Head Custodian At Eastport South Manor Resigns Amid Controversy

The head custodian at the Eastport South Manor School District—who is also employed full-time as chief custodian by the Remsenburg/Speonk School District—resigned from his position last month amid questions about his work attendance, according to sources within the district.

The various sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it involves a district personnel issue, confirmed that Ronald Senn, 52, of Eastport, who had worked for Eastport South Manor since 1989, was claiming that he had worked more hours for the district than he actually did. Mr. Senn was paid $62,825 annually for the full-time position by Eastport South Manor. At the same time, he is paid $82,283 a year—also a full-time salary—as chief custodian at Remsenburg/Speonk, a position he still holds.

Among his duties for Eastport South Manor, Mr. Senn was tasked with supervising night custodians at all four of the district’s schools: Dayton Avenue, Eastport and South Street elementary schools, and at the junior-senior high school. Sources confirmed that district officials learned of the discrepancies in hours worked a few months ago. Criminal charges are not expected to be filed against the former employee.

The School Board accepted Mr. Senn’s resignation from his position at its April 13 meeting, according to Board President Vincent Sweeney. His name was just one of many in a routine consent agenda of the hiring, promotion and resignation of staff.

Mr. Sweeney did confirm that new locks for doors on all four of the district’s schools were replaced following Mr. Senn’s departure. He could not estimate how much the new locks cost, adding that the replacements were “standard procedure.”

The former head custodian began working at the Eastport South Manor School District in 1989 as the “night lead man,” according to employment documents obtained from the district via a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Press last month. According to the documentation, Mr. Senn briefly worked for the Lindenhurst School District in 1989 before applying to work at ESM.

Superintendent of Schools Mark A. Nocero said Mr. Senn had been a good employee during his employment in the district over the last few decades.

Documents show that Mr. Senn was slowly promoted through the ranks of the custodial staff over his tenure at Eastport South Manor. Starting as the night lead man, Mr. Senn was promoted to lead custodian in 1994, and eventually, in 2003, to head custodian by then Superintendent of Schools B. Allen Mannella. He held that position until his resignation earlier this month.

According to Brenda Petrolito, the business manager and district clerk for the Remsenburg-Speonk School District, Mr. Senn is still employed by the district as its chief custodian. Ms. Petrolito said that she was unaware that he was holding down full-time positions at both districts, but added, “Lots of guys have two jobs.”

A spokesperson for the legal department of the New York State Education Department said earlier this month that as long as Mr. Senn was reporting to both of his jobs, it was not illegal for him to have two jobs in neighboring school districts

He has been employed by the district since 1991, where he works alongside his wife, Lisa Senn, who is employed as the school’s cook. During his tenure at both schools, he worked day shifts at the Remsenburg/Speonk School District, and night shifts at the Eastport South Manor School District.

Remsenburg School Board President Kevin Federico said that Mr. Senn had informed the board that he left his position at the Eastport South Manor School District, but not about the circumstances surrounding his resignation. Regardless of any indiscretion at the neighboring school district, Mr. Federico said that the district values Mr. Senn as an employee.

“The bottom line is, he is a valued employee of Remsenburg/Speonk,” Mr. Federico said. “He has been with the district a long time. We value his work ethic, and we are fully supportive of him and his position. He’s an excellent employee.”

Mr. Federico added that Ms. Senn is also an “excellent employee,” at the district, and that both she and Mr. Senn are “valued members of the Remsenburg/Speonk family.”

“My thoughts are only that we value him and we trust that he’ll continue to be an excellent employee,” Mr. Federico said.

Superintendent of Schools Ronald M. Masera echoed Mr. Federico’s comments, saying that he was confident that Mr. Senn’s excellent performance at the school would continue. He added that he had no knowledge of “what was happening at other schools,” and declined to comment as to whether Mr. Senn’s employment records would be investigated in light of the incident.

Discussion of Mr. Senn’s resignation from Eastport South Manor took place in executive session before the School Board’s regular meeting earlier this month, and thus, information was scarce on the issue. Mr. Sweeney said that although a lot of rumors were circulating around the community, he stressed that Mr. Senn “did not steal money from the district,” but failed to elaborate.

“The custodian did resign,” Mr. Sweeney said. “It is a personnel matter, but it wasn’t about stealing money.”

Efforts to reach Mr. Senn for comment were unsuccessful.