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The Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees unanimously signed off on Interim Superintendent Maurice Ghysels’ updated labor contract last week so that, beginning on Oct. 21, he can officially come out of retirement and work as a full-time employee.
The total cost of Ghysels’ new contract to temporarily lead the district until the next permanent superintendent arrives is estimated at $283,340, which would come out of the district’s general fund, according to staff.
“As a board we have to make difficult decisions based on meeting the needs of all of our students … With that in mind, we had to balance paying for a superintendent versus the needs of the district,” Board President Mary Jo Carreon said during the Sept. 26 board meeting.
Ghysels was first appointed as the interim superintendent in early June. His first day was on July 1.
Board Vice President Justin Brown said the board decided to pursue an interim superintendent for many reasons, one of which was to have a transitional period so that PUSD could have the time to pick the ideal permanent replacement.
Carreon reiterated that the district is seeking input from the community on what characteristics they want to see in the next superintendent and that gathering that input takes time so in the meantime, they need stability in the district – which is what the board has previously said in other meetings regarding why they wanted Ghysels to come out of retirement and stay on the job.
She said even though Ghysels is acting as an interim superintendent, he will act as the district’s leader as a full-time employee throughout this next year, including some likely painful budget cuts.
During these past few months, Ghysels was working between three and four days per week for a per diem rate of $1,500 every day to not exceed a total of $74,733. But during the Aug. 22 meeting, Carreon explained how because Ghysels is technically retired, he has a limited amount of days that he can work for the district before he loses his state pension benefits.
Brown said the board knew about Ghysels’ financial cap when they approved his original contract and that they would hit the limit of days he could work before he either had to come out of retirement or he would have to step down in order to keep his pension.
He said they knew they would have to either appoint or pursue another interim superintendent once Ghysels met his limit.
“That was a known commodity that was explained by staff,” Brown said.
The board voted on Sept. 12 to ask Ghysels to come out of retirement in order to continue in his position as interim superintendent, while also keeping his pension package intact for when he goes back to retirement after the district finds his permanent replacement. That’s what led to the board approving his new contract in order to keep him at PUSD.
The trustees came to the decision following two agenda items — the first was a discussion about the financial terms for Ghysels’ new contract and the second item was to approve the new employment agreement.
According to the report at last week’s meeting, Ghysels’ new full-time contract will maintain his per diem rate of $1,500 for every full day of work but will also include a few changes.
That includes raising his monthly expense reimbursement allowance from the original $1,000 a month to $2,500 per month. He will also be paid a $1,000 monthly automobile allowance and will be “eligible for the same master’s degree and doctoral degree stipends that are paid to other certificated management employees”.
The agreement also states that both Ghysels and the district recognize that the job might require him to work more than eight hours a day and to work on more than five days per week.
Brown said Ghysels made it known to the district that being limited to three days of work constrains the amount of work he can do and just puts additional pressure onto the rest of the executive cabinet – who have their own work – to keep the district running.
Carreon said the district looked at salary rates for superintendents in surrounding areas, which led them to the reality of having to spend the money in order to do what is best for the district and for the students.
Still, she said the district was creative in saving money by paying Ghysels at a lower rate than Haglund, not giving Ghysels health benefits and him taking a two-week unpaid leave this month.
“Overall we are saving over $114,375,” Carreon said.
Trustee Steve Maher said that he looked at other interim superintendent salaries for comparison and found that districts in Hayward and Stockton recently paid their interim superintendents over $300,000, which in his eyes meant PUSD was getting a deal with Ghysels’ new contract – especially considering all of his experience.
“(With) what we need to face coming January, we need someone that really knows what they’re doing and has been through this before,” Maher said. “I’m just glad that Maurice stepped up and said ‘I’ll work all year.'”
However, Trustee Kelly Mokashi said she had always envisioned the interim superintendent position working only three days a week considering his daily rate. She also thought the board should have had the conversation about how many days he should work back when they were first considering him for the position.
But then she drew on her own professional experience and shared a moment where she ended up getting paid less for a job than what she was originally hired for to show how bad it is when someone isn’t valued at their job.
“I understand we are in a very difficult situation and I’m not crazy about the rate and the overall amount that we’re paying for this contract — and more importantly the process of how this rolled out,” Mokashi said. “But … I would never want to put anyone in that kind of predicament that I went through.”
That’s why she said she plans on having a high level of scrutiny of the work that they are paying for the superintendent and how he will be directing staff during his one-year tenure.
“Especially during this time with the deficit spending and (us) having to cut pennies moving forward, we expect that performance to be … high,” Mokashi said.
Carreon said Ghysels’ last day in his contract will be the last day of the school year, which means if the district does not find a permanent replacement by then, there would not be a superintendent for PUSD during the month of June.
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