Hillsborough superintendent Earl Lennard's contract keeps him on board until 2006, provides regular raises and sweetens the pot based on FCAT results.
By MELANIE AVE
Published December 9, 2003
TAMPA - The Hillsborough County School Board will vote on a new contract for superintendent Earl Lennard today that formally sets his retirement for 2006 and, until then, will give him bonuses based on student achievement.
It will be the first time his salary will be tied to classroom results under an approach that's being pushed statewide.
Lennard stands to earn thousands of dollars in bonuses each year.
The main purpose of the amended contract is to keep Lennard, 61, around longer, beyond next year's implementation of the new controlled choice student assignment plan. His current contract expires at year's end.
"There needed to be a time set," Lennard said. "There was a question as to whether to allow me to stay on and for how long."
Superintendent since 1996, Lennard has worked for the school district 40 years and could retire at any time, with one year's notice to the board. Before the new contract was written, he had planned to retire sometime before 2006. On Monday, he said would stay until 2006 but would not go beyond that.
"I would like to be able to retire while I'm still healthy and still have vitality and energy so I can pursue other goals," Lennard said.
Board members said that by having a firm retirement date, they can have a smoother transition for a successor and get through the first two years of the choice plan.
As the nation's 10th-largest school district, Hillsborough is at a critical point. Controlled choice, an alternative to busing for desegregation, begins in the fall. The district is also in the midst of an aggressive school construction plan to keep up with growth, which averages 5,000 new students a year.
"I don't want to lose Florida's No. 1 superintendent," said board member Jack Lamb.
If approved, the contract would be a clear departure from Lennard's current one, which limits his raises to the same as teachers' raises. This year he received a 2 percent raise, or $3,752.
Under the new contract, he will continue to earn his current salary of $187,636, plus receive raises equivalent to those of teachers. But he will also be able to earn bonuses based on nine areas, primarily student scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
He will also receive a $1-million life insurance policy that the district will continue to pay for 20 years after his departure. The cost is about $7,000 a year.
The idea for tying Lennard's pay to student achievement came from Gov. Jeb Bush and his performance pay plan for teachers. Under that plan, teachers can earn a bonus equal to 5 percent of their annual pay if they prove they are doing an outstanding job.
Schools also receive recognition money if they earn A grades from the state or boost their grades one level.
If it's being asked of teachers and schools, why not superintendents? Lennard asked.
Under the proposed contract for Lennard, he could receive $100 for every A school, $200 for each school achieving adequate yearly progress according to the federal government, and $2,000 if no schools are graded a D or F.
Using that criteria, Lennard would have received $8,400 last year for the district's A schools and $5,400 for schools making adequate progress. Since several schools earned D's last year, he would not have received $2,000.
Lennard can also receive additional bonuses for boosting the performance of African-American and Hispanic students, implementing a leadership training program for administrators and beginning a performance pay schedule for his top staff.
There is no ceiling on the bonuses.
But some board members said they are not worried about the effect of the bonuses on the budget.
"If all those schools came through, we'd be in the top 1 percent of school districts in the nation," Lamb said. "That's our goal. We've always wondered how to meet that goal. Maybe this is it."
School attorney Tom Gonzalez, who put the contract together at the request of former board chairwoman Carol Kurdell, said he too is unsure of the maximum amount the district could spend on Lennard's bonuses.
Still, the more money Lennard earns, the more children are learning.
"If we had a 100 percent increase, you'd be talking about a lot of money," Gonzalez said. "It would be a wonderful problem to have."
The Hillsborough County School Board will vote today on a new incentive-based contract for superintendent Earl Lennard. The new contract establishes a retirement date of June 30, 2006. Based on a draft of the contract, Lennard can receive the following annual bonuses in addition to raises equal to those of teachers:
For each school achieving adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind legislation: $200.
For each state-graded A school: $100.
For having no schools with a D or F grade: $2,000.
For every percentage point increase in African-American and Hispanic FCAT student reading scores in third, eighth and 10th grade: $750.
For every percentage point increase in African-American FCAT student math scores in third, eighth and 10th grade: $500.
For implementing a leadership training institute for administrators: $5,000 (one time only).
For implementing a performance pay schedule for his top staff: $5,000 (one time only).
