High on the list of her legacies will be her mostly invisible role a year ago this month in the County District Attorney’s ruling on excessive health benefits for three Board members.
While some community members defended the Board members and others pilloried them, Dr. McGaughey declined to comment or join the debate.
Over the years, she has fashioned a reputation for steering around disagreements without taking sides or contributing opinions.
When Ladera Heights Was Rejected
Last autumn, when a boiling community-wide debate broke out over whether the Culver City district should accept more than three hundred transfer students — most of them black — from Ladera Heights, the superintendent’s voice was almost indiscernible.
Sources say that Dr. McGaughey has benefitted from a series of raises granted by the School Board that frequently have been accompanied by rancorous disagreements among Board members.
The latest occurred at the regular School Board two nights ago.
In response to a recent claim from Dr. McGaughey that her $123,669 contract called for “longevity raises” every year, and two were due, the Board sought to comply.
According to statements by Board President Saundra Davis at the meeting, the superintendent’s agreement stipulated that, beginning in ’03, she would receive a 2.5 percent longevity raise every other year. After receiving a pay hike last year, the next one was not scheduled until ’07.
However, a four to one majority of the School Board agreed with Dr. McGaughey’s assertion that she was owed 2.5 percent longevity raises for the years ’04 and ’06. The salary increases, it was announced, take effect immediately.
