Documents › Board of Education, 2026-05-19

agreement 5 pages Scanned/OCR — text may contain errors

--- PAGE 1 --- KE AN mcs = ANE @ Westchester @ Long Island PC. 445 Hamilton Avenue 534 Broadhollow Road | ATTORNEYS AT LAW hie Bia, NY 10601 viele NY 11747 i Phone 914.946.4777 Phone 631.776.5910 Mi Mid-Hudson ll New York City | | 200 Westage Business Center 60 East 42™ Street | | Suite 120 Suite 810 Fishkill, NY 12524 New York, NY 10165 Phone 845.896.0120 Phone 646.794.5747 Privileged and Confidential Retainer Agreement April 24, 2026 WILLIAM KANG Member wkang@kblaw.com Mr. Stephen Walker Superintendent of Schools Croton-Hatmon Union Free School District 10 Gerstein Street Croton-on-Hudson, New York 10520 Re: Proposed Agreement for Legal Services 2026-2027 School Year Dear Steve: I am writing to set forth the terms and conditions of the engagement of Keane & Beane, P.C. to represent the Croton-Harmon Union Free School District for the 2026- 2027 school year. Keane & Beane, P.C. will maintain both the retainer amount and hourly rate in effect for the 2025-2026 school yeat. Kindly review this proposed Retainer Agreement. If this Retainer Agreement is acceptable to the School District, following approval by the Board of Education, where indicated below, please countersign one (1) original of the letter and return it to me to confitm our fitm’s retention as General Counsel for the School District. Should you have any questions about the terms set forth below, please let me know. Nature of Our Engagement The Board of Education is retaining Keane & Beane, P.C. to be General Counsel to the School District. It is anticipated that the attorneys in the firm’s Education Law Department will be the attorneys primarily responsible for representation of the School District. General Counsel Retainer Services include all inquiries from the School District, except as noted below. Advice and counsel provided under the General Counsel Retainer covers Educational Law topics, typically including general education issues, personnel and civil service questions, budgeting matters, student transportation and business office issues (such as bidding requirements). Advice and counsel on special education issues, other than litigation (e.g., due process hearings, appeals to the Commissioner or court proceedings), is included. No bond counsel services will be WWW.KBLAW.COM --- PAGE 2 --- KEANERBEANE rc. ATTORNEYS AT LAW Mr. Stephen Walker | Superintendent of Schools ! Croton-Harmon Union Free School District April 24, 2026 | Page 2 provided. Client bulletins on issues of special interest are included under our Retainer as are staff development sessions held for all clients. The General Counsel Retainer covers meetings, as needed with the Administration, telephone consultation and opinion letters. Included within this Retainer is a monthly meeting in the School District with the Administration or the Board of Education. This Retainer assumes that the presence of an attorney at Board of Education meetings on a tegular basis will not be required. However, it is understood that there will be times when it will be necessary for counsel to attend Board of Education meetings on General Counsel issues, such meetings are within the Retainer. ‘The School District agrees to cooperate with Keane & Beane, P.C., to keep us informed of any developments that are relevant to our engagement, to comply with this Retainer Agreement and to pay our fees on time. We agree to keep the School District informed of all information regarding our representation of the School District. Billing Arrangements In consideration of the legal services to be rendered to the School District, Keane & Beane, P.C.’s legal fees for the 2026-2027 school year will be based on an annual General Counsel Retainer of $45,000.00, with an hourly rate of $240.00 being billed to the School District for any work under the retainer over 250 hours and any time spent on matters that ate excluded from the General Counsel Retainer as specified below. The annual General Counsel Retainer will be billed in twelve (12) equal monthly installments. Keane & Beane, P.C. also will provide services to the School District with respect to the following matters, as needed; however, such matters are excluded from the General Counsel Retainer: 1. Litigation — Represent the School District in litigation matters, including matters before the courts, hearing officers (including but not limited to student disciplinary hearings, employee disciplinary hearings and special education impartial hearings), arbitrators, the Commissioner of Education, State Review Officer and administrative bodies (including but not limited to PERB, State Division of Human Rights, U.S, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Billed at the hourly rate of $240.00 for services performed by attorneys and at the hourly rate of $125.00 for services performed by paralegals and law clerks. --- PAGE 3 --- KEANERBEANE:rc. ATTORNEYS AT LAW | Mr. Stephen Walker | Superintendent of Schools | | Croton-Harmon Union Free School District April 24, 2026 ! Page 3 2. Real estate matters — Lease, purchase, conveyance and/or sale of any interest in real property, land use or environmental issues. Billed at the hourly rate of $240.00 for services performed by attorneys and at the hourly rate of $125.00 for services performed by paralegals and law clerks. 3. ‘Tax certiorari matters — Advice and counsel for tax certiorari matters, whether the School District is a party or not. Billed at the hourly rate of $240.00 for services performed by attorneys and at the hourly rate of $125.00 for services performed by paralegals and law clerks. 4, Construction matters — Advice on matters including, but not limited to, consultants’ agreements, review of construction bid and contract documents, review and preparation of documentation for compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”), defaults, review of payment and performance bonds, mechanics liens and workouts. Billed at the hourly rate of $240.00 for services performed by attorneys and at the hourly rate of $125.00 for services performed by paralegals and law clerks. 5, Negotiation Services — This service would include preparation of proposals, acting as chief negotiator at all negotiation sessions and mediation and fact finding, if necessary, and meetings with the Board of Education and Administration. Billed at the hourly rate of $240.00 for services performed by attorneys and at the hourly rate of $125.00 for services performed by paralegals and law clerks. 6. Technology Services and Licensing Agreements, e.g., software, hardware and firmware. Billed at hourly rate of $240.00 for services performed by attorneys and at the hourly rate of $125.00 for services performed by paralegals and law clerks. Our minimum billing increment is six (6) minutes or one tenth of an hour (0.10/hout). All bills are rendered on a monthly basis and will include the services our firm performed during the month in question. Each monthly bill will include a description of the services performed, the dates on which each service was performed and the attorney, paralegal or law clerk who performed the work. All monthly bills are payable within thirty (30) days. In addition to paying Keane & Beane, P.C.’s fees as referenced herein, the School District will be responsible for paying all costs or disbursements incurred or advanced by us in representing the School District under the terms of this agreement. Such costs include, but are not limited to, court filing fees, application fees, stenographic or other recording services, travel expenses, and Federal Express or other overnight or same --- PAGE 4 --- KEANERBEANE rc. ATTORNEYS AT LAW Mr. Stephen Walker | Superintendent of Schools Croton-Harmon Union Free School District April 24, 2026 Page 4 day courier service. These expenses also will be billed to the School District on a monthly basis. Other ‘Terms The School District may terminate this engagement at any time. Keane & Beane, P.C. may withdraw from the representation described herein with the School District’s consent or for good cause. In addition to non-compliance with this Retainer Agreement, good cause for Keane & Beane P.C.’s withdrawal may also include a refusal to cooperate with Keane & Beane, P.C. or any circumstance that would render our continuing representation inconsistent with the Model Rules of Professional Conduct as adopted by New York State. Upon termination of our services, whether or not they are terminated by the School District or by us, all unpaid charges shall immediately become due and payable. We will likewise deliver to the School District all records of ongoing cases or matters and all property of the School District in our possession, except those subject to any lien. It is expressly understood that Keane & Beane, P.C. does not guarantee or predict any result whatsoever in connection with the legal services it will perform on the School District’s behalf. Further, this Retainer Agreement expressly excludes matters not specifically articulated as included herein. With respect to any such matters, Keane & Beane, P.C, will consult with the School District prior to undertaking any services with respect thereto and will reach a separate retainer agreement as to the services. Keane & Beane, P.C. is not aware of any existing client representation that constitutes a conflict of interest relative to this engagement. If a conflict does arise or appear, Keane & Beane, P.C. will communicate with the School District about the conflict and its resolution. Keane & Beane, P.C. generally retains clients! files in paper or electronic form for at least seven years after conclusion of the matter for which representation was provided. However, once the matter has been concluded, the School District may take possession of the files at any time by delivering a written and signed request to the firm. If, upon the expiration of seven years after conclusion of the matter, no request has been received, the firm reserves the right to destroy /purge the files without further notice to the School District. In the event that a dispute arises between Keane & Beane, P.C. and the School Disttict relating to fees, the School District will have the right to seek arbitration of the dispute --- PAGE 5 --- KEANERBEANE rc. ATTORNEYS AT LAW Mr. Stephen Walker | Superintendent of Schools | Croton-Hatmon Union Free School District April 24, 2026 Page 5 pursuant to Part 137 of the Rules of the Chief Administrator of the Courts. A copy of Part 137 will be provided upon request. I trust this letter fully sets forth the substance of our engagement. If the School District agrees with the terms set forth in this Retainer Agreement, please sign where indicated below and return one (1) original of this Retainer Agreement to Keane & Beane, P.C. This Retainer Agreement will take effect on July 1, 2026 if executed by you and returned to our offices. Thank you again for choosing Keane & Beane, P.C. to represent Croton-Harmon Union Free School District. Very truly yours, William Kang Wk /dy cc: Barbara S. Durkin, Office Manager of Keane & Beane, P.C. Denise Hatrington-Cohen, Assistant Superintendent of Business of Croton-Harmon Union Free School District Agreed to and accepted on the day of , 2026 CROTON-HARMON UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT se ee Stephen Walker, Superintendent of Schools 2910/001/4880-7616-7273v1