Interim School Chief Bows Out of Candidate Search Pool

Interim Babylon School District Superintendent Peter Daly will not formally apply for the school chief role and intends to return to his assistant superintendent for business role once the district hires on a new leader.

The announcement made at Tuesday night’s school board meeting appeared to stun more than a few audience members and came on the heels of a anonymous letter, sent to an undetermined number of residents on Monday, that criticized Daly’s performance as both business administrator and interim superintendent.

“I’ve decided I will not apply for the job as it is not what I want to pursue,” said Daly in a short statement during the board meeting. He noted that he has spent 12 years in the district in various business administrative roles.

“All those years have been nothing like the past few months as I’ve learned so much about our community and in talking with teachers, parents and students," Daly said. "Babylon should be the envy of every other community on Long Island."

In response School Board President Dominic P. Bencivenga said he was “disappointed” by the news.

“All the time I have worked with him he has been nothing but a dedicated and consummate professional,” Bencivenga said of Daly.

The anonymous two-page letter, which Patch obtained from a resident, states that in looking to sell a home the letter's author was told by a broker that his house value had dropped due to the “poor reputation of the school district in recent years.”

The letter details Babylon’s loss of $100,000 in construction state aid due to a missed filing date; alleges that an audit reveals "substantial" payments were made to outside contractors for services not rendered and claims Daly’s salary has increased from $115,250 in 2004-2005 to $190,000 in 2011.

“That's a 67 percent increase over 7 years. The only thing that has increased that much are our school taxes,” states the anonymous letter noting the cost of the interim assistant superintendent of business is costing the district $850 a day. It also asserts Daly has little academic experience for the school chief role as he has not worked as a building principal or director of curriculum.

The letter does not stipulate what specific audit report reflects the services allegation. The board formally approved both an independent audit and internal audit Tuesday night and those reports, along with a state audit conducted in 2009, are posted on the district's website.

“Is Peter Daly really the man to put the Babylon Schools back on the right track with fiscal responsibility? It Sure [sic] doesn’t look that way!” states the letter, which also urges residents to conduct their own investigations and ask questions at school board meetings.

The district initiated a formal hiring search effort earlier this month using a consultant and has scheduled two public forums and is asking residents to complete an online survey regarding candidate skill requirements.

Former Superintendent in August after five years at the helm. She first announced her decision to step down in March. and Stephen Bilyk was hired as interim business chief.

The state aid issue noted in the anonymous letter for this year. Gov. Andrew Cuomo then vetoed retroactive reimbursement. Four other Long Island districts also filed late and state legislative leaders have promised to get the money back to the districts in next year’s state budget.

A call to Daly for comment was not immediately returned.

UPDATE: A district representative returned the call later in the afternoon and stated Daly had no further comment regarding his announcement or the letter.