Superintendent Trevor McDonald received a payout when he left the Lompoc Unified School District last month, although the board failed to disclose the details.
The district’s embattled leader, who held the title for nine years, abruptly resigned July 25, citing family reasons for his departure, which was announced after a rare midday special board meeting.
However, a resignation agreement signed by McDonald and board president Nancy Schuler-Jones spelled out that the district must pay the balance of his contract — 11 months, or $251,414, in a lump sum payment. He also received pay for accrued vacation, but the agreement didn’t spell out the number of days or amount.
“It is the mutual intention of the Parties that all issues, claims and disputes between of any kind or nature whatsoever be fully and finally settled and that no Party to this Agreement be at any further risk or exposure to one another except as otherwise herein set forth,” the agreement states.
The three-page agreement has other terms.
“Board Member responses to any inquires regarding McDonald’s employment at the District shall not be derogatory in any way,” according to the agreement.
Likewise, the pact states, McDonald “releases and forever discharges” the district and its officers from all claims, lawsuits, grievances and other liabilities.
A press release issued by the district on the day that McDonald resigned didn’t disclose the terms of the resignation agreement.
“There are reasons, but it was not due to lack of transparency,” Schuler-Jones said.
The lack of details was especially opaque for a board that received low scores from staff and parents in a climate survey and has talked about regaining trust. Weeks earlier, the district released the findings of the climate survey that showed only 16.8% of staff and 37.7% of parents felt the board was mostly effective or very effective at building trust among stakeholders. Communicating with stakeholders also drew a low rating, with 22.3% of staff and 38.7% of parents giving the board a mostly effective or very effective response.
The partial story about McDonald’s departure also came as the district prepares to ask voters to approve a bond measure. Many people in Lompoc viewed McDonald as a hurdle for getting voters to support the latest effort to pass a bond measure and were happy to see him leave, but irked at the board that it failed to readily provide the details of the resignation agreement.
Three previous attempts under his leadership failed to get bond measures approved, once in 2016 and two others in June 2018 and November 2018. Measure A on the Nov. 8 ballot will ask voters to approve a $125 million bond for various projects needed at the Lompoc Valley campuses.
Days after McDonald’s resignation, Deputy Superintendent Bree Valla also resigned. She did not receive a payout from the Lompoc board, Schuler-Jones said.
Valla left for a job at the much smaller Vista De Las Cruces Union School District in Gaviota, where her three-year contract includes an annual salary of $185,000. The lone school has an enrollment of fewer than 100, compared with more than 9,000 for Lompoc.
The Lompoc school board hired Debbie Blow, a retired Orcutt Union School District superintendent, to serve as interim leader.
Leadership Associates has been hired to spearhead the search for McDonald’s replacement.
Schuler-Jones said the board hopes to hire a new superintendent by winter break.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.