As the school board embarks upon yet another quest for a new superintendent, I pray the board has learned a lesson about contract negotiations. I have seen superintendents leave their post early so many times, I feel like it is Groundhog Day. Some superintendents left on their own accord, while others were asked to leave.
I just want to provide a few facts about Dr. Johnson’s contracts. His initial four-year, $197,5000 base pay contract was signed on July 17, 2017. A majority of the board members, (this was one of my no votes), voted to give him a new four-year contract just two years and seven months into his contract. On Feb. 20, 2020, the new contract was signed and had a base pay of $240,000. It also contained a $10,000 retirement bonus at the anniversary of the contract each year.
Notice the date of the initial contract - July 17, 2017. Today, July 17, 2021, would have been the day it would have expired. Instead, Hamilton County taxpayers, because of the new, early four-year contract, paid an additional $63,750 in salary and one $10,000 retirement bonus. $73,750 for what? An additional month?
Early contracts are always said to be an effort to keep another school system from “stealing” superintendents from Hamilton County. How has that worked out? The fact is, when someone is ready to leave, they leave. I just hate the “Superintendent Swindle” (an early contract extension game that is played out in school systems across the country). This has cost the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars over the past few decades.
When a new superintendent is chosen for Hamilton County, I hope we seriously look at the recommendation I made during the last contract negotiation. I suggested the board put a buyout clause in the contract requiring the superintendent to buyout their contact if they decide to leave on their own accord and resign. I received no support for my suggestion. Guess we will just have to wait and see if we have learned anything from the past.
Rhonda Thurman
District 1
School Board Representative