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PUSD board to vote on superintendent’s new contract Wednesday night

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By Emily Sorensen

The possible extension of the contract of Supt. John Collins will be discussed at Wednesday night’s meeting of the Poway Unified School District Board of Education.

The meeting will start at 6 p.m. in the district office meeting room, 15250 Avenue of Science in Carmel Mountain Ranch.

Board President Todd Gutschow on Friday confirmed that the board will be discussing the contract renewal. A closed session prior to the meeting will allow the board to make any last-minute changes necessary, he said, so that the vote will not have to be delayed again.

The new contract was initially scheduled to be voted on at the March school board meeting but was taken off the agenda after some corrections of legal wording were unable to be completed in time.

“We tweaked the words to make it easier to read, and to fit the new legal requirements,” said Gutschow.

If approved, the new contract will extend the superintendent’s employment through June 17, 2017. Collins’s current contract is through 2015.

“We believed it was appropriate to extend Supt. Collins’ contract after completing his evaluation, and it being a positive evaluation,” said Gutschow. “He had a little less than two years [left on his contract]; we felt it was appropriate to extend his contract now [rather than wait another year for his contract to be up for renewal].”

Many of the revisions in Collins’ proposed new contract are to improve transparency, said Gutschow. There were also a number of statutory changes made to the Education Code and state laws since Collins’ prior contract was written, which also required some revision and legal rewording to comply.

One thing Gutschow stressed was that the new contract and its terms did not include a salary raise for Collins. Instead, a section of Collins’ former contract, the Retirement Service Credit, has been folded into his base salary rather than be a separate compensation. The Retirement Service Credit entitles Collins to an additional percentage of his salary based on the number of years he has worked for the Poway Unified School District.

Collins has also agreed to accept the current rate of Retirement Service Credit he is compensated for, 26.5 percent, rather than the higher rate he would be due next year, 29.7 percent, under his current contract. This will save the district about $16,000 a year, said Gutschow.

Collins’ total cash compensation for 2014-15 under the new contract will be $331,144, with a base salary of $297,735. It would be a total cash compensation of $347,398 for 2014-15 under his current contract.

“Supt. Collins was willing to take the lower rate in exchange for a longer contract term,” said Gutschow.

Collins’ new contract also includes longevity, which administrators are entitled to after serving in a district for a number of years. Collins’ contract will include a longevity step increase of 10.38 percent, or $30,909 a year.

Gutschow said it was unusual for a superintendent to have longevity, because superintendents do not usually have long-term service in their districts. Collins has worked as an administrator in the PUSD for 25 years.

Collins also get a doctoral stipend of $2,500 a year, the same as other certified managers who hold a doctorate in the district. “(Collins) does not get a cell phone or car allowance, or any special retirement funds,” said Gutschow.

Gutschow also said that the mutual termination of agreement clause, which would entitle the superintendent to a cash settlement of either 18 months of his monthly salary or the salary of the remainder of his term, whichever is less, is not unusual. “That’s what all superintendents get [in their contracts], it’s just how it is,” said Gutschow. “It’s not unusual. We’re not trying to give him a sweet deal before November.” Collins would also receive the same cash settlement if the board chose to terminate his contract without cause. A legal rewording in the “terminating with cause” section of the contract clarified what would count as causes for terminating.

A copy of the full agenda, including a copy of the new contract, is now available on the district’s website at

www.powayusd.com/board/agendas.shtml

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