Poway schools chief placed on paid leave

Poway Unified School District Supt. John Collins has been placed on paid administrative leave while a school board-requested audit is conducted.

“As a matter of standard protocol, the board has placed Superintendent Collins on paid administrative leave pending the completion and results of the audit,” a Monday morning district press release said.

Associate Supt. Mel Robertson will serve as acting superintendent during the audit, according to a press release.

Board of Education President Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff said that she was unable to give any details on the audit other than it was related to the superintendent’s contract, but that it was “absolutely safe” to say that the board would be disclose the results to the public when the process was finished. “Every member of the board would like (the audit) to be done quickly so we can disclose the findings,” she said.

O’Connor-Ratcliff said she didn’t know how long the audit would take.

The decision to put Collins, who has worked in the district since 1989 and became superintendent in 2010, on administrative leave was made at Sunday night’s closed session board meeting, said O’Connor-Ratcliff. “We wanted to act quickly and do everything by the book,” she said.

Collins’ current contract expires in June 2017. With a base salary of nearly $300,000 and a total salary of almost $500,000 after benefits and perks, according to the website transparentcalifornia.com, Collins is one of the highest-paid educators in the state.

Following a protracted job evaluation process, Collins in December hired his own attorney to represent him in negotiations with the board, and recommended the board do the same. The board hired Maribel Medina to represent them on Dec. 17.