Greater Clark CFO speaks candidly about suspension

JEFFERSONVILLE — With about another week to go on his paid suspension, Tom Galovic, Greater Clark County Schools chief financial officer, says he’s still wrestling with the question of why an investigation was launched against him by his employer.

Galovic was placed on suspension Jan. 20 after two board members, Mark Pavey and Kevin Satterly, and board president Christina Gilkey brought concerns to superintendent Stephen Daeschner about a board policy they thought Galovic had violated. Galovic said he has more questions than answers about why his integrity has come under fire and asked Daeschner about any specific wrongdoing.

“I’m not accused of taking any money, I’m not accused of stealing, I’m not accused of harassment,” Galovic said. “I asked those questions specifically and point blank because I want to know that. I’ve lost a lot of sleep over this. When you don’t know what you’re dealing with, you drive yourself crazy by working over every scenario possible.”

Seeking legal counsel and awaiting the results of the district’s probe into the allegations, Galovic said he expects to hear the findings of the investigation Feb. 3. He said if more time is needed, he’s sure Daeschner will notify him of the change.

He said many of his ideas about the nature of the investigation are speculatory, but in the 18 months he’s worked for Greater Clark, he hasn’t been reprimanded or otherwise disciplined by his superiors, he said.

“We’ll see how that investigation plays out, but ... I don’t have any faith in the members of the board [and their] interpretation of the findings,” Galovic said. “At this point, I can’t think of anything. There are philosophical differences within the budget, but we’ve tried to present everything publicly and openly.”

The district’s budget for 2012 has a funding gap of nearly $4 million. School closures, custodial outsourcing and other difficult solutions have been brought forward by Galovic, but most of the directives were voted down by the board. Though he’s not aware of any board policy violated with his suggestions, he said he wonders if it could have rubbed some board members the wrong way.

Galovic said he was directed by Pavey at a public meeting to come up with $10 million in savings to give the board options in solving the budget deficit. He said maybe some of the solutions presented didn’t mesh well with the board.

Martin Bell, chief operating officer for the district, said he couldn’t talk about what policy was violated because of the investigation, but didn’t know if the differences in budget philosophy were interpreted by the board as poor job performance.

“People didn’t like the way he presented the budget,” Bell said. “Is that a question about his job performance? I don’t know. But in every board meeting, [administrators are] getting questions. We’re in high-profile positions, that comes with the turf.”

But Galovic said another conversation initiated in the beginning of January has some suspicious timing with his suspension. He said around Jan. 9, he heard the board had a front-runner for the superintendent search to replace Daeschner, whose contract was not renewed and will expire this summer. He said he spoke with all of the board members — except Satterly — about the possibility of hiring someone internally for a one-year interim position. Along with cost savings and other advantages, Galovic said he knew four people in the district had superintendent licenses — Assistant Superintendent Travis Haire; Marianne Fisher, Builders Club sponsor at River Valley Middle School; Milt Clayton, transportation director; and himself.

He said some of the board members he spoke with didn’t think the conversations were appropriate, which he thinks they may have seen as a concern to bring to Daeschner. He said within a week of the end of those conversations, he was put under investigation.

Gilkey refused to comment on what board policy Galovic is accused of violating, but said the conversations about hiring a superintendent internally had nothing to do his suspension. Aside from conversations about hiring an interim superintendent internally, he said some of the checks and balances he added to expenditure tracking in schools may have been viewed as a violation of board policy.

“Whenever you ask for increased accountability, what you’re doing is asking people to do things differently, or do them better, more efficiently,” Galovic said. “[Schools have] done a great job, but when you ask people to do things differently or better, there’s angst, and with angst comes people resenting the fact that you’re doing that.”

As far as his suspension, he said he doesn’t have a problem with procedure of the investigation so far. He said removing him from the picture would keep him from being able to color the investigation in one way or another.

“If I’ve done something wrong, let me know and I’ll change it,” Galovic said. “I’ve not knowingly done something wrong, but if I’ve unknowingly done something wrong, I’m willing to be flexible ... to conform to whatever’s more appropriate.”

Galovic said he loves working for Greater Clark, but feels like the pressure from the board — which he said is divided by Daeschner supporters and opposition — would make it difficult for him to continue working in the district without feeling like someone was constantly looking over his shoulder.

“I guess the question becomes, I feel threatened by what’s going on with me,” Galovic said. “I feel threatened that I haven’t had any questions about my job performance in 18 months and all of a sudden, we’re questioning my job performance, my integrity, my character.”

He said the report on the investigation should be given to him Feb. 3, which he’ll have an opportunity to review and respond to. After that, if there are any disciplinary proceedings against him, a committee will recommend that action to Daeschner. He said after it’s all finished, he’s confident the investigation will show he’s done nothing wrong.

“I very much hope that I’ll be cleared of any wrongdoing and I believe I should be offered some explanation as to where this came from,” Galovic said. “Those are my two hopes.”

Pavey and Daeschner were contacted for this story, but neither called back before deadline.

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