent Stephen Daeschner with questions about the incident.

Martin Bell, chief operating officer for the district, declined to comment for this story, but said everything the district had to say was in the termination letter provided after the March 20 meeting of the school board.

The termination letter included accusations of staff members feeling intimidated or bullied by Galovic, as well as a “lost of trust and faith” from board and cabinet members.

But Galovic said Daeschner told him that the intimidation complaint could have been something anyone could have said about any person in the district.

“He said that point blank in front of Marty [Bell] and Sandy [Lewis, district general counsel],” Galovic said. “There are times where people are going to be uncomfortable, where they won’t be sure or feel like they aren’t being treated the way they should, that’s just the way that is.”

Galovic said he didn’t think Bell conducted a fair investigation because he didn’t talk to all of the board members about the incident, only the ones who made the accusations against him.

“[Bell] admitted to me that they didn’t interview everybody that I talked to on the board,” Galovic said. “They had a select number of people they talked to.”

Going forward

Now that the investigation has led to his firing, Galovic said he doesn’t think he’ll be able to get a job in education administration again.

“I am not marketable now for a job in education,” Galovic said. “They effectively — through their lies, deceit and... — have ended my 15-year career of education. They did that based on lies and nonsense. And just because Gilkey thinks they do not have to give an explanation doesn’t mean that it’s right.”

But Gilkey said she doesn’t think Galovic’s career as an administrator is over necessarily. She thinks if anything, Galovic’s openness to the media has done him more harm than good.

“The only person who might have affected his employment opportunities is himself because he’s gone out to the media,” Gilkey said. “Greater Clark has said nothing derogatory about Dr. Galovic.”

She said the board followed procedure by voting on the superintendent’s recommendation to terminate Galovic.

“We handled it just the same way we’d handled anything else,” Gilkey said. “The superintendent did an investigation, he came to the board with a recommendation and we voted on it.”

But Galovic said he thinks there were some behind-the-scenes discussions that led to his termination because he showed interest in becoming the superintendent on an interim basis. The board decided in December not to extend Daeschner’s contract and he will leave the position on June 30. A search for a new superintendent is under way.

Galovic said his concern of behind-the-scenes maneuvering is what has led him to consider legal action.

But as the man who handled the district’s funds for more than a year, he said he doesn’t want to do anything that would further impact Greater Clark’s budget issues.

“If I had a choice of punishing the district and the kids in it or going after the people that did this to me, I’d rather go the latter route,” Galovic said. “Those three members who came in and conspired to do what they did.”

He said he would consider a civil suit against Satterly, Pavey and Gilkey before he’d sue the district.

But Gilkey said she’s not worried about a lawsuit because she doesn’t think the board has done anything wrong.

“We haven’t done anything or said anything publicly that would have damaged Dr. Galovic’s reputation,” Gilkey said. “How can you sue somebody when they haven’t said or done anything? That’s just my opinion, I’m not an attorney.”

But Galovic is living in Indianapolis and spending time with his son, looking for work to pay for child support.

He said though he had been warned about working in Greater Clark by several other administrators in other districts when he took the job, he ended up having an affinity for the schools and the students in them, which is why he hates to leave.

“I would have stayed down there for the rest of my career,” Galovic said. “It had everything I wanted and everything I was used to, and I fit perfectly there, based on my past experiences. For liking my job that much and the place I was employed to be shoved out like a common criminal, it’s embarrassing for the corporation.”

Superintendent Dr. Stephen Daeschner was contacted for this story, but did not return calls before press time.

Clark County

Search Results

Discussion

Tom Galovic speaks out after his termination from GCCS

Site Map

Contact Us