A Taxpayer's Guide to Surviving CUSD 200: Part VI

Yes, former CUSD 200 Superintendent Dr. Brian Harris is taking a fair bit of taxpayer-funded greenery with him to his next job. $40,000.

You might be interested to know how he pulled that off. We'll look into that, but a bit of backdrop first.

I first heard the news via an email from CUSD 200. A few paragraphs into it, I noted a curiously confusing sentence.

See if you can pick out which one it was from the options below.

  · Dr. Harris’ separation agreement exercises the Board's contractual right to waive a $40,000 payment for Dr. Harris’ early resignation, in exchange for ten defined terms, including significant assistance with the search for a successor.

  · Dr. Harris contractually owes CUSD 200 $40,000 for skipping town early, but the CUSD 200 board has agreed to let him off the hook because, as one board member noted, "We're flush! We couldn't think of anything better to do with the money."

   · Dr. Harris contractually owes CUSD 200 $40,000 for skipping town early, but the CUSD 200 board has agreed to let him off the hook because, as one board member noted, “Shucks, he's a real charmer, all right! I guess he got the better of us.”

No prizes for guessing which is the one from our CUSD 200 board. The way they wrote it, it looks as if the board owed Harris the money, and not the other way around.

I don't suppose that's a coincidence. So much for transparency.

So what exactly are those ten defined terms? Read on. But first let’s quantify what taxpayers paid for.

Dr. Harris was earning $215,000 per year. Hopefully he was working hard for it. 50 hrs per week? And $40K is about 20% of $215K. So... 1/5th of a year.

Ten solid 50-hr weeks of work. That's what we paid for.

As we read the below, let’s play a little game and see if we can figure out where Dr. Harris will be delivering 10 weeks of work.

(Anything in bold is either my comment or my emphasis.)

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a. Harris agrees to voluntarily resign from the District effective May 29, 2014. Harris understands and agrees that his current assignment with the District and all rights under the Contract will be extinguished by this Agreement and merged into this Agreement. Harris will receive no compensation, insurance, or other benefits from the District after May 29, 2014. Harris will execute simultaneously with this Agreement a letter of resignation substantially in the form of that attached as Exhibit A to this Agreement.

When you quit, you lose your salary and perks. Bummer!

b. Harris agrees that he will return all District property in his possession no later than June 30, 2014.

Gosh darn it, you have to return the company car, too!

c. From May 29, 2014, until August 1, 2014, Harris agrees to assist the District in recruiting qualified permanent replacement candidates for the position of Superintendent and/or Interim Superintendent for the District. Such assistance shall include, but will not be limited to, identification of a minimum of five (5) qualified candidates, assisting District in assessing the qualifications of candidates and, pursuant to the direction of the District’s Board, communicating with candidates. In determining the candidates Harris will identify and submit to the District’s Board for consideration, Harris shall be guided by the qualities and characteristics for the District Superintendent set forth in the document entitled “District 200 Superintendent Profile,” a copy of which is attached hereto.

d. Harris agrees that he will assist the District in completing the Community Engagement process, known as “Engage200,” including, at the discretion of the District, attendance at the final meeting of the District Community Engagement Session on June 18, 2014 to provide closure to the formal public portion of the process.

e. Harris agrees to work with and cooperate with the Board in all aspects of the announcement of his resignation to the communities District 200 serves.

You mustn't make fun of the CUSD 200 board in public.

f. Harris agrees to assist the District in an orderly administrative closure of the 2013-2014 school year.

g. Harris agrees to assist the District’s Board of Education in preparation for the regular June Board of Education Meeting, including, but not limited to, the drafting of the agenda for said Board meeting.

h. Harris agrees to assist the District with collective bargaining negotiations until agreement is reached with the Classified Employees Association.

i. Harris agrees to provide for an orderly transition for the interim and/or permanent superintendents.

j. Harris agrees to perform all other duties, which are required for an orderly transition of Superintendents of Schools for the District.

(i) and (j)... Please return the keys to your office?

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Realistically, only half of these ten tasks could conceivably take any real time or effort. Points (i) and (j) look virtually identical. I bet they had nine terms but decided to split the last one out into two. Ten sounds cooler than nine.

All but a few of the terms are essentially promises on the part of Dr. Harris to not set fire to the office carpet on his way out the door.

The contract is vaguely written. Words like “assist” and “orderly transition” don't exactly define a whole lot.

The most carefully written obligation involves Dr. Harris helping to search for a successor. Given that the successor will earn north of $200,000 per year, I don't imagine Dr. Harris will have much difficulty with this one. He needs only to open up his Outlook contacts and email a few very lucky friends.

For $40,000 cash, I’d agree to crack open Outlook too.

Three questions remain for those footing this bill... (Read, us.)

#1 Does anyone really believe Dr. Harris is going to pour 2-1/2 months of full-time effort into CUSD 200?

Keep in mind, friends, that Dr. Harris is already a salaried employee at CUSD 220. Where do you think his focus is?

#2 If the answer to #1 is No, why give him all this cash?

Let’s be realistic. If, God forbid, Dr. Harris had dropped dead from a heart attack, it would be a personal tragedy and cause for great sorrow. But CUSD 200 would not have collapsed. And we would have saved $40,000 after discovering that life does indeed goes on without Dr. Harris at the helm.

#3 Again. Why?

As I understand it, the board voted 5-2 in favor of this juicy $40,000 slab of pork for Dr. Harris. Only Gambaiani and Mathieson voted against it.

For the uninitiated, Gambaiani and Mathieson are the two board members who best represent the community. The other five represent the powers-that-be who assure them perennial election success at the polls.

As they say, in a democracy “people get the government they deserve.”

So why do we have such awful oversight at CUSD 200? Look around you, citizens. It's because most of us didn't vote. But other people did.

Why did this happen? Because it's what we deserve.

Bummer.