SIDNEY — A two-year contract extension was awarded to Sidney City Schools Superintendent John Scheu during Monday night’s board of education meeting. Treasurer Mike Watkins was also awarded a new three-year contract.

Board President Bill Ankney explained that by extending Scheu’s contract by two years, that places both Scheu’s and Watkins’s contracts on the same renewal sequence.

“John has done a great job for us,” said Ankney.

Scheu’s contract will now be extended to July 31, 2019. His original three-year contract was to expire on July 31, 2017.

“I am both grateful and humbled by the vote of confidence the board has given for the positive direction the district is headed,” said Scheu.

The motion to approve the extension for Scheu’s contract was approved by a 4-1 vote, with board member Mandi Croft voting no.

“Mr. Scheu has made some great strides in our district,” said Croft after the meeting on why she voted no. “He came here when the district was not in a great place. With that being said, there was still no imperative need to extend the contract at this time given that there was still another year on his contract.

“I am a new board member, and one of our main responsibilities as board members is to employ a superintendent for the district. But knowing everything that is coming up with the school levy and new roles and hires in the district, I felt that being able to see the whole process and the role that the superintendent plays was a necessity before voting for an extension,” she said. “At this very same time next year, I may have been ready to vote in a different way, but at this time, I wanted to see more and make sure that this is the right fit before moving forward.”

The motion to approve Watkins’s contract was approved by a 5-0 vote.

“Mike has done an outstanding job for us,” said Ankney. He pointed out during the last teacher contract negotations that everything went smoothly and that was in part to all of Watkins’s work.

“The teacher’s union felt comfortable with the information from Mike,” said Ankney. “That was the most easy negotiations I have been involved with.”

After the meeting, Ankney was contacted about why the board decided to extend Scheu’s contract at this time.

“John asked for the extension several months ago, before the elections in November,” said Ankney. “Once the new board was installed, I gave everyone a copy of John’s and Mike’s evaluations. We discussed in executive sessions the merits and the demerits of John in lengthy meetings trying to sort through the evaluation versus perceptions versus facts as we could verify versus personal issues versus whatever else we had to discuss about John. Obviously, not all of us were coming to the same conclusion. In a nutshell, while there were things to work on, there was nothing that we considered to be a ‘terminal’ issue. John has done pretty much everything the previous board hired him to do and he has done it very well. This current board hasn’t had enough time develop an honest appraisal of his performance but there is enough there that his performance mimics the previous board’s expectations and his evaluation. The additional two years will also get us past the next potential change of board members without putting the ‘newbies’ into a tenuous position right at the start of their new duties.”

Ankney said the board also wanted to see a continuity in the district’s leadership through the upcoming levy process and into the future as well.

“I see that continuity as critical not only for this levy but in the future as well. From my perspective, as I speak to many different people in the District, John’s reputation for running a tight ship financially lends credence to our position of needing funds,” said Ankney. “I believe many of the non-supporters that were fighting us before John arrived were convinced to change direction because of his reputation. Couple that with what the teachers gave back to us in contract negotiations just before John came on board (most likely the biggest reason we passed the operating levy), we see John as the glue holding things together. We believe (most of us anyway) that changing superintendents at this time would shake the confidence of the public in both the schools and the board. We believe that if the public is confident overall with the path we have been following, there is no strong reason to change that perception by making a change with John. The extension is expected to support that confidence. We have to really put out the ‘facts’ about this particular levy, which we didn’t do before and in retrospect, that didn’t help public confidence in us a district.”

Ankney said from his personal viewpoint, Scheu has done a good job for the district and its students.

“John really has done a very good job for us when you examine the whole picture and the scope of his work. He will be the first to tell you that he and I have some pretty decent disagreements but, we have never failed to work through them professionally,” said Ankney. “We get ‘anonymous’ grumblings or generalized complaints about John and while no one likes to hear negative things about their performance, John has always listened to factual observations and has made efforts to either correct the problem or present a reasoned response that supports his side of the story.

“If his side of the story doesn’t play well, he will be disappointed but he has never pouted and been unprofessional around me. I can and do prefer to work with this type of person; get it out there and then honestly work it out. He has been good about that approach from day one and I know I have really pushed his buttons before but I think we have a pretty good working relationship,” he said.

“As to the rest of the members, I think nearly all of them will attest to his traits as I have described them. This particular group is much better at pounding on factual issues than the previous couple of boards and most of us are from a business background that has a high disregard for unverified accusations and sloppy documentation. Tonight, I think you saw that general confidence four of us have in John,” said Ankney.

Watkins’s salary for the 2016-17 school year will be $106,737. Scheu will be paid $121,984.