The Silent Treatment
When publicly asked last June about the ramifications of the retroactive raise, School Board members remained silent about the terms of the Superintendents retirement. They kept a major portion of her total compensation hidden from public view. They replied over and over that the Superintendents salary was being increased by $31,000. What they did not say was that they had already approved her as-yet-unspecified raise three months earlier and attached it to a management salary-step program. This made passage of the raise a done deal. As you will see, this was only part of the story. The Superintendents retroactive raise was approved by a 3 to 2 vote. School Board President Saundra Davis and Dr. Dana Russell voted no. Their reluctance suggests that they may have understood the magnitude that such a raise would have on the School Districts cash settlement and on Dr. McGaugheys overall retirement package. Stew Bubar, Jessica Beagle-Roos and Marla Wolkowitz voted to approve it. The Superintendents November 2001 contract calls for extensions to be only12 months. The School Board violated its own provision and extended her contract for two years. At retirement, Dr. McGaughey should have received only a 12-month cash settlement worth $154,000, not the 18 months maximum settlement she could ultimately receive worth $232,000. Do the math. That is a difference of more than $77,000.
One Crucial, Profitable Month
Also, by allowing the Superintendent to work into the next fiscal year, the first month of her 2-year extension, the School Board guaranteed that she would become eligible to accrue 25 more working days of vacation (worth $17,185) with her previous unused vacation days. At retirement, she could only claim a total of 35 days (worth over $24,000). She also was entitled to receive a new annual allotment of 12 days of sick leave (worth $8,250).
By paying her newly approved $12,890 monthly salary, along with a lump sum settlement of her newly accrued vacation days, sick days and travel allowance, the Superintendent was compensated more than $38,000 for the month of July 2006. Not bad for a months work.
Contrasting With Teacher Scale
By comparison, a starting teacher in the School District gets around $40,000 per school year. It also means that her retirement compensation would not have to be shown until next years accounting. This has the effect of separating the Superintendents salary paid in 05-06 from her cash settlement being shown in fiscal 06-07. At 53 years old, if Dr. McGaughey remains in retirement and doesnt seek re-employment, the District will be saddled with paying 100 percent of her Pers Care at $20,000 and her Delta Dental at a cost of more than $240,000, until she and her spouse become eligible for Medicare at age 65. When you add the March 2006 contract amendment, giving her an annual $2,000 medical supplement beyond the Pers and Delta coverage, the total goes well above a quarter million dollars.
Climbing into the Stratosphere
By adding her cash settlement of $232,000 and her retired medical premium costs ($240,000) together, her retirement package could cost the District more than a half-million dollars in post-employment costs! Does this look like a woefully underpaid School Board employee? These are just some of the facts Board members choose not to explain when publicly asked. Why? I can only guess. Because members didnt want the community to know how much she was getting? Because they didnt want to jeopardize Dr. McGaugheys lucrative retirement? Because they wanted her to get as much out of the District as legally possible?
And Now About More Self-Interest
It is in Dr. McGaugheys own self-interest to try and maximize her retirement as much as possible. But, it is the School Boards duty, as elected officials, not to comply with such costly self-interests. This Board should not have abandoned its fiscal responsibilities by using the publics money in showing their own appreciation of the Superintendent. Mr. Bubar and Dr. Beagle-Roos refrained from commenting on the reasons for their approval. But, Ms. Wolkowitzs approval vote is clearly understood. She has stated publicly on many occasions she felt the Superintendent should be paid more. Well, it looks as if she finally got her wish. The question could be asked, Was there Board complicity in this plan? Some might say the School Board may have been duped by the Superintendent into enhancing her own retirement package. But their continued silence suggests complicity.
Dr. Lauras Average Salary
During her 9 years with the School District, Dr. McGaughey has been compensated over $1 million for her services. Now we learn, her cash settlement and her post-employment benefits may cost the District an additional $500,000. That would mean the District compensated her more than $166,000 annually. This is not ot the poorly paid image manifested by the Board for public viewing. The School Districts governing board withheld pertinent information from the public in order to continue to paint the picture of an under-compensated employee. Finding out that was not the case, it strikes me that the loyalties of the majority who approved her raise were terribly misplaced. They leaned toward a favored employee rather than to the community that elected them.
Postscript
Ben Franklin wrote, Half the truth is often a great lie. Theres also a Yiddish proverb that is apropos. It says, A half-truth is a whole lie. By their misleading silence, School Board members told us what turned out to be a great and costly lie. In their half-truth silence, Board members have betrayed our trust with a great and costly lie. They should be held accountable.
