Kudos

Here in the patch, we offer kudos to Albert Gallatin Area School District superintendent Carl Bezjak, business manager Denise Sheetz, and the five central staff members and 11 principals who volunteered to take a one-year pay freeze to help out with the district's current budget crisis.

“The amount of our individual salaries will be equal to our individual salaries for the fiscal year 2010-11,” Bezjak said in today's Herald-Standard. “We are trying to offset this budget tragedy. With their hands raised and sacrifices made within their own households, they jumped in the boat. I was touched and the board was very gracious.”

Granted, these are the some of the best-paying positions in the district, and some might argue that these folks are among those who can most afford to take such a hit. But there is something to be said for leading by example, which these employees have done.

As a follow-up, we would still like to see the newspaper be more aggressive about asking school board directors how many relatives they have working in the district. It is certainly relevant if that is the case with any of the six AG directors who voted for this year's 12.3-percent tax hike: Ed Sutton, Edward Andria, William Boni, Edward Colebank, David Howard and Ken Plisko.

It would also be interesting to know whether AG teachers were officially asked to accept a one-year pay freeze, and what their answer was.

Bezjak, Sheetz, the five central staff members and the 11 principals have done the right thing to help out in a time of crisis. If you see them, make sure to tell them so.