SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – Capistrano Unified Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter will accept the $28,000-a-year raise he rejected in February now that a rosier budget picture has enabled the district to restore 269 teaching jobs, a spokeswoman said.
Carter signed a three-year, $974,850 contract on June 2, the same night it was approved by trustees and the same night the district rescinded the layoffs, district spokeswoman Beverly de Nicola said.
Because the contract is effective Feb. 25, Carter also will receive about $7,700 in retroactive pay.
Carter had publicly rejected a contract and the 11.4 percent raise in February, saying it wasn't right to take the money while Capistrano Unified was cutting $27 million from 2008-09 spending. But in May, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a revised state budget that, along with other funds, would restore $10.9 million.
"In light of the improved budget situation and the governor's May revise, and in light of the trustees adopting the superintendent's contract, he will be accepting the terms of the contract," de Nicola said.
Carter's raise was one of two approved June 2. Trustees also OK'd a $13,856-a-year salary increase for Sherine Smith, deputy superintendent of education. The $175,000-a-year contract will be her first since having "interim" removed from her title.
The district still faces a $16.1 million shortfall. It plans to eliminate 44 of 62 bus routes and cut 175 non-classroom classified and management positions, including groundskeepers, maintenance workers, instructional support and office staff, and district-level administrators.
The raises drew criticism from Ronda Walen, president of the district chapter of the California School Employees Association. Without Smith and Carter's pay raises, Capistrano Unified could easily afford to rehire three part-time instructional aides, Walen said.
"I'm very disappointed that anybody would take a raise right now when our classified employees aren't coming back, and I'm disappointed that they couldn't find enough leeway to bring back at least some of the classified employees," she said.
Trustees defended Carter's raise, passed 4-0, saying it reflects his increased responsibilities and commitment to the district. The superintendent was initially hired as an interim executive, and promoted to the permanent post in December.
"I understand the frustration that everybody has," trustee Duane Stiff said after the June 2 vote. "I agree that he is a fantastic superintendent, and to those who feel he's being overpaid or over-appreciated, (you should know that) his contract took many, many days to negotiate."
Trustees considered Carter's latest contract after learning they violated the state's open-meeting law by adopting the earlier contract in a Feb. 25 closed session. The original contract had also been modified after the board's approval, with a clause on termination pay added; the board never voted on the modifications.
Three trustees – Ellen Addonizio, Anna Bryson, Larry Christensen – left the room before the June 2 vote.
They said they were uncomfortable rescinding the contract from February and authorizing a replacement because of allegations by the CUSD Recall Committee parents group that the contract modifications were illegal. The superintendent has denied any wrongdoing, saying the changes merely reflected state law provisions.
"We can't have ratified or voted on something we never saw," said Bryson, who was the first trustee to leave the room because she had a plane to catch.
"I would have voted no on the salary increase," she added. "The shortfall in the state is far more grave at this time. We still have too many people who have not been brought back."
