In a unanimous 8-0 vote on Tuesday night, September 9, the Saugerties school board placed schools superintendent Daniel Erceg on paid administrative leave, effective immediately.
“This decision was made to support the board’s commitment to ensuring a fair, transparent, and impartial internal investigation related to the district’s handling of and response to a serious complaint involving a former employee,” said board president Jeffrey Riozzi in a press release. “Once the board has reviewed the findings and recommendations, decisions about next steps can be made. Until then, it would be premature to speculate.”
In the press release, Riozzi cautioned the public about speculation surrounding the school board’s decision.
“We recognize this announcement will raise questions that we are not able to answer at present,” Riozzi said. “Please be assured, the board remains committed to transparency. However, it is essential that we respect all privacy laws. We also encourage the community to avoid speculation, especially regarding board actions.”
The “serious complaint” referred to in the press release was the July arrest of former SHS wrestling coach and custodian Reid Kappler, who was charged with 18 counts of third-degree felony rape of two girls aged 15 and 16 between 2023 and 2024. District officials spent much of the summer responding to the arrest, including opening its own internal investigation by an independent contractor.
In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, Riozzi elaborated on the school board’s decision.
“We just felt that this was the right time to kind of ensure a fair and transparent finality to the investigation,” Riozzi said. “One thing I haven’t done is I haven’t even asked the investigator, how long it’s going to take. We didn’t want to put time constraints on it. I think this will allow us then to look at the final findings and recommendations and make the appropriate next steps. I think it all goes back to ensuring that we’re doing an impartial internal investigation. That’s why we put we pulled somebody completely from the outside. And we’ve given them complete access.”
During a meeting of the Saugerties town board last week, Ulster County district attorney Emmanuel Nneji said his office had recently received reports that officials in the school district had a long history of not following up on complaints.
“I have received several emails and messages from people in Saugerties talking about their experiences 20 or 30 years ago within the school district about abuse that they suffered and reporting such abuse to school officials, and nothing was done,” Nneji said.
Riozzi said Nneji had met with the school board in recent weeks. He said the decision to place Erceg on administrative leave was not related to the possibility of historic issues in the district.
“I wouldn’t want anybody to speculate on that’s why we did it,” Riozzi said. “That’s not this. This goes back to our internal investigation.… I wouldn’t want anybody to speculate on things other than what I’ve already released and said.”
Erceg was appointed as superintendent in June 2023, and is at the beginning of the third year of a five-year contract. His annual salary is $195,000.
On Tuesday evening, the school board voted to appoint deputy superintendent Gwendolyn Roraback as acting superintendent.
“Please be assured that throughout this transition teaching and learning across our schools, as well as the safety and security of our students, remain the board’s top priorities,” said Riozzi in the press release. “Appointing an acting superintendent supports this commitment by providing steady leadership focused on sustaining the important work already underway within the district.”
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