Manatee County school board to consider $183,000 contract for Diana Greene as 1-year superintendent
BRADENTON -- A proposed contract for Diana Greene's one-year stint as superintendent is up for discussion and possible approval at Tuesday night's Manatee County School Board meeting.
The contract is similar to the one offered to Rick Mills when he took the helm in the district in 2013. The board may choose to make changes to different areas of the contract -- including the salary package -- during a Tuesday workshop. Greene will have to consent to the changes. If satisfied with the contract after the workshop, the board can choose to approve it during the evening session.
If the board approves the contract on Tuesday, Greene will become superintendent for one year and the contract will be retroactive to June 1.
Board member Charlie Kennedy suggested the one-year contract as a compromise for Greene, who was widely heralded as a community and staff favorite for the permanent job after former Superintendent Rick Mills announced his early retirement in April. Deputy Superintendent of Operations Don Hall served as an interim superintendent for two weeks.
On Wednesday, Kennedy said he had a couple of suggested changes to the contract, but he didn't want to discuss them until the meeting. One example of an area he wants to discuss is the contract extension. He said that Mills' contract included an automatic one-year extension if the board didn't take action to prevent it.
"With Dr. Greene's, we have to act on it," he said.
In addition to voting to give Greene a one-year contract, the board committed to completing a climate survey within three months. The climate survey will gather input from all district stakeholder and gather the data needed to continue to provide a healthy school climate to contribute to the achievement of students and a healthy working environment for staff across the district, according to officials.
Under the proposal, Greene will be paid $183,500 for the year. The entire compensation package portion of the contract was lifted from the contract approved for Mills. The compensation section also includes 25 vacation days, one sick day a month, a $650 a month in-county travel supplement, and a $400 a month expense account.
"Discussions on compensation are expected but have not yet been held so the section is fluid," board attorney Jim Dye wrote in a note in the contract.
There are tweaks to the termination section of the contract. During a recent meeting, board member Karen Carpenter suggested eliminating the portion of the contract that says the superintendent can be terminated without cause. Dye suggested against that in his notes.
Instead, Dye suggested that the board could require a super majority, or a 4-to-1 vote, to fire a superintendent without cause. The board could have terminated Mills contract with a majority vote.
The board will discuss the contract during Tuesday's workshop, as well as discussing how to move forward with the climate survey.
As deputy superintendent of instruction, Greene made more than $132,000.
Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twittercface fontname="Roman" naxe="0" iaxis="0"/>
This story was originally published June 4, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee County school board to consider $183,000 contract for Diana Greene as 1-year superintendent ."