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.