School Boards Paying Extra to Departing Superintendents

In Germantown, where a $16.5 million school referendum is on the April 1 ballot, Superintendent Victor Rossetti’s contract was set to expire at the end of this school year. But the School Board decided to give him early retirement benefits for which he had not qualified.

Rossetti, who has worked for the district for seven years, will retire June 30 with an additional $54,000 in cash and insurance benefits, including $15,000 for severance pay and two weeks of unused vacation.

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Rossetti, 63, who was on sick leave for four weeks last year, said the board knew he had health issues when it decided on the package, which includes paying the full cost of his health insurance premiums for two years.

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In the Mequon-Thiensville School District, Superintendent Robert Slotterback is also retiring June 30, but with a package worth $149,000.

I don’t have a big problem paying a superintendent a good wage if they earn it.  A good superintendent can be a huge asset to a district.  What I have a problem with is a school board deciding to throw extra money at the superintendent when they are on the way out the door.  The superintendents knew the terms of their contracts when they signed on.  If they didn’t like it, then they should have moved on down the road.  The purpose of salaries and benefits is to attract and retain good employees - not as a gift because a school board is buddies with the superintendent. 

And I just love this logic. 

The School Board says, however, that the payout will save the district money because Slotterback, who had one year left on his contract, would have received $186,000 in salary and benefits next year.

What!?!?  Yes, the $149,000 is less than the $186 that they would have paid him, but they also have to pay another superintendent!  So the taxpayers are on the hook for the $149,000 PLUS the salary and benefits of the new superintendent.  The school board can make the argument that buying out the last year of Slotterback’s contract was necessary to recruit the guy they wanted to replace him, but they shouldn’t be dishonest by pretending that they are saving the taxpayers money. 

If only more school boards were like this one.

James Benfield was the superintendent in New Berlin for 15 years before retiring at the end of the last school year when his contract expired. He has also taken a new superintendent’s job, in North Carolina.

The New Berlin School Board rejected Benfield’s requests for retirement benefits beyond those in his contract, said School Board President Keith Heun.

“We were very careful and we were very adamant at the time that we were not going to go above and beyond Mr. Benfield’s contract because it was not in the best interest of the taxpayers of New Berlin for us to do,” he said.

UPDATE: Dad29 points out another facet of this story.

Health insurance: $36,852

which is:

the full cost of his health insurance premiums for two years.

Eighteen thousand, four hundred twenty-six dollars per YEAR!

The family plan provided by a very large local employer (union shop) costs just over $12K/year. The plan has a $1K HSA and stop-loss deductible of $3K/family.

1. If you think it is hard to fire a teacher, try firing a Superintendent. There is only one way and that is to pay them. Real world rules do not apply in the world of education.

   You have posted plenty of examples to know that it is not only truth, but gospel. If this was a mutual bye-bye, the taxpayers got a super deal if their next super outperforms their current super.

   Who knows, maybe this guy did a great job, and they are spiffing him on the way out. A good superintendent would or should have saved taxpayers a lot more money over his tenure than his exit “bonus.” It is all about feelings Owen and has nothing to do with performance or accountability.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 22, 2008 at 0943 hrs




2. Sounds like the “golden handshake” you hear about in the corporate world.  Of course, in this case your local taxpayer is getting the “golden shower”.

   Warning - Google “golden shower” at your own risk if Family Filter is turned off.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 22, 2008 at 1143 hrs




3. The real “golden shower” may have taken place all the years a super was getting paid $140,000 plus lavissh ennies when they were doing a $40,000 job based on performance. Nobody notices the content of the shower until suddenly they are alarmed that they have to pay $4,500 as a bye-bye package.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 22, 2008 at 1335 hrs




4. If you think it is hard to fire a teacher, try firing a Superintendent. There is only one way and that is to pay them. Real world rules do not apply in the world of education.

   I think Owen’s point is more that the school board is trying to bullshit their way out of this, while looking good.  Most people understand the difficulties in firing someone, and the payoff involved with positions of authority, if they had come clean and said it was a payoff to protect against lawsuits, it might have been better.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 22, 2008 at 1713 hrs




5. Good point but it coud have been part of the settlemen to not say anything negative. Both sides usually have a strong desire to keep dirty laundry out of the media.

   Also, who in their right mind wants to look bad in the media?

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 22, 2008 at 1855 hrs




6. Like you do when you spend $150k on an outgoing superintendent when you didn’t have to?

   Posted by Owen on March 22, 2008 at 1857 hrs




7. You think 18k/year is bad for health coverage… try the 20k+ that MPS pays.

   We got our statement from MPS a few weeks ago that explains how much you really got paid (or what the employee cost MPS).  The better half cost MPS over 70,000 last year.  And she only has 8yrs exp, and a bachelors plus 16…

   Posted by Clint on March 22, 2008 at 1915 hrs




8. Owen says: Like you do when you spend $150k on an outgoing superintendent when you didn’t have to?

   That is part of the deal. The super keeps his mouth shut on the way out. Nobody gets into a p*ssing match to see who the real incompetents are. They look generous and he looks like “mission accomplished” and the public/media never know the real story.

   Note: I have no idea if this is what is going on in Germantown. Maybe the guy did a super job and they are grateful to him on the way out. Boards have a very hard tie holding anyone’s feet to the fire-especially their own.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 22, 2008 at 2104 hrs