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The Pleasanton School Board Tuesday night unanimously approved a $220,000 per-year contract for incoming Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi.
Ahmadi, currently the Assistant Superintendent of Instruction for the Fremont Unified School District, will succeed Superintendent John Casey, effective with his retirement June 30 after eight years at the helm of the city’s schools.
Casey’s current base salary is $227,000.
Ahmadi, who has extensive background in education and also served as Fremont schools’ director of elementary education, received an enthusiastic round of applause at last night’s school board meeting. She introduced her husband, family and a number of Fremont school district administrators and teachers who joined her at the contract-approval ceremony.
Although her starting salary will be just $7,000 less than Casey’s base pay, her total compensation package will be much less, according to Pleasanton school board President Chris Grant. He said there were other concessions in the contract that reduce the amount of the contract by more than 10 percent per year.
“We also have made some adjustments, and this is in light of the budgetary situation and the challenges in every school district,” Grant said. “There are modifications to the 401(k) contribution, modifications in the life insurance benefit and modifications to the car allowance, all of which have a larger impact, closer to $26,000.”
He said the board had put a lot of effort and thought into the hiring, including involving more than 200 people to create a profile of what they wanted in a superintendent. Board members were clearly enthusiastic about working with Ahmadi.
“I think it’s going to be fantastic,” said Board Member Jaime Hintzke, who said she’s already worked with Ahmadi in a professional capacity.
Grant said the board went to Fremont to meet behind closed doors with board members there and asked “‘What’s she really like?'” and that the board gave her an “unbelievably glowing” review.
He recalled a conversation with former School Board President Juanita Haugen, who told him, “There’s no decision within your school district that’s more important than choosing your superintendent.”
Grant admitted he’s excited about the hiring.
“When you talk to her about education, students, she says every student needs the opportunity to reach his or her potential,” he said, adding she’s very team oriented.
“Our district is very lucky to have you,” said Board Member Valerie Arkin, who headed the search committee.
For her part, Ahmadi promised to live up to the board’s hopes for her.
“I know I have huge shoes to fill,” she told the board. “I will do my best to live up to your expectations.”
In an interview with the Pleasanton Weekly after the meeting, board members acknowledged that hiring a top candidate is a competitive process, and that the $220,000 contract agreement was based on expert advice from the search firm, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, Ltd. (HYA) and outside legal counsel, which have more experience with superintendent salaries across California.
“It was an employment agreement that was competitive and took into consideration the economic belt-tightening of our school district and I think should be viewed by our community as more favorable in light of the economic times, but also gets us a very well-qualified superintendent to lead the district,” Grant said.
Hintzke said Pleasanton residents expect the school board to spend what it needs to in order to get the best possible person for the job.
The board anticipates it will pay nearly $30,000 for the search, the full amount it agreed to in its contract with HYA. Although it turned out that the “right” candidate was found less than a half hour away, HYA’s search was nationwide–even international–bringing in at least one candidate from Canada along with others from Texas and the Midwest.
But not all agreed with the school board’s decision.
Alex Sutton, head of the Classified School Employees Association (CSEA), wondered why the board didn’t opt to go without a superintendent for a year and make use of the assistant superintendents instead, or to go with an interim superintendent from within at a lower cost.
“It was a concern among the closest members,” he said, adding that many of them have lived in the district for a long time.
Still, Sutton said Ahmadi has had experience in negotiations, and thinks she’s starting with the right ideas, like touring schools.
If her coworkers are any indication, Ahmadi will do an excellent job. Close to 10 of them — including the president of the Fremont Teacher’s Union and CSEA members — came to the school board meeting, and at least one wept when she stood to speak to the board.
After the board’s vote on Ahmadi, it moved to other budget matters, including layoffs that will hit 16 full-time teachers, despite concessions agreed to by the CSEA, which recently approved furlough days this year and for the coming 2010-11 school year.
Board member Pat Kernan said he appreciated the cooperation from the CSEA.
“You were in a no-win situation and I apologize for putting you in that situation,” he told Sutton at the board meeting. “I thank you deeply for these concessions.”
Some positions scheduled for cutbacks, such as library clerks and tech support people, could be saved by the Pleasanton Partnerships In Education’s CORE (Community OutReach for Education) campaign.
Concessions made by the teacher’s union will save the district $4.6 million, enough to get through the upcoming year, but the board is facing another $6.5 million in cuts for the 2011-12 school year. It once again considering asking voters to approve a parcel tax that could bring in $4.2 to $4.4 million.
Barbara Kirk, a member of the district’s revenue enhancement committee proposed a parcel tax exploratory committee and at its next meeting, the board will consider hiring a survey firm to see if a parcel tax could pass on a second attempt.
Last year, the Measure G parcel tax vote narrowly failed to meet the two-thirds majority needed to pass, getting 61.7 percent of the vote.
Are you kidding me? $220,000 per year- Nobody is worth that amount in these tough times. Hasn’t the school district learned yet? Look out for a parcel tax campaign again to help pay for this ridiculous salary for ONE PERSON. Our TEACHERS AND COMMUNITY are what makes this a great place for our kids to learn. The teachers should be the ones getting more money if it was available. I say we residents of Pleasanton show our school board how we really feel – They obviously don’t hear us. STAND UP AND MAKE SOME NOISE!
Hello…..
It’s no wonder there is such a budget gap withe this salary level. A Superintendent and an assistant Superintendent, is this just for the Pleasanton School District??
I hope our new Governor takes a look/audits the requirements of every California school district. How about consolidating these jobs by County?
Spend the money on teaching the 3 Rs!!!!!
$220K? I don’t care if benefits are lower. That’s outrageous. What a joke.
That would make her the 107,565th riches person in the world!
http://globalrichlist.com/
Great job on throwing away our money, PUSD board!
The Vice President of the United States makes $201,000.00. What a slap in the face to all the people who donated money to the Pleasanton School District. There will be no more donations from me….
How does her salary compare to the salary of other sup. of schools in CA?
Just because she made out better than you did you’re angry?
So this person is going to make more than vicepresident Biden?
What is wrong with this picture?
WHAT A JOKE! HERE WE ARE CONSTANTLY BEING ASKED TO ” DONATE ” FOR THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER THING. ITS REALLY ABOUT BAIL OUT MONEY. BAIL OUT FROM OVER PAID PEOPLE WHO SPEND MORE TIME WITH THEIR PERSONAL AGENDAS THAN WITH TEACHING. THIS WHOLE PARCEL TAX IS JUST FORCED BAIL OUT MONEY. STARTING WITH THE NEW SUPERINTENDENTS NEW CONTRACT AND WORKING YOUR WAY DOWN TO THE CROSSING GAURDS PAY, THE WHOLE DISTRICT SHOULD TAKE A 25% PAY CUT. NOT JUST LAY OFF SOME TO HOLD ON TO OTHERS. THIS SHOULD ALSO HAPPEN FOR ALL CITY EMPLOYEES POLICE, FIRE ECT. SHOW US YOU CARE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY. THE CITY OF PLEASANTON HAS MONEY AND ASSETS, HOW ABOUT THE CITY OF PLEASANTON SELLING SOME OF THEIR LAND TO DEVELOPERS AND THEN DONATING THE MONEY TO OUR CHILDREN. COME ON CITY OF PLEASANTON, AFTER ALL YOU ARE A COMMUNITY THAT LOOKS OUT FOR ITS PEOPLE RIGHT. DOES ANYONE NOTICE THAT ITS EXSISTING GOVERNMENT PAY THAT IS THE LAST TO BE EFFECTED. AS A COMMUNITY WE ARE ALL MAKING SACRIFICES, SHOW US WITH YOUR EXAMPLE CITY OF PLEASANTON, MAYBE SOME OF THAT 450 PLUS AC AT THE OAK GROVE PROPERTY SHOULD BE DEVELOPED AND THE MONEY USED FOR OUR SCHOOLS/CHILDREN. I KNOW OUR KIDS EDUCATION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE ENTIRE PARCEL OF LAND BEING A PARK. THE MONEY FROM JUST 30% OF THAT PARK BEING DEVELOPED WOULD HELP OUR SCHOOLS MONEY PROBLEMS. STAND UP CITY OF PLEASANTON AND SHOW US OUR CHILDREN ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANOTHER MASSIVE PARK.
Think salary offered to Ms. Ahmadi comparable to what other school district superintendents are earning in districts like Pleasanton.
Grateful we are not stuck footing the bill for moving and housing costs.
In the interests of transparency, Chris Grant should post full details of the compensation package given. Tough on public employees to have all the details of their compensation made known, but taxpayers have a right to know.
On the bright side, Ahmadi seems like a great choice for the district and I won’t shed any tears to see John Casey leave. He’s done a lot to create animosity between the school district and the community when he could have worked towards creating a collaborative environment.
As for teachers, except for those PR moments he so enjoys, seems Casey cared more about using the teachers as a vehicle for his own agenda than he cared for the teachers themselves.
They deserve a superintendent who takes the time to know them, not just the union leaders and let’s hope Ahmadi can mend some fences there too.
She has her work cut out for her.
Welcome to town.
Want to make an instant positive impression? How about donating half of that outrageous salary back to the school district for the first three years. You would still be very well compensated and enjoy the instant respect of the community.
And for those that are about to argue that we paid the going rate, I ask you, doesn’t that speak to the heart of the problem?
So the Vice-President of the United States is paid $201,000, less than the Superintendent of a small school district.
Has it occurred to you that the Vice-President is grossly underpaid, and the Superintendent is fairly compensated?
Perhaps the focus of your efforts should be to raise the pay for the office of Vice-President and President, rather than lower the salary of the PUSD Superintendent.
I think the President of the United States should be paid at least a $1 million annual salary, and $500,000 for the Vice-President. Still a pittance considering what responsibilities they have, but I’m sure Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden wouldn’t turn down the pay increase.
I don’t know about the new superintendent except what has been published, but it appears that she does not have a Ph.D. in education. She comes from a school district that is certainly not one of the best in the state. The school board has given her a lot of money as a starting salary during recessionary times. Add in the costs of the search firm, and this has been a costly process for the school district and yet they do not have a top-notch superintendent. The citizens of Pleasanton have a right to be upset at the school board.
Dr. Casey has an Ed.D. degree, and his management of the district has been disastrous.
It’s experience that counts, not degrees.
If the district had recruited a candidate from, say, Texas, they’d have to pay relocation expenses (and blahgers on the PWeekly would complain about that) and the new Superintendent wouldn’t be familiar with California ed code (and the blahgers would complain about that) and the district would have had to pay the new Superintendent MORE than Dr. Casey (and the blahgers would REALLY complain about that).
I’m beginning to realize that the Board was very wise to ignore a “certain segment” of the public in choosing a new Superintendent for PUSD: specifically, that segment that apparently doesn’t have gainful employment and stays inside all day, complaining via the Internets.
Many of you are correct when you say her salary is comparable to what other districts are paying. You miss the point.
ALL OF THEM ARE OVERPAYING THEIR ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS!
The salary here is the same problem for salaries in all of government. Government agencies do surveys of other like agencies to see what they are paying. Everybody wants to be above average. So our agency gives a higher salary. Other districts then see that they are paying below average and so they increase their salaries. Pleasanton comes back and sees that their salaries are now below average, and then they increase it. Vicious cycle. This is a problem all over government because they only compare their salaries to other government agencies. This salary plus all the days off plus car allowance I imagine is over the top.
Government jobs seem to be the most lucrative jobs in America. Keep working and donating folks. Our children may lose teachers, but at least we have an aristocratic superintendent to keep us all happy … and wait there’s still the secretary, the office, the vacations, the expense accounts … don’t worry children … you can learn how to read & write when you get your own government job. Gotta tell you … it truly boggles the mind.
Its NOT the Superintendents Salary that is the crisis, its supporting the payments to retirees, both at the school district and the municipality levels. However, maintaining high levels of compensation will only make the financial problems worse.
I am shocked at what this person is getting paid. You better believe I will not donate another penny to our schools as there seems to be a misappropriation of funds going on here. Why don’t we give her half that salary and in 4 years, if she turns things around, she gets a bonus instead.
Does the school district even have a Controller/CFO that can manage a budget? I would gladly volunteer – FOR FREE.
Welcome to Pleasanton, Mrs. Ahmadi. No, no, no, don’t worry…Pleasantonians always burn a new Superintendent in effigy as a sign of…affection. Affection and respect.
Yeah, that’s it.
Comment from another article:
http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=3997
Here’s how Superintendent Ahmadi stacks up against others in the area:
(Out of the 12 districts in the following list, Ahmadi’s projected salary is the 8th highest. Doesn’t sound too outrageous anymore if you ask me!)
Superintendent Ahmadi: $225,000 (estimated) and 15,000 students. ($15 per student)
SAN LORENZO: $326,000 and 12,000 students ($27 per student)
SAN FRANCISCO: $293,000 and 55,200 students ($5 per student)
OAKLAND: $287,870 and 46,500 students, including charters ($6 per student)
WEST CONTRA COSTA: $275,000 and 30,800 students (%9 per student)
PITTSBURG: $243,236 and 9,600 students ($25 per student)
CASTRO VALLEY: $246,000 and 8,900 students ($28 per student)
HAYWARD: $227,556 and 22,100 students ($10 per student)
SAN LEANDRO: $214,649 and 8,800 students ($24 per student)
MOUNT DIABLO: $220,000 to $260,000 and 35,000 students ($6-7 per student)
ACALANES UNION: $200,000 5,700 high school students ($35 per student)
BRENTWOOD UNION: $161,160 and 8,200 elementary school students ($20 per student)
Her salary is less than Casey’s.
Shouldn’t we be happy about the situation instead of upset?
I’d like to have her salary, but not her job, especially with all of the criticism being piled on by a lot of us who didn’t even know who she was until a week ago!
I don’t think it’s that outrageous to have a superintendent make that kind of money because a lot of them start of as teachers and underpaid for a long time. Is it so bad if they make up for it later if they’re good enough and lucky enough to become a superintendent?
This is Valerie Arkins doing. Yes the same wingnut that some of you speak glowingly about. Anybody know how much we paid the search firm for the rights to pay someone $220,000 we do not have? Another great move by our school board……thanks Valerie!!!!!!!!!!!!
The salary would be ok if I thought we were getting someone who could turn things around financially for district and deal effectively with the unions and teacher tenure.
I hope she can dance backwards on her fingertips because the expectations are high.
I would like to know what she’s planning to do to justify that outrageous salary
If you’re looking for a wingnut, take a look in the mirror Debbie!
The decision to use a search firm was a board decision, not one member’s. While you might not agree with the Board spending money on a search firm, pointing the finger at one board member is pretty ridiculous.
The decision to hire Ms. Ahmadi was a unanimous board decision, not the decision of one member.
Arkin got tapped to be the liaison between the School Board and the search firm because she was able to devote the time to this role.
The fact that she was willing and able to put in full time hours on the Board was enough to get her this thankless task, but not enough for the other Board members to allow her to be Board President.
Arkin was the one who way back last Spring wanted the district to first survey Pleasanton to see if the community would support a parcel tax rather than putting an expensive tax on the ballot.
She was voted down by the rest of the Board.
Arkin’s the one who was looking for other options besides a parcel tax to reduce district costs, including being the one who wanted all those perks administrators received reduced or cut completely.
Arkin was the only board member who this past summer voted against creating and extending a district full time jobs, a Casey request, so he could keep his favorite people on and beef up their pensions.
She is the one Board member who consistently has had the backbone to question PUSD and Casey about spending habits.
If you want to point fingers at Board members, take a hard look at the ones who were on the Board during the time period when the Board had an opportunity to make prudent financial decisions that would have minimized the financial problems PUSD is facing today.
Your comments are not only ridiculously unfair, but are not supported by Board history.
Begone before a house falls on you!
I did some searching online for more details of Ahmadi’s background. Here’s what I can’t find:
Were was she born?
Were did she spend her formative years?
Were did she get her high school and college education?
If anyone has these answers, including the PW, please share.
From the Independent:
“Ahmadi’s bachelor’s degree is in health sciences, which also helps her match up to the health and psychology services that are important for Pleasanton schools.”
“Ahmadi also earned an M.A. in Teaching and an M.S. in Educational Administration.”
I’m fairly certain that these credentials are confirmed before being offered the position.
They can stop asking for donations from me as well. I will not give them one more red cent. Nor will I support any of their fund raising efforts. If my kids were still in school, it would not be a public one!
@ “No More Donations” – you probably never donated anything to our schools to begin with so what’s the problem? It is a donation so you can choose to donate, or not, whatever floats your boat.
My children attend private schools but I still donate a generous amount to PUSD because having great public schools attract more “quality” people and families to our wonderful city. That also keeps our property values higher than neighboring communities. It’s our choice.
Let us hope that she has one job in mind, and that is the health and well being of our children in Pleasanton. I am glad that Mr. Casey is moving on, because we need a stronger voice who will stand up and and state their concerns about the numerous children who are over worked, overwhelmed, and suffering from stress related to school.
I for one will never donate another penny to this district, because when my son was struggling in this district, I was told to get him a tutor. That tutor cost us $5,000, and took him to an A student. Says a lot for this district, doesn’t it? This is why so many kids do well, because when they struggle, we as parents get them the help they need. It’s not the so called excellent school district of Pleasanton
I make $150K as an engineer and I sit in a cubicle all day and dont manage a single person. Am I overpaid? Yes. But most engineers I know make similar salaries. They supposedly need to to be able to afford living here. But it is these ridiculously large salaries that are the cause of why its so unaffordable here. If salaries were less, the cost of living would be less as well.. But I digress…
If I (and most every other person who calls themselves an “engineer”) makes $150K, why shouldnt someone with some actual responsibility make $200K? Why not make it $500K since they have more than a 2X impact on society that I have?
Concerned,
There’s a (continuing) series of articles about Ms. Ahmadi on the pleasanton patch website that provide some of the details you are seeking.
If you google Ms. Ahmadi, information comes up that states she was born in Iran, but like another poster, I don’t believe where she was born is relevant.
This is from the Pleasanton Patch:
********
The overall package comes to $26,000 less than Casey’s contract. The terms of Ahmadi’s contract is effective from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2013.
Ahmadi has been understanding of the statewide deficit in school funds and said the lesser figure is not discouraging for her. She added that she is willing to sacrifice similar to other employees who have seen paycuts within the district.
“And I’ll be happy to do that,” Ahmadi said.
********
To ‘Concerned’ – And what would you do with this information once you get it?
Let’s move on, support Ms. Ahmadi, and hold the PUSD board and the new superintendent accountable for the results. I would like the Superintendent’s annual review to be a public process, especially if it will determine future compensation increases (use of taxpayer dollars).
Hmm,
You completely missed the point Concerned presents. The information is not easy to find. I wonder why? I just saw an article in today’s CoCo Times regarding the appointment of two new principles in the SRVUSD. The article listed where these admins received their college educations – simple. Why can’t this information be included in an article about Ahmadi? Why hide or not share information that is relevant to this very important, highly compensated position. Do you and those that write these articles believe we can’t handle the information? You will not easily find the information Concerned asked for. I find this very strange. Please think before shouting someone down.
@ Dark:
“And what will I do with this information?”
Um, perhaps I and many others will understand better the background of the person we just hired. Is that asking too much?
You and like-minded bloggers are trying to get into my mind. Sorry, it mine and it’s none of your business. The truth shall set you free.
Should read “it’s”, not “it”. My regrets.
Google is your friend.
http://class.csueastbay.edu/global/bios.pdf
Born in Iran
Immigrated from Iran in 1975… She looks like she’s in her 40s or 50’s, so she probably went to school in the US before she went to SJSU.
BA SJSU
MA National Univerity of Ed in Illinois
MA St. Mary’s in Moraga
The information is not hard to find if you know how to use the internet.
A right to know…,
(Sigh)
You’re kidding. It’s being hidden? Hard to find? Some kind of conspiracy right?
Just as Rich said it’s not hard to find.
Here it is:
(Sigh)
Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi was born in Iran and came to the United States in 1975.
She received her BA in Health Science from San Jose State University, Masters of Arts in Teaching from National College of Education in Illinois, and her Masters in Educational Leadership from Saint Mary’s College in California.
Ahmadi started her career as a teacher at Mount Pleasant High School in San Jose and at elementary schools in Fremont.
She has worked in public education for over two decades, as a teacher, principal, director and assistant superintendent in diverse, high performing school district of 32,000 students. Ahmadi is also a Board Member on the Fremont Education Foundation, a non profit organization raising funds for innovative education grants and instrumental music.
The demographics are a changing. Wait til the 2010 Census results are in.
but meanwhile…
Pleasanton, CA 2006-2008
2006-2008 ACS Demographic Estimates
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Total population
70,700
White
48,221
68.2%
Asian (includes Chinese, Indians, Irans, etc.)
13,820
19.5 %
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
7,500
10.6 %
Some other race
3,344
4.7%
Two or more races
2,977
4.2 %
Black or African American
1,484
2.1%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
529
0.7 %
American Indian and Alaska Native
325
0.5%
correction Iranians not Irans (typo)
Hmm,
When I google, I typically find the information I’m looking for in the first page or two. Not the case here. Please share the link to your source and stop treating me like a moron. How about some additional background information – where did did she grow up? Not easy to find.
Hmm,
What’s your point about sharing the census information? Are you implying that it takes a person with a certain background to manage a school district?
D. Franklin,
Just the opposite my friend! Read the posts asking for Mrs. Ahmadi’s birth information. Read my responses regarding the assortment of peoples in our community. It shouldn’t matter where your from!
I’m wondering the same thing why census info were posted.
Concerned,
First, tell me everything you know of Superintendent John Casey.
Where was he born? Where did he grow up?
You surely have this info already. Don’t start looking it up. You should already have it, being concerned and all.
Let’s see how many minutes it takes for you and only you to provide the info. The clock starts now.
Clueless,
The point is to show the diversity in the community. Where the Superintendent was born shouldn’t be an issue.
Rich,
Thanks for the information. Excellent trusted link – CSUEB. This is information that should be included in a newspaper background article (are you listening, PW?).
I have no issues with our leader’s background – I wish her great success!
Hmm,
You need to take your meds now. Stop fighting everyone.
One of the hottest Iranian-American:
http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1C1RNCN_enUS338US339&q=rudi+bakhtiar&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=cmfsS6uuG4PUsQPZ-7DyDw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQsAQwAA
Everyone knows that Casey was really Uncle Fester on the Adams Family and grew up there……..next question!
SJSU?
Concerned,
Here’s an article that provides more information on Ms. Ahmadi and how she was viewed in Fremont:
http://pleasanton.patch.com/articles/pleasantons-superintendent-pick-gets-high-marks-in-fremont
There are also articles about her in the Contra Costa Times, the San Jose Mercury News and other local papers. You could try contacting the editors at these papers to ask them where they got their information.
I’ve looked through articles and blogs and no one seems to have anything negative to save about Ms. Ahmadi – she gets high ratings from parents and school staff. Considering that the Fremont community knows Ms. Ahmadi is leaving, if anyone had anything negative to say about her, they could do so now without concern – but no one has.
Interesting to note that as Asst. Superintendent in Fremont, Ms. Ahmadi along with the two other asst. superintendents volunteered to take a 5% pay cut to help offset budget shortfalls.
Ms. Ahmadi sounds like a winner and a great choice for Pleasanton.
Cambridge grad…Princeton fake?
AND NOW THE TRUTH COMES OUT ON THE HEELS OF THIS OVER PAID HEAD OF OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT. 61 PEOPLE WILL LOOSE THEIR JOBS SO SHE CAN BE OVER PAID. HOW ABOUT REDUCING EVERYONES SALERY 25% OR HOW ABOUT THE CITY SELLING SOME OF ITS ASSETS AND DONATING THE MONEY TO OUR SCHOOLS.
OUTRAGEOUS SALARY ! Here I was trying to get a company match for that CORE fundraising ! No more! If she was so good, why didnt Fremont promote her? Fremont was looking for a superintendent too. They may argue it is the going rate, but that is the fundamental problem here. Now 61 teachers have been let go! I heard somewhere that CA teachers are much higher paid and in other states , NJ for example, a significant amount of the money goes to academics and not just teachers pay. Total misuse of funds. I would like to know what changes she brings in!
“Interesting to note that as Asst. Superintendent in Fremont, Ms. Ahmadi along with the two other asst. superintendents volunteered to take a 5% pay cut to help offset budget shortfalls.”
While it may be seen as a nice gesture, 5% is a drop in the bucket when someone is earning well into the 6 figure range. That is, unless she has outrageous mortgage payments that she has to worry about. Take a salary of $200k and 5% only amounts to $10k.
First let me be clear that I am going to give the new superintendent the benefit of doubt. . .
I think the issue is more with our Board of Trustees. For example, she has no track record as a superintendent so I believe she should be started at a lower salary. I would certainly support some kind of performance bonus/or significant raise at the end of the first year for demonstrated performance. I have a bit of concern that she doesn’t have a phd which seems to be the norm for most superintendents. If its true that she is given a $600 monthly car allowance as reported inthe newspaper I have a huge issue with that given that the City Manager only receives a $200 monthly car allowance. That should have been the bench mark for the new contract. It seems pretty clear to me that our Board of Trustees still doesn’t get the financial situation and probably shouldn’t be trusted.
I’m going to be watching her policies and decisions closely until and even after she shows us what her former coworkers and associates and Fremont keep telling us about, but by all accounts, it sounds like Ahmadi was actually a shoo-in for the Fremont position.
I’m guessing she didn’t want it because the school board over there is way more dysfunctional and loony than our own. Think about it: who would want to be at board meetings until 3 AM on a weekly basis? Hearing about the new Fremont superintendent’s contract leads me to believe that Superintendent Ahmadi was probably glad to take a little less money for a more cooperative board that cares more about kids than bickering as opposed to the one they have over in Fremont.
Why do you think the Fremont superintendent was named after Pleasanton had chosen?
Food for thought…
You people judge someone who hasn’t even started her job. That seems kind of unfair to me. Casey has a proven bad record and is making much more than Ms. Ahmadi. Ms. Ahmadi now has to clean up Casey’s mess so lets give her the support she needs rather than judging her based on which school she attended. Some of the world’s most successful people never even went to or completed college. Who knows?! We may be pleasantly surprise. I find it hard to believe anyone can do any worse than Casey.
Once again this small group of folks has taken what should be “a step in the right direction” and dragged it through the mud! The PUSD cabinet, board of trustees, and our faculty have all been dealt a miserable budget scenario. We have no one to thank but our great state officials! Let’s give our new Superintendent the support she deserves and will certainly require. Let’s continue to support our district personnel to ensure the quality of education our community is known for. For those that can, let’s continue to donate our time and money to offset the severe cuts that this district has had to make. Oh….and let’s bring back some of those 61 pink slipped employees by giving to the CORE program and requesting company matched donations. You can complain all day long…..but it’s the education that our children are getting that is important here!! Let’s do what we can to maintain that and to protect them….. Stop complaining and criticizing and do something about it!
ANY newly hired public employee should logically, be paid LESS than the predecessor…for SEVERAL reasons. Isn’t it always that way? Each person gets their own seniority increases, merit, & other. Each new hire can’t always START at more, and then continue upward during their tenure. Soon we’d be paying a million to a new hire down the line. There are PAY GRADES, PAY RANGES. We would be fools to keep adding into infinity!. I would think public entities are always that way…otherwise, it could further explain WHY we’re in trouble !!
And last, but not least…the country, and all of us are in financial crisis. New hires could be hired at less than bottom of pay grade ! (sadly, educators & academia as a group, lack financial education or understanding, which is why the US graduates financially ignorant youth, unprepared for life).
Less wrote: “ANY newly hired public employee should logically, be paid LESS than the predecessor…for SEVERAL reasons. Isn’t it always that way? Each person gets their own seniority increases, merit, & other. ”
You’re right. President Obama succeeded President Bush, who had 8 years on the job–and from what I understand, President Obama has NEVER been the President of ANY country before!
So I think a salary of $50,000 would be fair for President Obama. Maybe we can make the reduction retroactive? Or maybe require the President of the United States to be the President of a smaller country (say, Argentina or Costa Rica) and then work his/her way up?
Also, doesn’t Governor Schwarzenegger get paid the same as his immediate predecessor, Gray Davis? And yet Governor Schwarzenegger was NEVER governor before! So he should be paid, oh, $10,000 to start. I also think we need experienced Governors in California, so we should look around at some other states and see if they have any good Governors who would be willing to move here. What’s the name of the dude running North Dakota? I’ve been to North Dakota and they are so similar to California, it’s eerie.
“sadly, educators & academia as a group, lack financial education or understanding, which is why the US graduates financially ignorant youth, unprepared for life”
I don’t know who you are talking about but the American Race does just fine in my book.
Well, what have you learned, Dorothy?
1. Public servants are ALWAYS overpaid–no matter what their salary is. Even zero would be too much.
2. The new Superintendent of PUSD is an Eye-ranian. Not a member of the American Race. Durn furriners, a-comin’ in here and takin’ jobs away from hard-workin’ American Racers, don’tcha know.
3. If it weren’t for Big Guv’mint, gumdrops would rain from the sky every day, super-nutritious gumdrops that we could use to feed the wild unicorns who live in the hills around the beautiful, isolated hamlet of Pleasanton.
Less says “Each person gets their own seniority increases, merit, & other. Each new hire can’t always START at more, and then continue upward during their tenure. Soon we’d be paying a million to a new hire down the line. There are PAY GRADES, PAY RANGES. We would be fools to keep adding into infinity!. I would think public entities are always that way…otherwise, it could further explain WHY we’re in trouble !!”
In education, there is an organized method of exactly what you criticize- it’s called step and column salary schedules.
Thank goodness I married a financial planner, you know without all that financial knowledge I might have been duped out of my fair salary. Duh.
Well, this is a fine kettle of fish. First, the American Race is put in peril by a BLACK PRESIDENT and now an EYE-RANIAN SUPERINTENDENT of PUSD schools.
What’s next? A foreign-born man from one of them weird countries–like Austria, you know, the one where Hitler was born–becomes Governor of California?
Oh wait, that already happened. Well, durn, what’s a member of the American Race to do? If we are going to start elevating people to jobs based on their ability, the American Race may well be doomed–or just forced to compete agin’ furriners and what my Grandpa (a furrin immigrant himself) called “coloured folk”.
This is how you spell it: answers.
You’re welcome!
I don’t need no more stinkin’ facts. It’s bad enough the President is a Socialist Negro, but now an Eye-Rainian running our schools?
I am just going to assume that anybody with darker skin than mine is an illegal immigrant and Taser them, “Arizona Style”.
Eh- don’t worry- with that salary she qualifies for 50% tax burden. So, she only really makes $110,000.
Wow! I can’t believe what some of you have posted about your NEW Superintendent, that hasn’t even started her position? You don’t even know her, or what she’s going to do for the community of Pleasanton, yet she’s been chewed up and spit out several times in many of the above postings. I know that not everyone is eager for “change”, but what you have said about your current Supt. is even more disrespectful. If you really had any “common sense”, you would of had “courageous conversations” with Mr. Casey for the past 8 years and Ms. Ahmadi when she comes on board on what her vision is for PUSD and for the students of Pleasanton. She’s truly an advocate for students in all neighborhoods. Give Ms. Ahmadi the respect and allow her to show you a difference she will make in your City.
Interesting article. Thanks for the post