Happy Holidays, You Got Underwear.

Dear Pasco School Board,

As we head into the new year, I resolve to face the fact that nobody really wants my opinion, you least of all. However, in the spirit of the season, I feel inclined to give you a gift. The gift of knowledge. Don't thank me just yet; I'm not doing this to be generous. I simply feel obligated to bring something to your attention before it has the chance to plant it’s teeth into your collective behind.

The Gift of Awareness

I’d like to speak to you about a couple of contracts I was recently shown (apparently word got out that I'm a PSD junkie and I'll read anything they print, so now that's all people send me anymore). They are for your current Superintendent, Saundra Hill and her presumed successor and Superintendent-Currently-in-Action, Michelle Whitney. Now, before I begin, I need to remind you that these documents are both a matter of public record, since both these individuals are employees of a public entity. In fact you should be very familiar with them since you are responsible for enforcing them. But times are hectic and I'm sure you've been busy trimming the holiday tree, so maybe you haven't read through them lately. Some of their content, however, may surprise you, given that I know how concerned you are with our current financial state. That is why I'm bringing them to your attention now.

Michelle’s position is technically Deputy Superintendent. I am not sure what the responsibilities of the job are, since they are not listed in the contract at all. But I'm sure you know what it is she does right? Before this promotion, Mrs. Whitney was payed a little over 113,000 dollars a year. In her current contract, her salary is listed as 145,000. That's quite a leap. In fact, this is a salary jump of over thirty thousand dollars in a single year and without any stipulations of additional duties or responsibilities in the contract. 

Contrary to the popular belief, Scrooge McDuck did not work
as an assistant superintendent at PSD.

For this price tag our district could hire another full time teacher and pay all associated benefits for this teacher. I am not going to argue for what I assume the reasoning is behind this massive pay raise. However, I am going to point out that this district was, at the time of this contract's signing, claiming to be unable to provide more than one hundred and twenty copies a month for teachers to make worksheets. So this is a hard sell for me.

Also in Mrs. Whitney’s contract (which you did not sign, leading me to believe you may not be aware of the details) twenty-two vacation days are provided for a 12 month period. This is in addition to twelve sick days and three personal days. All these are listed after a work year of only 226 days is stipulated in the contract, so for a point of comparison, you should know a standard work year is 251 days. I personally do not know anyone in any line of work who has this large number of paid vacation and leave days provided for them, nor a 12 month work year with such a small number of workdays. And that's just the perks for the deputy superintendent. Mrs. Hill’s contract is even more generous than Mrs. Whitney’s with 30 vacation days and the perk of cashing in unused days.

I don't know how many work days are fair for a person of Mrs. Whitney or Mrs. Hill's status, but I would like to take you on a little stroll down memory lane. As you know we are suffering from a terrible shortage of substitute teachers. Our own teachers are having to give up their planning time to cover for other teachers. This means that instead of having a quality substitute in class for the day, a child in kindergarten may have as many as six different frazzled and overworked teachers popping in to cover their class for an hour or two. Now for that stroll I promised you. Two years ago, Mrs. Hill announced that she and her staff would be working as substitute teachers in schools to help cover classes that had gone unfilled. To date, Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Whitney have covered zero classes each, for a grand total of zero classes. Perhaps it is time to rethink our leave policies for our upper administrators until our students’ needs are being taken care of. If they have so many days off, perhaps they could volunteer some of their free time to come and cover one of those classes they promised to cover.

This is Mz Your Child's Teacher. She has a temperature of 101, ran out of sick days
when she broke her leg, but she's still at work because the administrators are all on 3 week
vacations. I bet she's going to do a great job and not get anyone sick.

I'd also like to talk about how both our Superintendent and deputy are receiving generous healthcare benefits. Though it’s not stipulated in either contract, public record indicates the amount of their compensation last year was just over 18 thousand dollars each last year. I guess it's hard to pay for your own health insurance when you only make six figures. 

In addition to these benefits, we are also paying handsome retirement benefits to each of these individuals. Mrs. Whitney’s contract indicates that she will receive seven hundred dollars monthly, totaling $8,400 yearly, deposited into a tax-safe retirement account. Even though the contract also suggests Mrs. Whitney contribute to this account, it does not require her to do so before contributing this flat sum. Mrs. Hill is currently receiving an additional 9% of her compensation each year for her own retirement account. Her contract indicates this number has a maximum amount of $15,500 per year. For a closer reference, your teachers are obligated to put in their own money towards retirement.

Dear, I'm thinking we need to get a job in Pasco School
District's corporate office. We're having to spend entirely
too much of our own money on our golf club membership.

To me, both the percentage and the actual number of Mrs. Hill's retirement compensation are simply staggering. My personal feelings on Mrs. Hill are not a secret at this point. However, knowing that between these two administrators, without their being required to contribute a single cent, our district is providing almost twenty four thousand dollars every year for their retirement, makes me feel vaguely nauseated. I guess one could argue that these numbers are simply the norm, but then buying curriculum is also the norm and we haven't bothered to worry about that in years.

I do not know if you are aware of this, but our school district is also paying over 1,300 dollars to two individuals every month FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF OWNING A CAR. Mrs. Whitney’s contract and Mrs. Hill’s contract both include a vehicle stipend, $450 and $850 per month, respectively. Do you get paid by your employer to own a car? I sure don't. And I doubt that any of the families served in our district do either. I am not paid to be available for my employment, it is assumed by my own employer that I must get myself to and from work. I do not personally know anyone who is paid by their employers an additional sum to simply own a car, something which I assume both Mrs. Whitney and Mrs. Hill already did previous to their signing of these contracts. 

The lease on this puppy is a killer. Just kidding, a public school district pays for it.

Ostensibly, this stipend is provided because of the large amount of travel these positions entail, but these contracts also provide for reimbursement if any travel is done for work outside Franklin/Benton county, which seems to render these stipends more than a little frivolous. Maybe for the sake of argument we can assume that these are simply perks necessary to draw in quality candidates to fill these important positions. But wait, are we really trying to draw in quality external candidates for important positions? Historically, the vast majority of our high level promotions are internal. Guess we're just glad-handing our own high rollers.

We thought about getting these kids a classroom computer but we decided
one of our admins needed a nicer BMW to get to work.

Isn't there a better place we could be spending that money? For thirteen hundred dollars a month, our district could outfit an entire elementary school with a lab of test-taking computers over the course of a single year. For thirteen hundred dollars a month, our district could provide an additional para-educator for some of our most desperate SpEd learners. I wonder how much mold could be cleaned out of New Horizon's for $1300 a month? We have been told we cannot afford the curriculum our students really need. How can we afford thirteen hundred dollars every month for two employees to simply own their own cars? Does that add up to you?

Pay attention now, this last bit is actually really important. The last item I feel the need to draw your attention to in Mrs. Whitney’s contract is the language of Article VIII. The second paragraph states “Prior to December 31, 2015, and again prior to February 29, 2016, the Board shall evaluate and assess the performance of the Employee using a mutually agreed-upon form based upon the transition plan and goals and objectives established by the Board for the employee.” I do not know if you have assessed and evaluated Mrs. Whitney yet this year. I do not know if you have agreed upon a form based on the transition plan, goals and objectives you established for her. Heck, I'm not sure you even have goals or objectives for her. But I do know that if you do not fulfill this part of her contract, our school district will be in breach of contract (again!), further proving that we are suffering from a major failure of leadership and opening us up to potentially very expensive litigation.

The most expensive present the taxpayers ever got from
PSD.

Nowhere in this contract do you stipulate any particular duties or responsibilities Mrs. Whitney is intended to perform in this position. I don’t know if you know what she is supposed to be doing as Deputy-Successor-Superintendent of the Pasco School District. I am beginning to believe that no one does. With the way have threatened to cut important and much beloved programs in order to simply provide law-mandated curriculum for our teachers and students, I would hope that such a large investment had some guarantee, no matter how small, of a return. After all, there's only so much money left in those buckets.

The Bucket in the middle has all of Mrs. Hill's Per Diem reimbursements in it.
Just kidding, there's nowhere near enough in that bucket for what we pay her.

Pasco School Board, if you are as concerned with your fiscal responsibility to the taxpayers as you frequently indicate you are, I would urge you to take some time to reflect on the costs we allow ourselves to incur in upper management hiring and contracts. More especially when a frank look at our administrative compensation packages seems to be rather long overdue. Any reasonable person takes a look at their own budget now and then to see where money is being wasted. That gym membership I haven't used in fourteen months? Yeah, that's not good use of my money, and it's got to go. The same may be true for some of our beloved Boothies.

So there it is. My seasonal gift to you, Pasco School Board. I realize my offering may feel like the proverbial underwear under the non-religiously-specific tree but I feel it's the gift you really need most right now.

Happy Holidays,

Alice

All other PSD Junkies may read both contracts here

Saundra Hill's Contract: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4y0Myz3brEiaWRRcUlpaGVEYms/view?usp=sharing

Michelle Whitney's Contract: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4y0Myz3brEiOVpHOGpQY0E1Z1U/view?usp=sharing