Agreement reached on superintendent's job
Pearland school district officials have reached an agreement with outgoing Superintendent Bonny Cain that will keep her on the job through June 2012.
Trustees OK'd the separation agreement in a 5-2 vote on Oct. 5. Voting in favor were Pam Boegler, Rebecca Decker, Virgil Gant and Glenn Garrison. Dean Hamil and Andrew Solomon cast the dissenting votes.
After a closed-door session last month, trustees voted not to renew Cain's unexpired contract that runs through Dec. 15, 2012.
Her annual salary for the 2010-11 school year is $214,620.40, according to district spokeswoman Renea Ivy-Sims.
The separation agreement "clears the way for the district to move forward in the next 24 months and enables the board to build upon the success to which Dr. Cain has led the district so far," Garrison said in a prepared statement.
"Via this agreement," he stated, "the board will be able to bring about change in a more controlled manner with less risk of disruption and divisiveness than there could have been otherwise."
The agreement is expected to save the school district from $800,000 to $1 million because there are no penalties for an early termination of Cain's contract, Gant said.
Solomon said he voted against the separation agreement because it delays Cain's inevitable departure.
"In my opinion, the district should have a new superintendent for the 2011-12 academic year, and we should not have a lame-duck superintendent for nearly two academic years," Solomon said in an e-mail.
In a prepared statement, Cain said she is grateful for the 10 years she has served as superintendent.
"It is a real pleasure to be a part of this school district," she said. "I appreciate the district's hard-working staff and have admired so many Pearland ISD parents who intensely value education."
robert.stanton@chron.com
