By JEFF MORRIS
Bedford Central School District Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations Thomas Cole has resigned right in the midst of providing a series of presentations about the proposed 2025-26 budget.
The first indication that something was happening came Friday, Feb. 28, when the district clerk sent out a notice that a special meeting of the Board of Education would be held Monday, March 3, at 6 p.m. The only item on the posted consent agenda was a memo from Superintendent Robert Glass, dated Feb. 27, calling on the board to accept the resignation of Cole, effective at noon March 19, after 2.8 years with the district.
That same Friday, Glass sent a message to district families informing them he had received a resignation from Cole.
“Under Tom’s leadership, our team was able to navigate successfully through difficult budget times to achieve a place of stability that positions us well for continued achievements,” said Glass. “We will miss Tom and his expertise, and we are grateful for his contributions; we wish him every success.”
Monday’s special meeting, held in the administration building, was not televised, and there has been no other public acknowledgment of what took place.
A pivotal moment
The events leading to Cole’s resignation evidently played out on Wednesday, Feb. 26, when Cole appeared at the regular school board meeting and presented an overview of the budget. His presentation lasted about seven minutes, and he concluded it by opening the floor to questions.
Trustees Robert Mazurek, Steven Matlin, Betsy Sharma and Blakeley Lowry, along with board President Gilian Klein, asked a series of questions about various aspects of the figures Cole had shown. Everything was proceeding normally until Mazurek said he had an issue with the state aid amount of $9,870,895 for 2023-24 having gone down to $8,672,559 in 2024-25.
“That’s not right,” Mazurek said, and the mood seemed to shift significantly.
After a pause, Cole responded, “It actually is correct, because the —” Mazurek interrupted, saying, “I went to the rolls. We didn’t lose state aid in that year.”
“If I could finish my thought, I’d appreciate it,” said Cole. “At the time we produced the budget, our state aid had been cut by $1.2 million —” “That’s not that year,” said Mazurek, interrupting again. “You’ve got your years mixed up.”
“Why don’t we move along,” said Cole. “You can answer the questions from here on.”
“I think we should correct this for the record,” said Mazurek. Klein interjected that if they wanted to correct it, they needed to hear the answer.
“Are there any other questions?” asked Cole, “because I don’t want to spend my time like this. I’ll answer any questions you like in detail. I am doing all of this off the cuff, with the familiarity I have with it. I’ll look into the individual pieces, if you have questions, I’ll correct anything you want me to look at. But is there anything substantive you have questions about with regard to the operating budget?”
Mazurek replied, “My substantive question related to the state aid is that the actual revenue for 2024 was $154 million —” Cole said he understood he was being asked to go back two years, and he would look into it. “Do you have any questions about what we presented tonight for next year?”
“Yes, it’s on this particular slide,” answered Mazurek. He noted the actual revenue for 2024 went up one million, but in 2026 it’s going up five million. “It’s odd to me,” he said.
“I’ll be glad to look at what happened two years ago with you when we have time,” said Cole. “If there are no other questions about next year’s budget—”
“2024 was a year ago,” said Mazurek.
Cole walks out of meeting
“With regard to the budget, we’re talking about ‘25-’26,” retorted Cole, who simultaneously remarked that Mazurek’s observation was “very good.”
“Yes, I can count the years,” said Mazurek.
“Congratulations,” said Cole. “That’s a big improvement for you.”
At that point Klein reminded them it was a public meeting.
“But I’ve about had it,” said Cole. “So if there are no more questions —“
Mazurek continued, “This is critical. We’re talking about five million dollars. It is absolutely vital to get this right.”
That was it for Cole. “I’m finished for this evening,” he said. “Thank you very much for your time.”
He packed up his things and walked out.
Glass attempted to return to the budget discussion, but Klein was not ready to move on.
“I just want to say, I understand being on the spot and wanting to have time to get information, but in order to get to the next stage, it is critical that we have absolute clarity on historically what was represented and the answers to those questions,” she said.
Glass appeared to begin to say that he thought there was an issue with the manner in which the questions were asked, and Mazurek blurted out, “Here we go.”
“I don’t dispute that,” resumed Glass in response to Klein. “But —“ He once again stopped himself from saying any more, and instead switched gears to, “We can get that information to you.”
The budget discussion continued for a while more as if nothing had happened. But by the following day, Glass had a memo prepared calling for the special meeting on Monday to accept Cole’s resignation.
A timeline of Cole’s BCSD tenure
June 15, 2022: The board appoints Cole as interim assistant superintendent for business and administrative services on a per diem basis through Nov. 4, 2022.
July 1, 2022: Glass is sworn in as the new district superintendent.
Nov. 9, 2022: The board approves extending Cole’s appointment as assistant superintendent for business and administrative services from Nov. 10, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
July 11, 2023: The board approves increasing a tax sheltered annuity contribution for Cole from $5,000 per year to $6,760 per year in lieu of a salary increase for the 2023-24 school year.
June 12, 2024: The board again amended Cole’s contract, which runs through June 30, 2025, to increase the tax sheltered annuity contribution by $6,500 per year in lieu of a salary increase for the 2024-2025 school year.
Nov. 20, 2024: The board acknowledged a title change for Cole to assistant superintendent for business and operations. Mazurek thanked Cole, saying, “Mr. Cole, over the last three years no one has emphasized the importance of budgeting, planning and process more than me. Your command of budgeting, and operational processes and procedures is unrivaled in my experience in the private sector. I look forward to your contributions to the district in these vital areas of all operations, to turn what has been, for many years, a weakness in the district into a great strength to enhance our growth and future success. Thank you and congratulations.”
Klein thanked Cole for creating “a budget that put BCSD back in a healthy place with stability and moving forward with a long range plan that will benefit our students and families.”
Glass also thanked Cole for stepping forward to take on the additional operational responsibilities.
Dec. 11, 2024: Cole gives a presentation to the board updating safety and security initiatives in the district.